Learning to lead: The development and testing of a model of leadership learning

Drawing upon an action learning perspective, we hypothesized that a leader’s learning of project leadership skills would be related to facilitative leadership, team reflexivity, and team performance. Secondly, we proposed that new and experienced leaders would differ in the amount they learn from their current and recent experience as project managers, and in the strength of the relationship between their self-reported learning, facilitative leadership, and team reflexivity. We conducted a 1-year longitudinal study of 50 R&D teams, led by 25 new and 25 experienced leaders, with 313 team members and 22 project customers, collecting both quantitative and qualitative data. We found evidence of a significant impact of the leader’s learning on subsequent facilitative leadership and team performance 8 and 12 months later, suggesting a lag between learning leadership skills and translating these skills into leadership behavior. The findings contribute to an understanding of how leaders consolidate their learned experience into facilitative leadership behavior.

The innovation imperative: The relationships between team climate, innovation, and performance in research and development teams

A team’s climate for innovation has been shown to be important for innovation in management and work teams. This article investigates the relationship of team climate with project team innovation and performance in research and development organizations. It is argued that the relationship between team climate and innovation will be stronger for research teams than development teams as research teams have greater scope for creating novel and innovative ideas. A sample of 193 scientists and technologists in 20 research teams and 18 development teams were measured on their team’s climate for innovation, team performance, and six indicators of innovation. Research and development teams showed similar ratings for team climate and for measures of innovation. However, the relationships between team climate and individual and team innovation were stronger for research teams than development teams. These findings are significant for fostering innovativeness and innovation in knowledge work teams.

Can larger-bodied cemented femoral components reduce periprosthetic fractures? A biomechanical study

Introduction: The risk for late periprosthetic femoral fractures is higher in patients treated for a neck of femur fracture compared to osteoarthritis. It has been hypothesised that osteopenia and consequent decreased stiffness of the proximal femur are responsible for this. We investigated whether a femoral component with a bigger body would increase the torque to failure in a biaxially loaded composite Sawbone model. Material and methods: A biomechanical bone analogue was used. Two different body sizes (Exeter 44-1 vs 44-4) of a polished tapered cemented femoral stem were implanted by an experienced surgeon in 7 bone analogues each and internally rotated at 40°/s until failure. Torque to fracture and fracture energy were measured using a biaxial materials testing device (Instron 8874, MI, USA). The data were non-parametric and therefore tested with the Mann-Whitney U-test. Results: The median torque to fracture was 156.7 Nm (IQR 19.7) for the 44-1 stem and 237.1 Nm (IQR 52.9) for the 44-4 stem (p=0.001). The median fracture energy was 8.5J (IQR 7.3) for the 44-1 stem and 19.5J (IQR 8.8) for the 44-4 stem (p=0.014). Conclusions: The use of a large body polished tapered cemented stems for neck of femur fractures increases the torque to failure in a biomechanical model and therefore is likely to reduce late periprosthetic fracture risk in this vulnerable cohort.

Art and science as creative catalysts

Science, Art and Science Art collaborations are generally presented and understood in terms of their products. We argue that the process of Science art can be a significant, even principal benefit of these collaborations, even though it may be largely invisible to anyone other than the collaborators. Hosting the Centenary of Canberra Science Art Commission at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) has shown us that while Science and Art pursue orthogonal dimensions of creativity and innovation, collaborators can combine these directions to access new areas of imagination and ideas.

Appendix 8: Quantifying the effects of environmental factors on catch rates in South-East fisheries: 1986-2006

The collection of basic environmental data by industry members was successful and offers a way of overcoming the problems associated with differences in scale between the environment and fisheries datasets. A simple method of collecting environmental data was developed that was only a small time burden on skippers, yet has the potential to provide very useful information on the same scale as the catch and effort data recorded in the logbooks. The success of this trial was aided by the natural interest of fishers to learn more about the environment in which they fish. The archival temperature-depth tags chosen proved robust, reliable and easy to use. While the use of large scale environmental data may not yield significant improvements in stock assessments for most SESSF species, fine-scale data collected from selected vessels using methods developed during this project may, in the longer term, be useful for incorporation into CPUE standardisations in the future...

Molecular data extend Australian Cricotopus midge (Chironomidae) species diversity, and provide a phylogenetic hypothesis for biogeography and freshwater monitoring

Resolving species relationships and confirming diagnostic morphological characters for insect clades that are highly plastic, and/or include morphologically cryptic species, is crucial for both academic and applied reasons. Within the true fly (Diptera) family Chironomidae, a most ubiquitous freshwater insect group, the genera CricotopusWulp, 1874 and ParatrichocladiusSantos-Abreu, 1918 have long been taxonomically confusing. Indeed, until recently the Australian fauna had been examined in just two unpublished theses: most species were known by informal manuscript names only, with no concept of relationships. Understanding species limits, and the associated ecology and evolution, is essential to address taxonomic sufficiency in biomonitoring surveys. Immature stages are collected routinely, but tolerance is generalized at the genus level, despite marked variation among species. Here, we explored this issue using a multilocus molecular phylogenetic approach, including the standard mitochondrial barcode region, and tested explicitly for phylogenetic signal in ecological tolerance of species. Additionally, we addressed biogeographical patterns by conducting Bayesian divergence time estimation. We sampled all but one of the now recognized Australian Cricotopus species and tested monophyly using representatives from other austral and Asian locations. Cricotopus is revealed as paraphyletic by the inclusion of a nested monophyletic Paratrichocladius, with in-group diversification beginning in the Eocene. Previous morphological species concepts are largely corroborated, but some additional cryptic diversity is revealed. No significant relationship was observed between the phylogenetic position of a species and its ecology, implying either that tolerance to deleterious environmental impacts is a convergent trait among many Cricotopus species or that sensitive and restricted taxa have diversified into more narrow niches from a widely tolerant ancestor.

Intuitive use of tangible toys

Interfaces for children have continued to evolve in terms of complexity, with toys ranging from traditional tangible interfaces to apps with digital interfaces and hybrid toys with mixed physical and digital interfaces. However, there is limited research done to investigate their potential for intuitive use. This research study compares a tangible toy and an equivalent toy in the digital world (app) for intuitive use. Non-parametric Mann-Whitney U test results showed that the tangible toy was more intuitive than the intangible counter part. Tangible systems are less complex to use and they require less time to encode and retrieve associated knowledge to use them intuitively. They are associated with low domain transfer distance and easily discoverable features. Intangible interfaces, on the other ha nd, require greater complexity and time to encode and retrieve associated experiential knowledge. Intangibles are associated with larger domain transfer distance and undiscoverable features which affects their intuitive use. Design implications and future work are discussed, emphasising the need for investigating aspects that make tangible systems intuitive to use.

Scalable Bayesian Computation for intractable likelihoods in image analysis

The inverse temperature hyperparameter of the hidden Potts model governs the strength of spatial cohesion and therefore has a substantial influence over the resulting model fit. The difficulty arises from the dependence of an intractable normalising constant on the value of the inverse temperature, thus there is no closed form solution for sampling from the distribution directly. We review three computational approaches for addressing this issue, namely pseudolikelihood, path sampling, and the approximate exchange algorithm. We compare the accuracy and scalability of these methods using a simulation study.

Crossing international boundaries through doctoral partnerships: Learnings from a Chinese-Australian forum

International forums for doctoral students offer a fertile context for developing strategic partner-ships between higher education institutions, as well as for building the intercultural capacity of early career academics. However, there is limited research investigating the benefits of international doctoral forum partnerships. This paper presents learnings from a recent international doctoral forum held in Beijing, China and attended by doctoral students and academics from Beijing Normal University (China) and Queensland University of Technology (Australia). Drawing on qualitative case study method and a model of boundary crossing mechanisms, we identify the beneficial outcomes of the forum. We describe how the forum arose from a strong ongoing partnership between the Education Faculties of Beijing Normal University and Queensland University of Technology. We then identify how, at the institutional and individual level, international doctoral forum participants can be challenged and benefit in four areas: collaboration, intercultural capacity, academic enhancement and program development. Implications for engaging successfully in international doctoral forum partnerships are also discussed.

Improving factory performance using an integrated sugar factory model

A whole of factory model of a raw sugar factory was developed in SysCAD software to assess and improve factory operations. The integrated sugar factory model ‘Sugar-SysCAD’ includes individual models for milling, heating and clarification, evaporation, crystallisation, steam cycle, sugar dryer and process and injection water circuits. These individual unit operation models can be either used as standalone models to optimise the unit operation or in the integrated mode to provide more accurate prediction of the effects of changes in any part of the process on the outputs of the whole factory process. Using the integrated sugar factory model, the effect of specific process operations can be understood and practical solutions can be determined to address process problems. The paper presents two factory scenarios to show the capabilities of the whole of factory model.

The effects of gas and air flow distributions on the performance of the Farleigh No. 3 boiler

As more raw sugar factories become involved in the manufacture of by-products and cogeneration, bagasse is becoming an increasingly valuable commodity. However, in most factories, most of the bagasse produced is used to generate steam in relatively old and inefficient boilers. Efficient bagasse fired boilers are a high capital cost item and the cost of supplying the steam required to run a sugar factory by other means is prohibitive. For many factories a more realistic way to reduce bagasse consumption is to increase the efficiency of existing boilers. The Farleigh No. 3 boiler is a relatively old low efficiency boiler. Like many in the industry, the performance of this boiler has been adversely affected by uneven gas and air flow distributions and air heater leaks. The combustion performance and efficiency of this boiler have been significantly improved by making the gas and air flow distributions through the boiler more uniform and repairing the air heater. The estimated bagasse savings easily justify the cost of the boiler improvements.

An overview of land application of pig effluent-P using soil P chemistry and mass balance calculations.

Attention is directed at land application of piggery effluent (containing urine, faeces, water, and wasted feed) as a potential source of water resource contamination with phosphorus (P). This paper summarises P-related properties of soil from 0-0.05 m depth at 11 piggery effluent application sites, in order to explore the impact that effluent application has had on the potential for run-off transport of P. The sites investigated were situated on Alfisol, Mollisol, Vertisol, and Spodosol soils in areas that received effluent for 1.5-30 years (estimated effluent-P applications of 100-310000 kg P/ha in total). Total (PT), bicarbonate extractable (PB), and soluble P forms were determined for the soil (0-0.05 m) at paired effluent and no-effluent sites, as well as texture, oxalate-extractable Fe and Al, organic carbon, and pH. All forms of soil P at 0-0.05 m depth increased with effluent application (PB at effluent sites was 1.7-15 times that at no-effluent sites) at 10 of the 11 sites. Increases in PB were strongly related to net P applications (regression analysis of log values for 7 sites with complete data sets: 82.6 % of variance accounted for, p <0.01). Effluent irrigation tended to increase the proportion of soil PT in dilute CaCl2-extractable forms (PTC: effluent average 2.0 %; no-effluent average 0.6%). The proportion of PTC in non-molybdate reactive forms (centrifuged supernatant) decreased (no-effluent average, 46.4 %; effluent average, 13.7 %). Anaerobic lagoon effluent did not reliably acidify soil, since no consistent relationship was observed for pH with effluent application. Soil organic carbon was increased in most of the effluent areas relative to the no-effluent areas. The four effluent areas where organic carbon was reduced had undergone intensive cultivation and cropping. Current effluent management at many of the piggeries failed to maximise the potential for waste P recapture. Ten of the case-study effluent application areas have received effluent-P in excess of crop uptake. While this may not represent a significant risk of leaching where sorption retains P, it has increased the risk of transport of P by run-off. Where such sites are close to surface water, run-off P loads should be managed.

Kirurgisen operaation teatteri : Teatterillinen kuva ja ihmismuodon esitettävyys avantgardistisen väkivallan näkökulmasta

Dissertation considers the birth of modernist and avant-gardist authorship as a reaction against mass society and massculture. Radical avant-gardism is studied as figurative violence done against the human form. The main argument claims avant-gardist authorship to be an act of masculine autogenesis. This act demands human form to be worked to an elementary state of disarticulateness, then to be reformed to the model of the artist's own psychophysical and idiosyncratic vision and experience. This work is connected to concrete mass, mass of pigment, charcoal, film, or flesh. This mass of the figure is worked to create a likeness in the nervous system of the spectator. The act of violence against the human figure is intended to shock the spectator. This shock is also a state of emotional and perceptional massification. I use theatrical image as heuristic tool and performance analysis, connecting figure and spectator into a larger image, which is constituted by relationships of mimesis, where figure presents the likeness of the spectator and spectator the likeness of the figure. Likeness is considered as both gestural - social mimetic - and sensuous - kinesthetically mimetic. Through this kind of construction one can describe and contextualize the process of violent autogenesis using particular images as case studies. Avant-gardist author is the author of theatrical image, not particular figure, and through act of massification the nervous system of the spectator is also part of this image. This is the most radical form and ideology of avant-gardist and modernist authorship or imagerial will to power. I construct a model of gestural-mimic performer to explicate the nature of violence done for human form in specific works, in Mann's novella Death in Venice, in Schiele's and Artaud's selfportaits, in Francis Bacon's paintings, in Beckett's shortplat NOT I, in Orlan's chirurgical performance Operation Omnipresense, in Cindy Sherman's Film/Stills, in Diamanda Galás's recording Vena Cava and in Hitchcock's Psycho. Masspsychology constructed a phobic picture of human form's plasticity and capability to be constituted by influencies coming both inside and outside - childhood, atavistic organic memories, urban field of nervous impulses, unconsciousness, capitalist (image)market and democratic masspolitics. Violence is then antimimetic and antitheatrical, a paradoxical situation, considering that massmedias and massaudiences created an enormous fascination about possibilities of theatrical and hypnotic influence in artistic elites. The problem was how to use theatrical image without coming as author under influence. In this work one possible answer is provided: by destructing the gestural-mimetic performer, by eliminating representations of mimic body techniques from the performer of human (a painted figure, a photographed figure, a filmed figure or an acted figure, audiovisual or vocal) figure. This work I call the chirurgical operation, which also indicates co-option with medical portraitures or medico-cultural diagnoses of human form. Destruction of the autonomy of the performer was a parallel process to constructing the new mass media audience as passive, plastic, feminine. The process created an image of a new kind of autotelic masculine author-hero, freed from human form in its bourgeois, aristocratic, classical and popular versions.