The development of a typology for remote construction projects

Remotely located sites have become more accessible and therefore more valuable and profitable to investors and entrepreneurs. Typically these sites are environmentally sensitive. For the designer, these sites offer a unique challenge conceptually, in terms of the physical and cultural constraints. The built environment research community has yet to seriously take up the challenge of developing theoretical models for the management of the design and construction processes for remotely located projects. Such models would explore efficiency and efficacy management for projects in remote and often hostile areas, in an integrated and sustainable manner. There are varying degrees of remoteness experienced in nearly all construction projects and therefore a clearer definition of the characteristics of remote sites is required. Towards this definition, a typology is initiated for the concept of remotely located construction projects related to environmental sustainability and the management of the design process. The characteristics of the typology are drawn from a selected literature review of the fields of design management and environmental sustainability, and from an exploratory investigation of two case studies.

Practitioner perceptions of sustainability in the Building Code of Australia

Buildings have a significant impact on environmental quality, resource use, human health and productivity. One definition of sustainable building is that which meets current building needs and reduces impacts on future generations by integrating building materials and methods that promote environmental quality, economic vitality, and social benefit’ (City of Seattle, 2006). In response to a changing view of
sustainability the Building Code of Australia (BCA) adopted energy measures in 2005 to residential buildings and, in 2006, to Class 1 – 9 buildings. In many respects the measures represented a watershed for the Australian Building Regulations which had not included sustainability within the BCA. The goals of the BCA are to enable the achievement and maintenance of acceptable standards of structural sufficiency, safety (including safety from fire), health and amenity for the benefit of the community now and in the future (ABCB, 2004a). As with any change some Building Surveyors and construction practitioners viewed these measures with apprehension. How would the measures be assessed? Furthermore, was the BCA the appropriate place for these measures and was this a broadening of the scope of the building regulations beyond
its traditional remit of health and life safety in buildings? This research used a questionnaire survey the canvass the views and perceptions of Building Surveyors and Architects with regards to sustainability and the BCA in 2006.

Insider research, the process and practice : issues arising from professionals conducting research within their own working environments

This thesis explores the chaotic, dynamic, ambiguous, complex and confusing world of the insider researcher. The proliferating species of insider researcher is common in public sector organisations and is particularly prevalent among post-graduate students who have combined study with work. Insider researchers range from the in-house researcher employed to conduct research to those who are conducting research in addition to their normal duties. This thesis, through five illustrative case-studies, discusses, reflects upon, explains, and clarifies the possibilities, limitations and the issues arising from a consideration of the practice of professionals conducting research in the large government education system in Victoria. The central focus of this thesis, that of exploring issues arising from professionals conducting research in their own working environments, has an importance that hitherto has had little direct recognition in the qualitative education research literature. And yet the practice of insider research is common and has a potentially large impact on the nature of the decision making process in public sector organisations. This relative invisibility in the social research literature of a discussion of issues relating to insider research demands to be made more visible. It is both useful and necessary to explore the particular possibilities, conditions and challenges of insiders conducting research in public organisations as the practice of insider research contines to grow. This thesis adds to the literature by locating insider research in a discussion of the wider soial context of ideology, culture, relationships, politics, language and meaning, and the decision-making process.

Only thin smoke without flame

Hardy's short stories have been relatively neglected by critics. This thesis argues for their reconsideration and proper recognition as essential components of Hardy's achievement. Examines his creation of a fictional "Wessex" with himself as conservator, but suggests that their subversive ideologies touching on modern themes, make him a "proto-modern" writer.

Effectiveness of vertebroplasty using individual patient data from two randomised placebo controlled trials : meta-analysis

Objective To determine whether vertebroplasty is more effective than placebo for patients with pain of recent onset (≤6 weeks) or severe pain (score ≥8 on 0-10 numerical rating scale).

Design Meta-analysis of combined individual patient level data.

Setting Two multicentred randomised controlled trials of vertebroplasty; one based in Australia, the other in the United States.

Participants 209 participants (Australian trial n=78, US trial n=131) with at least one radiographically confirmed vertebral compression fracture. 57 (27%) participants had pain of recent onset (vertebroplasty n=25, placebo n=32) and 99 (47%) had severe pain at baseline (vertebroplasty n=50, placebo n=49).

Intervention Percutaneous vertebroplasty versus a placebo procedure.

Main outcome measure Scores for pain (0-10 scale) and function (modified, 23 item Roland-Morris disability questionnaire) at one month.

Results For participants with pain of recent onset, between group differences in mean change scores at one month for pain and disability were 0.1 (95% confidence interval −1.4 to 1.6) and 0.2 (−3.0 to 3.4), respectively. For participants with severe pain at baseline, between group differences for pain and disability scores at one month were 0.3 (−0.8 to 1.5) and 1.4 (−1.2 to 3.9), respectively. At one month those in the vertebroplasty group were more likely to be using opioids.

Conclusions Individual patient data meta-analysis from two blinded trials of vertebroplasty, powered for subgroup analyses, failed to show an advantage of vertebroplasty over placebo for participants with recent onset fracture or severe pain. These results do not support the hypothesis that selected subgroups would benefit from vertebroplasty.

Cosmopolitanism : religion and kinship among young people in south-western Sydney

Debates about globalization have been accompanied by considerable critical assessment of the notion of cosmopolitanism. The upsurge in travel, trade, communication, and resettlement among non-elite individuals and groups has raised questions about the nature and form of ‘bottom-up’ or ‘vernacular’ cosmopolitanism. This article explores the ways in which the experiences of a group of young people (12–15 years of age) in south-western Sydney contribute to shared practices of membership in a culturally differentiated society. On one level, these young people display a de facto vernacular cosmopolitanism through familial experiences of migration. However, the article shows how these young people often move within socially and culturally bounded communities defined by ethnicity, language, socio-economic status, shaped by desires for safety, support and belonging, and maintained by propinquity, religion and the persistence of traditional expectations and patterns around gender and inter-marriage.

Integrated modelling of cost-effective siting and operation of flow-control infrastructure for river ecosystem conservation

Wetland and floodplain ecosystems along many regulated rivers are highly stressed, primarily due to a lack of environmental flows of appropriate magnitude, frequency, duration, and timing to support ecological functions. In the absence of increased environmental flows, the ecological health of river ecosystems can be enhanced by the operation of existing and new flow-control infrastructure (weirs and regulators) to return more natural environmental flow regimes to specific areas. However, determining the optimal investment and operation strategies over time is a complex task due to several factors including the multiple environmental values attached to wetlands, spatial and temporal heterogeneity and dependencies, nonlinearity, and time-dependent decisions. This makes for a very large number of decision variables over a long planning horizon. The focus of this paper is the development of a nonlinear integer programming model that accommodates these complexities. The mathematical objective aims to return the natural flow regime of key components of river ecosystems in terms of flood timing, flood duration, and interflood period. We applied a 2-stage recursive heuristic using tabu search to solve the model and tested it on the entire South Australian River Murray floodplain. We conclude that modern meta-heuristics can be used to solve the very complex nonlinear problems with spatial and temporal dependencies typical of environmental flow allocation in regulated river ecosystems. The model has been used to inform the investment in, and operation of, flow-control infrastructure in the South Australian River Murray.

X4 and R5 HIV-1 have distinct post-entry requirements for uracil DNA glycosylase during infection of primary cells

It has been assumed that R5 and X4 HIV utilize similar strategies to support viral cDNA synthesis post viral entry. In this study, we provide evidence to show that R5 and X4 HIV have distinct requirements for host cell uracil DNA glycosylase (UNG2) during the early stage of infection. UNG2 has been previously implicated in HIV infection, but its precise role remains controversial. In this study we show that, although UNG2 is highly expressed in different cell lines, UNG2 levels are low in the natural host cells of HIV. Short interfering RNA knockdown of endogenous UNG2 in primary cells showed that UNG2 is required for R5 but not X4 HIV infection and that this requirement is bypassed when HIV enters the target cell via vesicular stomatitis virus envelope-glycoprotein-mediated endocytosis. We also show that short interfering RNA knockdown of UNG2 in virus-producing primary cells leads to defective R5 HIV virions that are unable to complete viral cDNA synthesis. Quantitative PCR analysis revealed that endogenous UNG2 levels are transiently up-regulated post HIV infection, and this increase in UNG2 mRNA is ∼10–20 times higher in R5 versus X4 HIV-infected cells. Our data show that both virion-associated UNG2 and HIV infection-induced UNG2 expression are critical for reverse transcription during R5 but not X4 HIV infection. More importantly, we have made the novel observation that R5 and X4 HIV have distinct host cell factor requirements and differential capacities to induce gene expression during the early stages of infection. These differences may result from activation of distinct signaling cascades and/or infection of divergent T-lymphocyte subpopulations.

An antiviral response directed by PKR phosphorylation of the RNA helicase A

The double-stranded RNA-activated protein kinase R (PKR) is a key regulator of the innate immune response. Activation of PKR during viral infection culminates in phosphorylation of the α subunit of the eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2 (eIF2α) to inhibit protein translation. A broad range of regulatory functions has also been attributed to PKR. However, as few additional PKR substrates have been identified, the mechanisms remain unclear. Here, PKR is shown to interact with an essential RNA helicase, RHA. Moreover, RHA is identified as a substrate for PKR, with phosphorylation perturbing the association of the helicase with double-stranded RNA (dsRNA). Through this mechanism, PKR can modulate transcription, as revealed by its ability to prevent the capacity of RHA to catalyze transactivating response (TAR)–mediated type 1 human immunodeficiency virus (HIV-1) gene regulation. Consequently, HIV-1 virions packaged in cells also expressing the decoy RHA peptides subsequently had enhanced infectivity. The data demonstrate interplay between key components of dsRNA metabolism, both connecting RHA to an important component of innate immunity and delineating an unanticipated role for PKR in RNA metabolism.

Underlying neurobiology and clinical correlates of mania status after subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation in Parkinson's Disease : a review of the literature

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a novel and effective surgical intervention for refractory Parkinson's disease (PD). The authors review the current literature to identify the clinical correlates associated with subthalamic nucleus (STN) DBS-induced hypomania/mania in PD patients. Ventromedial electrode placement has been most consistently implicated in the induction of STN DBS-induced mania. There is some evidence of symptom amelioration when electrode placement is switched to a more dorsolateral contact. Additional clinical correlates may include unipolar stimulation, higher voltage (>3 V), male sex, and/or early-onset PD. STN DBS-induced psychiatric adverse events emphasize the need for comprehensive psychiatric presurgical evaluation and follow-up in PD patients. Animal studies and prospective clinical research, combined with advanced neuroimaging techniques, are needed to identify clinical correlates and underlying neurobiological mechanisms of STN DBS-induced mania. Such working models would serve to further our understanding of the neurobiological underpinnings of mania and contribute valuable new insight toward development of future DBS mood-stabilization therapies.