Carrying capacity dashboard analyses : Australian case studies of populations scaled to place

In a globalised world, it makes sense to examine our demands on the landscape through the wide-angle lens of ecological footprint analysis. However, the important impetus towards a more localised societal system suggests a review of this approach and a return to its origins in carrying capacity assessment. The determination of whether we live within or beyond our carrying capacity is entirely scalar, with national, regional and local assessments dependent not only on the choices of the population but the capability of a landscape - at scale. The Carrying Capacity Dashboard, an openly accessible online modelling interface, has been developed for Australian conditions, facilitating analysis at various scales. Like ecological footprint analysis it allows users to test a variety of societal behaviours such as diet, consumption patterns, farming systems and ecological protection practices; but unlike the footprint approach, the results are uniquely tailored to place. This paper examines population estimates generated by the Carrying Capacity Dashboard. It compares results in various scales of analysis, from national to local. It examines the key behavioural choices influencing Australian carrying capacity estimates. For instance, the assumption that the consumption of red meat automatically lowers carrying capacity is examined and in some cases, debunked. Lastly, it examines the implications of implementing carrying capacity assessment globally, but not through a wide angle lens; rather, by examining the landscape one locality at a time.

Water lubricated bearings

The increasing ecological awareness and stringent requirements for environmental protection have led to the development of water lubricated bearings in many applications where oil was used as the lubricant. The chapter details the theoretical analysis to determine both the static and dynamic characteristics,including the stability (using both the linearised perturbation method and the nonlinear transient analysis) of multiple axial groove water lubricated bearings. Experimental measurements and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations by the Tribology research group at Queensland University of Technology,Australia and Manipal Institute of Technology, India, have highlighted a significant gap in the understanding of the flow phenomena and pressure conditions within the lubricating fluid. An attempt has been made to present a CFD approach to model fluid flow in the bearing with three equi-spaced axial grooves and supplied with water from one end of the bearing. Details of the experimental method used to measure the film pressure in the bearing are outlined. The lubricant is subjected to a velocity induced flow (as the shaft rotates) and a pressure induced flow (as the water is forced from one end of the bearing to the other). Results are presented for the circumferential and axial pressure distribution in the bearing clearance for different loads, speeds and supply pressures. The axial pressure profile along the axial groove located in the loaded part of the bearing is measured. The theoretical analysis shows that smaller the groove angle better will be the load-carrying capacity and stability of these bearings. Results are compared with experimentally measured pressure distributions.

Online multiple profile manager for eHealth information sharing

Online social networks connect millions of people around the globe. These electronic bonds make individuals comfortable with their behaviours. Such positive signs of sharing information is useful phenomena requires consideration to establish a socio-scientific effect. Recently, many web users have more than one social networking account. This means a user may hold multiple profiles which are stored in different Social Network Sites (SNNs). Maintaining these multiple online social network profiles is cumbersome and time-consuming [1]. In this paper we will propose a framework for the management of a user's multiple profiles. A demonstrator, called Multiple Profile Manager (MPM), will be showcased to illustrate how effective the framework will be.

Collaboration and competition on a Wiki : the praxis of online social learning to improve academic writing and research in under-graduate students

The number of internet users in Australia has been steadily increasing, with over 10.9 million people currently subscribed to an internet provider (ABS, 2011). Over the past year, the most avid users of the Internet were 15 – 24 year olds, with approximately 95% accessing the internet on a regular basis (ABS, Social Trends, 2011). While the internet, in particularly Web 2.0, has been described as fundamental to higher education students, social and leisure internet tools are also increasingly being used by these students to generate and maintain their social and professional networks and interactions (Duffy & Bruns, 2006). Rapid technological advancements have enabled greater and faster access to information for learning and education (Hemmi et al, 2009; Glassman & Kang, 2011). As such, we sought to integrate interactive, online social media into the assessment profile of a Public Health undergraduate cohort at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT). The aim of this exercise was to engage undergraduate students to both develop and showcase their research on a range of complex, contemporary health issues within the online forum of Wikispaces for review and critique by their peers. We applied Bandura’s Social Learning Theory (SLT) to analyse the interactive processes from which students developed deeper and more sustained learning, and via which their overall academic writing standards were enriched. This paper outlines the assessment task, and the students’ feedback on their learning outcomes in relation to the Attentional, Retentional, Motor Reproduction, and Motivational Processes outlined by Bandura in SLT. We conceptualise the findings in a theoretical model, and discuss the implications for this approach within the broader tertiary environment.

The Donald Mackay Churchill Fellowship to study methods of preventing and supporting victims of online fraud

Every day inboxes are being flooded with invitations to invest money in overseas schemes, notifications of overseas lottery wins and inheritances, as well as emails from banks and other institutions asking for customers to confirm information about their identity and account details. While these requests may seem outrageous, many believe the request to be true and respond, through the sending of money or personal details. This can have devastating consequences, financially, emotionally and physically. While enforcement action is important, greater success is likely to come in the area of prevention, which avoids victim losses in the first place. Considerable victim support is also required by victims who have suffered significant losses, in trying to get their lives back on track. This project examined fraud prevention strategies and support services for victims of online fraud across the United Kingdom, United States of America and Canada. While much work has already been undertaken in Queensland, there is considerable room for improvement and a great deal can be learnt from these overseas jurisdictions. There are several examples of innovative and effective responses, particularly in the area of victim support, that are highlighted throughout this report. It is advocated that Australia can continue to improve its position regarding the prevention and support of online fraud victims, by applying the knowledge and expertise learnt overseas to a local context.

Stability studies of HIV-1 Pr55gag virus-like particles made in insect cells after storage in various formulation media

Background: HIV-1 Pr55gag virus-like particles (VLPs) expressed by baculovirus in insect cells are considered to be a very promising HIV-1 vaccine candidate, as they have been shown to elicit broad cellular immune responses when tested in animals, particularly when used as a boost to DNA or BCG vaccines. However, it is important for the VLPs to retain their structure for them to be fully functional and effective. The medium in which the VLPs are formulated and the temperature at which they are stored are two important factors affecting their stability. FINDINGS We describe the screening of 3 different readily available formulation media (sorbitol, sucrose and trehalose) for their ability to stabilise HIV-1 Pr55gag VLPs during prolonged storage. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was done on VLPs stored at two different concentrations of the media at three different temperatures (4[degree sign]C, --20[degree sign]C and -70[degree sign]C) over different time periods, and the appearance of the VLPs was compared. VLPs stored in 15% trehalose at -70[degree sign]C retained their original appearance the most effectively over a period of 12 months. VLPs stored in 5% trehalose, sorbitol or sucrose were not all intact even after 1 month storage at the temperatures tested. In addition, we showed that VLPs stored under these conditions were able to be frozen and re-thawed twice before showing changes in their appearance. Conclusions Although the inclusion of other analytical tools are essential to validate these preliminary findings, storage in 15% trehalose at -70[degree sign]C for 12 months is most effective in retaining VLP stability.

Transient expression of Human papillomavirus type 16 L1 protein in Nicotiana benthamiana using an infectious tobamovirus vector

A Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV)-derived vector was used to express a native Human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV-16) L1 gene in Nicotiana benthamiana by means of infectious in vitro RNA transcripts inoculated onto N. benthamiana plants. HPV-16 L1 protein expression was quantitated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) after concentration of the plant extract. We estimated that the L1 product yield was 20-37 μg/kg of fresh leaf material. The L1 protein in the concentrated extract was antigenically characterised using the neutralising and conformation-specific Mabs H16:V5 and H16:E70, which bound to the plant-produced protein. Particles observed by transmission electron microscopy were mainly capsomers but virus-like particles (VLPs) similar to those produced in other systems were also present. Immunisation of rabbits with the concentrated plant extract induced a weak immune response. This is the first report of the successful expression of an HPV L1 gene in plants using a plant virus vector. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Inhibition of maize streak virus (MSV) replication by transient and transgenic expression of MSV replication-associated protein mutants

Maize streak disease is a severe agricultural problem in Africa and the development of maize genotypes resistant to the causal agent, Maize streak virus (MSV), is a priority. A transgenic approach to engineering MSV-resistant maize was developed and tested in this study. A pathogen-derived resistance strategy was adopted by using targeted deletions and nucleotide-substitution mutants of the multifunctional MSV replication-associated protein gene (rep). Various rep gene constructs were tested for their efficacy in limiting replication of wild-type MSV by co-bombardment of maize suspension cells together with an infectious genomic clone of MSV and assaying replicative forms of DNA by quantitative PCR. Digitaria sanguinalis, an MSV-sensitive grass species used as a model monocot, was then transformed with constructs that had inhibited virus replication in the transient-expression system. Challenge experiments using leafhopper-transmitted MSV indicated significant MSV resistance - from highly resistant to immune - in regenerated transgenic D. sanguinalis lines. Whereas regenerated lines containing a mutated full-length rep gene displayed developmental and growth defects, those containing a truncated rep gene both were fertile and displayed no growth defects, making the truncated gene a suitable candidate for the development of transgenic MSV-resistant maize. © 2007 SGM.

A rep-based hairpin inhibits replication of diverse maize streak virus isolates in a transient assay

Centre for High-Performance Computing, Rosebank, Cape Town, South Africa Maize streak disease, caused by the A strain of the African endemic geminivirus, maize streak mastrevirus (MSV-A), threatens the food security and livelihoods of subsistence farmers throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Using a well-established transient expression assay, this study investigated the potential of a spliceable-intron hairpin RNA (hpRNA) approach to interfere with MSV replication. Two strategies were explored: (i) an inverted repeat of a 662 bp region of the MSV replication-associated protein gene (rep), which is essential for virus replication and is therefore a good target for post-transcriptional gene silencing; and (ii) an inverted repeat of the viral long intergenic region (LIR), considered for its potential to trigger transcriptional silencing of the viral promoter region. After co-bombardment of cultured maize cells with each construct and an infectious partial dimer of the cognate virus genome (MSV-Kom), followed by viral replicativeform-specific PCR, it was clear that, whilst the hairpin rep construct (pHPrepDI662) completely inhibited MSV replication, the LIR hairpin construct was ineffective in this regard. In addition, pHPrepDI662 inhibited or reduced replication of six MSV-A genotypes representing the entire breadth of known MSV-A diversity. Further investigation by real-time PCR revealed that the pHPrepDI662 inverted repeat was 22-fold more effective at reducing virus replication than a construct containing the sense copy, whilst the antisense copy had no effect on replication when compared with the wild type. This is the first indication that an hpRNA strategy targeting MSV rep has the potential to protect transgenic. © 2011 SGM.

International students using online information resources to learn : complex experience and learning needs

This paper reports the findings of a qualitative study which investigated 25 international students’ use of online information resources for study purposes at two Australian universities. Using an expanded critical incident approach, the study viewed international students through an information literacy lens, as information-using learners. The findings are presented in two complementary parts: as a word picture that describes their whole experience of using online information resources to learn; and as a tabulated set of critical findings that summarises their associated information literacy learning needs. The word picture shows international students’ resource use as a complex interplay of eight inter-related elements: students; information-learning environment; interactions (with online resources); strengths-challenges; learning-help; affective responses; reflective responses; cultural-linguistic dimensions. In using online resources, the international students experience an array of strengths and challenges, and an apparent information literacy imbalance between their more developed information skills and less developed critical information use. The critical findings about information literacy needs provide a framework for developing an inclusive informed learning approach that responds to international students’ complex information using experiences and needs. While the study is situated in Australia, the findings are of potential interest to educators, information professionals and researchers worldwide who seek to support learning in culturally diverse higher education contexts.

Between formal and informal : the shakeout in China’s online video industry

While a rich body of literature in television and film studies and media policy studies has tended to focus on the media activities in the formal sector, we know much less about informal media activities, its influence on state policies, as well as the dynamics between the formal and the informal sectors. This article examines these issues with reference to a particularly revealing period following a large-scale government crackdown on peer-to-peer video sharing sites in China in 2008. By analyzing the aim and consequences of the state action, I point to the counter-productive effect in terms of cultural loss and the resurgence of offline piracy; and show the positive impact on forcing the informal into the formal sector, and pressuring the formal to innovate. Meanwhile, an increasing rapprochement between professional and user-created content leads to a new relationship between formal and informal sectors. This case demonstrates the importance of considering the dynamics between the two sectors. It also offers compelling evidence of the role of the informal sector in engendering state action, which in turn impacted on the co-evolution of the formal and the informal sectors.

A chance for diversity? Australian online journalism

Australia’s mainstream media landscape has long been recognised as highly limited – media ownership in the country has traditionally been concentrated in the hands of a very few, and (except for Sydney and Melbourne) it is common for major Australian cities to be served by only one local newspaper, usually produced by Rupert Murdoch’s News Ltd. This can be seen also to affect the quality and diversity of Australian journalism; additionally, the global decline of newspaper publishers’ revenues and overall adverse economic conditions exert further pressure on journalistic operations in the country. At the same time, and possibly in response to the increasing stresses on industrial journalism in the country and the implications they have for the quality of journalistic products, a vibrant and dynamic ecosystem of Australian industrial and citizen journalism publications has emerged online. Existing media organisations have built strong news brands online, while citizen journalists and political bloggers have given voice to issues, concerns, and opinions hitherto underrepresented in Australian mainstream journalism; of particular interest, however, is the increasing level of engagement and interaction between the two. While such interaction has been characterised by deep animosity at times (especially also in the context of the Australian federal election in November 2007), Australia has also seen the emergence and establishment of a number of new, intermediary online publications which act as spaces for public debate and analysis – from the public intellectualism of Online Opinion through the muckraking of Crikey to the progressive politics of New Matilda. The rise of social media as spaces for the discussion of news and politics further changes the media environment, potentially leading both to renewed conflict between professional and citizen journalists and to a greater level of engagement between journalists and audiences. Overall, then, such online developments offer a chance for a greater diversity of opinion and representation in Australian journalism, but also remain under a cloud from uncertain long-term business models and funding arrangements. This chapter outlines current trends in Australian online journalism, and speculates about their effect on the Australian news media landscape.

Pulse dynamics in a three-component system : stability and bifurcations

In this article, we analyze the stability and the associated bifurcations of several types of pulse solutions in a singularly perturbed three-component reaction-diffusion equation that has its origin as a model for gas discharge dynamics. Due to the richness and complexity of the dynamics generated by this model, it has in recent years become a paradigm model for the study of pulse interactions. A mathematical analysis of pulse interactions is based on detailed information on the existence and stability of isolated pulse solutions. The existence of these isolated pulse solutions is established in previous work. Here, the pulse solutions are studied by an Evans function associated to the linearized stability problem. Evans functions for stability problems in singularly perturbed reaction-diffusion models can be decomposed into a fast and a slow component, and their zeroes can be determined explicitly by the NLEP method. In the context of the present model, we have extended the NLEP method so that it can be applied to multi-pulse and multi-front solutions of singularly perturbed reaction-diffusion equations with more than one slow component. The brunt of this article is devoted to the analysis of the stability characteristics and the bifurcations of the pulse solutions. Our methods enable us to obtain explicit, analytical information on the various types of bifurcations, such as saddle-node bifurcations, Hopf bifurcations in which breathing pulse solutions are created, and bifurcations into travelling pulse solutions, which can be both subcritical and supercritical.

Predictive modelling : parents’ decision making to use online child health information to increase their understanding and/or diagnose or treat their child’s health

Abstract Background The quantum increases in home Internet access and available online health information with limited control over information quality highlight the necessity of exploring decision making processes in accessing and using online information, specifically in relation to children who do not make their health decisions. Objectives To understand the processes explaining parents’ decisions to use online health information for child health care. Methods Parents (N = 391) completed an initial questionnaire assessing the theory of planned behaviour constructs of attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioural control, as well as perceived risk, group norm, and additional demographic factors. Two months later, 187 parents completed a follow-up questionnaire assessing their decisions to use online information for their child’s health care, specifically to 1) diagnose and/or treat their child’s suspected medical condition/illness and 2) increase understanding about a diagnosis or treatment recommended by a health professional. Results Hierarchical multiple regression showed that, for both behaviours, attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioural control, (less) perceived risk, group norm, and (non) medical background were the significant predictors of intention. For parents’ use of online child health information, for both behaviours, intention was the sole significant predictor of behaviour. The findings explain 77% of the variance in parents’ intention to treat/diagnose a child health problem and 74% of the variance in their intentions to increase their understanding about child health concerns. Conclusions Understanding parents’ socio-cognitive processes that guide their use of online information for child health care is important given the increase in Internet usage and the sometimes-questionable quality of health information provided online. Findings highlight parents’ thirst for information; there is an urgent need for health professionals to provide parents with evidence-based child health websites in addition to general population education on how to evaluate the quality of online health information.

Mobile Q&A for enhancing online discussion

In this study, we explore the design and evaluation of a mobile online discussion system for motivating students to share their learning experiences. The system supports interaction with peers and academic staff anytime and anywhere using mobile devices. The application introduces a set of features that enables customisation for different purposes. This paper describes the application and explains the motivation for developing the application. We describe the methods and results of a case study that explores usage of the application among a small group of localised participants. Finally, we discuss the implications of this work and outline future areas of research and development.