Roles, responsibilities and scope of practice: describing the ‘state of play’ for infection control professionals in Australia and New Zealand

Background In the past decade the policy and practice context for infection control in Australia and New Zealand has changed, with infection control professionals (ICPs) now involved in the implementation of a large number of national strategies. Little is known about the current ICP workforce and what they do in their day-to-day positions. The aim of this study was to describe the ICP workforce in Australia and New Zealand with a focus on roles, responsibilities, and scope of practice. Methods A cross-sectional design using snowball recruitment was employed. ICPs completed an anonymous web-based survey with questions on demographics; qualifications held; level of experience; workplace characteristics; and roles and responsibilities. Chi-squared tests were used to determine if any factors were associated with how often activities were undertaken. Results A total of 300 ICPs from all Australian states and territories and New Zealand participated. Most ICPs were female (94%); 53% were aged over 50, and 93% were employed in registered nursing roles. Scope of practice was diverse: all ICPs indicated they undertook a large number and variety of activities as part of their roles. Some activities were undertaken on a less frequent basis by sole practitioners and ICPs in small teams. Conclusion This survey provides useful information on the current education, experience levels and scope of practice of ICPs in Australia and New Zealand. Work is now required to establish the best mechanisms to support and potentially streamline scope of practice, so that infection-control practice is optimised.

Theory of the mixed valent state

After briefly discussing the question of a distinct mixed valent state and theoretical models for it, the area of greatest theoretical success, namely the mixed valent impurity, is reviewed. Applications to spectroscopy, energetics and Hall effect are then putlined. The independent impurity approximation is inadequate for many properties of the bulk system, which depend on lattice coherence. A recent auxiliary or slave boson approach with a simple mean field limit and fluctuation corrections is summarized. Finally the mixed valent semiconductor is discussed as an outstanding problem.

A study in Crystal engineering: Solid-state photodimerization of chloro- and methyl-coumarins

Use of chloro and methyl substitution in crystal engineering and their interchangeability in terms of mode of packing have been examined in a series of substituted coumarins. Photoreactivity in the solid state lists been correlated with the crystallograhic structures of these coumarins. The packing of chloro-substituted aromatic compounds has been investigated by analysing the arrangement of 132 compounds. Results substantiate the use of the chloro group as a steering agent and show that the chloro and methyl groups are not always interchangeable.

Porn, censorship, classification and free speech: Global paradoxes in the governance of media content

In this presentation, I reflect upon the global landscape surrounding the governance and classification of media content, at a time of rapid change in media platforms and services for content production and distribution, and contested cultural and social norms. I discuss the tensions and contradictions arising in the relationship between national, regional and global dimensions of media content distribution, as well as the changing relationships between state and non-state actors. These issues will be explored through consideration of issues such as: recent debates over film censorship; the review of the National Classification Scheme conducted by the Australian Law Reform Commission; online controversies such as the future of the Reddit social media site; and videos posted online by the militant group ISIS.

Violence against the adolescents of Kolkata: A study in relation to the socio-economic background and mental health

This study attempts to understand the nature of violence suffered by the adolescents of Kolkata (erstwhile Calcutta) and to identify its relation with their socio-economic background and mental health variables such as anxiety, adjustment, and self-concept. It is a cross-sectional study covering a total of 370 adolescents (182 boys and 188 girls) from six higher secondary schools in Kolkata. The data was gathered by way of a semi-structured questionnaire and three standard psychological tests. Findings revealed that 52.4%, 25.1%, and 12.7% adolescents suffered psychological, physical, and sexual violence in the last year. Older adolescents (aged 17–18 years) suffered more psychological violence than the younger ones (15–16 years) (p < 0.05). Sixty nine (18.6%) adolescent students stood witness to violence between adult members in the family. More than three-fifth (61.9%) adolescents experienced at least one type of violence, while one-third (32.7%) experienced physical or sexual violence or both. Whatever its nature is, violence leaves a scar on the mental health of the victims. Those who have been through regular psychological violence reported high anxiety, emotional adjustment problem, and low self-concept. Sexual abuse left a damaging effect on self-concept (p < 0.05), while psychological violence or the witnessing of violence prompted high anxiety scores (p < 0.05), poor emotional adjustment (p < 0.05), and low self-concept (p < 0.05). This study stresses the need to provide individual counselling services to the maltreated adolescents of Kolkata so that their psychological traumas can heal and that they can move on in life with new hopes and dreams.

Correction factors for dynamic state estimation of aggregated generators

This paper presents an approach for dynamic state estimation of aggregated generators by introducing a new correction factor for equivalent inter-area power flows. The spread of generators from the center of inertia of each area is summarized by the correction term α on the equivalent power flow between the areas and is applied to the identification and estimation process. A nonlinear time varying Kalman filter is applied to estimate the equivalent angles and velocities of coherent areas by reducing the effect of local modes on the estimated states. The approach is simulated on two test systems and the results show the effect of the correction factor and the performance of the state estimation by estimating the inter-area dynamics of the system.

A solid state pulsed NMR spectrometer

A 10 MHz pulsed NMR spectrometer, built using mostly solid state devices, is described. The pulse programmer provides 2-pulse, 3-pulse, saturation burst and Carr-Purcell sequences both in repetitive and manual modes of operation. The transmitter has a maximum power output of ∼ 2 kW with a 75 Ω output impedance termination. The total gain of the receiver system is around 120 dB with a minimum band width of 2 MHz. The recovery time of the receiver is ∼ 7 µsec. A two-channel boxcar integrator capable of working in the single channel, differential and double boxcar modes provides signal to noise ratio improvement. The sensitivity and the linearity of the boxcar integrator are ∼ 2 mV and ∼ 0.1% respectively.

On a linear steady-state system of equations in microcontinuum fluid mechanics

Galerkin representations and integral representations are obtained for the linearized system of coupled differential equations governing steady incompressible flow of a micropolar fluid. The special case of 2-dimensional Stokes flows is then examined and further representation formulae as well as asymptotic expressions, are generated for both the microrotation and velocity vectors. With the aid of these formulae, the Stokes Paradox for micropolar fluids is established.

Romantic terrorism? Survivor narratives of psychological and emotional tactics of domestic violence

This paper draws on the theoretical arguments outlined in Hayes (2014) to frame critical analyses of two real life domestic violence narratives. The authors are both academic criminologists and victims/survivors of domestic violence, but within differing contexts – one a conventional heterosexual relationship, the other a female same-sex relationship. Their experiences are intertwined in an extensive collaborative auto-ethnographic analysis that spans seven years of working and socialising together, in which each provided a sounding board and support for the other. The analysis therefore documents two personal journeys. The academic and theoretical are intertwined with the personal and subjective to elicit an evocative and yet empirically validated study. The theoretical underpinnings of romantic love distortion, misogyny and sexism are used to frame these experiences of domestic violence and the differing sexualities of the authors provide a rich context for exploring the ways in which domestic violence victimisation experiences are impacted by gender, sexuality, and heteronormative discourses of love, sex and relationships.

Steady state design of a sequence of sparger reactors

Abstract is not available.

A detailed study of Li-DNA fibres at various salt concentrations reveals a non-helical B-DNA and a possible similarity of solution and solid state structures

A thorough investigation of salt concentration dependence of lithium DNA fibres is made using X-ray diffraction. While for low salt the C-form pattern is obtained, crystalline B-type diffraction patterns result on increasing the salt concentration. The salt content in the gel (from which fibres are drawn) is estimated by equilibrium dialysis using the Donnan equilibrium principle. The salt range giving the best crystalline B pattern is determined. It is found that in this range meridional reflections occur on the fourth and sixth layer lines. In addition, the tenth layer meridian is absent at a particular salt concentration. These results strongly suggest the presence of non-helical features in the DNA molecule. Preliminary analysis of the diffraction patterns indicates a structural variability within the B-form itself. Further, the possibility of the structural parameters of DNA being similar in solid state and in solution is discussed.

Making More from Sheep Phase II : MMfS State Coordination – Queensland

Making More from Sheep (MMfS) is a majority market extension program funded by Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) and Australian Wool Innovation (AWI). Phase II of MMfS commenced in Queensland with a business planning process in October 2010 and delivery from November 2010 until November 2013. Mr Tony Hamilton of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) was initially the State Coordinator with responsibility for planning, project implementation, monitoring and evaluation. He was replaced by Ms Nicole Sallur from DAFF towards the end of the project. Delivery involving partner organisations provided best practice management information and tools to sheep producers with target Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) exceeded across all three tiers of engagement category. 31 events were delivered to 551 participants. Satisfaction and value scores averaged across all events measured 8.7 and 8.2 respectively. Operational recommendations have been included in the report.

State Dependent Attempt Rate Modeling of Single Cell IEEE 802.11 WLANs with Homogeneous Nodes and Poisson Arrivals

Analytical models of IEEE 802.11-based WLANs are invariably based on approximations, such as the well-known mean-field approximations proposed by Bianchi for saturated nodes. In this paper, we provide a new approach for modeling the situation when the nodes are not saturated. We study a State Dependent Attempt Rate (SDAR) approximation to model M queues (one queue per node) served by the CSMA/CA protocol as standardized in the IEEE 802.11 DCF. The approximation is that, when n of the M queues are non-empty, the attempt probability of the n non-empty nodes is given by the long-term attempt probability of n saturated nodes as provided by Bianchi's model. This yields a coupled queue system. When packets arrive to the M queues according to independent Poisson processes, we provide an exact model for the coupled queue system with SDAR service. The main contribution of this paper is to provide an analysis of the coupled queue process by studying a lower dimensional process and by introducing a certain conditional independence approximation. We show that the numerical results obtained from our finite buffer analysis are in excellent agreement with the corresponding results obtained from ns-2 simulations. We replace the CSMA/CA protocol as implemented in the ns-2 simulator with the SDAR service model to show that the SDAR approximation provides an accurate model for the CSMA/CA protocol. We also report the simulation speed-ups thus obtained by our model-based simulation.

Solid state and solution conformation of Boc-L-Met-Aib-L-Phe-OMe. Beta-turn conformation of a sequence related to an active chemotactic peptide analog

The conformation of the peptide Boc-L-Met-Aib-L-Phe-OMe has been studied in the solid state and solution by X-ray diffraction and 1H n.m.r., respectively. The peptide differs only in the N-terminal protecting group from the biologically active chemotactic peptide analog formyl-L-Met-Aib-L-Phe-OMe. The molecules adopt a type-II beta-turn in the solid state with Met and Aib as the corner residues (phi Met = -51.8 degrees, psi Met = 139.5 degrees, phi Aib = 58.1 degrees, psi Aib = 37.0 degrees). A single, weak 4----1 intramolecular hydrogen bond is observed between the Boc CO and Phe NH groups (N---O 3.25 A, N-H---O 128.4 degrees). 1H n.m.r. studies, using solvent and temperature dependencies of NH chemical shifts and paramagnetic radical induced line broadening of NH resonances, suggest that the Phe NH is solvent shielded in CDCl3 and (CD3)2SO. Nuclear Overhauser effects observed between Met C alpha H and Aib NH protons provide evidence of the occurrence of Met-Aib type-II beta-turns in these solvents.