Disjecta: Material representations of an Indigenous and immigrant cultural legacy

This practice-led research explores family history and the on-going influence of cultural legacy on the individual and the artist. Homi Bhabha theorises that identity vacillates through society, shifting and changing form to create disjunctive historical spaces – spaces of slippage that allow for new narratives and understandings to occur. Using the notion of disjuncture that became apparent in this research, the practice outcomes seek to visualise my families' sometimes-occulted history at the intersection of euro-centric and Indigenous ideologies. Researched archival materials, government documents, interviews, collected objects and family photo-albums became primary source data for studio-based explorations. Scanners, glitch apps and photo-hacking were used to navigate through these materials, providing opportunities for photographic punctum and creating metaphors for the connections and disconnections that shape our sense of self.

Collective land system in China: Congenital flaw or acquired irrational weakness?

With the level of urbanization in China now exceeding 50%, its collective rural land system is under increasing pressure, creating conditions in which there is increasing conflict between the efficient use of land for agricultural purposes and its retention as security for the rural population. This paper first examines the fundamental nature of China's collective land system by analyzing the collectivization history of China, then provides a comprehensive appraisal of the strengths and weaknesses of the collective land system's role in history and the challenges it faces in modern times. The main changes needed for the current collective system are identified as (1) the establishment of a new transfer mechanism for potential collective construction land, (2) the completion of land rights verification and consolidation work, and (3) the endowment of villagers with more rights to enjoy the distribution of land incremental value. The paper's main contribution is to question the relevance of collective rural land system in contemporary China, where a shift is now taking place from one of pure economic development to one involving more social concerns, and propose potential viable amendments to integrate the need for both perspectives.

LED lighting design strategies to enhance window appearance and increase energy savings in daylit office spaces

Vertical windows are the most common and simplest method to introduce daylight to interior spaces of office buildings, while also providing a view and connection to the outside. However, high contrast ratios between windows and surrounding surfaces can cause visual discomfort for occupants and can negatively influence their health and productivity. Consequently, building occupants may try to adapt their working environment through closing blinds and turning on lights in order to improve indoor visual comfort. Such interventions defeat the purpose of daylight harvesting systems and can increase the forecast electric lighting consumption in buildings that include such systems. A simple strategy to prevent these problematic consequences is to reduce the luminance contrasts presented by the window wall by increasing the luminance of areas surrounding the window through the sparing use of energy-efficient supplementary lighting, such light emitting diodes (LEDs). This paper presents the result of a pilot study in typical office in Brisbane, Australia that tests the effectiveness of a supplementary LED lighting system. The study shows an improvement in the appraisal of the visual environment is achieved using the supplementary system, along with up to 88% reductions in luminance contrast at the window wall. Also observed is a 36% reduction in the likelihood of user interventions that would increase energy usage. These results are used as the basis of an annual energy simulation of the test office and indicate that supplementary systems could be used to save energy beyond what is typically realised in side lit office spaces.

Improving the impact of luminance contrast on the window appearance in a conventional office room: Using supplementary lighting strategies

High contrast ratios between windows and surrounding surfaces could cause reduced visibility or discomfort for occupants. Consequently, building users may choose to intervene in lighting conditions through closing blinds and turning on the lamps in order to enhance indoor visual comfort. Such interventions increase projected electric lighting use in buildings. One simple method to prevent these problematic issues is increasing the luminance of the areas surrounding to the bright surface of windows through the use of energy-efficient supplementary lighting, such Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs). This paper reports on the results of a pilot study in conventional office in Brisbane, Australia. The outcomes of this study indicated that a supplementary LED system of approximately 18 W could reduce the luminance contrast on the window wall from values in the order of 117:1 to 33:1. In addition, the results of this experiment suggested that this supplementary strategy could increase the subjective scale appraisal of window appearance by approximately 33%, as well as reducing the likelihood of users’ intention to turn on the ceiling lights by about 27%. It could also diminish the likelihood of occupants’ intention to move the blind down by more than 90%.

The effectiveness of interventions for improving the research literacy of nurses: A systematic review

Background Internationally, a considerable body of research exists examining why nurses do not use evidence in practice. Consistently, the research finds that lack of knowledge about research or discomfort with understanding research terminology are among the chief reasons given. Research education is commonly included in undergraduate nursing degree programs, but this does not seem to translate into a strong understanding of research following graduation, or an ability to use it in practice. Aim The objective of this review was to identify the effectiveness of workplace, tertiary-level educational, or other interventions designed to improve or increase postregistration nurses’understanding of research literature and ability to critically interact with research literature with the aim of promoting the use of research evidence in practice in comparison to no intervention, other intervention, or usual practice. Methods A wide range of databases were searched for quantitative studies of registered nurses receiving educational interventions designed to increase or improve their understanding of research literature in tertiary or workplace settings. Two reviewers working independently critically appraised the relevant papers and extracted the data using Joanna Briggs Institute instruments. Data are presented as a narrative summary as no meta-analysis was possible. Results Searching identified 4,545 potentially relevant papers, and after the sifting of titles and abstracts, 96 papers were selected for retrieval. On examination of full-text versions, 10 of the 96 retrieved papers were found to meet the inclusion criteria. Included studies were low to moderate quality. Interactive or activity-based learning seems to be effective in terms of improving research knowledge, critical appraisal ability, and research self-efficacy. Utilizing a program with a strong base in an appropriate theory also seems to be associated with greater effectiveness, particularly for workplace interventions. Linking Evidence to Action The included studies strongly favored interactive interventions, and those utilizing theory in their construction. Therefore, these types of interventions should be implemented to improve the effectiveness of research education for nurses as well as their research literacy.

On the mathematical modeling of wound healing angiogenesis in skin as a reaction-transport process

Over the last 30 years, numerous research groups have attempted to provide mathematical descriptions of the skin wound healing process. The development of theoretical models of the interlinked processes that underlie the healing mechanism has yielded considerable insight into aspects of this critical phenomenon that remain difficult to investigate empirically. In particular, the mathematical modeling of angiogenesis, i.e., capillary sprout growth, has offered new paradigms for the understanding of this highly complex and crucial step in the healing pathway. With the recent advances in imaging and cell tracking, the time is now ripe for an appraisal of the utility and importance of mathematical modeling in wound healing angiogenesis research. The purpose of this review is to pedagogically elucidate the conceptual principles that have underpinned the development of mathematical descriptions of wound healing angiogenesis, specifically those that have utilized a continuum reaction-transport framework, and highlight the contribution that such models have made toward the advancement of research in this field. We aim to draw attention to the common assumptions made when developing models of this nature, thereby bringing into focus the advantages and limitations of this approach. A deeper integration of mathematical modeling techniques into the practice of wound healing angiogenesis research promises new perspectives for advancing our knowledge in this area. To this end we detail several open problems related to the understanding of wound healing angiogenesis, and outline how these issues could be addressed through closer cross-disciplinary collaboration.

Building an evaluation instrument for China's hospital emergency preparedness: A systematic review of preparedness instruments

Objectives: The aim of this report is to identify from the literature common themes relating to the concept of hospital preparedness for emergencies to develop an agreed framework for evaluation. Method: A systematic literature search identified appropriate articles for critical appraisal. A meta-ethnography approach was used to synthesize the findings, using both reciprocal translation and line-of-argument synthesis. Results: From an initial 2162 articles, we identified 13 articles that specifically addressed the aims of this review and formed the basis of the intended analysis. Conclusion: Hospital emergency preparedness is essential for effective disaster relief. Developing a systematic and structured methodology is necessary to assess hospital preparedness. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness: 2014:0:1-9)

QUT’s research data storage solutions: A launchpad for research journeys

This poster presents key features of how QUT’s integrated research data storage and management services work with researchers through their own individual or team research life cycle. By understanding the characteristics of research data, and the long-term need to store this data, QUT has provided resources and tools that support QUT’s goal of being a research intensive institute. Key to successful delivery and operation has been the focus upon researchers’ individual needs and the collaboration between providers, in particular, Information Technology Services, High Performance Computing and Research Support, and QUT Library. QUT’s Research Data Storage service provides all QUT researchers (staff and Higher Degree Research students (HDRs)) with a secure data repository throughout the research data lifecycle. Three distinct storage areas provide for raw research data to be acquired, project data to be worked on, and published data to be archived. Since the service was launched in late 2014, it has provided research project teams from all QUT faculties with acquisition, working or archival data space. Feedback indicates that the storage suits the unique needs of researchers and their data. As part of the workflow to establish storage space for researchers, Research Support Specialists and Research Data Librarians consult with researchers and HDRs to identify data storage requirements for projects and individual researchers, and to select and implement the most suitable data storage services and facilities. While research can be a journey into the unknown[1], a plan can help navigate through the uncertainty. Intertwined in the storage provision is QUT’s Research Data Management Planning tool. Launched in March 2015, it has already attracted 273 QUT staff and 352 HDR student registrations, and over 620 plans have been created (2/10/2015). Developed in collaboration with Office of Research Ethics and Integrity (OREI), uptake of the plan has exceeded expectations.

New Curriculum History

"Rereading the historical record indicates that it is no longer so easy to argue that history is simply prior to its forms. Since the mid-1990s a new wave of research has formed around wider debates in the humanities and social sciences, such as decentering the subject, new analytics of power, reconsideration of one-dimensional time and three-dimensional space, attention to beyond-archival sources, alterity, Otherness, the invisible, and more. In addition, broader and contradictory impulses around the question of the nation - transnational, post-national, proto-national, and neo-national movements – have unearthed a new series of problematics and focused scholarly attention on traveling discourses, national imaginaries, and less formal processes of socialization, bonding, and subjectification. New Curriculum History challenges prior occlusions in the field, building upon and departing from previous waves of scholarship, extending the focus beyond the insularity of public schooling, the traditional framework of the self-contained nation-state, and the psychology of the schooled individual. Drawing on global studies, historical sociology, postcolonial studies, critical race theory, visual culture theory, disability studies, psychoanalytics, Cambridge school structuralisms, poststructuralisms, and infra- and transnational approaches the volume holds together not despite but because of differences and incommensurabilities in rereading historical records. Audience: Scholars and students in curriculum studies, history, education, philosophy, and cultural studies will be interested in these chapters for their methodological range, their innovations and their deterritorializations."--publisher website

Organisational driving safety systems analysis: Fleet safety situational issues and system gaps

The identification of safety hazards and risks and their associated control measures provides the foundation for any safety program and essentially determines the scope, content and complexity of an effective occupational health and safety management system. In the case of work-related road safety (WRRS), there is a gap within current knowledge, research and practice regarding the holistic assessment of WRRS safety systems and practice. In order to mitigate this gap, a multi-level process tool for assessing WRRS safety systems was developed from extensive consultation, practice and informed by theoretical models and frameworks. Data collection for the Organisational Driving Safety Systems Analysis (ODSSA) tool utilised a case study methodology and included multiple information sources: such as documents, archival records, interviews, direct observations, participant observations, and physical artefacts. Previous trials and application of the ODSSA has indicated that the tool is applicable to a wide range of organisational fleet environments and settings. This paper reports on the research results and effectiveness of the ODSSA tool to assess WRRS systems across a large organisation that recently underwent considerable organisational change, including amalgamation of multiple organisations. The outcomes of this project identified considerable differences in the degree by which the organisation addressed WRRS across their vehicle fleet operations and provided guidelines for improving organisations’ WRRS systems. The ODSSA tool was pivotal in determining WRRS system deficiencies and provided a platform to inform mitigation and improvement strategies.

The effect of ginger (Zingiber officinale) on platelet aggregation: A systematic literature review

Background The potential effect of ginger on platelet aggregation is a widely-cited concern both within the published literature and to clinicians; however, there has been no systematic appraisal of the evidence to date. Methods Using the PRISMA guidelines, we systematically reviewed the results of clinical and observational trials regarding the effect of ginger on platelet aggregation in adults compared to either placebo or baseline data. Studies included in this review stipulated the independent variable was a ginger preparation or isolated ginger compound, and used measures of platelet aggregation as the primary outcome. Results Ten studies were included, comprising eight clinical trials and two observational studies. Of the eight clinical trials, four reported that ginger reduced platelet aggregation, while the remaining four reported no effect. The two observational studies also reported mixed findings. Discussion Many of the studies appraised for this review had moderate risks of bias. Methodology varied considerably between studies, notably the timeframe studied, dose of ginger used, and the characteristics of subjects recruited (e.g. healthy vs. patients with chronic diseases). Conclusion The evidence that ginger affects platelet aggregation and coagulation is equivocal and further study is needed to definitively address this question.

The first episode of psychosis: The experience of relatives

Objective The aim was to determine the extent of and the correlates of the distress and impact of care families of patients with first episode psychosis were experiencing when they first came for treatment. Method Subjects were 238 individuals who had presented with a first episode of psychosis and their family members. Family members were assessed with the Psychological General Well-Being Scale, and the Experience of Caregiving Inventory. Patient data included assessment of positive and negative symptoms, depression, quality of life, and substance use. Results Family members of these first-episode patients were experiencing distress and difficulties. It was the family's appraisal of the impact of the illness that was associated with their psychological well-being. Conclusion As the majority of these first episode families are keen to be involved early and have engaged in an intervention programme, the next step should be an evaluation of their involvement to determine if it is effective.

Given and News : Media discourse and the construction of community on national days

National anniversaries such as independence days demand precise coordination in order to make citizens change their routines to forego work and spend the day at rest or at festivities that provide social focus and spectacle. The complex social construction of national days is taken for granted and operates as a given in the news media, which are the main agents responsible for coordinating these planned disruptions of normal routines. This study examines the language used in the news to construct the rather unnatural idea of national days and to align people in observing them. The data for the study consist of news stories about the Fourth of July in the New York Times, sampled over 150 years and are supplemented by material from other sources and other countries. The study is multidimensional, applying concepts from pragmatics (speech acts, politeness, information structure), systemic functional linguistics (the interpersonal metafunction and the Appraisal framework) and cognitive linguistics (frames, metaphor) as well as journalism and communications to arrive at an interdisciplinary understanding of how resources for meaning are used by writers and readers of the news stories. The analysis shows that on national anniversaries, nations tend to be metaphorized as persons having birthdays, to whom politeness should be shown. The face of the nation is to be respected in the sense of identifying the nation's interests as one's own (positive face) and speaking of citizen responsibilities rather than rights (negative face). Resources are available for both positive and negative evaluations of events and participants and the newspaper deftly changes footings (Goffman 1981) to demonstrate the required politeness while also heteroglossically allowing for a certain amount of disattention and even protest - within limits, for state holidays are almost never construed as Bakhtinian festivals, as they tend to reaffirm the hierarchy rather than invert it. Celebrations are evaluated mainly for impressiveness, and for the essentially contested quality of appropriateness, which covers norms of predictability, size, audience response, aesthetics, and explicit reference to the past. Events may also be negatively evaluated as dull ("banal") or inauthentic ("hoopla"). Audiences are evaluated chiefly in terms of their enthusiasm, or production of appropriate displays for emotional response, for national days are supposed to be occasions of flooding-out of nationalistic feeling. By making these evaluations, the newspaper reinforces its powerful position as an independent critic, while at the same time playing an active role in the construction and reproduction of emotional order embodied in "the nation's birthday." As an occasion for mobilization and demonstrations of power, national days may be seen to stand to war in the relation of play to fighting (Bateson 1955). Evidence from the newspaper's coverage of recent conflicts is adduced to support this analysis. In the course of the investigation, methods are developed for analyzing large collections of newspaper content, particularly topical soft news and feature materials that have hitherto been considered less influential and worthy of study than so-called hard news. In his work on evaluation in newspaper stories, White (1998) proposed that the classic hard news story is focused on an event that threatens the social order, but news of holidays and celebrations in general does not fit this pattern, in fact its central event is a reproduction of the social order. Thus in the system of news values (Galtung and Ruge 1965), national holiday news draws on "ground" news values such as continuity and predictability rather than "figure" news values such as negativity and surprise. It is argued that this ground helps form a necessary space for hard news to be seen as important, similar to the way in which the information structure of language is seen to rely on the regular alternation of given and new information (Chafe 1994).

Englanniksiko maailmanmaineeseen? : Suomalaisen proosakaunokirjallisuuden kääntäminen englanniksi Isossa-Britanniassa vuosina 1945 2003

This doctoral thesis focuses on the translation of Finnish prose literature into English in the United Kingdom between 1945 and 2003. The subject is approached using translation archaeology, interviews, archival material, detailed text analysis and reception material. The main theoretical framework is Descriptive Translation Studies, and certain sociological theories (Bourdieu s field theory, actor-network theory) are also used. After charting the published translations, two periods of time are selected for closer analysis: an earlier period from 1955 to 1959, involving eight translations, and a later one from 1990 to 2003, with a total of six translations. While these translation numbers may appear low, they are actually rather high in proportion to the total number of 28 one-author literary prose translations published in the UK over the approximately 60 years being studied. The two periods of time, the 1950s and 1990s, are compared in terms of the sociological context of translation activity, the reception of translations and their textual features. The comparisons show that the main changes in translation practice between these two periods are increased completeness (translations in the 1950s group often being shortened by hundreds of pages) and lesser use of indirect translation via an intermediary language (about half of the 1950s translations having been translated via Swedish). Otherwise, translation practices have not changed much: except for large omissions, which are far more frequent in the 1950s, variation within each group is larger than between groups. As to the sociological context, the main changes are an increase in long-term institution-level contacts and an increase in the promotion of foreign translation rights by Finnish publishing houses. This is in contrast to the 1950s when translation rights were mainly sold through personal contacts by individual authors and translators. The reception of translations is difficult to study because of scarce material. However, the 1950s translations were aggressively marketed and therefore obtained far more reviews and reprints than the 1990s translations. Several of the 1950s books, mostly historical novels by Mika Waltari, were mainstream bestsellers at the time, while current translations are frequently made for niche markets. The thesis introduces ample new material on the translation of Finnish prose literature into English in the UK. The results are also relevant to translation from a minority literature into a majority one. As to translation theory, they lead us to question the social nature of translation norms and the assumption of a static target culture. The translations analysed here are located in a very fragmented interculture and gain a stronger position in the Finnish culture than in the British one.

Arkkitehti Aarne Ervin kaupunkisuunnittelu pääkaupunkiseudulla : Suomalaisen suurkaupungin kaavoitusta toisen maailmansodan jälkeen

The Modern City Planning of Architect Aarne Ervi in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area: The Planning of the Finnish Capital after the Second World War This study focuses on the city planning of architect Aarne Ervi (1910-1977) in the Helsinki metropolitan area, which includes the cities of Helsinki, Espoo, Kauniainen and Vantaa, from the 1940s to the end of the 1960s. Ervi succeeded in several major architectural competitions in Finland, acted as the main designer of the "New Town" of Tapiola and of the suburb of Vantaanpuisto in the metropolitan area, and worked as the first director of the city planning department of Helsinki from 1965-1969. This study belongs to the field of planning history in which the art historical study of architecture blends with the history of Finnish society. I examine architect Aarne Ervi and his city planning architecture through the concept of "modern". I link the theoretical literature of modernism in architecture and the modernization of society with historical documents and empirical archival research. I examine Ervi's professional career, the teamwork characteristic of his office, and the collegial community in which Ervi serves different vocational roles as an architect. The postwar development of planning legislation and of municipal and state planning organisations provides the necessary context for urban planning. I also discuss the municipal development of Espoo and Vantaa and the regionalization process that occured in Helsinki during the decades in question. The main results of this study relate to the collective and cooperative group nature of work in architectural design, to the introduction of an alternative approach to the question of modernism in Finnish architectural discourse, and to the post-war planning history of legislative and institutional organisations in Finland. Furthermore, the study includes new historical research about the city planning department of the city of Helsinki, the planning of Tapiola and Vantaanpuisto, and the operations of the main developers of these two suburban areas: the Asuntosäästäjät Society and the Asuntosäätiö Foundation.