Industry based rehabilitation and closure knowledge management system : scoping study

The Central Queensland Mine Rehabilitation Group (CQMRG) has hosted mine site rehabilitation inspections combined with technical workshops for more than 20 years. It was recognised at CQMRG's anniversary meeting in April 2013 that the vast body of knowledge held by rehabilitation and closure planning practitioners was being lost as senior rehabilitation experts retire from the industry. It was noted that even more knowledge could be readily lost unless a knowledge management platform was developed to capture, store and enable retrieval of this information. This loss of knowledge results in a significant cost to industry. This project was therefore undertaken to review tools which have the capability to gather the less formal knowledge as well as to make links to existing resources and bibliographic material. This scoping study evaluated eight alternative knowledge management systems to provide guidance on the best method of providing the industry with an up-to-date, good practice, knowledge management system for rehabilitation and closure practices, with capability for information sharing via a portal and discussion forum. This project provides guidance for a larger project which will implement the knowledge management system to meet the requirements of the CQMRG and be transferrable to other regions if applicable. It will also provide the opportunity to identify missing links between existing tools and their application. That is, users may not be aware of how these existing tools can be used to assist with mine rehabilitation planning and implementation and the development of a new platform will help to create those linkages. The outcomes of this project are directed toward providing access to a live repository of rehabilitation practice information which is Central Queensland coal mine-specific, namely: highlighting best practice activities, results of trials and innovative practices; updated legislative requirements; links to practices elsewhere; and informal anecdotal information relevant to particular sites which may be of assistance in the development of rehabilitation of new areas. Solutions to the rehabilitation of challenging spoils/soils will also be provided. The project will also develop a process which can be applied more broadly within the mining sector to other regions and other commodities. Providing a platform for uploading information and holding discussion forums which can be managed by a regional practitioner network enables the new system to be kept alive, driven by users and information needs as they evolve over time. Similar internet-based platforms exist and are managed successfully. The preferred knowledge management system will capture the less formal and more difficult to access knowledge from rehabilitation and mine closure practitioners and stakeholders through the CQMRG and other contributors. It will also provide direct links, and greater accessibility, to more formal sources of knowledge with anticipated cost savings to the industry and improved rehabilitation practices with successful transitioning to closure and post-mining land use.

Construction of volcanic records from marine sediment cores : a review and case study (Montserrat, West Indies)

Detailed knowledge of the past history of an active volcano is crucial for the prediction of the timing, frequency and style of future eruptions, and for the identification of potentially at-risk areas. Subaerial volcanic stratigraphies are often incomplete, due to a lack of exposure, or burial and erosion from subsequent eruptions. However, many volcanic eruptions produce widely-dispersed explosive products that are frequently deposited as tephra layers in the sea. Cores of marine sediment therefore have the potential to provide more complete volcanic stratigraphies, at least for explosive eruptions. Nevertheless, problems such as bioturbation and dispersal by currents affect the preservation and subsequent detection of marine tephra deposits. Consequently, cryptotephras, in which tephra grains are not sufficiently concentrated to form layers that are visible to the naked eye, may be the only record of many explosive eruptions. Additionally, thin, reworked deposits of volcanic clasts transported by floods and landslides, or during pyroclastic density currents may be incorrectly interpreted as tephra fallout layers, leading to the construction of inaccurate records of volcanism. This work uses samples from the volcanic island of Montserrat as a case study to test different techniques for generating volcanic eruption records from marine sediment cores, with a particular relevance to cores sampled in relatively proximal settings (i.e. tens of kilometres from the volcanic source) where volcaniclastic material may form a pervasive component of the sedimentary sequence. Visible volcaniclastic deposits identified by sedimentological logging were used to test the effectiveness of potential alternative volcaniclastic-deposit detection techniques, including point counting of grain types (component analysis), glass or mineral chemistry, colour spectrophotometry, grain size measurements, XRF core scanning, magnetic susceptibility and X-radiography. This study demonstrates that a set of time-efficient, non-destructive and high-spatial-resolution analyses (e.g. XRF core-scanning and magnetic susceptibility) can be used effectively to detect potential cryptotephra horizons in marine sediment cores. Once these horizons have been sampled, microscope image analysis of volcaniclastic grains can be used successfully to discriminate between tephra fallout deposits and other volcaniclastic deposits, by using specific criteria related to clast morphology and sorting. Standard practice should be employed when analysing marine sediment cores to accurately identify both visible tephra and cryptotephra deposits, and to distinguish fallout deposits from other volcaniclastic deposits.

A biomechanical study of spherical grip

Use of the hand is vital in working life due to the grabbing and pinching it performs. Spherical grip is the most commonly used, due to similarity to the gripping of a computer mouse. Knowledge of its execution and the involved elements is essential. Analysis of this exertion with surface electromyography devices (to register muscular activity) and accelerometer devices (to register movement values ) can provide multiple variables. Six subjects performed ball gripping and registered real-time electromyography (thenar region, hypothenar region, first dorsal interosseous, flexors of the wrist, flexor carpi ulnaris and extensors of the wrist muscles) and accelerometer (thumb, index, middle, ring, pinky and palm) values. The obtained data was resampled “R software” and processed “Matlab Script” based on an automatic numerical sequence recognition program. Electromyography values were normalized on the basis of maximum voluntary contraction, whilst modular values were calculated for the acceleration vector. After processing and analysing the obtained data and signal, it was possible to identify five stages of movement in accordance with the module vector from the palm. The statistical analysis of the variables was descriptive: average and standard deviations. The outcome variables focus on the variations of the modules of the vector (between the maximum and minimum values of each module and phase) and the maximum values of the standardized electromyography of each muscle. Analysis of movement through accelerometer and electromyography variables can give us an insight into the operation of spherical grip. The protocol and treatment data can be used as a system to complement existing assessments in the hand.

Rapid analysis of GSTM1, GSTT1 and GSTP1 polymorphisms using real-time polymerase chain reaction

Polymorphisms of glutathione transferases (GST) are important genetic determinants of susceptibility to environmental carcinogens (Rebbeck, 1997). The GSTs are a multigene family of dimeric enzymes involved in detoxification, and, in a few cases, the bioactivation of a variety of xenobiotics (Hayes et al., 1995). The cytosolic GST enzyme family consists of four major classes of enzymes, referred to as alpha, mu, pi and theta. Several members of this family (for example, GSTM1, GSTT1 and GSTP1) are polymorphic in human populations (Wormhoudt et al., 1999). Molecular epidemiology studies have examined the role of GST polymorphisms as susceptibility factors for environmentally and/or occupationally induced cancers (Wormhoudt et al., 1999). In particular, case-control studies showed a relationship between the GSTM1 null genotype and the development of cancer in association with smoking habits, which has been shown for cancers of the respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts as well as other cancer types (Miller et al., 1997). Only a few molecular epidemiological studies addressed the role of GSTT1 and GSTP1 polymorphisms in cancer susceptibility. Since GSTP1 is a key player in biotransformation/bioactivation of benzo(a)pyrene, GSTP1 may be even more important than GSTM1 in the prevention of tobacco-induced cancers (Harries et al., 1997; Harris et al., 1998). To date, this relationship has not been sufficiently addressed in humans. Comprehensive molecular epidemiological studies may add to the current knowledge of the role of GST polymorphisms in cancer susceptibility and extent of the knowledge gained from approaches that used phenotyping, such as GSTM1 activity as it relates to trans-stilbene oxide, or polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based genotyping of polymorphic isoenzymes (Bell et al., 1993; Pemble et al., 1994; Harries et al., 1997).

Exploring Australian intensive care physicians clinical judgement during donation after cardiac death : an exploratory qualitative study

BACKGROUND: Donation after Cardiac Death (DCD) is one possible solution to the world wide organ shortage. Intensive care physicians are central to DCD becoming successful since they are responsible for making the clinical judgements and decisions associated with DCD. Yet international evidence shows health care professionals have not embraced DCD and are often reluctant to consider it as an option for patients. PURPOSE: To explore intensive care physicians' clinical judgements when selecting a suitable DCD candidate. METHODS: Using interpretative exploratory methods six intensive care physicians were interviewed from three hospital sites in Australia. Following verbatim transcription, data was subjected to thematic analysis. FINDINGS: Three distinct themes emerged. Reducing harm and increasing benefit was a major focus of intensive care physicians during determination of DCD. There was an acceptance of DCD if there was clear evidence that donation was what the patient and family wanted. Characteristics of a defensible decision reflected the characteristics of sequencing, separation and isolation, timing, consensus and collaboration, trust and communication to ensure that judgements were robust and defensible. The final theme revealed the importance of minimising uncertainty and discomfort when predicting length of survival following withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment. CONCLUSION: DCD decisions are made within an environment of uncertainty due to the imprecision associated with predicting time of death. Lack of certainty contributed to the cautious and collaborative strategies used by intensive care physicians when dealing with patients, family members and colleagues around end-of-life decisions, initiation of withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment and the discussion about DCD. This study recommends that nationally consistent policies are urgently needed to increase the degree of certainty for intensive care staff concerning the DCD processes.

Triumphs and tribulations in the psychotherapy of schizophrenia : reflections on a pilot study of metacognitive narrative psychotherapy

Schizophrenia results in a profound disruption of one’s capacity to make sense of mental states, coherently narrate self-experiences, and meaningfully relate to others. While current treatment options for people with schizophrenia tend to be symptom-focused, experience in designing and implementing a study focusing on enhancing sense of self demonstrates the feasibility of developing and implementing models of treatment that prioritize the subjective distress and self-experience of people with schizophrenia. There is emerging research evidence, based upon dialogical theory of self, that posits the potential of people with deficits of self to engage in meaningful therapeutic relationships and work toward greater integrity of self and degrees of recovery. The challenge is to translate these ideas into a research methodology that can be successfully applied within therapeutic contexts with people who meet the diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia. Based upon dialogical theory, we developed a principle-based manual for metacognitive narrative psychotherapy: a psychological approach to the treatment of people with schizophrenia, which aims to enhance metacognitive capacity and ability to narrate self-experiences. Five phases of treatment were identified: (1) developing a therapeutic relationship, (2) eliciting narratives, (3) enhancing metacognitive capacity, (4) enriching narratives, and (5) living enriched stories. Proscribed practices were also identified. We then implemented the manual within a university clinic context. Six therapists were trained to implement the model and, in turn, provided therapy to 11 patients who completed 12 to 24 months of treatment. Participants were assessed on metacognitive capacity, narrative coherence, narrative richness, self-reported recovery, and symptomatology at three points in time over the course of therapy. Contrary to expectations, participants were highly engaged in the therapeutic process, with minimal dropout. Overall, over 75% of participants evidenced improvement in their level of recovery over the course of therapy. The manualization and outcome findings demonstrate the feasibility of applying such interventions to a broader clinical population.

Case Study 4: Education Doctoral Student - "An Exploratory Study of Online Social Networking within a Doctorate of Education Program"

Introduction The professional doctorate is specifically designed for professionals investigating real-world problems and relevant issues for a profession, industry, and/or the community. The focus is scholarly research into professional practices. The research programme bridges academia and the professions, and offers doctoral candidates the opportunity to investigate issues relevant to their own practices and to apply these understandings to their professional contexts. The study on which this article is based sought to track the scholarly skill development of a cohort of professional doctoral students who commenced the course in January 2008 at an Australian university. Because they hold positions of responsibility and are time-poor, many doctoral students have difficulty transitioning from professional practitioner to researcher and scholar. The struggle many experience is in the development of a theoretical or conceptual standpoint for argumentation (Lesham, 2007; Weese et al., 1999). It was thought that the use of a scaffolded learning environment that drew upon a blended learning approach incorporating face to face intensive blocks and collaborative knowledge-building tools such as wikis would provide a data source for understanding the development of scholarly skills. Wikis, weblogs and similar social networking software have the potential to support communities to share, learn, create and collaborate. The development of a wiki page by each candidate in the 2008 cohort was encouraged to provide the participants and the teaching team members with textual indicators of progress. Learning tasks were scaffolded with the expectation that the candidates would complete these tasks via the wikis. The expectation was that cohort members would comment on each other’s work, together with the supervisor and/or teaching team member who was allocated to each candidate. The supervisor is responsible for supervising the candidate’s work through to submission of the thesis for examination and the teaching team member provides support to both the supervisor and the candidate through to confirmation. This paper reports on the learning journey of a cohort of doctoral students during the first seven months of their professional doctoral programme to determine if there had been any qualitative shifts in understandings, expectations and perceptions regarding their developing knowledge and skills. The paper is grounded in the literature pertaining to doctoral studies and examines the structure of the professional doctoral programme. Following this is a discussion of the qualitative study that helped to unearth key themes regarding the participants’ learning journey.

Into darkness: A study of deviance in Star Trek

Purpose The purpose of this chapter is to analyse the deviant behaviour of individuals in organisations. Deviants are those who depart from organisational norms. A typology of perceived deviant behaviour is developed from the deviance literature, and subsequently tested. Methodology/approach Star Trek: Into Darkness text is qualitatively analysed as a data source. Three different character arcs are analysed in relation to organisational deviance. Starfleet is the specific, fictional, organisational context. Findings We found that the typology of deviance is conceptually robust, and facilitates categorisation of different types of deviant behaviour, over time. Research limitations/implications Deviance is socially ascribed; so better categorisation of such behaviour improves our understanding of how specific behaviour might deviate from organisational norms, and how different behaviours can mean individuals can be viewed positively or negatively over time. Further research might determine management responses to the different forms of deviance, and unpack the processes where individuals eschew ‘averageness’ and become deviants. Practical implications The typology advanced has descriptive validity to describe deviant behaviour. Social implications Social institutions such as organisations ascribe individual deviants, both negatively and positively. Originality/value This chapter extends our understanding of positive and negative deviance in organisations by developing a new typology of deviant behaviour. This typology has descriptive validity in understanding deviant behaviour. Our understanding of both positive and negative deviance in organisational contexts is enhanced, as well as the utility of science fiction literature in ethical analysis.

Regulating Workplace Risks: A Comparative Study of Inspection Regimes in Times of Change

Regulating Workplace Risks is a study of regulatory inspection of occupational health and safety (OHS) and its management in five countries – Australia, Canada (Québec), France, Sweden and the UK – during a time of major change. It examines the implications of the shift from specification to process based regulation, in which attention has been increasingly directed to the means of managing OHS more systematically at a time in which a major restructuring of work has occurred in response to the globalised economy. These changes provide both the context and material for a wider discussion of the nature of regulation and regulatory inspection and their role in protecting the health, safety and well-being of workers in advanced market economies.

Healthcare-associated infections in Australia : time for national surveillance

Abstract Objective. Healthcare-associated infection (HAI) surveillance programs are critical for infection prevention. Australia does not have a comprehensive national HAI surveillance program. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of established international and Australian statewide HAI surveillance programs and recommend a pathway for the development of a national HAI surveillance program in Australia. Methods. This study examined existing HAI surveillance programs through a literature review, a review of HAI surveillance program documentation, such as websites, surveillance manuals and data reports and direct contact with program representatives. Results. Evidence from international programs demonstrates national HAI surveillance reduces the incidence of HAIs. However, the current status of HAI surveillance activity in Australian states is disparate, variation between programs is not well understood, and the quality of data currently used to compose national HAI rates is uncertain. Conclusions. There is a need to develop a well-structured, evidence-based national HAI program in Australia to meet the increasing demand for validated reliable national HAI data. Such a program could be leveraged off the work of existing Australian and international programs.

A Memetic Algorithm for the location-based continuously operating reference stations placement problem in Network Real-Time Kinematic

Network Real-Time Kinematic (NRTK) is a technology that can provide centimeter-level accuracy positioning services in real time, and it is enabled by a network of Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS). The location-oriented CORS placement problem is an important problem in the design of a NRTK as it will directly affect not only the installation and operational cost of the NRTK, but also the quality of positioning services provided by the NRTK. This paper presents a Memetic Algorithm (MA) for the location-oriented CORS placement problem, which hybridizes the powerful explorative search capacity of a genetic algorithm and the efficient and effective exploitative search capacity of a local optimization. Experimental results have shown that the MA has better performance than existing approaches. In this paper we also conduct an empirical study about the scalability of the MA, effectiveness of the hybridization technique and selection of crossover operator in the MA.

Predicting reduced driver alertness on monotonous highways : a driving simulator study

Impaired driver alertness increases the likelihood of drivers’ making mistakes and reacting too late to unexpected events while driving. This is particularly a concern on monotonous roads, where a driver’s attention can decrease rapidly. While effective countermeasures do not currently exist, the development of in-vehicle sensors opens avenues for monitoring driving behavior in real-time. The aim of this study is to predict drivers’ level of alertness through surrogate measures collected from in-vehicle sensors. Electroencephalographic activity is used as a reference to evaluate alertness. Based on a sample of 25 drivers, data was collected in a driving simulator instrumented with an eye tracking system, a heart rate monitor and an electrodermal activity device. Various classification models were tested from linear regressions to Bayesians and data mining techniques. Results indicated that Neural Networks were the most efficient model in detecting lapses in alertness. Findings also show that reduced alertness can be predicted up to 5 minutes in advance with 90% accuracy, using surrogate measures such as time to line crossing, blink frequency and skin conductance level. Such a method could be used to warn drivers of their alertness level through the development of an in-vehicle device monitoring, in real-time, drivers' behavior on highways.

Experimental study of load-bearing cold-formed steel walls exposed to realistic design fires

This paper presents the details of full scale fire tests of LSF wall panels conducted using realistic fire time-temperature curves. Tests included eight LSF wall specimens of various configurations exposed to both parametric design and natural fire curves. Details of the fire test set-up, test procedure and the results including the measured time-temperature and deformation curves of LSF wall panels are presented along with wall stud failure modes and times. This paper also compares the structural and thermal behavioural characteristics of LSF wall studs with those based on the standard time-temperature curve. Finally, the stud failure times and temperatures are summarized for both standard and realistic design fire curves. This study provides the necessary test data to validate the numerical models of LSF wall panels and to undertake a detailed study into the structural and thermal performance of LSF wall panels exposed to realistic design fire curves.

Development of realistic design fire time-temperature curves for the testing of cold-formed steel wall system

Fire resistance rating of light gauge steel frame (LSF) wall systems is obtained from fire tests based on the standard fire time-temperature curve. However, fire severity has increased in modern buildings due to higher fuel loads as a result of modern furniture and light weight constructions that make use of thermoplastics materials, synthetic foams and fabrics. Some of these materials are high in calorific values and increase both the spread of fire growth and heat release rate, thus increasing the fire severity beyond that of the standard fire curve. Further, the standard fire curve does not include a decay phase that is present in natural fires. Despite the increasing usage of LSF walls, their behaviour in real building fires is not fully understood. This paper presents the details of a research study aimed at developing realistic design fire curves for use in the fire tests of LSF walls. It includes a review of the characteristics of building fires, previously developed fire time-temperature curves, computer models and available parametric equations. The paper highlights that real building fire time-temperature curves depend on the fuel load representing the combustible building contents, ventilation openings and thermal properties of wall lining materials, and provides suitable values of many required parameters including fuel loads in residential buildings. Finally, realistic design fire time-temperature curves simulating the fire conditions in modern residential buildings are proposed for the testing of LSF walls.