Communication models of institutional online communities : the role of the ABC cultural intermediary

The co-creation of cultural artefacts has been democratised given the recent technological affordances of information and communication technologies. Web 2.0 technologies have enabled greater possibilities of citizen inclusion within the media conversations of their nations. For example, the Australian audience has more opportunities to collaboratively produce and tell their story to a broader audience via the public service media (PSM) facilitated platforms of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). However, providing open collaborative production for the audience gives rise to the problem, how might the PSM manage the interests of all the stakeholders and align those interests with its legislated Charter? This paper considers this problem through the ABC’s user-created content participatory platform, ABC Pool and highlights the cultural intermediary as the role responsible for managing these tensions. This paper also suggests cultural intermediation is a useful framework for other media organisations engaging in co-creative activities with their audiences.

The role of the cultural intermediary within professional participatory communication : lessons from ABC Pool

As media institutions are encouraged to explore new production methodologies in the current economic crisis, they align with Schumpeter’s creative destruction provocation by exhibiting user-led political, organisation and socio-technical innovations. This paper highlights the significance of the cultural intermediary within the innovative, co-creative production arrangements for cultural artefacts by media professionals in institutional online communities. An institutional online community is defined as one that is housed, resourced and governed by commercial or non- commercial institutions and is not independently facilitated. Web 2.0 technologies have mobilised collaborative peer production activities for online content creation and professional media institutions face challenges in engaging participatory audiences in practices that are beneficial for all concerned stakeholders. The interests of those stakeholders often do not align, highlighting the need for an intermediary role that understands and translates the norms, rhetoric tropes and day-to-day activities between the individuals engaging in participatory communication activities for successful negotiation within the production process. This paper specifically explores the participatory relationship between the public service broadcaster (PSB), the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and one of its online communities, ABC Pool (www.abc.net.au/pool). ABC Pool is an online platform developed and resourced by the ABC to encourage co-creation between audience members engaging in the production of user-generated content (UGC) and the professional producers housed within the ABC Radio Division. This empirical research emerges from a three-year research project where I employed an ethnographic action research methodology and was embedded at the ABC as the community manager of ABC Pool. In participatory communication environments, users favour meritocratic heterarchical governance over traditional institutional hierarchical systems (Malaby 2009). A reputation environment based on meritocracy requires an intermediary to identify the stakeholders, understand their interests and communicate effectively between them to negotiate successful production outcomes (Bruns 2008; Banks 2009). The community manager generally occupies this role, however it has emerged that other institutional production environments also employ an intermediary role under alternative monikers(Hutchinson 2012). A useful umbrella term to encompass the myriad of roles within this space is the cultural intermediary. The ABC has experimented with three institutional online community governance models that engage in cultural intermediation in differing decentralised capacities. The first and most closed is a single point of contact model where one cultural intermediary controls all of the communication of the participatory project. The second is a model of multiple cultural intermediaries engaging in communication between the institutional online community stakeholders simultaneously. The third is most open yet problematic as it promotes and empowers community participants to the level of cultural intermediaries. This paper uses the ABC Pool case study to highlight the differing levels of openness within cultural intermediation during the co-creative production process of a cultural artifact.

Communication models of institutional online communities : the role of the ABC cultural intermediary

The co-creation of cultural artefacts has been democratised given the recent technological affordances of information and communication technologies. Web 2.0 technologies have enabled greater possibilities of citizen inclusion within the media conversations of their nations. For example, the Australian audience has more opportunities to collaboratively produce and tell their story to a broader audience via the public service media (PSM) facilitated platforms of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). However, providing open collaborative production for the audience gives rise to the problem, how might the PSM manage the interests of all the stakeholders and align those interests with its legislated Charter? This paper considers this problem through the ABC’s user-created content participatory platform, ABC Pool and highlights the cultural intermediary as the role responsible for managing these tensions. This paper also suggests cultural intermediation is a useful framework for other media organisations engaging in co-creative activities with their audiences.

Finite element analysis of hollow flange beams with web stiffeners

A new cold-formed and resistance welded section known as the Hollow Flange Beam (HFB) has been developed recently in Australia. In contrast to the common lateral torsional buckling mode of I-beams, this unique section comprising two stiff triangular flanges and a slender web is susceptible to a lateral distortional buckling mode of failure involving lateral deflection, twist, and cross-section change due to web distortion. This lateral distortional buckling behavior has been shown to cause significant reduction of the available flexural capacity of HFBs. An investigation using finite element analyses and large scale experiments was carried out into the use of transverse web plate stiffeners to improve the lateral buckling capacity of HFBs. This paper presents the details of the finite element model and analytical results. The experimental procedure and results are outlined in a companion paper at this conference.

Buckling experiments on hollow flange beams with web stiffeners

A new cold-formed and resistance welded section known as the Hollow Flange Beam (HFB) has been developed recently in Australia. In contrast to the common lateral torsional buckling mode of I-beams, this unique section comprising two stiff triangular flanges and a slender web is susceptible to a lateral distortional buckling mode of failure involving lateral deflection, twist and cross-section change due to web distortion. This lateral distortional buckling behaviour has been shown to cause significant reduction of the available flexural strength of HFBs. An investigation using finite element analyses and large scale experiments was carried out into the use of transverse web plate stiffeners to improve the lateral buckling capacity of HFBs. This paper presents the details of the experimental investigation, the results, and the final stiffener arrangement whereas the details of the finite element analyses are presented in a companion paper at this conference.

Finite-element analysis of hollow flange beams with web stiffeners

A new cold-formed and resistance-welded section known as the hollow flange beam (HFB) has been developed recently in Australia. In contrast to the common lateral-torsional buckling mode of I-beams, this unique section comprising two stiff triangular flanges and a slender web is susceptible to a lateral-distortional buckling mode of failure involving lateral deflection, twist, and cross-section change due to web distortion. This lateral-distortional buckling behavior has been shown to cause significant reduction of the available flexural capacity of HFBs. An investigation using finite-element analyses and large-scale experiments was carried out into the use of transverse web plate stiffeners to improve the lateral buckling capacity of HFBs. This paper presents the details of the finite-element model and analytical results. The experimental procedure and results are outlined in a companion paper.

Buckling experiments on hollow flange beams with web stiffeners

The hollow flange beam (HFB) is a new cold-formed and resistance-welded section developed in Australia. Due to its unique geometry comprising two stiff triangular flanges and a slender web, the HFB is susceptible to a lateral-distortional buckling mode of failure involving web distortion. Investigation using finite-element analyses showed that the use of transverse web plate stiffeners effectively eliminated lateral-distortional buckling of HFBs and thus any associated reduction in flexural capacity. A detailed experimental investigation was then carried out to validate the results from the finite-element analysis and to improve the stiffener configuration further. This led to the development of a special stiffener that is screw-fastened to the flanges on alternate sides of the web. This paper presents the details of the experimental investigations, the results, and the final stiffener arrangement whereas the details of the finite-element analyses are presented in a companion paper.

Shear capacity of lipped channel beams with web openings : design rules and improvements

Cold-formed steel Lipped Channel Beams (LCB) with web openings are commonly used as floor joists and bearers in building structures. Shear behaviour of these beams is more complicated and their shear capacities are considerably reduced by the presence of web openings. Hence detailed numerical and experimental studies of simply supported LCBs under a mid-span load with aspect ratios of 1.0 and 1.5 were undertaken to investigate the shear behaviour and strength of LCBs with web openings. Experimental and numerical results showed that the current design rules in cold-formed steel structures design codes are very conservative. Improved design equations were therefore proposed for the shear strength of LCBs with web openings based on both experimental and numerical results. This research showed a significant reduction in shear capacities of LCBs when large web openings are included for the purpose of locating building services. A cost effective method of eliminating such detrimental effects of large circular web openings was also therefore investigated using experimental and numerical studies. For this purpose LCBS were reinforced using plate, stud, transverse and sleeve stiffeners with varying sizes and thicknesses that were welded and screw-fastened to the web of LCBs. These studies showed that plate stiffeners were the most suitable. Suitable screw-fastened plate stiffener arrangements with optimum thicknesses were then proposed for LCBs with web openings to restore their original shear capacities. This paper presents the details of finite element analyses and experiments of LCBs with web openings in shear, and the development of improved shear design rules. It then describes the experimental and numerical studies to determine the optimum plate stiffener arrangements and the results. The proposed shear design rules in this paper can be considered for inclusion in the future versions of cold-formed steel design codes.

Integrated Lean Six Sigma approach for patient flow improvement in hospital emergency department

Because of increased competition between healthcare providers, higher customer expectations, stringent checks on insurance payments and new government regulations, it has become vital for healthcare organisations to enhance the quality of the care they provide, to increase efficiency, and to improve the cost effectiveness of their services. Consequently, a number of quality management concepts and tools are employed in the healthcare domain to achieve the most efficient ways of using time, manpower, space and other resources. Emergency departments are designed to provide a high-quality medical service with immediate availability of resources to those in need of emergency care. The challenge of maintaining a smooth flow of patients in emergency departments is a global problem. This study attempts to improve the patient flow in emergency departments by considering Lean techniques and Six Sigma methodology in a comprehensive conceptual framework. The proposed research will develop a systematic approach through integration of Lean techniques with Six Sigma methodology to improve patient flow in emergency departments. The results reported in this paper are based on a standard questionnaire survey of 350 patients in the Emergency Department of Aseer Central Hospital in Saudi Arabia. The results of the study led us to determine the most significant variables affecting patient satisfaction with patient flow, including waiting time during patient treatment in the emergency department; effectiveness of the system when dealing with the patient’s complaints; and the layout of the emergency department. The proposed model will be developed within a performance evaluation metric based on these critical variables, to be evaluated in future work within fuzzy logic for continuous quality improvement.

Beyond compliance : project on an integrated systems approach for pest risk management in South East Asia

The Beyond Compliance project, which began in July 2011 with funding from the Standards and Trade Development Facility for 2 years, aims to enhance competency and confidence in the South East Asian sub-region by applying a Systems Approach for pest risk management. The Systems Approach involves the use of integrated measures, at least two of which are independent, that cumulatively reduce the risk of introducing exotic pests through trade. Although useful in circumstances where single measures are inappropriate or unavailable, the Systems Approach is inherently more complicated than single-measure approaches, which may inhibit its uptake. The project methodology is to take prototype decision-support tools, such as Control Point-Bayesian Networks (CP-BN), developed in recent plant health initiatives in other regions, including the European PRATIQUE project, and to refine them within this sub-regional context. Case studies of high-priority potential agricultural trade will be conducted by National Plant Protection Organizations of participating South East Asian countries in trials of the tools, before further modifications. Longer term outcomes may include: more robust pest risk management in the region (for exports and imports); greater inclusion of stakeholders in development of pest risk management plans; increased confidence in trade negotiations; and new opportunities for trade.

Towards an integrated maturity model of asset management capabilities

Asset service organisations often recognize asset management as a core competence to deliver benefits to their business. But how do organizations know whether their asset management processes are adequate? Asset management maturity models, which combine best practices and competencies, provide a useful approach to test the capacity of organisations to manage their assets. Asset management frameworks are required to meet the dynamic challenges of managing assets in contemporary society. Although existing models are subject to wide variations in their implementation and sophistication, they also display a distinct weakness in that they tend to focus primarily on the operational and technical level and neglect the levels of strategy, policy and governance as well as the social and human resources – the people elements. Moreover, asset management maturity models have to respond to the external environmental factors, including such as climate change and sustainability, stakeholders and community demand management. Drawing on five dimensions of effective asset management – spatial, temporal, organisational, statistical, and evaluation – as identified by Amadi Echendu et al. [1], this paper carries out a comprehensive comparative analysis of six existing maturity models to identify the gaps in key process areas. Results suggest incorporating these into an integrated approach to assess the maturity of asset-intensive organizations. It is contended that the adoption of an integrated asset management maturity model will enhance effective and efficient delivery of services.

Street computing : towards an integrated open data Application Programming Interface (API) for cities

This special issue of the Journal of Urban Technology brings together five articles that are based on presentations given at the Street Computing Workshop held on 24 November 2009 in Melbourne in conjunction with the Australian Computer- Human Interaction conference (OZCHI 2009). Our own article introduces the Street Computing vision and explores the potential, challenges, and foundations of this research trajectory. In order to do so, we first look at the currently available sources of information and discuss their link to existing research efforts. Section 2 then introduces the notion of Street Computing and our research approach in more detail. Section 3 looks beyond the core concept itself and summarizes related work in this field of interest. We conclude by introducing the papers that have been contributed to this special issue.

Reliability of spatiotemporal and kinetic gait parameters determined by a new instrumented treadmill system

Background Despite the emerging use of treadmills integrated with pressure platforms as outcome tools in both clinical and research settings, published evidence regarding the measurement properties of these new systems is limited. This study evaluated the within– and between–day repeatability of spatial, temporal and vertical ground reaction forces measured by a treadmill system instrumented with a capacitance–based pressure platform. Methods Thirty three healthy adults (mean age, 21.5 ± 2.8 years; height, 168.4 ± 9.9 cm; and mass, 67.8 ± 18.6 kg), walked barefoot on a treadmill system (FDM–THM–S, Zebris Medical GmbH) on three separate occasions. For each testing session, participants set their preferred pace but were blinded to treadmill speed. Spatial (foot rotation, step width, stride and step length), temporal (stride and step times, duration of stance, swing and single and double support) and peak vertical ground reaction force variables were collected over a 30–second capture period, equating to an average of 52 ± 5 steps of steady–state walking. Testing was repeated one week following the initial trial and again, for a third time, 20 minutes later. Repeated measures ANOVAs within a generalized linear modelling framework were used to assess between–session differences in gait parameters. Agreement between gait parameters measured within the same day (session 2 and 3) and between days (session 1 and 2; 1 and 3) were evaluated using the 95% repeatability coefficient. Results There were statistically significant differences in the majority (14/16) of temporal, spatial and kinetic gait parameters over the three test sessions (P < .01). The minimum change that could be detected with 95% confidence ranged between 3% and 17% for temporal parameters, 14% and 33% for spatial parameters, and 4% and 20% for kinetic parameters between days. Within–day repeatability was similar to that observed between days. Temporal and kinetic gait parameters were typically more consistent than spatial parameters. The 95% repeatability coefficient for vertical force peaks ranged between ± 53 and ± 63 N. Conclusions The limits of agreement in spatial parameters and ground reaction forces for the treadmill system encompass previously reported changes with neuromuscular pathology and footwear interventions. These findings provide clinicians and researchers with an indication of the repeatability and sensitivity of the Zebris treadmill system to detect changes in common spatiotemporal gait parameters and vertical ground reaction forces.

Transparency tools in gene patenting for informing policy and practice

In the recent decision Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics1, the US Supreme Court held that naturally occurring sequences from human genomic DNA are not patentable subject matter. Only certain complementary DNAs (cDNA), modified sequences and methods to use sequences are potentially patentable. It is likely that this distinction will hold for all DNA sequences, whether animal, plant or microbial2. However, it is not clear whether this means that other naturally occurring informational molecules, such as polypeptides (proteins) or polysaccharides, will also be excluded from patents. The decision underscores a pressing need for precise analysis of patents that disclose and reference genetic sequences, especially in the claims. Similarly, data sets, standards compliance and analytical tools must be improved—in particular, data sets and analytical tools must be made openly accessible—in order to provide a basis for effective decision making and policy setting to support biological innovation. Here, we present a web-based platform that allows such data aggregation, analysis and visualization in an open, shareable facility. To demonstrate the potential for the extension of this platform to global patent jurisdictions, we discuss the results of a global survey of patent offices that shows that much progress is still needed in making these data freely available for aggregation in the first place.

Modeling users’ web search behavior and their cognitive styles

Previous studies have shown that users’ cognitive styles play an important role during Web searching. However, only limited studies have showed the relationship between cognitive styles and Web search behavior. Most importantly, it is not clear which components of Web search behavior are influenced by cognitive styles. This paper examines the relationships between users’ cognitive styles and their Web searching and develops a model that portrays the relationship. The study uses qualitative and quantitative analyses to inform the study results based on data gathered from 50 participants. A questionnaire was utilised to collect participants’ demographic information, and Riding’s (1991) Cognitive Style Analysis (CSA) test to assess their cognitive styles. Results show that users’ cognitive styles influenced their information searching strategies, query reformulation behaviour, Web navigational styles and information processing approaches. The user model developed in this study depicts the fundamental relationships between users’ Web search behavior and their cognitive styles. Modeling Web search behavior with a greater understanding of user’s cognitive styles can help information science researchers and information systems designers to bridge the semantic gap between the user and the systems. Implications of the research for theory and practice, and future work are discussed.