Refugee Mental Health Interventions

There is great diversity in the type of interventions carried out under the rubric of “refugee mental health.” This is partly due to the holistic ecological and psychosocial approaches that have come to dominate research and humanitarian understandings of refugee mental health. The diverse application of psychosocial principles in refugee mental health is also extended by the many varied locations in which such interventions are carried out. Guidelines have been developed to aid would-be practitioners of mental health care amongst refugee communities. However, challenges remain in demonstrating the effectiveness of the approaches used. The maxim “do no harm” which must guide all interventions in this area has nonetheless been threatened at times by well-meaning, yet misguided actions. Despite these issues, there is much promise that together with refugees themselves, steps can be taken to promote well-being and relieve distress in communities of people displaced by conflict.

On the statistical determination of optimal camera configurations in large scale surveillance networks

The selection of optimal camera configurations (camera locations, orientations etc.) for multi-camera networks remains an unsolved problem. Previous approaches largely focus on proposing various objective functions to achieve different tasks. Most of them, however, do not generalize well to large scale networks. To tackle this, we introduce a statistical formulation of the optimal selection of camera configurations as well as propose a Trans-Dimensional Simulated Annealing (TDSA) algorithm to effectively solve the problem. We compare our approach with a state-of-the-art method based on Binary Integer Programming (BIP) and show that our approach offers similar performance on small scale problems. However, we also demonstrate the capability of our approach in dealing with large scale problems and show that our approach produces better results than 2 alternative heuristics designed to deal with the scalability issue of BIP.

SAIVT-QUT@TRECVid 2012 : interactive surveillance event detection

In this paper, we propose an approach which attempts to solve the problem of surveillance event detection, assuming that we know the definition of the events. To facilitate the discussion, we first define two concepts. The event of interest refers to the event that the user requests the system to detect; and the background activities are any other events in the video corpus. This is an unsolved problem due to many factors as listed below: 1) Occlusions and clustering: The surveillance scenes which are of significant interest at locations such as airports, railway stations, shopping centers are often crowded, where occlusions and clustering of people are frequently encountered. This significantly affects the feature extraction step, and for instance, trajectories generated by object tracking algorithms are usually not robust under such a situation. 2) The requirement for real time detection: The system should process the video fast enough in both of the feature extraction and the detection step to facilitate real time operation. 3) Massive size of the training data set: Suppose there is an event that lasts for 1 minute in a video with a frame rate of 25fps, the number of frames for this events is 60X25 = 1500. If we want to have a training data set with many positive instances of the event, the video is likely to be very large in size (i.e. hundreds of thousands of frames or more). How to handle such a large data set is a problem frequently encountered in this application. 4) Difficulty in separating the event of interest from background activities: The events of interest often co-exist with a set of background activities. Temporal groundtruth typically very ambiguous, as it does not distinguish the event of interest from a wide range of co-existing background activities. However, it is not practical to annotate the locations of the events in large amounts of video data. This problem becomes more serious in the detection of multi-agent interactions, since the location of these events can often not be constrained to within a bounding box. 5) Challenges in determining the temporal boundaries of the events: An event can occur at any arbitrary time with an arbitrary duration. The temporal segmentation of events is difficult and ambiguous, and also affected by other factors such as occlusions.

Modeling as a means for making powerful ideas accessible to children at an early age

The SimCalc Vision and Contributions Advances in Mathematics Education 2013, pp 419-436 Modeling as a Means for Making Powerful Ideas Accessible to Children at an Early Age Richard Lesh, Lyn English, Serife Sevis, Chanda Riggs … show all 4 hide » Look Inside » Get Access Abstract In modern societies in the 21st century, significant changes have been occurring in the kinds of “mathematical thinking” that are needed outside of school. Even in the case of primary school children (grades K-2), children not only encounter situations where numbers refer to sets of discrete objects that can be counted. Numbers also are used to describe situations that involve continuous quantities (inches, feet, pounds, etc.), signed quantities, quantities that have both magnitude and direction, locations (coordinates, or ordinal quantities), transformations (actions), accumulating quantities, continually changing quantities, and other kinds of mathematical objects. Furthermore, if we ask, what kind of situations can children use numbers to describe? rather than restricting attention to situations where children should be able to calculate correctly, then this study shows that average ability children in grades K-2 are (and need to be) able to productively mathematize situations that involve far more than simple counts. Similarly, whereas nearly the entire K-16 mathematics curriculum is restricted to situations that can be mathematized using a single input-output rule going in one direction, even the lives of primary school children are filled with situations that involve several interacting actions—and which involve feedback loops, second-order effects, and issues such as maximization, minimization, or stabilizations (which, many years ago, needed to be postponed until students had been introduced to calculus). …This brief paper demonstrates that, if children’s stories are used to introduce simulations of “real life” problem solving situations, then average ability primary school children are quite capable of dealing productively with 60-minute problems that involve (a) many kinds of quantities in addition to “counts,” (b) integrated collections of concepts associated with a variety of textbook topic areas, (c) interactions among several different actors, and (d) issues such as maximization, minimization, and stabilization.

Mycobacterium abscessus infection and potable water

Mycobacterium abscessus is a rapidly growing mycobacteria responsible for progressive pulmonary disease, soft tissue and wound infections, and can contaminate clinical specimens. Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are generally considered environmental organisms though M. abscessus has not featured frequently in environmental studies, particularly those examining potable water. In a study of Brisbane potable water, M. abscessus was isolate from ten different locations. The incidence of disease due to M. abscessus has been increasing in Queensland. Aim: To compare genotypically the M. abscessus isolates obtained from water to those obtained from human clinical specimens. Methods: From a study of Brisbane potable water between 2007 and 2009, ten isolates confirmed as M. abscessus were recovered. In addition, one strain was isolated from a rainwater tank of a patient with disease due to M. avium, and another from the swimming pool of a patient with M. intracellulare disease. A random sample of 74 clinical isolates referred to the QLD Mycobacterial reference laboratory during the same time period was available for comparison using repPCR strain typing (Diversilab). Results: The drinking water isolates formed two distinct strain patterns (A and B) that shared >90% similarity. The tankwater isolate (pattern C) shared >85% similarity with the potable water isolates, but the pool isolate (D) was distinctly different. Fifty-three clinical isolates clustered tightly (>95% similarity) with the Group A potable water isolates, 4 patients with Group B. Thirteen patient isolates clustered with the Rainwater tank isolate. One patient matched the pool isolate. There were a further 3 patient isolates that were unrelated to the water isolates. No differences were found between strain types in terms of geographic origin, gender, age, or site/type of infection. Conclusion: The high degree of similarity between strains of M. abscessus from potable water and strains causing infection in humans from the same area, strengthens the possibility that drinking water may be a source of infection in these patients.

Recovery and reuse of ammonium from wastewater treatment plants : an application for agriculture

In wastewater treatment plants based on anaerobic digestion, supernatant and outflows from sludge dewatering systems contain significantly high amount of ammonium. Generally, these waters are returned to the head of wastewater treatment plant (WWTP), thereby increasing the total nitrogen load of the influent flow. Ammonium from these waters can be recovered and commercially utilised using novel ion-exchange materials. Mackinnon et al. have described an approach for removal and recovery of ammonium from side stream centrate returns obtained from anaerobic digester of a typical WWTP. Most of the ammonium from side streams can potentially be removed, which significantly reduces overall inlet demand at a WWTP. However, the extent of reduction achieved depends on the level of ammonium and flow-rate in the side stream. The exchange efficiency of the ion-exchange material, MesoLite, used in the ammonium recovery process deteriorates with long-term use due to mechanical degradation and use of regenerant. To ensure that a sustainable process is utilised a range of potential applications for this “spent” MesoLite have been evaluated. The primary focus of evaluations has been use of ammonium-loaded MesoLite as a source of nitrogen and growth medium for plants. A MesoLite fertiliser has advantage over soluble fertilisers in that N is held on an insoluble matrix and is gradually released according to exchange equilibria. Many conventional N fertilisers are water-soluble and thus, instantly release all applied N into the soil solution. Loss of nutrient commonly occurs through volatilisation and/or leaching. On average, up to half of the N delivered by a typical soluble fertiliser can be lost through these processes. In this context, use of ammonium-loaded MesoLite as a fertiliser has been evaluated using standard greenhouse and field-based experiments for low fertility soils. Rye grass, a suitable test species for greenhouse trials, was grown in 1kg pots over a period of several weeks with regular irrigation. Nitrogen was applied at a range of rates using a chemical fertiliser as a control and using two MesoLite fertilisers. All other nutrients were applied in adequate amounts. All treatments were replicated three times. Plants were harvested after four weeks, and dry plant mass and N concentrations were determined. At all nitrogen application rates, ammonium-loaded MesoLite produced higher plant mass than plants fertilised by the chemical fertiliser. The lower fertiliser effectiveness of the chemical fertliser is attributed to possible loss of some N through volatilisation. The MesoLite fertilisers did not show any adverse effect on availability of macro and trace nutrients, as shown by lack of deficiency symptoms, dry matter yield and plant analyses. Nitrogen loaded on to MesoLite in the form of exchanged ammonium is readily available to plants while remaining protected from losses via leaching and volatilisation. Spent MesoLite appears to be a suitable and effective fertiliser for a wide range of soils, particularly sandy soils with poor nutrient holding capacity.

Influence of damping systems on building structures subject to seismic effects

This paper investigates the response of multi-storey structures under simulated earthquake loads with friction dampers, viscoelastic dampers and combined friction-viscoelastic damping devices strategically located within shear walls. Consequently, evaluations are made as to how the damping systems affect the seismic response of these structures with respect to deflections and accelerations. In particular, this paper concentrates on the effects of damper types, configurations and their locations within the cut-outs of shear walls. The initial stiffness of the cut out section of the shear wall is removed and replaced by the stiffness and damping of the device. Influence of parameters of damper properties such as stiffness, damping coefficient, location, configuration and size are studied and evaluated using results obtained under several different earthquake scenarios. Structural models with cut outs at different heights are treated in order to establish the effectiveness of the dampers and their optimal placement. This conceptual study has demonstrated the feasibility of mitigating the seismic response of building structures by using embedded dampers.

Integration of opinion into customer analysis model

As e-commerce is becoming more and more popular, the number of customer reviews that a product receives grows rapidly. In order to enhance customer satisfaction and their shopping experiences, it has become important to analysis customers reviews to extract opinions on the products that they buy. Thus, Opinion Mining is getting more important than before especially in doing analysis and forecasting about customers’ behavior for businesses purpose. The right decision in producing new products or services based on data about customers’ characteristics means profit for organization/company. This paper proposes a new architecture for Opinion Mining, which uses a multidimensional model to integrate customers’ characteristics and their comments about products (or services). The key step to achieve this objective is to transfer comments (opinions) to a fact table that includes several dimensions, such as, customers, products, time and locations. This research presents a comprehensive way to calculate customers’ orientation for all possible products’ attributes.

Elemental characterisation and detection of heavy metals in house dusts collected from sites in South-East Queensland, Australia

Knowledge of the elements present in house dusts is important in understanding potential health effects on humans. In this study, dust samples collected from 10 houses in south-east Queensland have been analysed by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray microanalysis to measure the inorganic element compositions and to investigate the form of heavy metals in the dusts. The overall analytical results were then used to discriminate between different localities using chemometric techniques. The relative amounts of elements, particularly of Si, Ca, and Fe, varied between size fractions and between different locations for the same size fraction. By analysing individual small particles, many other constituents were identified including Ti, Cr, Mn, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ba, Ag, W, Au, Hg, Pb, Bi, La and Ce. The heavy metals were mostly concentrated in small particles in the smaller size fractions, which allowed detection by particle analysis, though their average concentrations were very low.

Effects of rice husk biochar and sugar-mill by-products on methane consumption from two different soils

Methane (CH4) is an important greenhouse gas with a global warming potential (GWP) 25 times greater than carbon dioxide (CO2) that can be produced or consumed in soils depending on environmental conditions and other factors. Biochar application to soils has been shown to reduce CH4 emissions and to increase CH4 consumption. However, the effects of rice husk biochar (RB) have not been thoroughly investigated. Two 60-day laboratory incubation experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of amending two soil types with RB, raw mill mud (MM) and composted mill mud (CM) on soil CH4 consumption and emissions. Soil cores incubated in 1 L glass jars and gas samples were analysed for CH4 using gas chromatography. Average CH4 consumption rates varied from -0.06 to -0.68 g CH4-C( )/ha/d in sandy loam soil and -0.59 to -1.00 g CH4-C/ha/d in clay soil. Application of RB resulted in CH4 uptake of -0.52 to -0.55 g CH4-C/ha/d in sandy loam and -0.76 to -0.91 g CH4-C/ha/d in clay soil. Addition of MM showed low CH4 emissions or consumption at 60% water-filled pore space (WFPS) in both soils. However, at high water contents (>75% WFPS) the application of MM produced high rates of CH4 emissions which were significantly suppressed when RB was added. Cumulative emissions of the MM treatment produced 108.9 g CH4-C/ha at 75% WFPS and 11 459.3 g CH4-C/ha at 90% WFPS in sandy loam soil over a period of 60 days. RB can increase CH4 uptake under low soil water content (SWC) and decrease CH4 emissions under anaerobic conditions. CM expressed more potential to reduce CH4 emissions than those of MM.

Survival, sublethal injury and recovery of environmental Burkholderia pseudomallei in soil subjected to desiccation

Environmental Burkholderia pseudomallei isolated from sandy soil at Castle Hill, Townsville, in the dry tropic region of Queensland, Australia, was inoculated into sterile-soil laboratory microcosms subjected to variable soil moisture. Survival and sublethal injury of the B. pseudomallei strain were monitored by recovery using culture-based methods. Soil extraction buffer yielded higher recoveries as an extraction agent than sterile distilled water. B. pseudomallei was not recoverable when inoculated into desiccated soil but remained recoverable from moist soil subjected to 91 days desiccation and showed a growth response to increased soil moisture over at least 113 days. Results indicate that endemic dry tropic soil may act as a reservoir during the dry season, with an increase in cell number and potential for mobilization from soil into water in the wet season.

Accuracy and functional variability in elite and developing fast bowlers

Objectives The relationship between performance variability and accuracy in cricket fast bowlers of different skill levels under three different task conditions was investigated. Bowlers of different skill levels were examined to observe if they could adapt movement patterns to maintain performance accuracy on a bowling skills test. Design 8 national, 12 emerging and 12 junior pace bowlers completed an adapted version of the Cricket Australia bowling skills test, in which they performed 30 trials involving short (n = 10), good (n = 10), and full (n = 10) length deliveries. Methods Bowling accuracy was recorded by digitising ball position relative to the centre of a target. Performance measures were mean radial error (accuracy), variable error (consistency), centroid error (bias), bowling score and ball speed. Radial error changes across the duration of the skills test were used to record accuracy adjustment in subsequent deliveries. Results Elite fast bowlers performed better in speed, accuracy, and test scores than developing athletes. Bowlers who were less variable were also more accurate across all delivery lengths. National and emerging bowlers were able to adapt subsequent performance trials within the same bowling session for short length deliveries. Conclusions Accuracy and adaptive variability were key components of elite performance in fast bowling which improved with skill level. In this study, only national elite bowlers showed requisite levels of adaptive variability to bowl a range of lengths to different pitch locations.

Governing the dangerous classes : welcome to E-Nose, CCTV and the Mosquito

In urban locations in Australia and elsewhere, public space may be said to be under attack from developers and also from attempts by civic authorities to oversee and control it (Davis 1995, Mitchell 2003, Watson 2006, Iveson 2006). The use of public space use by young people in particular, raises issues in Australia and elsewhere in the world. In a context of monitoring and control procedures, young people’s use of public space is often viewed as a threat to the prevailing social order (Loader 1996, White 1998, Crane and Dee 2001). This paper discusses recent technological developments in the surveillance, governance and control of public space used by young people, children and people of all ages.

Gradients of refractive index in the crystalline lens and transient changes in refraction among patients with diabetes

Transient hyperopic refractive shifts occur on a timescale of weeks in some patients after initiation of therapy for hyperglycemia, and are usually followed by recovery to the original refraction. Possible lenticular origin of these changes is considered in terms of a paraxial gradient index model. Assuming that the lens thickness and curvatures remain unchanged, as observed in practice, it appears possible to account for initial hyperopic refractive shifts of up to a few diopters by reduction in refractive index near the lens center and alteration in the rate of change between center and surface, so that most of the index change occurs closer to the lens surface. Restoration of the original refraction depends on further change in the refractive index distribution with more gradual changes in refractive index from the lens center to its surface. Modeling limitations are discussed.

Multidisciplinary design and flight testing of a remote gas/particle airborne sensor system

The main objective of this paper is to describe the development of a remote sensing airborne air sampling system for Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) and provide the capability for the detection of particle and gas concentrations in real time over remote locations. The design of the air sampling methodology started by defining system architecture, and then by selecting and integrating each subsystem. A multifunctional air sampling instrument, with capability for simultaneous measurement of particle and gas concentrations was modified and integrated with ARCAA’s Flamingo UAS platform and communications protocols. As result of the integration process, a system capable of both real time geo-location monitoring and indexed-link sampling was obtained. Wind tunnel tests were conducted in order to evaluate the performance of the air sampling instrument in controlled nonstationary conditions at the typical operational velocities of the UAS platform. Once the remote fully operative air sampling system was obtained, the problem of mission design was analyzed through the simulation of different scenarios. Furthermore, flight tests of the complete air sampling system were then conducted to check the dynamic characteristics of the UAS with the air sampling system and to prove its capability to perform an air sampling mission following a specific flight path.