What is the scale of intimate partner homicide?

Intimate partner homicides are fatal violent attacks perpetrated by intimate partners, and are often the extreme and unplanned consequence of abusive relationships. Although recognised as an important risk factor for death and disability among women, previous country-level assessments and the recent Global Burden of Disease Study 2010 (GBD 2010)4 have not considered the extent of intimate partner violence among male victims...

Global, regional, and national age–sex specifi c all-cause and cause-specifi c mortality for 240 causes of death, 1990–2013: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013

Background Up-to-date evidence on levels and trends for age-sex-specific all-cause and cause-specific mortality is essential for the formation of global, regional, and national health policies. In the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013 (GBD 2013) we estimated yearly deaths for 188 countries between 1990, and 2013. We used the results to assess whether there is epidemiological convergence across countries. Methods We estimated age-sex-specific all-cause mortality using the GBD 2010 methods with some refinements to improve accuracy applied to an updated database of vital registration, survey, and census data. We generally estimated cause of death as in the GBD 2010. Key improvements included the addition of more recent vital registration data for 72 countries, an updated verbal autopsy literature review, two new and detailed data systems for China, and more detail for Mexico, UK, Turkey, and Russia. We improved statistical models for garbage code redistribution. We used six different modelling strategies across the 240 causes; cause of death ensemble modelling (CODEm) was the dominant strategy for causes with sufficient information. Trends for Alzheimer's disease and other dementias were informed by meta-regression of prevalence studies. For pathogen-specific causes of diarrhoea and lower respiratory infections we used a counterfactual approach. We computed two measures of convergence (inequality) across countries: the average relative difference across all pairs of countries (Gini coefficient) and the average absolute difference across countries. To summarise broad findings, we used multiple decrement life-tables to decompose probabilities of death from birth to exact age 15 years, from exact age 15 years to exact age 50 years, and from exact age 50 years to exact age 75 years, and life expectancy at birth into major causes. For all quantities reported, we computed 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs). We constrained cause-specific fractions within each age-sex-country-year group to sum to all-cause mortality based on draws from the uncertainty distributions. Findings Global life expectancy for both sexes increased from 65·3 years (UI 65·0–65·6) in 1990, to 71·5 years (UI 71·0–71·9) in 2013, while the number of deaths increased from 47·5 million (UI 46·8–48·2) to 54·9 million (UI 53·6–56·3) over the same interval. Global progress masked variation by age and sex: for children, average absolute differences between countries decreased but relative differences increased. For women aged 25–39 years and older than 75 years and for men aged 20–49 years and 65 years and older, both absolute and relative differences increased. Decomposition of global and regional life expectancy showed the prominent role of reductions in age-standardised death rates for cardiovascular diseases and cancers in high-income regions, and reductions in child deaths from diarrhoea, lower respiratory infections, and neonatal causes in low-income regions. HIV/AIDS reduced life expectancy in southern sub-Saharan Africa. For most communicable causes of death both numbers of deaths and age-standardised death rates fell whereas for most non-communicable causes, demographic shifts have increased numbers of deaths but decreased age-standardised death rates. Global deaths from injury increased by 10·7%, from 4·3 million deaths in 1990 to 4·8 million in 2013; but age-standardised rates declined over the same period by 21%. For some causes of more than 100 000 deaths per year in 2013, age-standardised death rates increased between 1990 and 2013, including HIV/AIDS, pancreatic cancer, atrial fibrillation and flutter, drug use disorders, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, and sickle-cell anaemias. Diarrhoeal diseases, lower respiratory infections, neonatal causes, and malaria are still in the top five causes of death in children younger than 5 years. The most important pathogens are rotavirus for diarrhoea and pneumococcus for lower respiratory infections. Country-specific probabilities of death over three phases of life were substantially varied between and within regions. Interpretation For most countries, the general pattern of reductions in age-sex specific mortality has been associated with a progressive shift towards a larger share of the remaining deaths caused by non-communicable disease and injuries. Assessing epidemiological convergence across countries depends on whether an absolute or relative measure of inequality is used. Nevertheless, age-standardised death rates for seven substantial causes are increasing, suggesting the potential for reversals in some countries. Important gaps exist in the empirical data for cause of death estimates for some countries; for example, no national data for India are available for the past decade.

The arts and Australia's national innovation system 1994 - 2008 arguments, recommendations, challenges

Based on 15 years of arts and innovation literature, this paper explores the central proposition that the arts sector - particularly the performing arts, visual arts and crafts, new media arts and creative writing - should be included in Australian Government innovation policy development and play a significant role in national innovation. After a brief overview of innovation policy and the national innovation systems approach in Australia, we examine the marginal place of the arts in Australia's innovation agenda and various attempts to include them. We identify the principal voices that have argued for arts and innovation development: the humanities, arts and social sciences (HASS) sector, digital content industries, arts education and university research, and new media arts. After three main periods of arts and innovation policy activity from the mid.1990s (when the importance of innovation as a key driver of Australia's prosperity was recognised) to early 2008, a fourth period has opened up as part of the Australian Government's Review of the National Innovation System in 2008.

The learning capability of construction organisations engaged in collaborative contracting - Literature Review [industry report]

Background Value for money (VfM) on collaborative construction projects is dependent on the learning capabilities of the organisations and people involved. Within the context of infrastructure delivery, there is little research about the impact of organisational learning capability on project value. The literature contains a multiplicity of often un-testable definitions about organisational learning abilities. This paper defines learning capability as a dynamic capability that participant organisations purposely develop to add value to collaborative projects. The paper reports on a literature review that proposes a framework that conceptualises learning capability to explore the topic. This work is the first phase of a large-scale national survey funded by the Alliancing Association of Australasia and the Australian Research Council. Methodology Desk-top review of leading journals in the areas of strategic management, strategic alliances and construction management, as well as recent government documents and industry guidelines, was undertaken to synthesise, conceptualise and operationalise the concept of learning capability. The study primarily draws on the theoretical perspectives of the resource-based view of the firm (e.g. Barney 1991; Wernerfelt 1984), absorptive capacity (e.g. Cohen and Levinthal 1990; Zahra and George 2002); and dynamic capabilities (e.g. Helfat et al. 2007; Teece et al. 1997; Winter 2003). Content analysis of the literature was undertaken to identify key learning routines. Content analysis is a commonly used methodology in the social sciences area. It provides rich data through the systematic and objective review of literature (Krippendorff 2004). NVivo 9, a qualitative data analysis software package, was used to assist in this process. Findings and Future Research The review process resulted in a framework for the conceptualisation of learning capability that shows three phases of learning: (1) exploratory learning, (2) transformative learning and (3) exploitative learning. These phases combine both internal and external learning routines to influence project performance outcomes and thus VfM delivered under collaborative contracts. Sitting within these phases are eight categories of learning capability comprising knowledge articulation, identification, acquisition, dissemination, codification, internationalisation, transformation and application. The learning routines sitting within each category will be disaggregated in future research as the basis for measureable items in a large-scale survey study. The survey will examine the extent to which various learning routines influence project outcomes, as well as the relationships between them. This will involve identifying the routines that exist within organisations in the construction industry, their resourcing and rate of renewal, together with the extent of use and perceived value within the organisation. The target population is currently estimated to be around 1,000 professionals with experience in relational contracting in Australia. This future research will build on the learning capability framework to provide data that will assist construction organisations seeking to maximise VfM on construction projects.

The whole world shook : shifts in ethnic, national and heroic identities in children's fiction about 9/11

Like many other cataclysmic events September 11, a day now popularly believed to have 'changed the world', has become a topic taken up by children's writers. This thesis, titled The Whole World Shook: Ethnic, National and Heroic Identities in Children's Fiction About 9/11, examines how cultural identities are constructed within fictional texts for young people written about the attacks on the Twin Towers. It identifies three significant identity categories encoded in 9/11 books for children: ethnic identities, national identities, and heroic identities. The thesis argues that the identities formed within the selected children's texts are in flux, privileging performances of identities that are contingent on post-9/11 politics. This study is located within the field of children's literature criticism, which supports the understanding that children's books, like all texts, play a role in the production of identities. Children's literature is highly significant both in its pedagogical intent (to instruct and induct children into cultural practices and beliefs) and in its obscurity (in making the complex simple enough for children, and from sometimes intentionally shying away from difficult things). This literary criticism informed the study that the texts, if they were to be written at all, would be complex, varied and most likely as ambiguous and contradictory as the responses to the attacks on New York themselves. The theoretical framework for this thesis draws on a range of critical theories including literary theory, cultural studies, studies of performativity and postmodernism. This critical framework informs the approach by providing ways for: (i) understanding how political and ideological work is performed in children's literature; (ii) interrogating the constructed nature of cultural identities; (iii) developing a nuanced methodology for carrying out a close textual analysis. The textual analysis examines a representative sample of children's texts about 9/11, including picture books, young adult fiction, and a selection of DC Comics. Each chapter focuses on a different though related identity category. Chapter Four examines the performance of ethnic identities and race politics within a sample of picture books and young adult fiction; Chapter Five analyses the construction of collective, national identities in another set of texts; and Chapter Six does analytic work on a third set of texts, demonstrating the strategic performance of particular kinds of heroic identities. I argue that performances of cultural identities constructed in these texts draw on familiar versions of identities as well as contribute to new ones. These textual constructions can be seen as offering some certainties in increasingly uncertain times. The study finds, in its sample of books a co-mingling of xenophobia and tolerance; a binaried competition between good and evil and global harmony and national insularity; and a lauding of both the commonplace hero and the super-human. Being a recent corpus of texts about 9/11, these texts provide information on the kinds of 'selves' that appear to be privileged in the West since 2001. The thesis concludes that the shifting identities evident in texts that are being produced for children about 9/11 offer implicit and explicit accounts of what constitute good citizenship, loyalty to nation and community, and desirable attributes in a Western post-9/11 context. This thesis makes an original contribution to the field of children's literature by providing a focussed and sustained analysis of how texts for children about 9/11 contribute to formations of identity in these complex times of cultural unease and global unrest.

Large Scale Simulations of Hippocampal-Neocortical Interactions in a Parallel Version of Genesis

A hippocampal-CA3 memory model was constructed with PGENESIS, a recently developed version of GENESIS that allows for distributed processing of a neural network simulation. A number of neural models of the human memory system have identified the CA3 region of the hippocampus as storing the declarative memory trace. However, computational models designed to assess the viability of the putative mechanisms of storage and retrieval have generally been too abstract to allow comparison with empirical data. Recent experimental evidence has shown that selective knock-out of NMDA receptors in the CA1 of mice leads to reduced stability of firing specificity in place cells. Here a similar reduction of stability of input specificity is demonstrated in a biologically plausible neural network model of the CA3 region, under conditions of Hebbian synaptic plasticity versus an absence of plasticity. The CA3 region is also commonly associated with seizure activity. Further simulations of the same model tested the response to continuously repeating versus randomized nonrepeating input patterns. Each paradigm delivered input of equal intensity and duration. Non-repeating input patterns elicited a greater pyramidal cell spike count. This suggests that repetitive versus non-repeating neocortical inpus has a quantitatively different effect on the hippocampus. This may be relevant to the production of independent epileptogenic zones and the process of encoding new memories.

Cryptanalysis of SIMON Variants with Connections

SIMON is a family of 10 lightweight block ciphers published by Beaulieu et al. from the United States National Security Agency (NSA). A cipher in this family with K -bit key and N -bit block is called SIMON N/K . We present several linear characteristics for reduced-round SIMON32/64 that can be used for a key-recovery attack and extend them further to attack other variants of SIMON. Moreover, we provide results of key recovery analysis using several impossible differential characteristics starting from 14 out of 32 rounds for SIMON32/64 to 22 out of 72 rounds for SIMON128/256. In some cases the presented observations do not directly yield an attack, but provide a basis for further analysis for the specific SIMON variant. Finally, we exploit a connection between linear and differential characteristics for SIMON to construct linear characteristics for different variants of reduced-round SIMON. Our attacks extend to all variants of SIMON covering more rounds compared to any known results using linear cryptanalysis. We present a key recovery attack against SIMON128/256 which covers 35 out of 72 rounds with data complexity 2123 . We have implemented our attacks for small scale variants of SIMON and our experiments confirm the theoretical bias presented in this work.

A thermal expulsion approach to homogeneous large-volume methacrylate monolith preparation; enabling large-scale rapid purification of biomolecules

Numerous efforts have been dedicated to the synthesis of large-volume methacrylate monoliths for large-scale biomolecules purification but most were obstructed by the enormous release of exotherms during preparation, thereby introducing structural heterogeneity in the monolith pore system. A significant radial temperature gradient develops along the monolith thickness, reaching a terminal temperature that supersedes the maximum temperature required for structurally homogenous monoliths preparation. The enormous heat build-up is perceived to encompass the heat associated with initiator decomposition and the heat released from free radical-monomer and monomer-monomer interactions. The heat resulting from the initiator decomposition was expelled along with some gaseous fumes before commencing polymerization in a gradual addition fashion. Characteristics of 80 mL monolith prepared using this technique was compared with that of a similar monolith synthesized in a bulk polymerization mode. An extra similarity in the radial temperature profiles was observed for the monolith synthesized via the heat expulsion technique. A maximum radial temperature gradient of only 4.3°C was recorded at the center and 2.1°C at the monolith peripheral for the combined heat expulsion and gradual addition technique. The comparable radial temperature distributions obtained birthed identical pore size distributions at different radial points along the monolith thickness.

Development of a pilot-scale bacterial fermentation for plasmid-based biopharmaceutical production using a stoichiometric medium

The recognition of the potential efficacy of plasmid DNA (pDNA) molecules as vectors in the treatment and prevention of emerging diseases has birthed the confidence to combat global pandemics. This is due to the close-to-zero safety concern associated with pDNA vectors compared to viral vectors in cell transfection and targeting. Considerable attention has been paid to the potential of pDNA vectors but comparatively less thought has been given to the practical challenges in producing large quantities to meet current rising demands. A pilot-scale fermentation scheme was developed by employing a stoichiometrically-designed growth medium whose exceptional plasmid yield performance was attested in a shake flask environment for pUC19 and pEGFP-N1 transformed into E. coliDH5α and E. coliJM109, respectively. Batch fermentation of E. coliDH5α-pUC19 employing the stoichiometric medium displayed a maximum plasmid volumetric and specific yield of 62.6 mg/L and 17.1 mg/g (mg plasmid/g dry cell weight), respectively. Fed-batch fermentation of E. coliDH5α-pUC19 on a glycerol substrate demonstrated one of the highest ever reported pilot-scale plasmid specific yield of 48.98 mg/g and a volumetric yield of 0.53 g/L. The attainment of high plasmid specific yields constitutes a decrease in plasmid manufacturing cost and enhances the effectiveness of downstream processes by reducing the proportion of intracellular impurities. The effect of step-rise temperature induction was also considered to maximize ColE1-origin plasmid replication.

Large-scale habitat mapping using vision-based AUVs : experiences, challenges & vehicle design

This paper overviews the development of a vision-based AUV along with a set of complementary operational strategies to allow reliable autonomous data collection in relatively shallow water and coral reef environments. The development of the AUV, called Starbug, encountered many challenges in terms of vehicle design, navigation and control. Some of these challenges are discussed with focus on operational strategies for estimating and reducing the total navigation error when using lower-resolution sensing modalities. Results are presented from recent field trials which illustrate the ability of the vehicle and associated operational strategies to enable rapid collection of visual data sets suitable for marine research applications.

Scale adaptive tracking using mean shift and efficient feature matching

The mean shift tracker has achieved great success in visual object tracking due to its efficiency being nonparametric. However, it is still difficult for the tracker to handle scale changes of the object. In this paper, we associate a scale adaptive approach with the mean shift tracker. Firstly, the target in the current frame is located by the mean shift tracker. Then, a feature point matching procedure is employed to get the matched pairs of the feature point between target regions in the current frame and the previous frame. We employ FAST-9 corner detector and HOG descriptor for the feature matching. Finally, with the acquired matched pairs of the feature point, the affine transformation between target regions in the two frames is solved to obtain the current scale of the target. Experimental results show that the proposed tracker gives satisfying results when the scale of the target changes, with a good performance of efficiency.

Early years national curriculum documents : revisiting inclusive education

Early years education encompasses early childhood education and care (ECEC) and the early years of school across the age range birth to eight years. The introduction of two national curriculum documents for early years education – the Early Years Learning Framework (Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations DEEWR, 2009) for ECEC programs and the Australian Curriculum (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority ACARA, 2011a) – indicates a trend towards national coherence, yet highlights a gap between notions of inclusion in the ECEC and school sectors of early years education. These gaps have the potential to impact negatively on school transition experiences through reductions in continuity of pedagogy and partnerships with families. Australian definitions of inclusion have moved beyond integration (i.e., mainstream classroom placement with support services and accommodations to address disability or lack of English), to encompass curricular and pedagogic differentiation catering for the participation rights and sense of belonging of children with a diverse range of abilities and backgrounds. This paper considers improved curriculum alignment and pedagogic continuity through enactment of elements relevant to inclusion.

Analysing governance of Australia's system of landscape-based greenhouse gas abatement

Healthy governance systems are key to delivering effective outcomes in any broad domain of natural resource management (NRM). One of Australia's emerging NRM governance domains is our national framework for greenhouse gas abatement (GGA), as delivered through a wide range of management practices in the Australian landscape. The emerging Landscape-Based GGA Domain represents an innovative governance space that straddles both the nation's broader NRM Policy and Delivery Domain and Australia's GGA Domain. As a point-in-time benchmark, we assess the health of this hybrid domain as it stood at the end of 2013. At that time, the domain was being progressed through the Australian government's Clean Energy Package and, more particularly, its Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI). While significant changes are currently under development by a new Australian government, this paper explores key areas of risk within the governance system underpinning this emerging hybrid domain at that point in time. We then map some potential reform or continuous improvement pathways required (from national to paddock scale) with the view to securing improved landscape outcomes over time through widespread GGA activities.