Interacting constraints shape emergent decision-making of referees

How and why football referees made decisions was investigated. A constructivist grounded theory methodology was undertaken to tap into the experiential knowledge of referees. The participant cohort comprised 7 A-League referees (aged 23 to 35) and 8 local Brisbane league referees (aged 20 to 50), spanning the lowest to highest levels of competition in men’s football in Australia. Results found that referees used ‘four pillars’ to underpin their judgments, these were conceptual notions of: safety, fairness, accuracy and entertainment. A fifth pillar ‘consistency’ referred to the referee’s ‘contextual sensitivity’. Results were explained using an ecological dynamics framework that emphasises the individual-environment scale of analysis. It was concluded that interacting constraints shape emergent decision-making in referees which are nested in task goals.

Participatory approach to support community development of rural craftspeople

This paper presents a case study of the participatory project in the Jombang glass bead craft industry. Economic instability has brought significant business challenges in the community. The involvement of outsiders to collaborate with craftspeople in order to support business innovation as well as strengthen the social capital in the community is essential. However, facilitating a rural community to formulate and implement bottom-up planning needs an integrated approach. In this paper, we explain a participatory project in the rural craftspeople community that resulted in a collective action. The project aimed at uniting and empowering rural craftspeople focusing on the unique skills and knowledge of participants. There are some aspects influencing the success of collective action: the ability to understand the local political situation; the role of facilitators to respect and support the unique potential of craftspeople; and the economic benefit of the program.

Reshaping children’s knowledge through film making: What to film, how to film and why

How can teachers reinvigorate content area knowledge and representation through filmmaking? We give examples of what to film, how to film, and why, drawing on our visual ethnographic research with Year 5 students in a working class suburb of Logan, Queensland. The unit developed content knowledge of Indigenous places and practices through sensitising activities in nature. Valuing students’ funds of knowledge, we interpreted local places through epistemologies of different cultures. Through filmmaking workshops by a digital artist, students filmed community members in a local shopping mall about their perceptions of health and happiness in local places. Students were positioned as future community leaders, presenting their films at a national conference. To conclude, we map the dominant and marginalised, local and specialised, and print and visual forms of knowledge that were interwoven, reshaped, and shared through multimodal design.

Trends in nurse-administered procedural sedation and analgesia across cardiac catheterisation laboratories in Australia and New Zealand : results of an electronic survey

Background Knowledge of current trends in nurse-administered procedural sedation and analgesia (PSA) in the cardiac catheterisation laboratory (CCL) may provide important insights into how to improve safety and effectiveness of this practice. Objective To characterise current practice as well as education and competency standards regarding nurse-administered PSA in Australian and New Zealand CCLs. Design A quantitative, cross-sectional, descriptive survey design was used. Methods Data were collected using a web-based questionnaire on practice, educational standards and protocols related to nurse-administered PSA. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse data. Results A sample of 62 nurses, each from a different CCL, completed a questionnaire that focused on PSA practice. Over half of the estimated total number of CCLs in Australia and New Zealand was represented. Nurse-administered PSA was used in 94% (n = 58) of respondents CCLs. All respondents indicated that benzodiazepines, opioids or a combination of both is used for PSA (n = 58). One respondent indicated that propofol was also used. 20% (n = 12) indicated that deep sedation is purposefully induced for defibrillation threshold testing and cardioversion without a second medical practitioner present. Sedation monitoring practices vary considerably between institutions. 31% (n = 18) indicated that comprehensive education about PSA is provided. 45% (n = 26) indicated that nurses who administer PSA should undergo competency assessment. Conclusion By characterising nurse-administered PSA in Australian and New Zealand CCLs, a baseline for future studies has been established. Areas of particular importance to improve include protocols for patient monitoring and comprehensive PSA education for CCL nurses in Australia and New Zealand.

Introducing Masculinity Studies to Information Systems research : the case of Gaydar

I believe that studies of men's gendered experiences of information systems are needed. In order to support this claim, I introduce the area of Masculinity Studies to Information Systems research and, using this, present an exploratory analysis of an internet dating website for gay men – Gaydar. The information system, which forms part of the Gaydar community, is shown to shape, and be shaped by the members as they accept and challenge aspects of it as related to their identities. In doing this, I show how the intertwined processes of information systems development and use contribute to the creation of diverse interpretations of masculinity within a group of men. In sum, my analysis highlights different kinds of men and different versions of masculinity that can sometimes be associated with different experiences of information systems. The implications of this work centre on the need to expand our knowledge of men's gendered experiences with information systems, to reflect upon processes of technology facilitated categorisation and to consider the influences that contribute to the roll out of particular software features along with the underlying rationales for market segmentation in the software and software-based services industries.

International students’ experiences of informed learning : a pedagogical case study

This case study explores the theory and practice of informed learning (Bruce, 2008) in a culturally diverse higher education context. It presents research findings about learning and teaching in a postgraduate unit of study entitled Personalised Language Development, an elective in the Master of TESOL and TEFL programs at Queensland University of Technology (QUT). This unit aims to enable international students to extend their disciplinary knowledge of English language teaching, their academic and linguistic fluency and awareness of their own information using processes. The paper outlines the case study research approach; describes the design and implementation of the unit; demonstrates how informed learning principles and characteristics underpin the unit design; presents findings about the international students’ experiences of informed learning through their reflections; and finally the paper discusses the implications of the findings for educators, including the potential transferability of informed learning across higher education disciplines.

A discourse on the non-method

In spite of the activism of professional bodies and researchers, empirical evidence shows that project management still does not deliver the expected benefits and promises. Hence, many have questioned the validity of the hegemonic rationalist paradigm anchored in the Enlightenment and Natural Sciences tradition supporting project management research and practice for the last 60 years and the lack of relevance to practice of the current conceptual base of project management. In order to address these limitations many authors, taking a post-modernist stance in social sciences, build on ‘pre-modern’ philosophies such as the Aristotelian one, specially emphasizing the role of praxis (activity), and phronesis (practical wisdom, prudence). Indeed, ‘Praxis … is the central category of the philosophy which is not merely an interpretation of the world, but is also a guide to its transformation …’ (Vazquez, 1977:. 149). Therefore, praxis offers an important focus for practitioners and researchers in social sciences, one in which theory is integrated with practice at the point of intervention. Simply stated, praxis can serve as a common ground for those interested in basic and applied research by providing knowledge of the reality in which action, informed by theory, takes place. Consequently, I suggest a ‘praxeological’ style of reasoning (praxeology being defined as study or science of human actions and conduct, including praxis, practices and phronesis) and to go beyond the ‘Theory-Practice’ divide. Moreover, I argue that we need to move away from the current dichotomy between the two classes ‘scholars experts-researchers’ and ‘managers/workers-practitioners-participants’. Considering one single class of ‘PraXitioner’, becoming a phronimos, may contribute to create new perspectives and open up new ways of thinking and acting in project situations. Thus, I call for a Perestroika in researching and acting in project management situations. My intent is to suggest a balanced praxeological view of the apparent opposition between social and natural science approaches. I explore, in this chapter, three key questions, covering the ontological, epistemological and praxeological dimensions of project management in action. 1. Are the research approaches being currently used appropriate for generating contributions that matter to both theory and practice with regards to what a ‘project’ is or to what we do when we call a specific situation ‘a project’? 2. On the basis of which intellectual virtues is the knowledge generated and what is the impact for theory and practice? 3. Are the modes of action of the practitioners ‘prudent’ and are they differentiating or reconciling formal and abstract rationality from substantive rationality and situated reasoning with regards to the mode of action they adopt in particular project situations? The investigation of the above questions leads me to debate about ‘Project Management-as-Praxis’, and to suggest ‘A’ (not ‘THE’) ‘praxeological’ style of reasoning and mode of inquiry – acknowledging a non-paradigmatic, subjective and kaleidoscopic perspective – for ‘Knowing-as-Practicing’ in project management. In short, this is about making a ‘Projects Science’ that matters.

The confidence of speech-language pathology students regarding communicating with people with aphasia

Background Aphasia is an acquired language disorder that can present a significant barrier to patient involvement in healthcare decisions. Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) are viewed as experts in the field of communication. However, many SLP students do not receive practical training in techniques to communicate with people with aphasia (PWA) until they encounter PWA during clinical education placements. Methods This study investigated the confidence and knowledge of SLP students in communicating with PWA prior to clinical placements using a customised questionnaire. Confidence in communicating with people with aphasia was assessed using a 100-point visual analogue scale. Linear, and logistic, regressions were used to examine the association between confidence and age, as well as confidence and course type (graduate-entry masters or undergraduate), respectively. Knowledge of strategies to assist communication with PWA was examined by asking respondents to list specific strategies that could assist communication with PWA. Results SLP students were not confident with the prospect of communicating with PWA; reporting a median 29-points (inter-quartile range 17–47) on the visual analogue confidence scale. Only, four (8.2%) of respondents rated their confidence greater than 55 (out of 100). Regression analyses indicated no relationship existed between confidence and students‘ age (p = 0.31, r-squared = 0.02), or confidence and course type (p = 0.22, pseudo r-squared = 0.03). Students displayed limited knowledge about communication strategies. Thematic analysis of strategies revealed four overarching themes; Physical, Verbal Communication, Visual Information and Environmental Changes. While most students identified potential use of resources (such as images and written information), fewer students identified strategies to alter their verbal communication (such as reduced speech rate). Conclusions SLP students who had received aphasia related theoretical coursework, but not commenced clinical placements with PWA, were not confident in their ability to communicate with PWA. Students may benefit from an educational intervention or curriculum modification to incorporate practical training in effective strategies to communicate with PWA, before they encounter PWA in clinical settings. Ensuring students have confidence and knowledge of potential communication strategies to assist communication with PWA may allow them to focus their learning experiences in more specific clinical domains, such as clinical reasoning, rather than building foundation interpersonal communication skills.

Urinary biomolecular indicators of exercise-induced over exertion injury

Poor health and injury represent major obstacles to the future economic security of Australia. The national economic cost of work-related injury is estimated at $57.5 billion p/a. Since exposure to high physical demands is a major risk factor for musculoskeletal injury, monitoring and managing such physical activity levels in workers is a potentially important injury prevention strategy. Current injury monitoring practices are inadequate for the provision of clinically valuable information about the tissue specific responses to physical exertion. Injury of various soft tissue structures can manifest over time through accumulation of micro-trauma. Such micro-trauma has a propensity to increase the risk of acute injuries to soft-tissue structures such as muscle or tendon. As such, the capacity to monitor biomarkers that result from the disruption of these tissues offers a means of assisting the pre-emptive management of subclinical injury prior to acute failure or for evaluation of recovery processes. Here we have adopted an in-vivo exercise induced muscle damage model allowing the application of laboratory controlled conditions to assist in uncovering biochemical indicators associated with soft-tissue trauma and recovery. Importantly, urine was utilised as the diagnostic medium since it is non-invasive to collect, more acceptable to workers and less costly to employers. Moreover, it is our hypothesis that exercise induced tissue degradation products enter the circulation and are subsequently filtered by the kidney and pass through to the urine. To test this hypothesis a range of metabolomic and proteomic discovery-phase techniques were used, along with targeted approaches. Several small molecules relating to tissue damage were identified along with a series of skeletal muscle-specific protein fragments resulting from exercise induced soft-tissue damage. Each of the potential biomolecular markers appeared to be temporally present within urine. Moreover, the regulation of abundance seemed to be associated with functional recovery following the injury. This discovery may have important clinical applications for monitoring of a variety of inflammatory myopathies as well as novel applications in monitoring of the musculoskeletal health status of workers, professional athletes and/or military personnel to reduce the onset of potentially debilitating musculoskeletal injuries within these professions.

Studies on the pathophysiology and genetic basis of migraine

Migraine is a neurological disorder that affects the central nervous system causing painful attacks of headache. A genetic vulnerability and exposure to environmental triggers can influence the migraine phenotype. Migraine interferes in many facets of people’s daily life including employment commitments and their ability to look after their families resulting in a reduced quality of life. Identification of the biological processes that underlie this relatively common affliction has been difficult because migraine does not have any clearly identifiable pathology or structural lesion detectable by current medical technology. Theories to explain the symptoms of migraine have focused on the physiological mechanisms involved in the various phases of headache and include the vascular and neurogenic theories. In relation to migraine pathophysiology the trigeminovascular system and cortical spreading depression have also been implicated with supporting evidence from imaging studies and animal models. The objective of current research is to better understand the pathways and mechanisms involved in causing pain and headache to be able to target interventions. The genetic component of migraine has been teased apart using linkage studies and both candidate gene and genome-wide association studies, in family and case-control cohorts. Genomic regions that increase individual risk to migraine have been identified in neurological, vascular and hormonal pathways. This review discusses knowledge of the pathophysiology and genetic basis of migraine with the latest scientific evidence from genetic studies.

Molecular mechanisms of migraine

Migraine is a common complex disorder that affects a large portion of the population and thus incurs a substantial economic burden on society. The disorder is characterized by recurrent headaches that are unilateral and usually accompanied by nausea, vomiting, photophobia, and phonophobia. The range of clinical characteristics is broad and there is evidence of comorbidity with other neurological diseases, complicating both the diagnosis and management of the disorder. Although the class of drugs known as the triptans (serotonin 5-HT1B/1D agonists) has been shown to be effective in treating a significant number of patients with migraine, treatment may in the future be further enhanced by identifying drugs that selectively target molecular mechanisms causing susceptibility to the disease. Genetically, migraine is a complex familial disorder in which the severity and susceptibility of individuals is most likely governed by several genes that may be different among families. Identification of the genomic variants involved in genetic predisposition to migraine should facilitate the development of more effective diagnostic and therapeutic applications. Genetic profiling, combined with our knowledge of therapeutic response to drugs, should enable the development of specific, individually-tailored treatment.

Fundamental understanding on the use of Bluetooth scanner as a complementary transport data

Literature is limited in its knowledge of the Bluetooth protocol based data acquisition process and in the accuracy and reliability of the analysis performed using the data. This paper extends the body of knowledge surrounding the use of data from the Bluetooth Media Access Control Scanner (BMS) as a complementary traffic data source. A multi layer simulation model named Traffic and Communication Simulation (TCS) is developed. TCS is utilised to model the theoretical properties of the BMS data and analyse the accuracy and reliability of travel time estimation using the BMS data.

Analysis of Sdhd and Mmp12 in an affected solar keratosis and control cohort

The incidence of Squamous Cell Carcinoma (SCG) is growing in certain populations to the extent that it is now the most common skin lesion in young men and women in high ultraviolet exposure regions such as Queensland. In terms of incidence up to 40% of the Australian population over 40 years of age is thought to possess the precancerous Solar Keratosis (SK) lesion and with a small, but significant, chance of progression into SCC, understanding the genetic events that play a role in this process is essential. The major aims of this study were to analyse whole blood derived samples for DNA aberrations in genes associated with tumour development and cellular maintenance, with the ultimate aim of identifying genes associated with non-melanoma skin cancer development. More specifically the first aim of this project was to analyse the SDHD and MMP12 genes via Dual-Labelled Probe Real-Time PCR for copy number aberrations in an affected Solar Keratosis and control cohort. It was found that 12 samples had identifiable copy-number aberrations in either the SDHD or MMP12 gene (this means that a genetic section of either of these two genes is aberrantly amplified or deleted), with five of the samples exhibiting aberrations in both genes. The significance of this study is the contribution to the knowledge of the genetic pathways that are malformed in the progression and development of the pre-cancerous skin lesion Solar Keratosis. © 2008 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.

Open and networked initiatives and the digital transformation of academic publishing in China

Many aspects of China's academic publishing system differ from the systems found in liberal market based economies of the United States, Western Europe and Australia. A high level of government intervention in both the publishing industry and academia and the challenges associated with attempting to make a transition from a centrally controlled towards a more market based publishing industry are two notable differences; however, as in other countries, academic communities and publishers are being transformed by digital technologies. This research explores the complex yet dynamic digital transformation of academic publishing in China, with a specific focus of the open and networked initiatives inspired by Web 2.0 and social media. The thesis draws on two case studies: Science Paper Online, a government-operated online preprint platform and open access mandate; and New Science, a social reference management website operated by a group of young PhD students. Its analysis of the innovations, business models, operating strategies, influences, and difficulties faced by these two initiatives highlights important characteristics and trends in digital publishing experiments in China. The central argument of this thesis is that the open and collaborative possibilities of Web 2.0 inspired initiatives are emerging outside the established journal and monograph publishing system in China, introducing innovative and somewhat disruptive approaches to the certification, communication and commercial exploitation of knowledge. Moreover, emerging publishing models are enabling and encouraging a new system of practising and communicating science in China, putting into practice some elements of the Open Science ethos. There is evidence of both disruptive change to old publishing structures and the adaptive modification of emergent replacements in the Chinese practice. As such, the transformation from traditional to digital and interactive modes of publishing, involves both competition and convergence between new and old publishers, as well as dynamics of co-evolution involving new technologies, business models, social norms, and government reform agendas. One key concern driving this work is whether there are new opportunities and new models for academic publishing in the Web 2.0 age and social media environment, which might allow the basic functions of communication and certification to be achieved more effectively. This thesis enriches existing knowledge of open and networked transformations of scholarly publishing by adding a Chinese story. Although the development of open and networked publishing platforms in China remains in its infancy, the lessons provided by this research are relevant to practitioners and stakeholders interested in understanding the transformative dynamics of networked technologies for publishing and advocating open access in practice, not only in China, but also internationally.

Speaker attribution of Australian broadcast news data

Speaker attribution is the task of annotating a spoken audio archive based on speaker identities. This can be achieved using speaker diarization and speaker linking. In our previous work, we proposed an efficient attribution system, using complete-linkage clustering, for conducting attribution of large sets of two-speaker telephone data. In this paper, we build on our proposed approach to achieve a robust system, applicable to multiple recording domains. To do this, we first extend the diarization module of our system to accommodate multi-speaker (>2) recordings. We achieve this through using a robust cross-likelihood ratio (CLR) threshold stopping criterion for clustering, as opposed to the original stopping criterion of two speakers used for telephone data. We evaluate this baseline diarization module across a dataset of Australian broadcast news recordings, showing a significant lack of diarization accuracy without previous knowledge of the true number of speakers within a recording. We thus propose applying an additional pass of complete-linkage clustering to the diarization module, demonstrating an absolute improvement of 20% in diarization error rate (DER). We then evaluate our proposed multi-domain attribution system across the broadcast news data, demonstrating achievable attribution error rates (AER) as low as 17%.