Ecological perspectives and wellness

Since the industrial revolution, the development of a lifestyle lived predominantly indoors has resulted in less contact with nature. Research over the last twenty years has gradually been identifying the human health benefits attributed to re-connecting with the natural environment. The significance of feeling connected to natural environments, families and friends are described as a foundational requirement for human health and wellbeing (Maller et al., 2008). Also, the early findings of Schultz‟s (2002) work indicated that by feeling connected to the natural world a person is more likely to be committed to positively interact with and protect the natural world. Research on young people has indicated that young people are even more disconnected from the natural world. Leading some writers to call this disconnection a crisis termed “Nature Deficit Disorder.” Participants (n = 131) from 1st year university Physical Education and Human Movement Studies were asked to complete two questionnaires the Connectedness to Nature scale (CNS) (Mayer & Frantz, 2004) and the New Ecological Paradigm Scale (NEP) (Dunlap, Van Liere, Mertig, & Jones, 2000). The NEP and CNS are two scales most commonly used to explore beliefs and feelings of connectedness to the natural world (Schultz, 2002). The NEP was developed over thirty years ago by Dunlap and Van Liere (1978) and originally termed the New Environmental Paradigm. The NEP is now the foremost International tool for measuring beliefs about the natural world (Dunlap, 2008). The CNS measures an individual‟s trait levels of emotional connection to the natural world. It is a relatively new tool for understanding ecological behaviour based on ecopsychology theory and employed to predict behaviour (Mayer and Frantz, 2004). Both questionnaires are based on a 1-5 scale (Strongly disagree to Strongly agree). By combing both scales the researchers aim to develop a snap shot of beliefs and emotional feelings towards the natural world and therefore an idea of intended behaviour. The two questionnaires were combined as one online survey with additional material asking for demographics and self assessments of type of leader included before the surveys. An email inviting outdoor leaders to participate was sent out to networks and interest groups. A basic descriptive statistical analysis was used to interpret data.

Dynamics of railway wagons subjected to braking/traction torque

Braking or traction torque is regarded as an important source of wheelset skid and a potential source of derailment risk that adversely affects the safety levels of train operations; therefore, this research examines the effect of braking/traction torque to the longitudinal and lateral dynamics of wagons. This paper reports how train operations safety could be adversely affected due to various braking strategies. Sensitivity of wagon dynamics to braking severity is illustrated through numerical examples. The influence of wheel/rail interface friction coefficient and the effects of two types of track geometry defects on wheel unloading ratio and wagon pitch are also discussed in the paper.

Differences between students and non-students’ willingness to donate to a charitable organisation

This paper reports on a comparative study of students and non-students that investigates which psycho-social factors influence intended donation behaviour within a single organisation that offers multiple forms of donation activity. Additionally, the study examines which media channels are more important to encourage donation. A self-administered survey instrumentwas used and a sample of 776 respondents recruited. Logistic regressions and a Chow test were used to determine statistically significant differences between the groups. For donatingmoney, importance of charity and attitude towards charity influence students, whereas only importance of need significantly influences non-students. For donating time, no significant influences were found for non-students, however, importance of charity and attitude towards charity were significant for students. Importance of need was significant for both students and non-students for donating goods, with importance of charity also significant for students. Telephone and television channels were important for both groups. However, Internet, email and short messaging services were more important for students, providing opportunities to enhance this group’s perceptions of the importance of the charity, and the importance of the need, which ultimately impacts on their attitudes towards the charity. These differences highlight the importance of charities focussing on those motivations and attitudes that are important to a particular target segment and communicating through appropriate media channels for these segments.

Simulation of delaminations in composite laminates

Lamb waves propagation in composite materials has been studied extensively since it was first observed in 1982. In this paper, we show a procedure to simulate the propagation of Lamb waves in composite laminates using a two-dimensional model in ANSYS. This is done by simulating the Lamb waves propagating along the plane of the structure in the form of a time dependent force excitation. In this paper, an 8-layered carbon reinforced fibre plastic (CRFP) is modelled as transversely isotropic and dissipative medium and the effect of flaws is analyzed with respect to the defects induced between various layers of the composite laminate. This effort is the basis for the future development of a 3D model for similar applications.

Recommending best answer in a collaborative question answering system

The World Wide Web has become a medium for people to share information. People use Web-based collaborative tools such as question answering (QA) portals, blogs/forums, email and instant messaging to acquire information and to form online-based communities. In an online QA portal, a user asks a question and other users can provide answers based on their knowledge, with the question usually being answered by many users. It can become overwhelming and/or time/resource consuming for a user to read all of the answers provided for a given question. Thus, there exists a need for a mechanism to rank the provided answers so users can focus on only reading good quality answers. The majority of online QA systems use user feedback to rank users’ answers and the user who asked the question can decide on the best answer. Other users who didn’t participate in answering the question can also vote to determine the best answer. However, ranking the best answer via this collaborative method is time consuming and requires an ongoing continuous involvement of users to provide the needed feedback. The objective of this research is to discover a way to recommend the best answer as part of a ranked list of answers for a posted question automatically, without the need for user feedback. The proposed approach combines both a non-content-based reputation method and a content-based method to solve the problem of recommending the best answer to the user who posted the question. The non-content method assigns a score to each user which reflects the users’ reputation level in using the QA portal system. Each user is assigned two types of non-content-based reputations cores: a local reputation score and a global reputation score. The local reputation score plays an important role in deciding the reputation level of a user for the category in which the question is asked. The global reputation score indicates the prestige of a user across all of the categories in the QA system. Due to the possibility of user cheating, such as awarding the best answer to a friend regardless of the answer quality, a content-based method for determining the quality of a given answer is proposed, alongside the non-content-based reputation method. Answers for a question from different users are compared with an ideal (or expert) answer using traditional Information Retrieval and Natural Language Processing techniques. Each answer provided for a question is assigned a content score according to how well it matched the ideal answer. To evaluate the performance of the proposed methods, each recommended best answer is compared with the best answer determined by one of the most popular link analysis methods, Hyperlink-Induced Topic Search (HITS). The proposed methods are able to yield high accuracy, as shown by correlation scores: Kendall correlation and Spearman correlation. The reputation method outperforms the HITS method in terms of recommending the best answer. The inclusion of the reputation score with the content score improves the overall performance, which is measured through the use of Top-n match scores.

Building partnerships as a key strategy in developing an event management model for an international dance event : a case study of the 2008 WDA (World Dance Alliance) Global Summit, Brisbane, Australia

With the increasing growth of cultural events both in Australia and internationally, there has also been an increase in event management studies; in theory and in practice. Although a series of related knowledge and skills required specifically by event managers has already been identified by many researchers (Perry et al., 1996; Getz, 2002 & Silvers et al., 2006) and generic event management models proposed, including ‘project management’ strategies in an event context (Getz, 2007), knowledge gaps still exist in relation to identifying specific types of events, especially for not-for-profit arts events. For events of a largely voluntary nature, insufficient resources are recognised as the most challenging; including finance, human resources and infrastructure. Therefore, the concepts and principles which are adopted by large scale commercial events may not be suitable for not-for-profit arts events aiming at providing professional network opportunities for artists. Building partnerships are identified as a key strategy in developing an effective event management model for this type of event. Using the 2008 World Dance Alliance Global Summit (WDAGS) in Brisbane 13-18 July, as a case study, the level, nature and relationship of key partners are investigated. Data is triangulated from interviews with organisers of the 2008 WDAGS, on-line and email surveys of delegates, participant observation and analysis of formal and informal documents, to produce a management model suited to this kind of event.

The evaluation of a biphasic osteochondral implant coupled with an electrospun membrane in a large animal model

Conventional clinical therapies are unable to resolve osteochondral defects adequately, hence tissue engineering solutions are sought to address the challenge. A biphasic implant which was seeded with Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSC) and coupled with an electrospun membrane was evaluated as an alternative. This dual phase construct comprised of a Polycaprolactone (PCL) cartilage scaffold and a Polycaprolactone - Tri Calcium Phosphate (PCL - TCP) osseous matrix. Autologous MSC was seeded into the entire implant via fibrin and the construct was inserted into critically sized osteochondral defects located at the medial condyle and patellar groove of pigs. The defect was resurfaced with a PCL - collagen electrospun mesh that served as a substitute for periosteal flap in preventing cell leakage. Controls either without implanted MSC or resurfacing membrane were included. After 6 months, cartilaginous repair was observed with a low occurrence of fibrocartilage at the medial condyle. Osteochondral repair was promoted and host cartilage degeneration was arrested as shown by the superior Glycosaminoglycan (GAG) maintenance. This positive morphological outcome was supported by a higher relative Young's modulus which indicated functional cartilage restoration. Bone in growth and remodeling occurred in all groups with a higher degree of mineralization in the experimental group. Tissue repair was compromised in the absence of the implanted cells or the resurfacing membrane. Moreover healing was inferior at the patellar groove as compared to the medial condyle and this was attributed to the native biomechanical features.

Raman spectroscopic study of the antimonate mineral lewisite (Ca,Fe,Na)2(Sb,Ti)2O6(O,OH)7

The mineral lewisite, (Ca,Fe,Na)2(Sb,Ti)2O6(O,OH)7 an antimony bearing mineral has been studied by Raman spectroscopy. A comparison is made with the Raman spectra of other minerals including bindheimite, stibiconite and roméite. The mineral lewisite is characterised by an intense sharp band at 517 cm-1 with a shoulder at 507 cm-1 assigned to SbO stretching modes. Raman bands of medium intensity for lewisite are observed at 300, 356 and 400 cm-1. These bands are attributed to OSbO bending vibrations. Raman bands in the OH stretching region are observed at 3200, 3328, 3471 cm-1 with a distinct shoulder at 3542 cm-1. The latter is assigned to the stretching vibration of OH units. The first three bands are attributed to water stretching vibrations. The observation of bands in the 3200 to 3500 cm-1 region suggests that water is involved in the lewisite structure. If this is the case then the formula may be better written as Ca, Fe2+, Na)2(Sb, Ti)2(O,OH)7 •xH2O.

Design of automatic vision-based inspection system for solder joint segmentation

Purpose: Computer vision has been widely used in the inspection of electronic components. This paper proposes a computer vision system for the automatic detection, localisation, and segmentation of solder joints on Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) under different illumination conditions. Design/methodology/approach: An illumination normalization approach is applied to an image, which can effectively and efficiently eliminate the effect of uneven illumination while keeping the properties of the processed image the same as in the corresponding image under normal lighting conditions. Consequently special lighting and instrumental setup can be reduced in order to detect solder joints. These normalised images are insensitive to illumination variations and are used for the subsequent solder joint detection stages. In the segmentation approach, the PCB image is transformed from an RGB color space to a YIQ color space for the effective detection of solder joints from the background. Findings: The segmentation results show that the proposed approach improves the performance significantly for images under varying illumination conditions. Research limitations/implications: This paper proposes a front-end system for the automatic detection, localisation, and segmentation of solder joint defects. Further research is required to complete the full system including the classification of solder joint defects. Practical implications: The methodology presented in this paper can be an effective method to reduce cost and improve quality in production of PCBs in the manufacturing industry. Originality/value: This research proposes the automatic location, identification and segmentation of solder joints under different illumination conditions.

Raman spectroscopic study of the antimonate mineral brizziite NaSbO3

Raman spectra of antimonate mineral brizziite NaSbO3 were studied and related to the structure of the mineral. Two sharp bands at 617 and 660 cm-1 are attributed to the SbO3- symmetric stretching mode. The reason for two symmetric stretching vibrations depends upon the bonding of the SbO3- units. The band at 617 cm-1 is assigned to bonding through the Sb and the 660 cm-1 to bonding through the oxygen. The low intensity band at 508 cm-1 is ascribed to the SbO antisymmetric stretching vibration. Low intensity bands were found at 503, 526 and 578 cm-1. Sharp Raman bands observed at 204, 230, 307 and 315 cm-1are assigned to OSbO bending modes. Raman spectroscopy enables a better understanding of the molecular structure of the mineral brizziite.

An application of near-infrared and mid-infrared spectroscopy to the study of selected minerals

Near-infrared spectroscopy is a somewhat unutilised technique for the study of minerals. The technique has the ability to determine water content, hydroxyl groups and transition metals. In this paper we show the application of NIR spectroscopy to the study of selected minerals. The structure and spectral properties of two Cu-tellurite minerals graemite and teineite are compared with bismuth containing tellurite mineral smirnite by the application of NIR and IR spectroscopy. The position of Cu2+ bands and their splitting in the electronic spectra of tellurites are in conformity with octahedral geometry distortion. The spectral pattern of smirnite resembles graemite and the observed band at 10855 cm-1 with a weak shoulder at 7920 cm-1 is identified as due to Cu2+ ion. Any transition metal impurities may be identified by their bands in this spectral region. Three prominent bands observed in the region of 7200-6500 cm-1 are the overtones of water whilst the weak bands observed near 6200 cm-1in tellurites may be attributed to the hydrogen bonding between (TeO3)2- and H2O. The observation of a number of bands centred at around 7200 cm-1 confirms molecular water in tellurite minerals. A number of overlapping bands in the low wavenumbers 4500-4000 cm-1 is the result of combinational modes of (TeO3)2−ion. The appearance of the most intense peak at 5200 cm-1 with a pair of weak bands near 6000 cm-1 is a common feature in all the spectra and is related to the combinations of OH vibrations of water molecules, and bending vibrations ν2 (δ H2O). Bending vibrations δ H2O observed in the IR spectra shows a single band for smirnite at 1610 cm-1. The resolution of this band into number of components is evidenced for non-equivalent types of molecular water in graemite and teineite. (TeO3)2- stretching vibrations are characterized by three main absorptions at 1080, 780 and 695 cm-1.

Coating of biomaterial scaffolds with the collagen-mimetic peptide GFOGER for bone defect repair

Healing large bone defects and non-unions remains a significant clinical problem. Current treatments, consisting of auto and allografts, are limited by donor supply and morbidity, insufficient bioactivity and risk of infection. Biotherapeutics, including cells, genes and proteins, represent promising alternative therapies, but these strategies are limited by technical roadblocks to biotherapeutic delivery, cell sourcing, high cost, and regulatory hurdles. In the present study, the collagen-mimetic peptide, GFOGER, was used to coat synthetic PCL scaffolds to promote bone formation in critically-sized segmental defects in rats. GFOGER is a synthetic triple helical peptide that binds to the [alpha]2[beta]1 integrin receptor involved in osteogenesis. GFOGER coatings passively adsorbed onto polymeric scaffolds, in the absence of exogenous cells or growth factors, significantly accelerated and increased bone formation in non-healing femoral defects compared to uncoated scaffolds and empty defects. Despite differences in bone volume, no differences in torsional strength were detected after 12 weeks, indicating that bone mass but not bone quality was improved in this model. This work demonstrates a simple, cell/growth factor-free strategy to promote bone formation in challenging, non-healing bone defects. This biomaterial coating strategy represents a cost-effective and facile approach, translatable into a robust clinical therapy for musculoskeletal applications.

Characterisation of mesenchymal cells from osteophytes in osteoarthritis

Osteophytes form through the process of chondroid metamorphosis of fibrous tissue followed by endochondral ossification. Osteophytes have been found to consist of three different mesenchymal tissue regions including endochondral bone formation within cartilage residues, intra-membranous bone formation within fibrous tissue and bone formation within bone marrow spaces. All these features provide evidence of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) involvement in osteophyte formation; nevertheless, it remains to be characterised. MSC from numerous mesenchymal tissues have been isolated but bone marrow remains the “ideal” due to the ease of ex vivo expansion and multilineage potential. However, the bone marrow stroma has a relatively low number of MSC, something that necessitates the need for long-term culture and extensive population doublings in order to obtain a sufficient number of cells for therapeutic applications. MSC in vitro have limited proliferative capacity and extensive passaging compromises differentiation potential. To overcome this barrier, tissue derived MSC are of strong interest for extensive study and characterisation, with a focus on their potential application in therapeutic tissue regeneration. To date, no MSC type cell has been isolated from osteophyte tissue, despite this tissue exhibiting all the hallmark features of a regenerative tissue. Therefore, this study aimed to isolate and characterise cells from osteophyte tissues in relation to their phenotype, differentiation potential, immuno-modulatory properties, proliferation, cellular ageing, longevity and chondrogenesis in in vitro defect model in comparison to patient matched bone marrow stromal cells (bMSC). Osteophyte derived cells were isolated from osteophyte tissue samples collected during knee replacement surgery. These cells were characterised by the expression of cell surface antigens, differentiation potential into mesenchymal lineages, growth kinetics and modulation of allo-immune responses. Multipotential stem cells were identified from all osteophyte samples namely osteophyte derived mesenchymal stem cells (oMSC). Extensively expanded cell cultures (passage 4 and 9 respectively) were used to confirm cytogenetic stability and study signs of cellular aging, telomere length and telomerase activity. Cultured cells at passage 4 were used to determine 84 pathway focused stem cell related gene expression profile. Micro mass pellets were cultured in chondrogenic differentiation media for 21 days for phenotypic and chondrogenic related gene expression. Secondly, cell pellets differentiated overnight were placed into articular cartilage defects and cultured for further 21 days in control medium and chondrogenic medium to study chondrogenesis and cell behaviour. The surface antigen expression of oMSC was consistent with that of mesenchymal stem cells, such as lacking the haematopoietic and common leukocyte markers (CD34, CD45) while expressing those related to adhesion (CD29, CD166, CD44) and stem cells (CD90, CD105, CD73). The proliferation capacity of oMSC in culture was superior to that of bMSC, and they readily differentiated into tissues of the mesenchymal lineages. oMSC also demonstrated the ability to suppress allogeneic T-cell proliferation, which was associated with the expression of tryptophan degrading enzyme indoleamine 2,3 dioxygenase (IDO). Cellular aging was more prominent in late passage bMSC than in oMSC. oMSC had longer telomere length in late passages compared with bMSC, although there was no significant difference in telomere lengths in the early passages in either cell type. Telomerase activity was detectable only in early passage oMSC and not in bMSC. In osteophyte tissues telomerase positive cells were found to be located peri vascularly and were Stro-1 positive. Eighty-four pathway-focused genes were investigated and only five genes (APC, CCND2, GJB2, NCAM and BMP2) were differentially expressed between bMSC and oMSC. Chondrogenically induced micro mass pellets of oMSC showed higher staining intensity for proteoglycans, aggrecan and collagen II. Differential expression of chondrogenic related genes showed up regulation of Aggrecan and Sox 9 in oMSC and collagen II in bMSC. The in vitro defect models of oMSC in control medium showed rounded and aggregated cells staining positively for proteoglycan and presence of some extracellular matrix. In contrast, defects with bMSC showed fragmentation and loss of cells, fibroblast-like cell morphology staining positively for proteoglycans. For defects maintained in chondrogenic medium, rounded, aggregated and proteoglycan positive cells were found in both oMSC and bMSC cultures. Extracellular matrix and cellular integration into newly formed matrix was evident only in oMSC defects. For analysis of chondrocyte hypertrophy, strong expression of type X collagen could be noticed in the pellet cultures and transplanted bMSC. In summary, this study demonstrated that osteophyte derived cells had similar properties to mesenchymal stem cells in the expression of antigen phenotype, differential potential and suppression of allo-immune response. Furthermore, when compared to bMSC, oMSC maintained a higher proliferative capacity due to a retained level of telomerase activity in vitro, which may account for the relatively longer telomeres delaying growth arrest by replicative senescence compared with bMSC. oMSC behaviour in defects supported chondrogenesis which implies that cells derived from regenerative tissue can be an alternative source of stem cells and have a potential clinical application for therapeutic stem cell based tissue regeneration.

Enhancing in vivo vascularized bone formation by cobalt chloride-treated bone marrow stromal cells in a tissue engineered periosteum model

The periosteum plays an indispensable role in both bone formation and bone defect healing. In this study we constructed an artificial in vitro periosteum by incorporating osteogenic differentiated bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) and cobalt chloride (CoCl(2))-treated BMSCs. The engineered periostea were implanted both subcutaneously and into skull bone defects in SCID mice to investigate ectopic and orthotopic osteogenesis and vascularization. After two weeks in subcutaneous and four weeks in bone defect areas, the implanted constructs were assessed for ectopic and orthotopic osteogenesis and vascularization by micro-CT, histomorphometrical and immunohistochemical methods. The results showed that CoCl(2) pre-treated BMSCs induced higher degree of vascularization and enhanced osteogenesis within the implants in both ectopic and orthotopic areas. This study provided a novel approach using BMSCs sourced from the same patient for both osteogenic and pro-angiogenic purposes in constructing tissue engineered periosteum to enhance vascularized osteogenesis.

Queensland government agency libraries review : literature review

Dr Gillian Hallam is project leader for the Queensland Government Agency Libraries Review. As an initial step in the project, a literature review was commissioned to guide the research activities and inform the development of options for potential future service delivery models for the Government agency libraries. The review presents an environmental scan and review of the professional and academic literature to consider a range of current perspectives on library and information services. Significant in this review is the focus on the specific issues and challenges impacting on contemporary government libraries and their staff. The review incorporates four key areas: current directions in government administration; trends in government library services; issues in contemporary special libraries; and the skills and competencies of special librarians. Rather than representing an exhaustive review, the research has primarily centred on recent journal articles, conference papers, reports and web resources. Commentary prepared by national and international library associations has also played a role informing this review, as does the relevant State and Federal government documentation and reporting.