Sensor Data Integrity : Multi-Sensor Perception for Unmanned Ground Vehicles

This document describes large, accurately calibrated and time-synchronised datasets, gathered in controlled environmental conditions, using an unmanned ground vehicle equipped with a wide variety of sensors. These sensors include: multiple laser scanners, a millimetre wave radar scanner, a colour camera and an infra-red camera. Full details of the sensors are given, as well as the calibration parameters needed to locate them with respect to each other and to the platform. This report also specifies the format and content of the data, and the conditions in which the data have been gathered. The data collection was made in two different situations of the vehicle: static and dynamic. The static tests consisted of sensing a fixed ’reference’ terrain, containing simple known objects, from a motionless vehicle. For the dynamic tests, data were acquired from a moving vehicle in various environments, mainly rural, including an open area, a semi-urban zone and a natural area with different types of vegetation. For both categories, data have been gathered in controlled environmental conditions, which included the presence of dust, smoke and rain. Most of the environments involved were static, except for a few specific datasets which involve the presence of a walking pedestrian. Finally, this document presents illustrations of the effects of adverse environmental conditions on sensor data, as a first step towards reliability and integrity in autonomous perceptual systems.

From “anytime, anywhere” to “here and now”: place and time restrictions in mobile narratives to enhance situated engagement of mobile users

The usage of the mobile Internet has increased tremendously within the last couple of years, and thereby the vision of accessing information anytime, anywhere has become more realistic and a dominant design principle for providing content. However, this study challenges this paradigm of unlimited and unrestricted access, and explores the question whether constraints and restrictions can positively influence the motivation and enticement of mobile users to engage with location-specific content. Restrictions, such as a particular time or location that gives a user access to content, may be used to foster participation and engagement, as well as to support content production and to enhance the user’s experience. In order to explore this, a Mobile Narrative and a Narrative Map have been created. For the former, the access to individual chapters of the story was restricted. Authors can specify constraints, such as a location or time, which need to be met by the reader if they want to read the story. This concept allows creative writers of the story to exploit the fact that the reader’s context is known, by intensifying the user experience and integrating this knowledge into the writing process. The latter, the Narrative Map, provides users with extracts from stories or information snippets about authors at relevant locations. In both concepts, a feedback channel was also integrated, on which location, time, and size constraints were imposed. In a user-centred design process involving authors and potential readers, those concepts have been implemented, followed by an evaluation comprising four user studies. The results show that restrictions and constraints can indeed lead to more enticing and engaging user experiences, and restricted contribution opportunities can lead to a higher motivation to participate as well as to an improved quality of submissions. These findings are relevant for future developments in the area of mobile narratives and creative writing, as well as for common mobile services that aim for enticing user experiences.

Literary prosumers : young people’s reading and writing in a new media landscape

The production of culture is today a matter of ‘user generated content’ and young people are vital participants as ‘prosumers’, i.e. both producers and consumers, of cultural products. Among other things, they are busy creating fan works (stories, pictures, films) based on already published material. Using the genre fan fiction as a point of departure, this article explores the drivers behind net communities organised around fan culture and argues that fan fiction sites can in many aspects be regarded as informal learning settings. By turning to the rhetoric principle of imitatio, the article shows how in the collective interactive processes between readers and writers such fans develop literacies and construct gendered identities.

From single crystal surfaces to single atoms : investigating active sites in electrocatalysis

Electrocatalytic processes will undoubtedly be at the heart of energising future transportation and technology with the added importance of being able to create the necessary fuels required to do so in an environmentally friendly and cost effective manner. For this to be successful two almost mutually exclusive surface properties need to be reconciled, namely producing highly active/reactive surface sites that exhibit long term stability. This article reviews the various approaches which have been undertaken to study the elusive nature of these active sites on metal surfaces which are considered as adatoms or clusters of adatoms with low coordination number. This includes the pioneering studies at extended well defined stepped single crystal surfaces using cyclic voltammetry up to the highly sophisticated in situ electrochemical imaging techniques used to study chemically synthesised nanomaterials. By combining the information attained from single crystal surfaces, individual nanoparticles of defined size and shape, density functional theory calculations and new concepts such as mesoporous multimetallic thin films and single atom electrocatalysts new insights into the design and fabrication of materials with highly active but stable active sites can be achieved. The area of electrocatalysis is therefore not only a fascinating and exciting field in terms of realistic technological and economical benefits but also from the fundamental understanding that can be acquired by studying such an array of interesting materials.

Dispensing doctor : an underutilise resource?

Introduction Multidisciplinary models of organising and providing care have been proposed to decrease the health services gap between urban and rural populations but health workforce shortages exist across most professions and are further exacerbated by maldistribution. Flexibility and expansion of the range of tasks that a health professional can undertake were proposed. Dispensing doctors (DDs) are such an example. As part of DDs’ routine medical practice, DDs are able to both prescribe and dispense medicines to their patients. The granting of a dispensing licence to a doctor is intended to improve rural community access to medicines where there is no pharmacy within a reasonable distance. Method An iterative, qualitative descriptive methodology was used to identify factors which influenced DDs’ practice. Qualitative data were collected by in-depth face-to-face and telephone interviews with DDs. A combination of processes: qualitative content analysis and constant comparison were used to analyse the interview transcripts thematically. Member checking and separate coding were utilised to ensure rigour. Result Thirty-one interviews were conducted. The respondents universally acknowledged that the main reason for dispensing were for the convenience and benefits of their patients and to ensure continuity of care. DDs’ communities were generally more isolated and smaller when compared to their non-dispensing counterparts. DD-respondents viewed their dispensary as a service to the community. Peer pressure on prescribing was a key factors in self-regulating prescribing and dispensing. Conclusion DDs fulfill an important area of unmet needs by providing continuity of pharmaceutical care but the practice is hindered by significant barriers

A shared reading intervention with parents to enhance young children’s early literacy skills

Parental reading to children from an early age has been shown to enhance children’s emergent literacy skills. A pragmatic randomized controlled trial (RCT) was used to investigate the effects of two forms of shared reading interventions on children’s language and literacy skills. Parents of 80 preparatory year children from outer suburban schools of an Australian metropolitan city were trained to use shared reading strategies in an eight-week home intervention. Families were assigned to one of three groups: Dialogic Reading (DR), Dialogic Reading with the addition of Print Referencing (DR + PR), or an attention-matched control group. The sample comprised 42 boys and 38 girls ranging in age from 4.9 years to 6.3 years (M = 5.5, SD = 0.3). Data were collected at pre, post, and at three months follow-up. Measures assessed children’s oral language (receptive and expressive vocabulary), phonological awareness (rhyme, word completion), alphabet knowledge, and concepts about print. Analyses of change from pre to post showed significant effects for the DR and DR + PR groups compared to the control group on three of the six measures: expressive language, rhyme, and concepts about print. At 3-month follow-up assessment, the two intervention groups maintained significantly better performance on the measure of concepts of print only. At both time points, there were no group differences between the DR and DR+PR conditions. These findings illustrate the potential of a brief home focused intervention on promoting children’s emergent literacy.

Media arts section, arts Pop : arts packages of practice

This Media Arts-POP implements Media Arts curriculum in a Year 4 classroom at Waterford West State School, Queensland. While media arts form was the lead area for this package, students developed knowledge of and skills in English, visual arts and some elements of music. In the media arts elements, students learned to use media production equipment (in this case iPads, although other tablets could be used), and to use techniques such as composition and lighting to capture digital images and to record voice and sound effects. The package demonstrates that a number of curriculum areas can be combined to ensure that various curriculum areas are covered without losing the specificity of any one area.

Knowledge unlatched : enabling open access for scholarly books

Although digital technology has made it possible for many more people to access content at no extra cost, fewer people than ever before are able to read the books written by university-based researchers. This workshop explores the role that open access licenses and collective action might play in reviving the scholarly monograph: a specialised area of academic publishing that has seen sales decline by more than 90 per cent over the past three decades. It also introduces Knowledge Unlatched an ambitious attempt to create an internationally coordinated, sustainable route to open access for scholarly books. Knowledge Unlatched is now in its pilot phase.

Associations between area-level disadvantage and DMFT among a birth cohort of Indigenous Australians

Background Individual-level factors influence DMFT, but little is known about the influence of community environment. This study examines associations between community-level influences and DMFT among a birth cohort of Indigenous Australians aged 16–20 years. Methods Data were collected as part of Wave 3 of the Aboriginal Birth Cohort study. Fifteen community areas were established and the sample comprised 442 individuals. The outcome variable was mean DMFT with explanatory variables including diet and community disadvantage (access to services, infrastructure and communications). Data were analysed using multilevel regression modelling. Results In a null model, 13.8% of the total variance in mean DMFT was between community areas, which increased to 14.3% after adjusting for sex, age and diet. Addition of the community disadvantage variable decreased the variance between areas by 4.8%, indicating that community disadvantage explained one-third of the area-level variance. Residents of under-resourced communities had significantly higher mean DMFT (β=3.86, 95% CI 0.02¬, 7.70) after adjusting for sex, age and diet. Conclusions Living in under-resourced communities was associated with greater DMFT among this disadvantaged population, indicating that policies aiming to reduce oral health-related inequalities among vulnerable groups may benefit from taking into account factors external to individual-level influences.

The influence of food literacy on the everyday practicalities of meeting nutrition recommendations

Contemporary nutrition policies and plans call for focussing efforts to improve nutrition through a closer connection with food and the everyday practicalities of how people live and eat. Various words have been used to articulate what this might mean in practice. More recently, the term “food literacy” has emerged to explain this gap between the policy aims the (in)ability of people to know, understand and use food to meet nutrition recommendations. Despite its increasing use, there is no common understanding of this term or its components. Once established, food literacy could be measured in order to examine its association with nutritional outcomes. A Delphi study of 43 Australian food experts from diverse sectors and settings explored their understanding of the term “food literacy”, the likely components and possible relationship with nutrition. The three round Delphi study began with a semi-structured telephone interview and was followed by two online surveys. Constructivist grounded theory was used to analyse data, from which a conceptual model of the relationship between food literacy and nutrition was developed. The model was then tested and refined following a phenomenological study of 37 young people aged 16-25 years who were responsible for feeding themselves. They were interviewed about their food intake, day-to-day food decision making, the knowledge and skills used and their perceptions of someone who is “good with food”. Analysis from the Delphi study identified, eighty components of food literacy and these were grouped into eight domains: 1)access, 2)planning and management, 3)selection, 4)knowing where food comes from, 5)preparation, 6)eating, 7)nutrition and 8)food related language. When these were compared to results of the Young People’s study it was found that while specific components of food literacy were largely contextual, the importance of all eight domains continued to be relevant. The results of these qualitative studies have set the boundaries and scope of meaning of food literacy and will be used to inform the development of measurable variables to be tested in a quantitative cross-sectional study. This prospective study will examine the relationship between food literacy and nutrition. This research is useful in guiding government strategy and investment, and informing the planning, implementation and evaluation of interventions by practitioners.

Linking food literacy to nutrition

“Food literacy” is an emerging term used to describe the relative ability to understand the nature of food and how it is important. It also describes the ability to gather, process, analyse and act upon information about food and to apply it in individual settings. A Delphi study of 43 Australian food experts from diverse sectors and settings in all states and territories explored the meaning of food literacy, its constitutive components and how they relate to nutrition. The three-round Delphi began with a semi-structured telephone interview and was followed by two online surveys. Grounded theory was used to develop a conceptual model of the relationship between food literacy and nutrition. It is proposed that food literacy influences nutrition through three related mechanisms of security, choice and pleasure. These mechanisms will be mediated by the local food supply and individual values. The relative importance of components of food literacy will depend upon these mediators. The level of nutrition outcome being sought (for example, dietary guidelines versus food group serves) will also influence the relative importance of these components. This model will be useful in informing program planning and evaluation and will be tested and refined following a phenomenological study of consumers.

New directions for digital video creation in the classroom : spatiality, embodiment, and creativity

This column features a conversation (via email, image sharing, and Facetime) that took place over several months between two international theorists of digital filmmaking from schools in two countries—Professors Jason Ranker (Portland State University, Oregon, United States) and Kathy Mills (Queensland University of Technology, Australia). The authors discuss emerging ways of thinking about video making, sharing tips and anecdotes from classroom experience to inspire teachers to explore with adolescents the meaning potentials of digital video creation. The authors briefly discuss their previous work in this area, and then move into a discussion of how the material spaces in which students create videos profoundly shape the films' meanings and significance. The article ends with a discussion of how students can take up creative new directions, pushing the boundaries of the potentials of classroom video making and uncovering profound uses of the medium.

E-motion diaries : blogging emotional responses to online learning in higher education

Emotions are inherently social, and are central to learning, online interaction and literacy practices (Shen, Wang, & Shen, 2009). Demonstrating the dynamic sociality of literacy practice, we used e-motion diaries or web logs to explore the emotional states of pre-service high school teachers’ experiences of online learning activities. This is because the methods of communication used by university educators in online learning and writing environments play an important role in fulfilling students’ need for social interaction and inclusion (McInnerney & Roberts, 2004). Feelings of isolation and frustration are common emotions experienced by students in many online learning environments, and are associated with the success or failure of online interactions and learning (Su, et al., 2005). The purpose of the study was to answer the research question: What are the trajectories of pre-service teachers’ emotional states during online learning experiences? This is important because emotions are central to learning, and the current trend toward Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) needs research about students’ emotional connections in online learning environments (Kop, 2011). The project was conducted with a graduate class of 64 high school science pre-service teachers in Science Education Curriculum Studies in a large Australian university, including males and females from a variety of cultural backgrounds, aged 22-55 years. Online activities involved the students watching a series of streamed live lectures for the first 5 weeks providing a varied set of learning experiences, such as viewing science demonstrations (e.g., modeling the use of discrepant events). Each week, students provided feedback on learning by writing and posting an e-motion diary or web log about their emotional response. Students answered the question: What emotions did you experience during this learning experience? The descriptive data set included 284 online posts, with students contributing multiple entries. Linguistic appraisal theory, following Martin and White (2005), was used to regroup the 22 different discrete emotions reported by students into the six main affect groups – three positive and three negative: unhappiness/happiness, insecurity/security, and dissatisfaction/satisfaction. The findings demonstrated that the pre-service teachers’ emotional responses to the streamed lectures tended towards happiness, security, and satisfaction within the typology of affect groups – un/happiness, in/security, and dis/satisfaction. Fewer students reported that the streamed lectures triggered negative feelings of frustration, powerlessness, and inadequacy, and when this occurred, it often pertained to expectations of themselves in the forthcoming field experience in classrooms. Exceptions to this pattern of responses occurred in relation to the fifth streamed lecture presented in a non-interactive slideshow format that compressed a large amount of content. Many students responded to the content of the lecture rather than providing their emotional responses to this lecture, and one student felt “completely disengaged”. The social practice of online writing as blogs enabled the students to articulate their emotions. The findings primarily contribute new understanding about students' wide range of differing emotional states, both positive and negative, experienced in response to streamed live lectures and other learning activities in higher education external coursework. The is important because the majority of previous studies have focused on particular negative emotions, such as anxiety in test taking. The research also highlights the potentials of appraisal theory for studying human emotions in online learning and writing.

Beef production and the environment : is it really 'hard to be green when you are in the red'?

The statement. 'it is hard to be green when you are in the red' is commonly used by primary producers to explain the necessity of placing a greater emphasis on financial survival rather than longer term environmental sustainability. The subject of environmental sustainability on pastoral properties was explored during face-to:face interviews with cattle grazers in the Fitzroy Basin area of Central Queensland. Findings from the study suggest that while economic factors are important, they are not the only determinant in whether a landholder priorities environmental sustainability, Rather. social factors such as knowledge claims. beliefs, attitudes. values, peer pressure and social sanctioning, constructed and enacted within the productivist paradigm of primary production. play a crucial role in how landholders manage their natural assets. This suggests that the edict that 'It is hard to be green when you are in the red' is inaccurate and does not explain why conservation-focused pastoral management is not yet occurring on a large scale.