Scheimpflug imaging of the post lens tear film during contact lens wear

A new imaging methodology is described to visualise the post lens tear film (PLTF) during contact lens wear. A rotating-Scheimpflug camera in combination with sodium fluorescein allows evaluation of the PLTF for different contact lens modalities, including mini-scleral, rigid gas permeable (RGP) and soft contact lenses. This imaging technique provides an extension of the instrument’s current functionality. The potential advantages and limitations of the technique are discussed.

Profiling the nature and context of the Australian prefabricated housing industry

The current state of the prefabricated housing market in Australia is systematically profiled, guided by a theoretical systems model. Particular focus is given to two original data collections. The first identifies manufacturers and builders using prefabrication innovations, and the second compares the context for prefabricated housing in Australia with that of key international jurisdictions. The results indicate a small but growing market for prefabricated housing in Australia, often building upon expertise developed through non-residential building applications. The international comparison highlighted the complexity of the interactions between macro policy decisions and historical influences and the uptake of prefabricated housing. The data suggest factors such as the small scale of the Australian market, and a lack of investment in research, development and training have not encouraged prefabrication. A lack of clear regulatory policy surrounding prefabricated housing is common both in Australia and internationally, with local effects in regards to home warranties and housing finance highlighted. Future research should target the continuing lack of consideration of prefabrication from within the housing construction industry, and build upon the research reported in this paper to further quantify the potential end user market and the continuing development of the industry.

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.

Australasian post

History of the general-interest magazine, Australasian Post, also known as Aussie Post.

The ethical intricacies of injury rehabilitation within a dance training context

Exploring the ethical issues present in professional practice within the field of sport, exercise and performance psychology, this case study outlines challenges that may be encountered, ways to address issues should they arise, and the overall ethical considerations of supporting injury rehabilitation within a dance training context.

Assessing driver acceptance of intelligent transport systems in the context of railway level crossings

Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) have the potential to substantially reduce the number of crashes caused by human errors at railway levels crossings. Such systems, however, will only exert an influence on driving behaviour if they are accepted by the driver. This study aimed at assessing driver acceptance of different ITS interventions designed to enhance driver behaviour at railway crossings. Fifty eight participants, divided into three groups, took part in a driving simulator study in which three ITS devices were tested: an in-vehicle visual ITS, an in-vehicle audio ITS, and an on-road valet system. Driver acceptance of each ITS intervention was assessed in a questionnaire guided by the Technology Acceptance Model and the Theory of Planned Behaviour. Overall, results indicated that the strongest intentions to use the ITS devices belonged to participants exposed to the road-based valet system at passive crossings. The utility of both models in explaining drivers’ intention to use the systems is discussed, with results showing greater support for the Theory of Planned Behaviour. Directions for future studies, along with strategies that target attitudes and subjective norms to increase drivers’ behavioural intentions, are also discussed.

A follow up sample of first time drink driving offenders : how many drink drive post offence?

Background Drink driving remains an important issue to address in terms of health and injury prevention even though research shows that over time there has been a steady decline in drink driving. This has been attributed to the introduction of countermeasures such as random breath testing (RBT), changing community attitudes and norms leading to less acceptance of the behaviour and, to a lesser degree, the implementation of programs designed to deter offenders from engaging in drink driving. Most of the research to date has focused on the hard core offenders - those with high blood alcohol content at the time of arrest, and those who have more than one offence. Aims There has been little research on differences within the first offender population or on factors contributing to second offences. This research aims to fill the gap by reporting on those factors in a sample of offenders. Methods This paper reports on a study that involved interviewing 198 first offenders in court and following up this group 6-8 months post offence. Of these original participants, 101 offenders were able to be followed up, with 88 included in this paper on the basis that they had driven a vehicle since the offence. Results Interestingly, while the rate of reported apprehended second offences was low in that time frame (3%), a surprising number of offenders reported that they had driven under the influence at a much higher rate (27%). That is a large proportion of first offenders were willing to risk the much larger penalties associated with a second offence in order to engage in drink driving. Discussion and conclusions Key characteristics of this follow up group are examined to inform the development of a evidence based brief intervention program that targets first time offenders with the goal of decreasing the rate of repeat drink driving.

Valé Bunny Watson? Law librarians, law libraries, and legal research in the post-internet era

Katharine Hepburn’s entertaining portrayal of reference librarian Bunny Watson in Desk Set (1957) moves her character from apprehension about new technology to an understanding that it is simply another tool. This article outlines the impact of technology on academic legal research. It examines the nature of legal research and the doctrinal method, the importance of law libraries (and librarians) in legal research, and the roles and implications of the Internet and web search engines on legal research methods and education.

Posttraumatic growth in post-surgical coronary artery bypass graft patients

Recent research in posttraumatic growth has been applied to people with life-threatening illnesses to optimise recovery. There is a lack of research exploring posttraumatic growth in coronary artery bypass graft patients. This article describes the recovery experience of 14 coronary artery bypass graft patients (13 males and 1 female) at their first outpatient review post-surgery. Grounded theory analysis was used to develop a model of distinct and shared pathways to growth depending on whether patients were symptomatic or asymptomatic pre-coronary artery bypass graft. Outcomes of posttraumatic growth in this sample included action-based healthy lifestyle growth and two forms of cognitive growth: appreciation of life and new possibilities. The model of posttraumatic growth developed in this study may be helpful in guiding future research into promoting posttraumatic growth and behaviour change in coronary artery bypass graft patients.

Dance teaching and learning in context : activating the head, heart and hands

Traditionally, the art of teaching dance has largely been a skill transferred from teacher to student. This master-apprentice paradigm encourages the passing on of technical and artistic traditions associated with the various genres of dance. Whilst this approach supports the passing of the flame of the art form from generation to generation, it has, in part, limited the teaching pedagogy that informs dance as an art form. The future of dance teaching is reliant on teachers’ engagement with the further development of inquiry learning and reflective practice skills within the dance studio. This paper charts one component of a reflective pedagogy, Head, Heart, Hands (Pstalozzi as cited in Rud 2006), developed as a result of an action research project, within a suite of three units across a three-year undergraduate teacher-training course for school, community and studio dance teachers.

Equal shared parental responsibility and shared care post-return to Australia under the Hague Child Abduction Convention

This article explores the outcomes experienced by abducting primary carer mothers and their children post-return to Australia under the Hague Convention on Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.1 The circumstances faced by families that experience international parental child abduction are examined by considering how part VII of the Australian Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) is applied to resolve parenting disputes post-return. At present, the statutory criteria found in part VII encourage an equal shared parental responsibility and shared care parenting approach.2 This emphasis aligns children’s best interests with collaborative parenting3 and their parents living within close geographical proximity of each other to facilitate the practicalities of the approach.4 Arguably, these statutory criteria guide the exercise of judicial discretion to determine a child’s best interests towards a parenting arrangement that is incompatible with the lifestyle and functional characteristics of these families.

A study of outcomes post-return to Australia under the Hague Child Abduction Convention for abducting primary-carer mothers and their children

This article reports the findings of an empirical study of outcomes experienced by abducting primary-carer mothers and their children post-return to Australia under the Hague Child Abduction Convention. The study specifically focused on legal and factual outcomes post-return to Australia as the child's habitual residence. The study contributes an original critique of the Convention's operation by examining the collective operation of Convention return proceedings and Pt VII proceedings under the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth) post-return. Convention return proceedings, and the resolution of the substantive parenting dispute post-return to Australia, are not distinct stages operating in isolation. Viewing them as such is a purely theoretical exercise divorced from the reality of the lives of transnational families. Arguably, a better measure of the Convention's success is the outcomes it produces as part of the entire system designed to address the contemporary problem of international parental child abduction. When a child is returned to Australia this system includes the operation of Australian family law.