The multi-platform user engagement and data visualisation tool

The ability to identify and assess user engagement with transmedia productions is vital to the success of individual projects and the sustainability of this mode of media production as a whole. It is essential that industry players have access to tools and methodologies that offer the most complete and accurate picture of how audiences/users engage with their productions and which assets generate the most valuable returns of investment. Drawing upon research conducted with Hoodlum Entertainment, a Brisbane-based transmedia producer, this project involved an initial assessment of the way engagement tends to be understood, why standard web analytics tools are ill-suited to measuring it, how a customised tool could offer solutions, and why this question of measuring engagement is so vital to the future of transmedia as a sustainable industry. Working with data provided by Hoodlum Entertainment and Foxtel Marketing, the outcome of the study was a prototype for a custom data visualisation tool that allowed access, manipulation and presentation of user engagement data, both historic and predictive. The prototyped interfaces demonstrate how the visualization tool would collect and organise data specific to multiplatform projects by aggregating data across a number of platform reporting tools. Such a tool is designed to encompass not only platforms developed by the transmedia producer but also sites developed by fans. This visualisation tool accounted for multiplatform experience projects whose top level is comprised of people, platforms and content. People include characters, actors, audience, distributors and creators. Platforms include television, Facebook and other relevant social networks, literature, cinema and other media that might be included in the multiplatform experience. Content refers to discreet media texts employed within the platform, such as tweet, a You Tube video, a Facebook post, an email, a television episode, etc. Core content is produced by the creators’ multiplatform experiences to advance the narrative, while complimentary content generated by audience members offers further contributions to the experience. Equally important is the timing with which the components of the experience are introduced and how they interact with and impact upon each other. Being able to combine, filter and sort these elements in multiple ways we can better understand the value of certain components of a project. It also offers insights into the relationship between the timing of the release of components and user activity associated with them, which further highlights the efficacy (or, indeed, failure) of assets as catalysts for engagement. In collaboration with Hoodlum we have developed a number of design scenarios experimenting with the ways in which data can be visualised and manipulated to tell a more refined story about the value of user engagement with certain project components and activities. This experimentation will serve as the basis for future research.

Elementary teachers’ knowledge of legislative and policy duties for reporting child sexual abuse

This study examined elementary school teachers’ knowledge of their legislative and policy-based reporting duties with respect to child sexual abuse. Data were collected from 470 elementary school teachers from urban and rural government and nongovernment schools in 3 Australian states, which at the time of the study had 3 different legislative reporting duties for teachers. Teachers completed the 8-part Teacher Reporting Questionnaire (TRQ). Multinomial logistic regression analysis was used to determine factors associated with (a) teachers’ legislation knowledge and (b) teachers’ policy knowledge. Teachers with higher levels of knowledge had a combination of pre- and in-service training about child sexual abuse and more positive attitudes toward reporting, held administration positions in their school, and had reported child sexual abuse at least once during their teaching career. They were also more likely to work in the state with the strongest legislative reporting duty, which had been in place the longest.

Compliance with standard precautions and occupational exposure reporting among operating room nurses in Australia

Occupational exposures of healthcare workers tend to occur because of inconsistent compliance with standard precautions. Also, incidence of occupational exposure is underreported among operating room personnel. The purpose of this project was to develop national estimates for compliance with standard precautions and occupational exposure reporting practices among operating room nurses in Australia. Data was obtained utilizing a 96-item self-report survey. The Standard Precautions and Occupational Exposure Reporting survey was distributed anonymously to 500 members of the Australian College of Operating Room Nurses. The Health Belief Model was the theoretical framework used to guide the analysis of data. Data was analysed to examine relationships between specific constructs of the Health Belief Model to identify factors that might influence the operating room nurse to undertake particular health behaviours to comply with standard precautions and occupational exposure reporting. Results of the study revealed compliance rates of 55.6% with double gloving, 59.1% with announcing sharps transfers, 71.9% with using a hands-free sharps pass technique, 81.9% with no needle recapping and 92.0% with adequate eye protection. Although 31.6% of respondents indicated receiving an occupational exposure in the past 12 months, only 82.6% of them reported their exposures. The results of this study provide national estimates of compliance with standard precautions and occupational exposure reporting among operating room nurses in Australia. These estimates can now be used as support for the development and implementation of measures to improve practices in order to reduce occupational exposures and, ultimately, disease transmission rates among this high-risk group.

GIS and qualitative data on young mothers’ use of urban neighbourhoods for physical activity

Public health research consistently demonstrates the salience of neighbourhood as a determinant of both health-related behaviours and outcomes across the human life course. This paper will report on the findings from a mixed-methods Brisbane-based study that explores how mothers with primary school children from both high and low socioeconomic suburbs use the local urban environment for the purpose of physical activity. Firstly, we demonstrate findings from an innovative methodology using the geographic information systems (GIS) embedded in social media platforms on mobile phones to track locations, resource-use, distances travelled, and modes of transport of the families in real-time; and secondly, we report on qualitative data that provides insight into reasons for differential use of the environment by both groups. Spatial/mapping and statistical data showed that while the mothers from both groups demonstrated similar daily routines, the mothers from the high SEP suburb engaged in increased levels of physical activity, travelled less frequently and less distance by car, and walked more for transport. The qualitative data revealed differences in the psychosocial processes and characteristics of the households and neighbourhoods of the respective groups, with mothers in the lower SEP suburb reporting more stress, higher conflict, and lower quality relationships with neighbours.

A methodological approach to reporting corrected small field relative outputs

Purpose The goal of this work was to set out a methodology for measuring and reporting small field relative output and to assess the application of published correction factors across a population of linear accelerators. Methods and materials Measurements were made at 6 MV on five Varian iX accelerators using two PTW T60017 unshielded diodes. Relative output readings and profile measurements were made for nominal square field sizes of side 0.5 to 1.0 cm. The actual in-plane (A) and cross-plane (B) field widths were taken to be the FWHM at the 50% isodose level. An effective field size, defined as FSeff=A·B, was calculated and is presented as a field size metric. FSeffFSeff was used to linearly interpolate between published Monte Carlo (MC) calculated kQclin,Qmsrfclin,fmsr values to correct for the diode over-response in small fields. Results The relative output data reported as a function of the nominal field size were different across the accelerator population by up to nearly 10%. However, using the effective field size for reporting showed that the actual output ratios were consistent across the accelerator population to within the experimental uncertainty of ±1.0%. Correcting the measured relative output using kQclin,Qmsrfclin,fmsr at both the nominal and effective field sizes produce output factors that were not identical but differ by much less than the reported experimental and/or MC statistical uncertainties. Conclusions In general, the proposed methodology removes much of the ambiguity in reporting and interpreting small field dosimetric quantities and facilitates a clear dosimetric comparison across a population of linacs

Corporate sustainability reporting of major commercial banks in line with GRI : Bangladesh evidence

Purpose – This paper aims to examine the tendencies of sustainability reporting by major commercial banks in Bangladesh in comparison with global sustainability reporting indicators outlined in the GRI framework together with banks' predilection toward reporting 16 GRI financial service sector (FSS) specific performance indicators. Design/methodology/approach – Based on the GRI G3 guidelines, the paper investigated banks' reporting in five broad areas of sustainability, such as environment, labour practices and decent works, product responsibility, human rights and society. The 2008/2009 annual reports of 12 major commercial banks listed on Dhaka stock exchange were analysed and coded using a content-based technique. Findings – The results show that information on society is addressed most extensively with regard to extent of reporting. This is followed by the disclosures prepared on decent works and labour practices and environmental issues. Furthermore, the disclosures of product responsibility information and the information for human rights are rather scarce in banks' reporting; on the subject of FSS-specific disclosures, only seven items out of 16 are disclosed by all sample banks. Research limitations/implications – The findings of the study indicate that Bangladeshi commercial banks' social disclosures could develop in this style to become more holistic and over time (in association with the country's central bank involvement) to resemble a type of structured reporting to the point where they are properly labelled per se. Originality/value – The study contributes to the social disclosure literature, in particular in a developing countries banking sector context, seeing as it disseminates evidence of the standing on social disclosures practices at the level of GRI with developing countries' banks data.

Integration of XML Schemas for the Exchange of FDOT Construction Project Data

An investigation of the construction data management needs of the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) with regard to XML standards including development of data dictionary and data mapping. The review of existing XML schemas indicated the need for development of specific XML schemas. XML schemas were developed for all FDOT construction data management processes. Additionally, data entry, approval and data retrieval applications were developed for payroll compliance reporting and pile quantity payment development.

Corporate sustainability reporting for water : water footprint, global reporting initiative and the water accounting framework

Three initiatives with respect to water reporting in the mining sector are compared in this paper to understand the quantities that are asked for by each initiative and the guidelines of those initiatives through means of a case study. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) was chosen because it has achieved widespread acceptance amongst mining companies and its water-related indicators are widely reported in corporate sustainability reporting. In contrast, the Water Footprint Network, which has been an important initiative in food and agricultural industries, has had low acceptance in the mining industry. The third initiative is the Water Accounting Framework, a collaboration between The Minerals Council of Australia and the Sustainable Minerals Institute of the University of Queensland. A water account had previously been created according to the Water Accounting Framework for the case study site, an open pit coal mine in the Bowen Basin. The resulting account provided consistent data for the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) and the Water Footprint attributable to mining but in particular, a deficiency in the GRI indicator of EN10 reuse and recycling efficiency was illustrated quantitatively. This has far-reaching significance due to the widespread use of GRI indicators in mining corporate reports.

Plasmodium falciparum parasites lacking histidine-rich protein 2 and 3 : a review and recommendations for accurate reporting

Malaria rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) play a critical role in malaria case management, surveillance and case investigations. Test performance is largely determined by design and quality characteristics, such as detection sensitivity, specificity, and thermal stability. However, parasite characteristics such as variable or absent expression of antigens targeted by RDTs can also affect RDT performance. Plasmodium falciparum parasites lacking the PfHRP2 protein, the most common target antigen for detection of P. falciparum, have been reported in some regions. Therefore, accurately mapping the presence and prevalence of P. falciparum parasites lacking pfhrp2 would be an important step so that RDTs targeting alternative antigens, or microscopy, can be preferentially selected for use in such regions. Herein the available evidence and molecular basis for identifying malaria parasites lacking PfHRP2 is reviewed, and a set of recommended procedures to apply for future investigations for parasites lacking PfHRP2, is proposed.

Outbreak detection algorithms for seasonal disease data : a case study using Ross River virus disease

Background Detection of outbreaks is an important part of disease surveillance. Although many algorithms have been designed for detecting outbreaks, few have been specifically assessed against diseases that have distinct seasonal incidence patterns, such as those caused by vector-borne pathogens. Methods We applied five previously reported outbreak detection algorithms to Ross River virus (RRV) disease data (1991-2007) for the four local government areas (LGAs) of Brisbane, Emerald, Redland and Townsville in Queensland, Australia. The methods used were the Early Aberration Reporting System (EARS) C1, C2 and C3 methods, negative binomial cusum (NBC), historical limits method (HLM), Poisson outbreak detection (POD) method and the purely temporal SaTScan analysis. Seasonally-adjusted variants of the NBC and SaTScan methods were developed. Some of the algorithms were applied using a range of parameter values, resulting in 17 variants of the five algorithms. Results The 9,188 RRV disease notifications that occurred in the four selected regions over the study period showed marked seasonality, which adversely affected the performance of some of the outbreak detection algorithms. Most of the methods examined were able to detect the same major events. The exception was the seasonally-adjusted NBC methods that detected an excess of short signals. The NBC, POD and temporal SaTScan algorithms were the only methods that consistently had high true positive rates and low false positive and false negative rates across the four study areas. The timeliness of outbreak signals generated by each method was also compared but there was no consistency across outbreaks and LGAs. Conclusions This study has highlighted several issues associated with applying outbreak detection algorithms to seasonal disease data. In lieu of a true gold standard, a quantitative comparison is difficult and caution should be taken when interpreting the true positives, false positives, sensitivity and specificity.

Sewer performance reporting : factors that influence blockages

Managing sewer blockages represents a significant operational challenge for water utilities. In Australia, company-level blockage rates are used to compare the effectiveness of the management strategies of different utilities. Anecdotal evidence suggests this may not be a fair basis for comparison because blockages are influenced by a range of factors beyond management control and that vary from company to company. This issue was investigated as part of a broader research effort on sewer blockage management undertaken in conjunction with the Water Services Association of Australia (WSAA) and its members. A Web-based survey was used to collate expert opinion on factors that influence blockage rate. The identified factors were then investigated in an exploratory analysis of blockage-related data provided by two participating utilities, supported by literature reviews. The results indicate that blockage rate is influenced by a range of factors, including asset attributes, climatic conditions, water consumption, and soil type. Since these factors vary from utility to utility, this research supports the assertion that company-level blockage rate is not in itself an appropriate metric for comparing management effectiveness.

Improving national hospice/palliative care service symptom outcomes systematically through point-of-care data collection, structured feedback and benchmarking

PURPOSE Every health care sector including hospice/palliative care needs to systematically improve services using patient-defined outcomes. Data from the national Australian Palliative Care Outcomes Collaboration aims to define whether hospice/palliative care patients' outcomes and the consistency of these outcomes have improved in the last 3 years. METHODS Data were analysed by clinical phase (stable, unstable, deteriorating, terminal). Patient-level data included the Symptom Assessment Scale and the Palliative Care Problem Severity Score. Nationally collected point-of-care data were anchored for the period July-December 2008 and subsequently compared to this baseline in six 6-month reporting cycles for all services that submitted data in every time period (n = 30) using individual longitudinal multi-level random coefficient models. RESULTS Data were analysed for 19,747 patients (46 % female; 85 % cancer; 27,928 episodes of care; 65,463 phases). There were significant improvements across all domains (symptom control, family care, psychological and spiritual care) except pain. Simultaneously, the interquartile ranges decreased, jointly indicating that better and more consistent patient outcomes were being achieved. CONCLUSION These are the first national hospice/palliative care symptom control performance data to demonstrate improvements in clinical outcomes at a service level as a result of routine data collection and systematic feedback.

Standard business reporting in Australia : efficiency, effectiveness, or both?

The benefits of using eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) as a business reporting standard have been widely canvassed in the extant literature, in particular, as the enabling technology for standard business reporting tools. One of the key benefits noted is the ability of standard business reporting to create significant efficiencies in the regulatory reporting process. Efficiency-driven cost reductions are highly desirable by data and report producers. However, they may not have the same potential to create long-term firm value as improved effectiveness of decision making. This study assesses the perceptions of Australian business stakeholders in relation to the benefits of the Australian standard business reporting instantiation (SBR) for financial reporting. These perceptions were drawn from interviews of persons knowledgeable in XBRL-based standard business reporting and submissions to Treasury relative to SBR reporting options. The combination of interviews and submissions permit insights into the views of various groups of stakeholders in relation to the potential benefits. In line with predictions based on a transaction-cost economics perspective, interviewees who primarily came from a data and report-producer background mentioned benefits that centre largely on asset specificity and efficiency. The interviewees who principally came from a data and report-consumer background mentioned benefits that centre on reducing decision-making uncertainty and decision-making effectiveness. The data and report consumers also took a broader view of the benefits of SBR to the financial reporting supply chain. Our research suggests that advocates of SBR have successfully promoted its efficiency benefits to potential users. However, the effectiveness benefits of SBR, for example, the decision-making benefits offered to investors via standardised reports, while becoming more broadly acknowledged, remain not a priority for all stakeholders.

Can mesenchymal stromal cells differentiate into corneal cells? A systematic review of published data

The majority of stem cell therapies for corneal repair are based upon the use of progenitor cells isolated from corneal tissue, but a growing body of literature suggests a role for mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) isolated from non-corneal tissues. While the mechanism of MSC action seems likely to involve their immuno-modulatory properties, claims have emerged of MSC transdifferentiation into corneal cells. Substantial differences in methodology and experimental outcomes, however, have prompted us to perform a systematic review of the published data. Key questions used in our analysis included; the choice of markers used to assess corneal cell phenotype, the techniques employed to detect these markers, adequate reporting of controls, and tracking of MSC when studied in vivo. Our search of the literature revealed 28 papers published since 2006, with half appearing since 2012. MSC cultures established from bone marrow and adipose tissue have been best studied (22 papers). Critically, only 11 studies employed appropriate markers of corneal cell phenotype, along with necessary controls. Ten out of these 11 papers, however, contained positive evidence of corneal cell marker expression by MSC. The clearest evidence is observed with respect to expression of markers for corneal stromal cells by MSC. In comparison, the evidence for MSC conversion into either corneal epithelial cells or corneal endothelial cells is often inconsistent or inconclusive. Our analysis clarifies this emerging body of literature and provides guidance for future studies of MSC differentiation within the cornea as well as other tissues.

Issues to consider when developing mandatory reporting legislation and policy to improve discovery of child abuse

In the United Kingdom, recent investigations into child sexual abuse occurring within schools, the Catholic Church and the British Broadcasting Corporation, have intensified debate on ways to improve the discovery of child sexual abuse, and child maltreatment generally. One approach adopted in other jurisdictions to better identify cases of severe child maltreatment is the introduction of some form of legislative mandatory reporting to require designated persons to report known and suspected cases. The debate in England has raised the prospect of whether adopting a strategy of some kind of mandatory reporting law is advisable. The purpose of this article is to add to this debate by identifying fundamental principles, issues and complexities underpinning policy and even legislative developments in the interests of children and society. The article will first highlight the data on the hidden nature of child maltreatment and the background to the debate. Secondly, it will identify some significant gaps in knowledge that need to be filled. Thirdly, the article will summarise the barriers to reporting abuse and neglect. Fourthly, we will identify a range of options for, and clarify the dilemmas in developing, legislative mandatory reporting, addressing two key issues: who should be mandated to report, and what types of child maltreatment should they be required to report? Finally, we draw attention to some inherently different goals and competing interests, both between and within the various institutions involved in the safeguarding of children and the criminal prosecution of some offenders. Based on this analysis we offer some concluding observations that we hope contribute to informed and careful debate about mandatory reporting.