Practice and Procedures - Motor Accident Insurance Act 1994 ss 39 and 57

In Bermingham v Priest [2002] QSC 057 jones J considered the position of persons seeking to claim damages where the Motor Accident Insurance Act 1994 applies prior to its amendment by the Motor Accident Insurance Amendment Act 2000, and where proceedings are brought close to expiration of the statutory limitation period.

Motor Accident Insurance Act 1994 - obligation to disclose

In Turpin v Allianz Australia Insurance Ltd (unreported, Supreme Court of Queensland, S5216 of 2001), Mullins J, 17.10.2001) the plaintiff applied for a declaration that the respondent disclose pursuant to s47 of the Motor Accident Insurance Act 1994 copies of three statements referred to in a loss assessor's investigation report as "attached". The issue involved determination of whether the statements must be disclosed under s48(2) even though protected by legal professional privilege. The Court applied the decision of the Queensland Court of Appeal in James v Workcover Queensland.

Personal injury in motor accident in NSW - procedural requirements under Motor Accidents Insurance Act 1988 (NSW)

In Hooper v Robinson [2002] QDC 080 (District Court of Queensland, D 4841 of 2001, McGill DCJ, 19.4.2002) McGill DCJ considered the application of the decision in John Pfeiffer Pty Ltd v Rogerson [2000] 203 CLR 503 to notice requirements such as in s42 of NSW Motor Accident Insurance Act 1988 and concluded such provisions are now substantive.

Motor Accident Insurance Act 1994 - whether vehicle in question a vehicle "for which registration is required"

In Gideona v Nominal Defendant [2005] QCA 261, the Queensland Court of Appeal reconsidered the question of what is the material time for determining whether registration of a motor vehicle is required. The Court declined to follow the decision in Kelly v Alford [1988] 1 Qd R 404; deciding that the material time was the time when the accident occurred.

Motor Accident Insurance Act 1994 s45 - whether obligation to co-operate may authorise order requiring commencement of proceedings by minor prior to expiration of limitation period

In Australian Associated Motor Insurers Ltd v McPaul; Council of the City of Gold Coast v McPaul [2005] QSC 278 the applicant insurer sought an order requiring a claimant who had been injured in a motor vehicle accident some years earlier when he was five years old to commence a proceeding to determine the question of the applicant's liability to him. The applicant's interest in seeking the order was to avoid the prejudice which could follow from further delay, particularly delay until the respondent became obliged to commence proceedings to avoid a limitations bar.

Motor Accident Insurance Act 1994 - reasonable excuse for delay in giving notice under s37

The decisions in Perdis v The Nominal Defendant [2003] QCA 555, Miller v the Nominal Defendant [2003] QCA 558 and Piper v the Nominal Defendant [2003] QCA 557 were handed down contemporaneously by the Queensland Court of Appeal on December 15 2003. They consider important issues as to the construction of key provisions of the Motor Accident Insurance Act 1994 (Qld)

Motor Accident Insurance Act 1994 - compulsory conferences and offers to settle

In Lindsay v Aumaali [2004] QDC 028 the Court considered whether it could, in effect, postpone the requirement for a compulsory conference under s51A of the Moror Accident insurance Act 1994 (Qld) or the exchange of final offers under s51C of the Act until after the start of proceedings.

A motor controller using field oriented control and Hall effect rotor position sensors : simulation and implementation

A field oriented control (FOC) algorithm is simulated and implemented for use with a permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM). Rotor position is sensed using Hall effect switches on the stator because other hardware position sensors attached to the rotor may not be desirable or cost effective for certain applications. This places a limit on the resolution of position sensing – only a few Hall effect switches can be placed. In this simulation, three sensors are used and the position information is obtained at higher resolution by estimating it from the rotor dynamics, as shown in literature previously. This study compares the performance of the method with an incremental encoder using simulations. The FOC algorithm is implemented using Digital Motor Control (DMC) and IQ Texas Instruments libraries from a Simulink toolbox called Embedded Coder, and downloaded into a TI microcontroller (TMS320F28335) known as the Piccolo via Code Composer Studio (CCS).

Interaction of metal salts with cytoskeletal motor protein systems

Interactions of chemicals with the microtubular network of cells may lead to genotoxicity. Micronuclei (MN) might be caused by interaction of metals with tubulin and/or kinesin. The genotoxic effects of inorganic lead and mercury salts were studied using the MN assay and the CREST analysis in V79 Chinese hamster fibroblasts. Effects on the functional activity of motor protein systems were examined by measurement of tubulin assembly and kinesin-driven motility. Lead and mercury salts induced MN dose-dependently. The no-effect-concentration for MN induction was 1.1 μM PbCl2, 0.05 μM Pb(OAc)2 and 0.01 μM HgCl2. The in vitro results obtained for PbCl2 correspond to reported MN induction in workers occupationally exposed to lead, starting at 1.2 μM Hg(II) (Vaglenov et al., 2001, Environ. Health Perspect. 109, 295-298). The CREST Analysis indicate aneugenic effects of Pb(II) and aneugenic and additionally clastogenic effects of Hg(II). Lead (chloride, acetate, and nitrate) and mercury (chloride and nitrate) interfered dose-dependently with tubulin assembly in vitro. The no-effect-concentration for lead salts in this assay was 10 μM. Inhibition of tubulin assembly by mercury started at 2 μM. The gliding velocity of microtubules along immobilised kinesin molecules was affected by 25 μM Pb(NO3)2 and 0.1 μM HgCl2 in a dose-dependent manner. Our data support the hypothesis that lead and mercury genotoxicity may result, at least in part, via disturbance of chromosome segregation via interaction with cytoskeletal proteins.

The driving visual field and a history of motor vehicle collision involvement in older drivers: A population-based examination

Purpose We designed a visual field test focused on the field utilized while driving to examine associations between field impairment and motor vehicle collision involvement in 2,000 drivers ≥70 years old. Methods The "driving visual field test" involved measuring light sensitivity for 20 targets in each eye, extending 15° superiorly, 30° inferiorly, 60° temporally and 30° nasally. The target locations were selected on the basis that they fell within the field region utilized when viewing through the windshield of a vehicle or viewing the dashboard while driving. Monocular fields were combined into a binocular field based on the more sensitive point from each eye. Severe impairment in the overall field or a region was defined as average sensitivity in the lowest quartile of sensitivity. At-fault collision involvement for five years prior to enrollment was obtained from state records. Poisson regression was used to calculate crude and adjusted rate ratios examining the association between field impairment and at-fault collision involvement. Results Drivers with severe binocular field impairment in the overall driving visual field had a 40% increased rate of at-fault collision involvement (RR 1.40, 95%CI 1.07-1.83). Impairment in the lower and left fields was associated with elevated collision rates (RR 1.40 95%CI 1.07-1.82 and RR 1.49, 95%CI 1.15-1.92, respectively), whereas impairment in the upper and right field regions was not. Conclusions Results suggest that older drivers with severe impairment in the lower or left region of the driving visual field are more likely to have a history of at-fault collision involvement.

Reduced motor facilitation during action observation in schizophrenia : a mirror neuron deficit?

Impairments in social cognitive functioning are well documented in schizophrenia, however the neural basis of these deficits is unclear. A recent explanatory model of social cognition centers upon the activity of mirror neurons, which are cortical brain cells that become active during both the performance and observation of behavior. Here, we test for the first time whether mirror neuron functioning is reduced in schizophrenia. Fifteen individuals with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and fifteen healthy controls completed a transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) experiment designed to assess mirror neuron activation. While patients demonstrated no abnormalities in cortical excitability, motor facilitation during action observation, putatively reflecting mirror neuron activity, was reduced in schizophrenia. Dysfunction within the mirror neuron system may contribute to the pathophysiology of schizophrenia.

A description of neck motor performance, neck pain, fatigue, and mental effort while driving in a sample with chronic whiplash-associated disorders

Objective: Individuals with chronic whiplash-associated disorders (WADs) often note driving as a difficult task. This study’s aims were to (1) compare, while driving, neck motor performance, mental effort, and fatigue in individuals with chronic WAD against healthy controls and (2) investigate the relationships of these variables and neck pain to self-reported driving difficulty in the WAD group. Design: This study involved 14 participants in each group (WAD and control). Measures included self-reported driving difficulty and measures of neck pain intensity, overall fatigue, mental effort, and neck motor performance (head rotation and upper trapezius activity) while driving a simulator. Results: The WAD group had greater absolute path of head rotation in a simulated city area and used greater mental effort (P = 0.04), but there were no differences in other measures while driving compared with the controls (all P Q 0.05). Self-reported driving difficulty correlated moderately with neck pain intensity, fatigue level, and maximum velocity of head rotation while driving in the WAD group (all P G 0.05). Conclusions: Individuals with chronic WAD do not seem to have impaired neck motor performance while driving yet use greater mental effort. Neck pain, fatigue, and maximum head rotation velocity could be potential contributors to self-reported driving difficulty in this group.