http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/services/Feed ${session.getAttribute("locale")} 5 http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:12907 Objective: To review the association between income inequality and health status, and consider an appropriate nursing response. Primary Argument: Nursing has a rich heritage of advocating for a healthy society established on a foundation of social justice. The future legitimacy and success of public health nursing depends on recognising and appropriately addressing the social, economic and political determinants of health in the populations served. There is an incontrovertible association between population health status, absolute income levels and income inequality. Thus, along with other social determinants of health, income differentials within populations must be a fundamental consideration when planning and delivering nursing services. Ensuring that federal and state health policy explicitly addresses this key issue remains an important challenge for the nursing profession, the public health system and the Australian community. Conclusions: Higher mortality and worse health status occur in societies with higher income inequality. The relationship between income inequality and health appears to be determined both by relative access to resources for health gain and relative social position. The association between greater income equality and improved health may be explained by improved social cohesion. As social factors are at the root of much of health inequality, this knowledge needs to invoke political action and advocacy from the nursing profession to promote the development of healthy public policy. Including indicators of income inequality when planning and monitoring nursing services will enable services to measure to what extent they are based on the principle of social justice. 2013-05-20T04:31:55.931Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:12879 Background: Childhood obesity is one of the most pressing health issues of our time. Key health organizations have recommended research be conducted on the effectiveness of well-designed interventions to combat childhood obesity that can be translated into a variety of settings. This paper describes the design and methods used in the Hunter Illawarra Kids Challenge Using Parent Support (HIKCUPS) trial, an ongoing multi-site randomized controlled trial, in overweight/obese children comparing the efficacy of three interventions: 1) a parent-centered dietary modification program; 2) a child-centered physical activity skill- development program; and 3) a program combining both 1 and 2 above. Methods/Design: Each intervention consists of three components: i) 10-weekly face-to-face group sessions; ii) a weekly homework component, completed between each face-to-face session and iii) three telephone calls at monthly intervals following completion of the 10-week program. Details of the programs' methodological aspects of recruitment, randomization and statistical analyses are described here a priori. Discussion: Importantly this paper describes how HIKCUPS addresses some of the short falls in the current literature pertaining to the efficacy of child obesity interventions. 2013-05-14T06:21:17.599Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:12866 Objective: To describe the development and reproducibility of a self-report instrument, for use with children in years 4–6, to identify sources of food eaten during the day, and type and frequency of food purchases at school. Design: Tool development stages included formulation of content and format, expert review, piloting and a test–retest study. Subjects/setting: The pilot study included school students (n = 20) in years 4 and 5 (seven girls, mean age 9.7 ± 0.7 years) attending an Australian public primary school. The test–retest study was performed in a large metropolitan public primary school (n = 245 children, 52% female, mean age 10.7 ± 0.91 years) including children from years 4 (n = 88), 5 (n = 84) and 6 (n = 73). Statistical analysis: A Kappa statistic was used to assess level of agreement between the two time periods separated by 1 week. The results were analysed using SAS version 8.2 with each question compared at time 1 and 2. Results: The mean kappa was 0.529 using pairings from 17 questions. Values ranged from 0.18 to 0.71 (CI 0.46–0.60). Conclusions and applications: The School Eating Habits and Lifestyle Survey has been developed and pilot-tested in primary school-aged children and shown to have moderate stability over time. The results show that each phase of development, particularly those spent in consultation and testing, led to progressive improvement of this instrument. This process improved the quality of information produced and gave insights to self-report of dietary intake and behaviours among children. 2013-05-09T06:15:44.363Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:12865 Background: The prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adolescents is increasing at an alarming rate around the world and prevention has become a key public health objective. Treatment and management of those already overweight and obese must be aligned with the best available evidence on effectiveness, if the risk of obesity-related morbidity and mortality is yet be reduced. Diet plays a pivotal role in successful treatment of obesity but to date, there is limited evidence on which to base practice. Objectives: To identify and present the best available evidence on the optimal dietetic treatment and management of children and adolescent who are overweight or obese. Search strategy: Published English language literature was searched using the electronic databases CINAHL, MEDLINE, PRE-MEDLINE, DARE, COCHRANE, EMBASE, AUSTROM, Current Concepts and Dissertation Abstracts. The databases were limited to English Language from 1975 until 2003. Government reports from the UK, USA and Australian were also searched and a hand search performed for the Journal of the Dietitians Association of Australia, International Journal of Obesity and the Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics and the bibliographies of retrieved articles. Selection criteria: (i) Interventions that evaluated the effectiveness of nutrition or dietary interventions to treat or manage overweight and obesity; (ii) Children aged less than 18 years; and (iii) Participants were defined as overweight or obese by relative weight or a measure of body weight status, studies that reported body weight per se were excluded. Data collection and analysis: An experienced professional librarian searched the databases, and two trained research assistants independently identified studies for retrieval and assessed each article for inclusion. The included studies were critically appraised for methodological quality by two people independently. Data were extracted from the appropriate articles and when a discrepancy arose, a third party would arbitrate. Main results: There were 116 articles that met the inclusion criteria. While 49 articles described randomised controlled trials, they arose from 37 separate studies. There were 67 non-randomised trials. Meta-analyses were performed on eight studies that included both a dietary intervention component and an adequate control group and on four studies that had follow-up data. There was a high degree of heterogeneity between studies and this made comparisons between studies problematic. Interventions that include diet therapy generally result in significant weight loss, at least in the short term. Many studies were poorly designed and had no or only minimal follow up. The details of the dietary intervention were often inadequately described and dietary outcomes rarely reported, making repetition of the studies difficult. Reviewers’ conclusions: There is an urgent need for high quality studies investigating the optimal dietary approach to management of paediatric overweight and obesity. These studies require adequate follow up to ascertain if weight loss can be sustained in the long term. Details of the dietary prescription, adherence to the dietary intervention and diet-specific outcomes need to be reported in order to inform best practice. 2013-05-09T06:14:50.885Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:12862 Background: Malnutrition among elderly hospitalised patients is widespread and has been shown to lead to adverse health outcomes. The effectiveness of interventions to minimise undernutrition in elderly inpatients is not well documented. Objectives: To identify the best available practices, in the hospital setting, that minimise undernutrition or the risk of undernutrition, in the acute care patient especially for the older patient. The review will assesses the effectiveness of a range of interventions designed to promote adequate nutritional intake in the acute care setting, with the aim of determining what practices minimise malnutrition in the elderly inpatients. Search strategy: English language articles from 1980 onwards were sought using Medline, Premedline, Cinahl, Austrom-Australasian Medical Index and AustHealth, Embase and Science Citations Index. Selection criteria: For inclusion the study had to include an intervention aiming to minimise undernutrition in hospitalised elderly patients aged 65 years or older. All study designs were included. Data collection and analysis: Two independent reviewers assessed the eligibility of each study for inclusion into the review, critically appraised the study quality and extracted data using standardised tools. For each outcome measure results were tabulated by intervention type and discussed in a narrative summary. Results from randomised controlled trials were pooled in meta-analyses where appropriate. Main results: Twenty-nine studies met the inclusion criteria, with a total of 4021 participants. The focus of 15 interventions was the supplying of oral supplements to the participants, six focused on enteral nutrition therapy, four interventions made changes to the foods provided as part of the hospital diet, one included the services of an additional staff member and three incorporated the implementation of evidence-based guidelines. Ten metaanalyses were conducted from which the main findings were: significant improvements in weight status and arm muscle circumferences with an oral supplement intervention, P < 0.05. Reviewers’ conclusions: The findings of the review support the use of oral supplements to minimise undernutrition in elderly inpatients. The results also emphasise the need for more high-quality research using appropriate outcome measures in the area of minimisation of undernutrition, particularly interventions that make alterations to the hospital diet and address support for feeding patients at the ward level. 2013-05-09T06:11:53.048Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:12860 Aim: To highlight and discuss the practical aspects of conducting high quality, randomised controlled trials (RCTs) with overweight and obese children and their families. Content: Realistic considerations and suggestions for researchers arising from the experiences of three Australian interventions in overweight/obese children are highlighted. The practical implications of key issues arising during this type of RCT include study design, obtaining ethical approval, choice of outcome measures, recruitment, working with families, impact and process evaluation, retention strategies, managing multisite trials and data management. Conclusion: Interventions for overweight children and their families are challenging. Although there were some differences in the design and outcome measures among the three studies, there were many similarities. Multi-site trials, although more expensive than single-site trials, are advantageous in increasing sample size and external validity. Collectively we have developed strategies to address key problems in conducting RCTs, including the common challenges of recruitment, retention and working with families. 2013-05-09T06:09:36.422Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:12855 In terms of expanding organizational capability, there is an increased expectation and demand for employee development. For an employee to become more self-directed there is an increased need for interpersonal skills. In this context, there is a growing recognition that learning based practices such as workplace coaching can satisfy this need for skill development. Despite this, in the coaching literature there is no explicit discussion of learning practice from an adult learning perspective. In this article we review the potential synergy that exists between adult learning and workplace coaching literatures from an organizational perspective. 2013-05-08T22:58:34.783Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:12833 The strike by Boeing maintenance workers at the Williamtown RAAF base during 2005-2006 was one of the longest in Australia’s recent industrial history. At the core of the strike was the desire by maintenance workers to reach a collective agreement with a company that would only bargain on an individual basis. The dispute demonstrates the absence under the 1996 Workplace Relations Act of a legal mechanism to resolve disputes over union recognition and, more broadly, the lack of genuine choice available to workers who seek to bargain collectively with an employer whose preference lies with other forms of labour regulation. After briefly defining the key concepts and identifying some of the legal mechanisms designed to protect a right to bargain, the paper describes the dispute at Williamtown, including the background and the sequence of events as well as a detailed analysis of management’s position in the dispute. The final section of the paper summarises the main points and explores their implications for the future of industrial relations in Australia. 2013-05-02T03:35:22.569Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:12832 Many organisations close each year yet academic understanding of closure is limited and fragmented. Through a review of the organisational decline literature this paper demonstrates that most of the contemporary research on closures has focused on explanations for closures, the affects of job loss on the retrenched workers, union action (sometimes allied with other institutions) which has sought to overturn or mitigate closure decisions and, finally, the often polemical arguments over the appropriateness, features and effectiveness of state-imposed controls over redundancies and closures. Also, very little qualitative and quantitative research has been published which analyses the closure process from the time of the announcement until their final day. From this review, a research agenda is proposed. 2013-05-02T03:34:07.647Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:12830 Both the public and private sectors have since the 1980s relentlessly cut the size of their workforces. The downsizing has regularly been reported to lead to closure of a whole or a part of a corporation or organization. Some studies which have analyzed the closures have reported that remarkable, counterintuitive improvements in labor productivity occurred during the time-period between the closure announcement and the final working day. Testing an elaborated cybernetic model on a Swedish case study, and on an exploratory basis, this paper proposes a holistic approach to generate a better understanding of this phenomenon. The main holistic pattern is a new order where management control is replaced by more “Self-management” on the plant level, and very strong psychological reactions based on feelings of unfairness. 2013-05-01T23:05:24.736Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:6417 Boeing's maintenance workers at the Williamtown RAAF base in New South Wales went on strike during 2005-2006 in a campaign to achieve a collective agreement in the face of Boeing's determination to rely on individual-based industrial instruments. This dispute was one of the longest in Australia's recent history and ended with the defeat of the strike. Although Australia has ratified International Labour Organization Conventions on the right to bargain collectively, the dispute demonstrates the absence under the Workplace Relations Act 1996 (Cth) of any legal mechanism to resolve disputes over union recognition and, more broadly, the lack of genuine choice available to workers who seek to bargain collectively with and employer. 2013-05-01T00:42:02.814Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:12790 We consider the problem of decomposing an integer matrix into a positively weighted sum of binary matrices that have the consecutive-ones property. This problem is well-known and of practical relevance. It has an important application in cancer radiation therapy treatment planning: the sequencing of multileaf collimators to deliver a given radiation intensity matrix, representing (a component of) the treatment plan. Two criteria characterise the efficacy of a decomposition: the beamon time (length of time the radiation source is switched on during the treatment), and the cardinality (the number of machine set-ups required to deliver the planned treatment). Minimising the former is known to be easy. However finding a decomposition of minimal cardinality is NP-hard. Progress so far has largely been restricted to heuristic algorithms, mostly using linear programming, integer programming and combinatorial enumerative methods as the solving technologies. We present a novel model, with corresponding constraint programming and integer programming formulations. We compare these computationally with previous formulations, and we show that constraint programming performs very well by comparison. 2013-04-19T04:17:31.519Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:12789 In this paper we introduce a new formulation of the vehicle routing problem with time windows (VRPTW) involving only binary variables. The new formulation is based on the formulation of the asymmetric traveling salesman problem with time windows by Ascheuer et al. and has the advantage of avoiding additional variables and linking constraints. In the new formulation, time windows are modeled using path inequalities that eliminate time and capacity infeasible paths. We present a new class of strengthened path inequalities based on the polyhedral results obtained by Mak for a variant of the TSP. We study the VRPTW polytope and determine its dimension. We show that the lifted path inequalities are facet defining under certain assumptions. We also introduce precedence constraints in the context of the VRPTW. Computational experiments are performed with a branch and cut algorithm on the Solomon test problems with wide time windows. Based on results on 25-node problems, the outcome is promising compared to leading algorithms in the literature. In particular, we report a solution to a previously unsolved 50-node Solomon test problem R208. The conclusion is therefore that a polyhedral approach to the VRPTW is a viable alternative to the path formulation of Desrochers et al. 2013-04-19T04:16:16.799Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:10319 Movie dialogue represents participants' emotion which directly affects audiences' affective reaction. This paper presents an emotion segments detection method by using dialogue emotion detection. The proposed method has three modules. Firstly, dialogue of three categories, which are plain dialogue (PD), dialogue with music (DwM) and dialogue with other sounds (DwO) are detected by Support Vector Machine (SVM) learning. Secondly, DwM and DwO are further categorized into three emotion levels, which are high, normal and low, by Hidden Markov Model (HMM) learning. Finally, those dialogues are used to locate movie emotion segments. By this method, over 85% emotion segments are detected. 2013-04-08T03:27:26.014Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:12731 We present a video adaptation system which takes account of users' preference on video affective content (AC) and limited network resource. AC directly causes user's attention, evaluation and memory, which also provides feasible entry for video highlight. According to user's preference, the proposed adaptation insures the video parcels with AC are allocated as much as possible network resource. The system is implemented with MPEG-21 digital item adaptation (DIA) framework which provides a generic video adaptation solution for all video formats and various usage environments by manipulating on XML files. XML file based adaptation avoids complex video computation. 30 students from various departments were invited to test the system and their responses were positive. 2013-04-04T21:54:55.876Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:12730 Intensity adjustment is an image enhancement technique that maps an image's intensity values to a new range. However, this intensity adjustment does not effectively enhance particular structures such as ribs on a 2D chest radiograph. In this paper, we develop a new method using a lopsided hemi-ellipsoid cavity to deflate lungs. This is necessary in order to enhance the unclear ribs resulting from air-filled lungs in a typical chest radiograph procedure. 2013-04-04T21:51:08.919Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:4003 Information and communication technology (ICT) applications, including electronic tendering (ET), have been introduced into public and private sector organisations business operations increasingly since the 1990’s. The uptake of ICT applications has extensively been based on the promise of streamlined business processes, increased competitiveness, and efficiencies in time and cost. As a Web based collaboration tool, electronic tendering processes have emerged in recent years as a procurement tool of great promise. The acclaimed benefits of ET are the ability to automate, streamline and enhance tendering processes, traditionally undertaken using paper-based methods. This paper reports findings from an exploratory study investigating the experiences of small public sector ‘client’ and ‘contractor’ organisations during the trial (pilot) implementation of electronic tendering in Tasmania. The study employed in-depth interviews as data collection technique. Findings indicate that, despite the promised benefits, some contractors and suppliers have not fully embrace the process and uptake has not been to the expectations. Some of the reported inhibitors and reasons for the slow uptake include technical, process and cultural barriers. 2013-03-22T05:00:35.777Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:10214 This paper examines the nature of place management, its rationale and its development in NSW. The evolution of place management is symptomatic of fundamental changes in public sector management. A number of community programs have been developed utilising a place management approach. One of the contentious issues is that of evaluating the effectiveness of such programs in the context of where many of the objectives are long term and linked to community values. 2013-03-20T05:03:43.819Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:3529 The workforce share of women has increased but they still carry the predominant share of unpaid work in the home. What conditions and workplace support do women workers require to facilitate the integration of work and family responsibilities? To what extent does an organisation’s equal employment opportunity (EEO) program and workplace bargaining address the integration of work and family care issues? How do women workers fill the commitment gap between work and care? This paper analyses the EEO reports and industrial agreements of six organisations, and interviews a range of managers and staff. Findings suggest that having an EEO program and workplace agreement is no guarantee that work and family measures will be introduced. Heavily dependent on a business case, such measures are unevenly distributed within and across workplaces. The commitment gap is generally met through a variety of informal and ad hoc measures from the workplace and the home. 2013-03-20T04:12:37.512Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:10260 In this article we seek to examine how full-time workers can attain working-time flexibility through formal and informal mechanisms. To explore avenues for flexibility for full-time employees who have caring responsibilities, we look at a single case-study of a retail-banking organisation with a non-union enterprise agreement that pays particular attention to the codification of working-time issues. Through interviews with the human resources department, line managers and full-time employees, the case study demonstrates how within one organisational context, the length of the 'normal' working week has expanded, with weekend work and unpaid overtime merged into the organisational assumption of ordinary hours. The case study highlights the impact of this expansion on full-time employees with caring commitments and the intersection of caring commitments and working-time flexibilities. Much of the working-time flexibility available to full-time employees was informal in nature, dependent on workplace circumstances, and its implementation was mtirely up to the discretion of line managers. The research illustrates how line managers could choose to facilitate employee-based flexibility in working hours but typically this required them to either intensify work for the remaining workforce or intensify work for the managers themselves. 2013-03-20T04:07:20.394Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:9340 We investigate cooperative wireless relay networks in which the nodes can help each other in data transmission. We study different coding strategies in the single-source single-destination network with many relay nodes. Given the myriad of ways in which nodes can cooperate, there is a natural routing problem, i.e., determining an ordered set of nodes to relay the data from the source to the destination. We find that for a given route, the decode- and-forward strategy, which is an information theoretic cooperative coding strategy, achieves rates significantly higher than that achievable by the usual multi-hop coding strategy, which is a point-to-point non-cooperative coding strategy. We construct an algorithm to find an optimal route (in terms of rate maximizing) for the decode-and- forward strategy. Since the algorithm runs in factorial time in the worst case, we propose a heuristic algorithm that runs in polynomial time. The heuristic algorithm outputs an optimal route when the nodes transmit independent codewords. We implement these coding strategies using practical low density parity check codes to compare the performance of the strategies on different routes. 2013-03-18T05:36:20.782Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:9335 The multiple-access channel with feedback and correlated sources (MACFCS) models a sensor network in which sensors collect and transmit correlated data to a common sink. We present four achievable rate regions and a capacity outer bound for the MACFCS. For the first achievable region, we construct a decode-forward based coding strategy. The sources first exchange their data, and then cooperate to send full information to the destination. We term this strategy full decoding at sources with decode-forward (FDS-DF). For two of the other achievable regions, we first perform Slepian-Wolf coding to remove the correlation among the source data. This is followed by either (i) a compress-forward based coding strategy for the multiple-access channel with feedback, or (ii) an existing coding strategy for the multiple-access channel. We also find another achievable region using a multihop coding strategy, which only uses point-to-point coding (no cooperation). From numerical computations, we see that different strategies perform better under certain source correlation structures and network topologies. More specifically, FDS-DF approaches the capacity when (i) the inter-source distance decreases, or (ii) the correlation among the sources gets higher. Furthermore, the cooperative coding strategies considered support larger achievable rate regions than the noncooperative multihop strategy. 2013-03-18T05:29:57.321Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:9334 In this paper, we derive the information theoretic capacity of a special class of mesh networks. A mesh network is a heterogeneous wireless network in which the transmission among power limited nodes is assisted by powerful relays, which use the same wireless medium. We investigate the mesh network when there is one source, one destination, and multiple relays, which we call the single source multiple relay single destination (SSMRSD) mesh network. We derive the asymptotic capacity of the SSMRSD mesh network when the relay powers grow to infinity. Our approach is as follows. We first look at an upper bound on the information theoretic capacity of these networks in a Gaussian setting. We then show that this bound is achievable asymptotically using the compress-and-forward strategy for the multiple relay channel. We also perform numerical computations for the case when the relays have finite powers. We observe that even when the relay power is only a few times larger than the source power, the compress-and-forward rate gets close to the capacity. The results indicate the value of cooperation in wireless mesh networks. The capacity characterization quantifies how the relays can cooperate, using the compress-and-forward strategy, to either conserve node energy or to increase transmission rate. 2013-03-18T05:28:40.133Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:9341 In this paper, we study a routing problem on the Gaussian multiple relay channel, in which nodes employ a decode-and-forward coding strategy. We are interested in routes for the information flow through the relays that achieve the highest DF rate. We first construct an algorithm that provably finds optimal DF routes. As the algorithm runs in factorial time in the worst case, we propose a polynomial time heuristic algorithm that finds an optimal route with high probability. We demonstrate that that the optimal (and near optimal) DF routes are good in practice by simulating a distributed DF coding scheme using low density parity check codes with puncturing and incremental redundancy. 2013-03-18T04:57:32.735Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:6754 This paper presents properties of a control law which quantizes the unconstrained solution to a unitary horizon quadratic programme. This naïve quantized control law underlies many popular algorithms, such as ΣΔ-converters and decision feedback equalities, and is easily shown to be globally optimal for horizon one. However, the question arises as to whether it is also globally optimal for horizons greater than one, i.e. whether it solves a finite horizon quadratic programme, where decision variables are restricted to belonging to a quantized set. By using dynamic programming, we develop sufficient conditions for this to hold. The present analysis is restricted to first order plants. However, this case already raises a number of highly non-trivial issues. The results can be applied to arbitrary horizons and quantized sets, which may contain a finite or an infinite (though countable) number of elements. 2013-03-17T23:48:01.251Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:6756 This paper formulates the channel equalization problem in the framework of constrained maximum-likelihood estimation. This allows us to highlight key issues including the need to summarize past data and to apply a finite alphabet constraint over a sliding optimization window. The approach adopted here leads to embellishments of the usual (nonadaptive) decision-feedback equalizer and its multistep extensions. It includes a provision for degrees of belief in past estimates, which addresses the problem of error propagation. 2013-03-17T23:47:20.087Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:6755 We propose a novel method for controlling vibrations within a resonant structure equipped with piezoelectric transducers. The scheme uses a parallel connection of modulated and demodulated controllers, each designed to damp the transient oscillation corresponding to a single mode. This technique allows multiple modes to be controlled with a single actuator. A simulation example is presented and design considerations for the scheme are discussed. Experimental results obtained from a piezoelectric laminate cantilever beam confirm the theoretical analysis. 2013-03-17T23:34:00.990Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:3970 This paper describes the design, implementation and preliminary findings of a project funded by the Chartered institute m of Building in Australasia investigating the application of Information and Communication Technology (lCT) in the context of construction projects, seeking to identify and assess avenues by which to extend its use. It describes the context provided by literature relating to ICT enabled project team performance and proposes an on-line, modified Delphi methodology based on the Blackboard delivery platform to facilitate the asynchronous participation of a national panel of experienced practitioners in the generation of data. It concludes by reporting the preliminary findings arising from the first round of the study. 2013-03-11T00:56:45.355Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:3897 Building Information Modelling (BIM) is an expansive knowledge domain within the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry. To allow a systematic investigation of the domain, research is needed to define BIM knowledge components, connect its divergent fields and delineate its expanding boundaries. This paper introduces a research framework for identifying BIM concepts and a methodology for capturing and representing BIM interactions. It also proposes visual models to elicit expert knowledge and identifies further research requirements. 2013-03-11T00:56:21.523Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:3992 The paper is a reflection upon the concepts of 'process' and 'judgement', brought about by the author's experience of being a member on a jury. By adopting the methodological approaches of 'Reflective practice' (Schon, 1983' 1987) and 'Practitioner Based Enquiry' (Sullivan, 2004). The author undertook an exegesis of the experience and reflects on the role of judgement in relation to process' The philosophical framework of 'judgement' as a legal concept is not addressed but the paper draws implications for enhancing the designerly understanding of design process particularly within design education. A design practitioner typically understands their design process and the judgements they make during design as a heavily entwined experience. Models like Broadbents (1973) 'spiral Model' and the more recent model by Swann (2002) emphasise the repeated returning to key points in the design process where judgments are made that often redirect the focus of the process The models illustrate a highly interactive process where the designer has an enormous influence on the direction of the design process and the design solution that ensues. Hundreds of judgements can be made in the cause of a single design. Contemporary design process theorising by Nelson (2003) and Fry (200a) explore in greater detail the judgment aspect of designerly thinking. This is brought to bear on the experience of being physically embedded in a trial process where one was a component rather than a designer/author of a process. Where the role of judgement was dictated as the jury's primary task and their influence on the process was minimal. This is in stark contrast to the role a designer normally has within a process. The comparison provided insights into the different roles of process and judgement particularly in relation to a designers understanding of process and judgement within the design process. The paper discusses the implications with specific reference to design educators and design students in the understanding of their own design thinking. 2013-03-11T00:51:37.306Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:6399 In this paper we attempt to counter misconceptions about silencing Indigenous voices in mainstream social work. We contend that Indigenous voices are present in several emerging bodies of mainstream social work literature, such as the literature on spirituality and ecosocial work, but most social workers do not hear them because they are more inclined to turn the cross-cultural or anti-oppressive practice literature, predominantly in the United States and United Kingdom, respectively, when seeking answers for issues relating to diversity in social work. Few look to the Indigenous social work literature. Thus the central question this article addresses is 'what might we learn about diversity and culture from the Indigenous social work literature that might inform mainstream culturally relevant social work practice?' 2013-03-11T00:42:35.149Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:12606 Little socio-economic development has occurred in most rural areas in the Limpopo Province twelve years after the advent of democracy. This paper is based on an exploratory descriptive study conducted among fourth-year students at the University of the North – now the University of Limpopo – who live in impoverished rural communities. Focus group interviews were conducted with 21 participants. The findings suggest that most community members have not benefited from income-generating projects, some of which have collapsed for various reasons. Nonetheless, the villagers’ spirit of ubuntu motivates them to volunteer in projects that cater for vulnerable groups, such as children, the elderly and people living with HIV and AIDS. 2013-03-06T04:10:04.952Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:12592 Thomas Moore’s Care of the Soul, Lucy Lippard’s Lure of the Local and Gaston Bachelard’s The Poetics of Space, while written from different perspectives, share resonance in their consideration of thinking about everyday life, the spaces we inhabit and the importance of imagination. When these three factors come together it is possible to envision the world anew with greater heart, soul and humanity. This paper aims to creatively engage the reader and stimulate thinking about the kind of world we prefer to live in through combining images and words relating to the spaces we inhabit. 2013-03-06T01:30:09.429Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:12594 In teaching students about ethical decision making in social work, it is essential that the students are able to recognise the moral implications of their work and develop a deep understanding about ethical issues and their personal responsibility for making ethical choices. Thus, more than a “how to do it” approach is needed and teaching students about values and ethics is an essential thread that runs through our experience-based social work education program. The present paper describes a learning unit that sought to teach students about ethical decision making as a critical thinking process and, in so doing, to integrate students’ knowledge and experience of values, ethics, policy, and research in the final year of study. The relationship between values, ethics, policy, research, and social work practice provided an ideal context within which students could learn to integrate their knowledge and experience and apply it directly to their fieldwork practice. The paper ends with our critical reflection on this teaching experience and a critique of decisionist ethical frameworks. 2013-03-05T22:30:04.836Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:12586 Reset control was studied for enhanced performance that can not be obtained by linear controllers. The conventional reset control is simple for implementation by resetting some of its controller states to zero when its input is zero. However, we find that in some cases the performance of conventional reset control is still limited such as only partial reduction of the overshoot. Thus, this paper presents the stability analysis and design of an improved reset control system, where the reset times are prespecified and the controller states are reset to certain non-zero values, which are calculated online in terms of the system states for optimal performance. Experimental results on a PZT microactuator positioning stage show that the improved reset control can completely remove the overshoot and thus achieve shorter settling time than the conventional reset control. Moreover, robustness tests against various step levels, disturbance and sensor noise are presented. 2013-03-01T04:50:07.450Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:12585 Quantized feedback control design has attracted a lot of attention recently because of the increased interest in considering feedback control over digital communication networks. A significant amount of work has been done on the use of static (or memoryless) quantizers. These quantizers are relatively simple to study and to implement. However, the use of dynamic quantizers can significantly compress the amount of quantized feedback information. Research on dynamic quantizers for feedback control is quite immature yet. Few design methods of this kind are practical and easily implementable. In this paper, we study a simple dynamic scaling method for quantizer design and the application of it to control of uncertain linear systems. We show that this sort of simple dynamic quantizers only require a moderate information rate for robust stabilization of linear systems. Results are illustrated via examples. We show that the typical information rate is only a few bits per sample. 2013-03-01T04:00:04.819Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:12582 We propose a robust interpolation algorithm for model-based spectral analysis. Instead of estimating the spectral model directly, the so-called half spectrum, which has a one-to-one relationship with the spectrum through standard spectral decomposition, is estimated using an interpolation approach. The interpolation data consists of the values and the derivatives of the half spectrum function at a set of user-specified points, and can be easily estimated using an input-to-state filter. Our algorithm allows a large number of noisy interpolation data to be used to optimally fit a half spectrum function of a fixed order. The capability of handling large number of interpolation data makes our algorithm robust to the inherent finite sample noise in the interpolation data. The algorithm involves solving some least-squares problems and semidefinite programming problems, and is thus numerically efficient. Numerical tests show that our algorithm gives very reliable spectral estimates. 2013-03-01T03:50:31.411Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:12583 This paper presents a nonlinear control method for dual-stage actuator (DSA) systems to track a step command input fast and accurately. Conventional tracking controllers for DSA systems were generally designed to enable the primary actuator to approach the setpoint without overshoot. However, we observe that this strategy is unable to achieve the minimal settling time when the setpoints are beyond the secondary actuator travel limit. To further reduce the settling time, we design the primary actuator controller to yield a closedloop system with a small damping ratio for a fast rise time and certain allowable overshoot. Then, a composite nonlinear control law is designed for the secondary actuator to reduce the overshoot caused by the primary actuator as the system output approaches the setpoint. The proposed control method was applied to an actual DSA positioning system, which consists of a linear motor and a piezo actuator. Experimental results demonstrate that it can further reduce the settling time significantly compared with the conventional control. 2013-03-01T03:50:07.862Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:12584 This paper presents a nonlinear tracking control method for a hard disk drive (HDD) dual-stage actuator (DSA) system that consists of a voice coil motor (VCM) actuator and a piezoelectric (PZT) microactuator. Conventional track seeking controllers for DSA systems were generally designed to enable the VCM actuator to approach the target track without overshoot. However, we observe that this strategy is unable to achieve the minimal settling time when the target tracks are beyond the PZT actuator stroke limit. To further reduce the settling time, we design the VCM actuator controller to yield a closed-loop system with a small damping ratio for a fast rise time and certain allowable overshoot. Then, a composite nonlinear control law is designed for the PZT actuator to reduce the overshoot caused by the VCM actuator as the system output approaches the target track. Experimental results show that the proposed dual-stage servo outperforms the conventional dual-stage servo in short-span seeking and additionally achieves better track following accuracy than the VCM only single-stage servo. 2013-03-01T03:50:05.280Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:734 Masters Research - Master of Creative Arts (Drama) 2013-02-27T03:40:06.887Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:4653 Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) 2013-02-27T03:30:17.963Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:3991 This paper presents the initial response to the news from Sony that they will cease production of the Aibo robot, which has up to now, provided the player base for the Robocup kague. The design of a new player has all the classic issues of product development but two design considerations stand out l. That the new design enhances the scholarly research objectives that have been a driving force behind the RoboCup. 2.That the new design can step up to the challenge of wearing the mantle Aibo has won for itself as an ambassador for Science and Engineering. The design must convey a positive and engaging image through its form as it moves about the field. It is photographed and presented to a far wider audience than simply die-hard robotic fans. Without losing sight of the academic objectives, can the David Beckham factor be captured, technically brilliant and cute. 2013-02-27T01:46:58.117Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:2141 There has recently been significant interest in feedback stabilization problems with communication constraints including constraints on the available data rate. Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) constraints are one way in which data-rate limits arise, and are the focus of this paper. In both continuous and discrete-time settings, we show that there are limitations on the ability to stabilize an unstable plant over a SNR constrained channel using finite-dimensional linear time invariant (LTI) feedback. In the case of state feedback, or output feedback with a delay-free, minimum phase plant, these limitations in fact match precisely those that might have been inferred by considering the associated ideal Shannon capacity data rate over the same channel. In the case of LTI output feedback, additional limitations are shown to apply if the plant is nonminimum phase. In this case, we show that for a continuous-time nonminimum phase plant, a periodic linear time varying feedback scheme with fast sampling may be used to recover the original SNR requirement at the cost of robustness properties. The proposed framework inherently captures channel noise effects in a simple formulation suited to conventional LTI control performance and robustness analysis, and has potential to handle time delays and bandwidth constraints in a variety of control over communication links problems. 2013-02-21T02:50:02.673Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:12553 Global robust stabilization or regulation problem for lower-triangular systems has been studied recently under various assumptions by state feedback control. In this paper, we consider a more complicated and practical situation when disturbances appear in sensors. Under this situation, the plant states cannot be precisely measured, and the state feedback control laws are not implementable. Instead, the measurement feedback control laws become interesting. This paper gives a new mechanism using the internal model principle for designing measurement feedback control laws to solve the robust regulation problem of lower-triangular systems. 2013-02-19T22:50:05.807Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:12552 While the disturbances in actuators are well handled by the output regulation theory (especially, called input disturbance suppression problem), there are rare results to deal with those in sensors. When disturbances enter sensors, the plant states cannot be precisely measured, and the state feedback control laws are not implementable. Instead, the measurement feedback control laws become interesting. This paper gives a new mechanism using the internal model principle for designing measurement feedback control laws to solve the robust regulation problem. The proposed controllers have the robustness with respect to sensor disturbances. The mechanism derives from the output regulation theory, and puts this theory to a new stage. 2013-02-19T22:40:18.752Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:12550 The asymptotic rejection of spacecraft systems under multi-tone sinusoidal disturbances has been studied recently for the case where the frequencies are known. In this paper, we first consider an adaptive regulation problem of a class of uncertain nonlinear systems. Then an application of this result to the spacecraft systems leads to the solution of the asymptotic rejection of spacecraft systems subject to multi-tone sinusoidal functions with unknown frequencies. 2013-02-19T22:40:06.492Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:12551 In this paper, we present a global robust adaptive regulation control method to solve the attitude tracking and disturbance rejection problem of spacecraft for a class of persistent disturbances with unbounded energy which include the sinusoidal disturbance as a special case. The approach involves the integration of techniques from robust control, adaptive control, and robust output regulation theory. 2013-02-19T22:40:05.939Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:12530 Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) 2013-02-07T23:20:14.089Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:4915 This workshop is based on the Quality Achievement Matrix (QAM) developed by the Australian Quality Council (2000) and Enterprise & Career Education Foundation. The QAM is a practical tool, underpinned by a sound theoretical basis and "is based on the idea that programs of structured workplace learning achieve more when there is a collaborative culture of people trying to improve program processes and outcomes". The success of this tool is found in its straightforward design, holistic view and evidence based approach leading to an action plan. The ultimate benefit for higher education is the intended audience is teaching practitioners and encourages a systemic approach to teaching review. The Quality Evaluation Matrix (QEM), an adaptation of the original, is designed to assist academic staff to review their course or program of study facilitated by teaching and learning staff (academic, educational and curriculum development). The focus of this workshop will be "evaluation" and how evidence from formal evaluation tools can be embedded to inform systemic teaching review. The intended audience is anyone who is interested in developing additional ways to utilise the valuable data provided by evaluation processes. Intended level is novice through to expert. 2013-02-07T00:38:50.697Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:12114 Background: During exercise and recovery the transient and steady-state changes in autonomic activity regulating lower airway blood flow and dimensions are unknown. The aim of this study was to define changes in bronchial blood flow (Q_br) and dimensions during moderate and strenuous exercise, and to analyse the role of vagal and sympathetic nerves. Methods: Nine ewes (34–44 kg) underwent left thoracotomy during general anaesthesia (thiopentone/isoflurane) and either (5 sheep = Group 1) a pulsed Doppler transducer was placed on the bronchial artery, or (4 sheep = Group 2) a pulsed Doppler transducer was placed on the bronchial artery, and transit-time and single crystal sonomicrometers were mounted on the left main bronchus. These measured continuously Q_br, bronchial circumference (Circ_br) and wall thickness (Th_br). Aortic pressure (P_a) and central venous pressure catheters were placed in the superficial cervical artery and vein. Trained sheep exercised on a horizontal treadmill, i.e. Group 1, moderate exercise 2.2 mph over 1.6, 6 min recovery, for analysis of changes in Q_br before and after cholinoceptor blockade; Group 2, strenuous exercise 4.4 mph over 2, 10 min recovery for analysis of changes in Q_br and airway dimensions, before and after cholinoceptor plus α₁-, α₂-adrenoceptor blockade. β-adrenoceptor systems were intact. Results: In Group 1 during moderate exercise P_a and heart rate (HR) rose. Q_br and blood flow conductance (C_br) fell immediately to 83% (P<0.001) before returning toward resting levels, but fell when exercise ceased to 89% (P<0.01) before recovering. Prior cholinoceptor blockade abolished the immediate fall in Q_br and C_br, but not the recovery vasoconstriction. Later in recovery the bronchial bed dilated progressively over 6 min (P<0.05). In Group 2 during strenuous exercise P_a and HR rose substantially. Q_br and C_br fell to 68% and 54% (P<0.001), respectively, and there was early vasoconstriction in recovery. Circ_br fell immediately and remained at 93% (P<0.01), and did not recover fully when exercise ceased. Th_br did not change during or after exercise. Prior cholinoceptor plus α-adrenoceptor block caused P_a and Q_br to fall slightly during exercise, but the bronchovascular constriction during and after exercise was abolished, as was circumferential shortening in the airway. Conclusions: At exercise onset and steady-state, resetting the arterial baroreflex upward in sheep increases parasympathetic cholinergic vasoconstrictor activity and causes bronchial wall and bronchovascular smooth muscle contraction in concert with sympathetic adrenergic constriction of systemic vascular beds. Whether the known sigmoid baroreflex control of tracheal smooth muscle tension at rest is extended to tracheobronchial smooth muscle and its circulation during exercise is yet to be determined. 2012-12-13T00:24:23.459Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:12193 Objective: The hemodynamic response to exercise is affected by diverse factors such as age, gender and exercise load as well as concomitant pathogenic conditions including smoking, hyperlipidemia, hypertension and possibly diabetes. In this study the hemodynamic response to a graded exercise has been evaluated in diabetic and non-diabetic individuals. Design and method: In 3170 consecutive non-smoker normolipidemic normotensive patients, referred for the treadmill exercise test (age 25–70 years), the exercise-induced change in heart rate (ΔHR) and blood pressure (ΔSBP and ΔDBP) was evaluated in 176 diabetics (DM) compared to non-diabetics (NDM). Results: The results demonstrated that while resting HR and SBP were higher in DM, they had an impaired ΔHR (62.1 ± 20.5 versus 76.4 ± 24.2; P < 0.0001), ΔSBP (35.5 ± 29.3 versus 42.2 ± 24.5; P < 0.01) and ΔDBP (−0.4 ± 9.8 versus 2.1 ± 15.9; P < 0.05) in response to exercise compared to NDM, even among individuals with negative results for exercise test. DM had also lower heart rate reserve, circulatory power and rate-pressure product than NDM (all P < 0.0001). While DM were slightly older (57 versus 54.5) and had lower exercise capacity (7.1 versus 8.6 MET) than NDM (both P < 0.01), the impact of DM on the hemodynamic changes remained independent and significant after multivariate adjustment for age, exercise load and gender for ΔHR and ΔSBP (P < 0.01). Exercise-induced ΔSBP was directly correlated with exercise load and inversely associated with resting pulse pressure (rPP) (P < 0.0001). Furthermore, rPP was the second strongest independent predictor for ΔSBP (ß = −0.22, p < 0.0001). Conclusion: The impaired hemodynamic response of DM to exercise and its inverse association with rPP supports the early development of arterial and ventricular stiffness in DM, unrelated to other likely risk factors such as hypertension and hyperlipidemia. 2012-12-13T00:00:04.980Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:12192 Exercise stimulus–response relationships for airway blood supply and dimensions have not been described in mammalian species. These relationships are vital for postulates concerning integrated reflex factors normally controlling the airways and which may underlie the asthma syndromes of exercise. This study defines airways stimulus–response relationships in exercising sheep. Ewes between 35 and 40 kg were instrumented at left thoracotomy under thiopentone/isoflurane general anaesthesia. Pulsed Doppler ultrasonic transducers were mounted on the bronchial artery, and transit-time plus single-crystal sonomicrometers on the left main bronchus. These recorded simultaneously and continuously bronchial blood flow (Q_br) and conductance (C_br), bronchial circumference (Circ_br) and wall thickness (Th_br). In Protocol 1 (P1), four sheep ran duplicate 5 min protocols on a horizontal treadmill at continuous step-up-and-down speeds of 1 min duration, namely, 0.8, 1.6, 2.2, 1.6 and 0.8 mph (moderate exercise), followed by 10 min recovery. In P2, four sheep ran duplicate 2 min protocols at constant 4 mph (strenuous exercise), and in P3, one sheep ran duplicate protocols each of 3 min at 2.2, 4.4 and 6 mph (severe exercise). Regression analysis and repeated measures ANOVA were used to assess differences between times, runs and exercise intensity. In P1, airway effects were directly related to graded exercise effort sustained over 5 min. Peak effects occurred at 2.2 mph, except for Th_br. Heart rate and Pa rose (to 156% and 111% of resting, respectively), and Q_br and C_br fell (to 83% and 75%; both P<0.001). Circ_br fell to 96% (P=0.02), and Th_br rose at low speeds early and late, and thinned at the highest speed. In P2 and P3 for all variables the steady-state effects were systematically greater than for P1 (4.4 mph: Cbr to 43%, Circ_br to 93%; 6.6 mph: C_br to 25%, Circ_br to 82%). There was no significant recovery hyperaemia, but there was residual post-exercise bronchoconstriction. The exercise stimulus–response relationships from rest to a maximal 6 mph for sheep airway circumference and its bronchial circulation are inverse and functionally constrictor. 2012-12-12T23:58:18.299Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:5074 Background: Concerns regarding the safety of transfused blood have led to the development of a range of interventions to minimise blood loss during major surgery. Anti-fibrinolytic drugs are widely used, particularly in cardiac surgery and previous reviews have found them to be effective in reducing blood loss and the need for transfusion. Recently, questions have been raised regarding the comparative performance of the drugs and the safety of the most popular agent, aprotinin. Objectives: To assess the comparative effects of the anti-fibrinolytic drugs aprotinin, tranexamic acid (TXA), and epsilon aminocaproic acid (EACA) on blood loss during surgery, the need for red blood (RBC) transfusion, and adverse events, particularly vascular occlusion, renal dysfunction, and death. Search strategy: We searched CENTRAL, MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the internet. References in identified trials and review articles were checked and trial authors were contacted to identify any additional studies. The searches were last updated in July 2006. Selection criteria: Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of anti-fibrinolytic drugs in adults scheduled for non-urgent surgery. Eligible trials compared antifibrinolytic drugs with placebo (or no treatment), or with each other. Data collection and analysis: Two authors independently assessed trial quality and extracted data. Main results: This review summarises data from 211 RCTs that recruited 20,781 participants. Data from placebo/inactive controlled trials, and from head-to-head trials suggest an advantage of aprotinin over the lysine analogues TXA and EACA in terms of operative blood loss, but the differences were small. Aprotinin reduced the probability of requiring RBC transfusion by a relative 34% (relative risk [RR] 0.66, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.61 to 0.71). The RR for RBC transfusion with TXA was 0.61 (95% CI 0.54 to 0.69) and it was 0.75 (95% CI 0.58 to 0.96) with EACA. When the pooled estimates from the head-to-head trials of the two lysine analogues were combined and compared to aprotinin alone, aprotinin appeared superior in reducing the need for RBC transfusion: RR 0.83 (95% CI 0.69 to 0.99). Aprotinin reduced the need for re-operation due to bleeding: RR 0.48 (95% CI 0.35 to 0.68). This translates into an absolute risk reduction of just under 3% and a number needed-to-treat (NNT) of 37 (95% CI 27 to 56). Similar trends were seen with TXA and EACA, but the data were sparse and the differences failed to reach statistical significance. The blood transfusion data were heterogeneous and funnel plots indicate that trials of aprotinin and the lysine analogues may be subject to publication bias. Evidence of publication bias was not observed in trials reporting re-operation rates. Adjustment for these effects reduced themagnitude of estimated benefits but did not negate treatment effects. However, the apparent advantage of aprotinin over the lysine analogues was small and may be explained by publication bias and non-equivalent drug doses. Aprotinin did not increase the risk of myocardial infarction (RR 0.92, 95% CI 0.72 to 1.18), stroke (RR 0.76, 95% CI 0.35 to 1.64) renal dysfunction (RR 1.16, 95% CI 0.79 to 1.70) or overall mortality (RR 0.90, 95% CI 0.67 to 1.20). The analyses of myocardial infarction and death included data from themajority of subjects recruited into the clinical trials of aprotinin. However, under-reporting of renal events could explain the lack of effect seen with aprotinin. Similar trends were seen with the lysine analogues but data were sparse. These results conflict with the results of recently published non-randomised studies. Authors’ conclusions: Anti-fibrinolytic drugs provide worthwhile reductions in blood loss and the need for allogeneic red cell transfusion. Based on the results of randomised trials their efficacy does not appear to be offset by serious adverse effects. In most circumstances the lysine analogues are probably as effective as aprotinin and are cheaper; the evidence is stronger for tranexamic acid than for aminocaproic acid. In high risk cardiac surgery, where there is a substantial probability of serious blood loss, aprotinin may be preferred over tranexamic acid. Aprotinin does not appear to be associated with an increased risk of vascular occlusion and death, but the data do not exclude an increased risk of renal failure. There is no need for further placebo-controlled trials of aprotinin or lysine analogues in cardiac surgery. The principal need is for large comparative trials to assess the relative efficacy, safety and cost-effectiveness of anti-fibrinolytic drugs in different surgical procedures. 2012-12-07T03:59:30.235Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:12144 Review of: Lifshitz, Felice, The Name of the Saint: The Martyrology of Jerome and Access to the Sacred in Francia, 627-827. Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, Hardback; 230 pages; RRP $US40; ISBN 0-268-03375-7. 2012-11-28T23:42:31.569Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:12099 This paper continues our work focused on developing a new socioeconomic geography for Australia such that the chosen spatial aggregation of data is based on an analysis of economic behaviour. The underlying hypothesis is that the development of a geographical classification based on underlying economic behaviour will provide new insights into critical issues of regional performance, including unemployment differentials, the impact of industry, infrastructure and changes in local public expenditure on local labour markets. As a precursor to detailed work on the 2006 Census data, we establish the proof of concept in this paper of the Intramax methodology using 2001 ABS Journey-to-Work data for NSW. The functional regionalisation generated by the Intramax method is then tested using ABS labour force data. We compare 2001 ABS Census data aggregated by the ABS labour force regions to the same data aggregated using our functional regions. The results demonstrate the potential value of this technique for the development of a new geography. 2012-11-22T04:59:10.088Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:12098 It has been argued that declining housing affordability in Australia’s major cities has led to the exclusion of some low and moderate income residents from high employment, innercity regions. If there is an increasing spatial mismatch between housing and employment, moderately paid workers, essential to the efficient functioning of the urban economy, may face problems in accessing and retaining employment. However to date there has been a lack of empirical analysis of the overlap between spatial dimensions of housing and employment (and the commuting such divisions necessitate) broken down by occupation. Using the 2001 Census Journey to Work data, broken down by occupation, we employ a range of analytic techniques to examine local labour markets in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Firstly we develop formal commuting areas which represent local labour markets. Secondly, we examine self-average commutes and self-containment ratios for occupational groups across the metropolitan local labour markets. Secondly, linear programming techniques are employed to examine the nature of commuting, given the complex locational decisions made by residents. Results reveal some variation in commuting patterns across occupations with little variation in commutes but higher self-containment ratios at the SLA level for some low-skilled occupations. However longer commutes are found amongst low-skill occupations after controlling for the ‘excess’ or volitional nature of commuting, and suggests the distribution of jobs given the distribution of residents is more unequal for low-skill occupations. High skill occupations tend to display higher rates of excess commuting reflecting that factors other than job-proximity may be influencing their locational decisions. 2012-11-22T04:15:25.910Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:12094 In the USA residential segregation has been shown to reinforce racial inequality and promote labour market segregation through income polarisation and differential rates of unemployment. However the available population data can compromise the measurement of residential segregation due to the MAUP and the checkerboard problem. Also debate continues over the desirable criteria of residential segregation indexes. This paper has two objectives: i) to investigate the use of kernel density estimation as a means of spatially smoothing population data prior to the measurement of residential segregation ; and ii) to explore the merits of different criteria underpinning spatial measures of residential segregation, given the arguments of Reardon and O'Sullivan and other contemporary literature. These objectives will be illustrated by the analysis of residential segregation in the Sydney Commuting Area in 2001, using different parameter values for the underlying kernel density estimation. 2012-11-22T02:33:31.633Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:12095 Controversies in the conceptualisation and measurement of segregation have a long history in the literature. Studies by Duncan and Duncan (1955), James and Taeuber (1985), White (1986), and Watts (1998) contrasted the properties of indexes of segregation with a focus on aspatial measures. With the exception of Massey and Denton (1988), the development of spatial indexes had lacked a coherent conceptual basis, until the papers by Grannis (2002), Reardon and Firebaugh (2002b) and Reardon and O’Sullivan (2004). Reardon and O’Sullivan (2004) subject multi-group spatial segregation measures to criteria based on those applied to aspatial measures. In this paper we critically assess these recent developments in the measurement of spatial, multi-group segregation and their implications for spatial research in the social sciences. We argue that the criteria employed to assess these segregation measures need to be reviewed and more carefully aligned to the requirements of the associated empirical research. 2012-11-22T02:30:14.204Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:11794 In the post-war period through to the mid 1970s, most advanced Western nations maintained very low levels of unemployment. Governments were willing to manipulate levels of aggregate demand to ensure enough jobs were created to meet the preferences of the population. They used fiscal and monetary measures to stabilise the economy in the face of f1uctuations in private sector spending. While both private and public employment growth were relatively strong, Western economies were able to sustain full employment because they maintained a buffer of jobs that were always available and were readily accessible to the least skilled workers. 2012-11-22T00:57:09.456Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:3231 The presence of atomic oxygen at internal metal-ceramic oxide interfaces significantly affects the physical properties of the interfaces which in turn affects the bulk properties of the material. This problem is addressed for the model composite system Ag-MgO from a phenomenological point of view using a lattice-based Monte Carlo method and a finite element method extended with special user-subroutines. We simulate the time dependence of oxygen depth and contour profiles. We are able to show very good agreement between these two methods. 2012-11-12T21:40:04.330Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:11922 We prove that, for all integers k exceeding some effectively computable number K, the distance from (3/2)^k to the nearest integer is greater than 0.5803^k. 2012-11-06T04:35:21.994Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:11920 We prove two new series of Ramanujan type for 1/π². 2012-11-06T01:00:20.121Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:10333 We prove sharp irrationality measures for a q-analogue of π and related q-series, and indicate open problems on linear and algebraic independence of the series that might be viewed as q-analogues of some classical mathematical constants. 2012-11-05T23:25:16.287Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:11923 We present a new proof of the irrationality of values of the series T_q(z)= ∞/∑/n=0 zⁿq^-n(n-1)/2 in both qualitative and quantitative forms. The proof is based on a hypergeometric construction of rational approximations to T_q(z). 2012-11-05T02:12:12.094Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:11921 In this note we investigate arithmetic properties of values of the Tschakaloff function Tq(z) = Σ^∞_v=0q^-v(v+1)/2_z^v, |q| >1. One of the open problems is proving linear independence of the values of T_q(z) with different q. The only result obtained in this direction, in [1], is very restrictive. We refer the interested reader to the survey [2] for an account of known linear and algebraic independence results for values of Tschakaloff and other q-series. 2012-11-05T01:58:51.304Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:11919 Some of the most spectacular achievements in the history of the number π are the representations of 1/π by rapidly converging series discovered by Ramanujan in 1914. Although Ramanujan himself did not explain how he arrived at his series, he indicated that they belong to what is now known as ‘the theories of elliptic functions to alternative bases’. The first rigorous mathematical proofs of Ramanujan’s identities in and generalizations of them were given by the Borweins and the Chudnovskys. 2012-11-05T01:55:41.485Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:10320 In order to sustain privacy in digital collaborative environments a comprehensive multidimensional privacy protecting framework is required. Such information privacy solutions for collaborations must incorporate environmental factors and influences in order to provide a holistic information privacy solution. associated with the multi-facetted notion of privacy. The three key components of the TLC-PP framework are merged together to provide complete solutions for collaborative environment stakeholders and users alike. The application of the TLC-PP framework provides a significant contribution to the delivery of a Privacy Augmented Collaborative Environment (PACE). 2012-10-30T01:55:08.251Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:11779 Quantity surveying measurement adopts prescriptive processes which are underpinned by an understanding of construction technology. The rules for measuring are complex, and are designed for experienced practitioners. Some students struggle to acquire the skills and knowledge within the timeframe allowed. At Newcastle University (Australia), we are preparing high quality teaching and learning materials for both on-campus and distance learning students. We are collaborating with the Department of Civil and Building Engineering at Loughborough University (UK) to develop e-learning measurement packages utilising 3D images. This paper describes and discusses some of the merits and challenges of the approaches we have adopted. 2012-10-22T01:07:58.981Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:11781 A nexus between teaching and research has long been an aim of universities. This goal has been elusive, and the full potential of such connections has yet to be realized. Opportunities exist to exploit synergies between teaching andresearch. Melding these activities and subsequently progressing outcomes to a point where research and effectiveteaching methodologies align is challenging. This paper reports on the processes and the outcomes of our initial researchas well as the dissemination strands. 2012-10-22T01:04:16.495Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:3908 Tendering and entering into binding contracts has been a part of our society for a considerable time. This arrangement may be adapted to pedagogic environments as classroom situations create the potential for entering into contracts. This paper describes a strategy for lecturers to negotiate learning contracts with students, which has been implemented to individualise student learning within a design project whilst at the same time maintaining a focus on the core skill of “design for the environment”. Negotiations were based on a supplied pro forma. Students were advised to examine their professional development profiling areas and to select areas in which they would like to acquire more expertise. Over time students develop strategies to fulfil their contract and to meet the specific assessment criteria they selected. 2012-10-21T22:50:04.989Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:11704 We study stability properties of a proximal point algorithm for solving the inclusion 0∈T(x) when T is a set-valued mapping that is not necessarily monotone. More precisely we show that the convergence of our algorithm is uniform, in the sense that it is stable under small perturbations whenever the set-valued mapping T is metrically regular at a given solution. We present also an inexact proximal point method for strongly metrically subregular mappings and show that it is super-linearly convergent to a solution to the inclusion 0∈T(x). 2012-10-12T02:29:49.247Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:11703 Borwein’s norm duality theorem establishes the equality between the outer (inner) norm of a sublinear mapping and the inner (outer) norm of its adjoint mappings. In this note we provide an extended version of this theorem with a new and self-contained proof relying only on the Hahn-Banach theorem. We also give examples showing that the assumptions of the theorem cannot be relaxed. 2012-10-12T02:29:31.610Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:11702 In this short note we show that the outer norm of a sublinear mapping F, acting between Banach spaces X and Y and with dom F = X, is finite only if F is single-valued. This implies in particular that for a sublinear multivalued mapping the inner and the outer norms cannot be finite simultaneously. 2012-10-12T02:28:01.344Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:11701 In this paper we consider the following general version of the proximal point algorithm for solving the inclusion T(x) ∋ 0, where T is a set-valued mapping acting from a Banach space X to a Banach space Y. First, choose any sequence of functions g_n : X → Y with g_n(0) = 0 that are Lipschitz continuous in a neighborhood of the origin. Then pick an initial guess x₀ and find a sequence x_n by applying the iteration g_n(x_n1^-x_n)+T(x_n+1) ∋ 0 for n = 0,1,... We prove that if the Lipschitz constants of g_n are bounded by half the reciprocal of the modulus of regularity of T, then there exists a neighborhood O of x̅ (x̅ being a solution to T(x) ∋ 0) such that for each initial point x₀ ∈ O one can find a sequence x_n generated by the algorithm which is linearly convergent to x̅. Moreover, if the functions g_n have their Lipschitz constants convergent to zero, then there exists a sequence starting from x₀ ∈ O which is superlinearly convergent to x̅. Similar convergence results are obtained for the cases when the mapping T is strongly subregular and strongly regular. 2012-10-12T02:23:32.391Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:11666 To each totally disconnected, locally compact topological group G and each group A of automorphisms of G, a pseudo-metric space of "directions" has been associated by U. Baumgartner and the second author. Given a Lie group G over a local field, it is a natural idea to try to define a map from the space of directions of analytic automorphisms of G to the space of directions of automorphisms of the Lie algebra L(G) of G, which takes the direction of an analytic automorphism of G to the direction of the associated Lie algebra automorphism. We show that, in general, this map is not well-defined. However, the pathology cannot occur for a large class of linear algebraic groups (called "generalized Cayley groups" here). For such groups, the assignment just proposed defines a well-defined isometric embedding from the space of directions of inner automorphisms of G to the space of directions of automorphisms of L(G). Some counterexamples concerning the existence of small joint tidy subgroups for flat groups of automorphisms are also provided. 2012-10-09T04:26:56.891Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:1147 Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) 2012-09-21T00:07:33.543Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:11038 We consider how the languages of G-automata compare with other formal language classes. We prove that if the word problem of G is accepted by a machine in the class ℳ then the language of any G-automaton is in the class ℳ. It follows that the so called counter languages (languages of ℤⁿ-automata) are context-sensitive, and further that counter languages are indexed if and only if the word problem for ℤⁿ is indexed. 2012-07-03T04:30:00.082Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:2008 We describe the ongoing development of a psychometric test to measure understanding of three-dimensional (3-D) concepts represented in drawings. The test consists of five subtests requiring participants to complete timed choice tasks previously used in experimental investigations of 3-D understanding, and a new subtest based on the idea of true length. We examined performance in terms of accuracy and response time using both laboratory- and Web-based methods of delivery. Reliability coefficients were high for both methods (.90 and .96, respectively, for accuracy, and .87 and .95, respectively, for response time measures), but Web-based participants produced consistently lower overall scores. Issues regarding the deployment of, and recruitment for, complex Web-based experimental tasks, and factors affecting comparisons between Web and laboratory results, such as the presence of an experimenter, and interface and sample differences, are discussed. 2012-07-03T01:00:05.523Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:5808 People tend to perceive ingroup homogeneity on ingroup stereotypical traits and outgroup homogeneity on outgroup stereotypical traits (e.g., Kelly, 1989; Simon, 1992a; Simon & Pettigrew, 1990). If it is assumed that people use homogeneity ratings to indicate the extent to which groups possess traits, then this stereotype effect may be interpreted as an expression of perceived trait possession (i.e., ingroups possess ingroup stereotypical traits and outgroups possess outgroup stereotypical traits). If it is further assumed that research participants abide by the conversational norm of appropriate quantity (e.g., Bless, Strack, & Schwarz, 1993), then this stereotype effect should be significantly reduced following prior expressions of perceived trait possession. A literature review and two minimal group experiments (Ns = 75, 104) supported this prediction. This evidence is discussed in relation to the outgroup homogeneity effect and self-categorization theory. 2012-06-22T02:20:05.863Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:5851 In the late 1850s, a young woman, orphaned as a child in India under the Raj, ran away from unsympathetic guardians in Scotland to the British colony of New South Wales, where she successfully re-invented herself, in relation to Aboriginal people, as a classic 'little missus'. This paper takes her colonial trajectory as the starting point for an exploration into the construction of respectable white womanhood under British colonization. Drawing upon the approach taken by Ann Laura Stoler in her discussion of the emotional economy of colonial memories of the beloved and nurturing servant, it suggests that such a transcolonial construction was dependent upon the figure, particularly, of the native female nursemaid. Furthermore, it argues that the Indian ayah, as she was imagined in Anglo-colonial culture from the late nineteenth century, would provide a template for the ‘fashion' of engaging young Indigenous women as maids in both Australia and the United States in the first half of the twentieth century. As this practice was inextricably bound up with the destruction of Aboriginal Australian and Native American communities, the links between imperial practice in South-East Asia and settler colonial practice in the modernizing ex-colonial nations highlight the roots of contemporary female domestic service relationships in colonialism and dispossession. 2012-06-18T01:30:02.031Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:6328 Quanto sete per me pigri, o momenti! is a cantata for soprano and basso continuo (vocal range c' to a"-flat) on a poem by Giovanni Apolloni. Two of the three manuscript sources on which the edition is based show conflicting attributions to Antonio Cesti (1623-1669) and Giacomo Carissimi (1605-1674). Both the authority of the sources and stylistic features leave little doubt, however, that the attribution to Cesti is the correct one, and it is therefore the one selected here. 2012-06-05T01:20:03.621Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:10866 This chapter describes the management of knowledge in patient-based teams in palliative care organizations. These organizations are designed, configured and managed for dynamic response to uncertain, changing situations; to their contingencies. This response is knowledge based and contextualized by individual patient situations. 2012-06-01T04:00:02.276Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:2744 The free [Ca²⁺] in endoplasmic/sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca²⁺ stores regulates excitability of Ca²⁺ release by stimulating the Ca²⁺ release channels. Just how the stored Ca²⁺ regulates activation of these channels is still disputed. One proposal attributes luminal Ca²⁺-activation to luminal facing regulatory sites, whereas another envisages Ca²⁺ permeation to cytoplasmic sites. This study develops a unified model for luminal Ca²⁺ activation for single cardiac ryanodine receptors (RyR₂) and RyRs in coupled clusters in artificial lipid bilayers. It is shown that luminal regulation of RyR₂ involves three modes of action associated with Ca²⁺ sensors in different parts of the molecule; a luminal activation site (L-site, 60 μM affinity), a cytoplasmic activation site (A-site, 0.9 μM affinity), and a novel cytoplasmic inactivation site (I₂-site, 1.2 μM affinity). RyR activation by luminal Ca²⁺ is demonstrated to occur by a multistep process dubbed luminal-triggered Ca²⁺ feedthrough. Ca²⁺ binding to the L-site initiates brief openings (1 ms duration at 1–10 s⁻¹) allowing luminal Ca²⁺ to access the A-site, producing up to 30-fold prolongation of openings. The model explains a broad data set, reconciles previous conflicting observations and provides a foundation for understanding the action of pharmacological agents, RyR-associated proteins, and RyR₂ mutations on a range of Ca²⁺-mediated physiological and pathological processes. 2012-05-29T02:16:02.803Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:3305 The cold, core plasma mass density in the Earth's magnetosphere may be deduced from the resonant behaviour of ultra-low frequency (ULF; 1–100 mHz), magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves. Ground-based magnetometers are the most widely used instruments for recording the signature of ULF wave activity in the magnetosphere. For a suitable model of the background magnetic field and a functional form for the variation of the proton number density with radial distance, the resonant frequencies of ULF waves provide estimates of the equatorial plasma mass density. At high latitudes, the magnetic field model becomes critical when estimating the plasma mass density from FLR data. We show that a dipole field model is generally inadequate for latitudes greater than ~65° geomagnetic compared with models that are keyed to magnetic activity, interplanetary magnetic field and solar wind properties. Furthermore, the method often relies on the detection of the fundamental ULF resonance, which changes frequency depending on the polarisation of the oscillation. Using idealised toroidal and poloidal oscillation modes, the range of the derived densities as the ULF wave polarisation changes is of the same order as changing the density function from a constant value throughout the magnetosphere to assuming constant Alfven speed in a dipole geometry. 2012-05-29T00:38:47.392Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:10845 Both direct and indirect methods exist for continuous-time system identification. A direct method estimates continuous-time input and output signals from their samples and then use them to obtain a continuous-time model, whereas an indirect method estimates a discrete-time model first. Both methods rely on fast sampling to ensure good accuracy. In this paper, we propose a more direct method where a continuous-time model is directly fitted to the available samples. This method produces an exact model asymptotically, modulo some aliasing ambiguity, even when the sampling rate is relatively low. 2012-05-24T05:10:09.629Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:10843 Stochastic analysis of a multirate linear system typically requires the signals in the system to possess certain ergodic properties. Among them, ergodicity in the mean and ergodicity in the correlation are the most commonly used ones. We show that multirate operations and time-variant linear filtering can destroy these ergodic properties. Motivated by this fact, we introduce the notions of strong ergodicity in the mean and strong ergodicity in the correlation. We show that these properties are preserved under a number of operations, namely, downsampling, upsampling, addition, and uniformly stable linear (time-variant) filtering. We also show that white random processes with uniformly bounded second moments are strongly ergodic in the mean and that mutually independent random processes with uniformly bounded fourth moments are jointly strongly ergodic in the correlation. The main implication of these results is that if a multirate linear system is driven by white (independent) random processes with uniformly bounded second (fourth) moments, then every signal in the system is strongly ergodic in the mean (correlation) and therefore ergodic in the mean (correlation). An application of these results is also discussed. 2012-05-24T05:10:05.703Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:3247 In 1954 an Australian ballet celebrating Aboriginality was presented to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the first reigning monarch ever to visit the continent. A dynamic American dancer Beth Dean both choreographed and danced the lead role of the ballet Corroboree: one young English woman watched another young, American, woman, play out the initiation of an Aboriginal youth, as a symbol of Australia’s distinctive culture and identity. As a performance transgressing boundaries of gender simultaneously with those of race and culture, Beth Dean’s performance of the Initiate is an episode in the history of Australian of Australian race relations that highlights an ongoing struggle by white women to exercise power through representing and speaking for Aboriginal people. A gendered reading of the white nationalist appropriation of Aboriginal identity shows that Dean’s Boy Initiate dances on a trajectory of white women claiming an authoritative voice on Aboriginality, stretching from the earliest colonial days and even to the present. 2012-05-16T04:40:45.556Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:9814 The concept of alliance has been used widely in a variety of contexts with definitions generally being discipline-bound. Theoretical and empirical research into alliances has had extensive interdisciplinary appeal. Research into alliances has been conducted in a multitude of disciplines, including sociology, psychology, economics, political science, law, strategic management, and organizational behavior. The word alliance has a set of meanings, including a confederation described as the act of forming an alliance; a formal agreement establishing an association or alliance between nations or other groups to achieve a particular aim; a coalition, being an organization of people, nations, or businesses involved in a pact or treaty; a bond, being a connection based on kinship or common interest; and a confederation as a state of being allied or confederated. We define alliances as a unified effort involving two or more organizations, groups, or individuals to achieve common goals with respect to a particular issue. This view of alliances is closely related to its sociological roots and suggests that an alliance has a number of defining features. First, an alliance brings together two or more individual parties – whether people or organizations. Second, an alliance requires these parties to be interconnected in some way with resource dependencies. Interconnectedness is a state of being connected reciprocally. Third, the alliance must share common goals, interests, or values. Fourth, there is an assumption that the individual parties maintain at least some level of autonomy. 2012-05-01T04:47:21.701Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:7778 This study is part of a project which investigates computational principles which underlie perception and representation of architectural streetscape character. Some of the principles can be associated with fundamental concepts in brain theory and Gestalt psychology. For the experimental analysis streetscapes were represented by sequences of digital images of house facades which were prepared by a team of researchers from architecture. Two methods for non-linear dimensionality reduction, isomap and maximum variance unfolding, were applied to a set of Hough arrays (for lines) of the given images. An analysis of the extracted "streetmanifolds" revealed groupings of house facades with similar visual character and proportions. Comparative tests were conducted on a simple cylinder shaped example manifold to evaluate the geometric stability of the two dimensionality reduction methods. All experiments addressed variations of the distance metric and the neighbourhood parameter. 2012-04-12T01:00:11.163Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:10594 In this paper we extend a recently derived positive systems model for TCP to capture the dynamics of TCP’s higher order moments in drop-tail environments. Experimental results are given to illustrate the accuracy of our model. 2012-04-05T06:10:04.556Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:10593 The relationships between various cognitive characteristics and design creativity provide the necessity for consideration for design education. It can be argued that constructive perception ability that combines perception and conception and basic ability in visual reasoning composed of visual analysis, synthesis and representation in iterative nature are equally related with creative design ability. This paper reports findings of the application of a Spatial Ability measurement tool to first year design students and considers the results across three parameters, gender, University entrance Score and students‟ achievement in a first year Graphics course. 2012-04-05T06:10:04.536Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:10522 Making the rules of health-care resource allocation transparent is a challenge for all governments. The Oregon Health Plan in the late 1980s was one such attempt to prioritise expenditure of limited Medicaid funds, based on public values. For decision makers, asking the general public and health professionals to express their preferences for health-care spending priorities can be a way of ensuring that the process and resultant spending priorities are seen as legitimate and fair. In a study comparing the preferences of health professionals and members of the public for setting health-care priorities, Wiseman found considerable uniformity in preferences between the two groups. However, some members of the public argued that it would be better to trust health professionals to make the correct decision in the first place. The purpose of this study is to compare spending priorities for health care across a selection of predominantly middle-income countries, based on the opinions of current and future decision makers. Using an opinion poll questionnaire, we surveyed 253 health professionals from six countries, asking them to rank ten health interventions in order of priority for spending from most important (rank 1) to least important (rank 10). The questionnaire was based on a short questionnaire on priorities for health-care spending developed by Groves. 2012-04-05T05:20:39.716Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:6275 Napoleon Bonaparte's rise to power was neither inevitable nor smooth; it was full of mistakes, wrong turns and pitfalls. During his formative years his identity was constantly shifting, his character ambiguous and his intentions often ill-defined. As a young and inexperienced general he covered up his defeats and exaggerated his victories, never hesitating to blame others for his failures and failings. He was, however, highly ambitious, and it was this ruthless drive that advanced his career and his social status. This book examines the extraordinary evolution of Napoleon's character and the means by which at the age of thirty he became head of the most powerful country in Europe: from his Corsican origins to his French education, from his melancholy youth to his involvement in Corsican political faction-fighting during the Revolution, and from his flirtation with the radicals of the French Revolution to his first military campaigns in Italy and Egypt - and the political-military coup that brought him to power in 1799. Philip Dwyer's study sheds new light on the darker aspects of Napoleon's character - his brooding obsessions and potential for violence - and also his passionate nature: his loves, his ability to inspire others and the capacity to realise his visionary ideas. One of the first truly modern politicians, Napoleon skilfully fashioned the image of himself that laid the foundation of the legend that endures to this day. 2012-04-05T02:40:58.959Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:2930 Nowadays, especially with the expansion of Generation Y, the corporate world has embraced the use of digital information and computer software in workflows, the application of networked technologies in communiaction, and the integration of electronic means in business operation. These new phenomena have indeed been gradually reshaping business models, communication methods, and organisational structures, as well as workplace designs. Rather than seeing the future of the workplace as a more confusing array of computers and cables, this paper proposes three ways in which the workplace will be transformed to a place in which the boundaries and our interaction with the physical and the digital worlds are blurred. We see the workplace as a new kind of media place, and augmented reality place and a curious responsive place. 2012-04-04T06:24:35.967Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:2398 The Turkish word için 'for' acts in a complex manner in terms of the Cases which it assigns to its complements. The equivalent words in some other languages of the Turkic family, both modern and older, also have a complicated behavior and/or differ from için in this respect. I propose an account for this set of facts which makes use of posited changes in the categorial features of these words, and which connects structural Case marking to different feature values than is standardly assumed. 2012-04-03T07:20:11.661Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:2335 Much has been invested in the capacity of professional learning to support teacher growth and improve schooling outcomes (Vandenberghe, 2002). In relation to the NSW Quality Teaching reform, the view is that teachers must engage in professional learning activities that deepen their understanding of Quality Teaching, if Quality Teaching is to improve pedagogy (and student outcomes). Drawing on survey and interview data from SIPA, we examine the range of professional learning experiences in which approximately 900 teachers have been engaged during the past two years, and examine the effectiveness of that professional learning as judged by the teachers. We also consider differences and similarities between schools and draw conclusions to guide ongoing efforts to conduct meaningful professional learning to improve pedagogy. We include quantitative analyses of the relationship between the amount, type, and level of satisfaction with QT professional learning and the quality of pedagogy found in SIPA schools. Qualitative data are also used to shed light on what it takes for professional development to have a positive impact on pedagogy. The research reported in this paper is designed to enhance our empirical understanding of the relationship between professional development and the improvement of pedagogical practice. 2012-04-03T06:40:06.314Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:2336 This paper explores the potential of Quality Teaching in supporting the professional learning and pedagogical success of early career teachers. Much of the literature and many policies focus on matters other than pedagogy in teacher induction. Given the low retention rates for early career teachers (Strong & St John, 2005; Ingersoll, 2001; Ramsey, 2000), we argue that attention to pedagogy is not only critical to supporting new teachers and ensuring their classroom success, but is also in the public interest. This paper discusses the induction and mentoring experiences and the pedagogical performance of a small group of teachers who undertook substantial studies in pedagogy in their teacher education program and entered NSW public schools in a context of heightened focus on pedagogy through the Quality Teaching initiative (Cohort 1). The paper also draws on data from the SIPA study to explore the experiences and performance of early career teachers who may not have had a strong grounding in Quality Teaching but who are in schools where a focus on pedagogy is expected (Cohort 2). The data from both studies highlight the need for a clear and substantial focus on pedagogy to better support the professional growth of early career teachers. 2012-04-03T05:50:06.637Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:9433 This is the protocol for a review and there is no abstract. The objectives are as follows: To determine the effects of home-based therapy programmes for upper limb recovery in patients with upper limb impairment following stroke, compared with: (1) placebo or no intervention; (2) usual care. Question to be answered: Are home-based therapy programmes effective at improving upper limb recovery in patients with upper limb impairment after stroke? 2012-04-02T01:01:58.452Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:3720 2012-04-02T00:13:17.796Z ]]> http://nova.newcastle.edu.au/vital/access/manager/Repository/uon:10531 Measles is now rare in Australia, and cases can usually be linked to its importation from endemic countries. To prevent measles outbreaks in Australia, high vaccination coverage with two doses of vaccine must be sustained. All medical practitioners should consider a diagnosis of measles in a patient of any age who presents with fever and a non-vesiculating, non-itchy rash. If measles is suspected clinically, public health authorities should be immediately notified, so that testing and management of patients can be discussed and contact tracing initiated. When a patient is suspected of having measles, testing of a serum sample for measles-specific IgM and IgG antibodies should be requested urgently. Pathology laboratories should have effective protocols for immediately reporting positive measles-specific IgM antibody tests, or other results indicative of measles, to public health authorities. 2012-03-26T05:00:07.079Z ]]>