Factors affecting the organizational adoption of blockchain technology : extending the technology–organization– environment (TOE) framework in the Australian context
Description:
The sparse nature of voluntarily reported drug safety data benefits from a system that consolidates the massive amount of data into a manageable format for analysis. This has been done for Australian drug safety data by the Australian Adverse Drug Reaction Advisory Committee (ADRAC) for reactions using the systems organ class (SOC) ontology. There has long been a need for a similar kind of grouping to apply to drugs in this type of data. In ADRAC, drugs are currently listed by trade-name, where only some of these trade-names were assigned anatomical-therapeutic-chemical classification (ATC) codes. We assigned an ATC code for each ADRAC trade-name and show that this ontology facilitates the detection of drug class / reaction class associations at various levels of specificity. This allows different views of these associations (even very rare ones) and their significance measured for the development of more sensitive signal detection methods. We report that this ATC classification enables both the grouping of association rule approach that is useful for studying rare associations, and the development of an adverse reaction signal detection method.
Description:
This paper explores the pedagogical and social potential of emerging technologies, in particular the iPod, in facilitating the learning of young Australians with severe intellectual and social disabilities. The study, which was carried out in a segregated educational setting in Victoria, Australia, sought to establish whether the intrinsic portable, multi-media capabilities of the iPod particularly lent themselves to a practical application for students with severe disabilities. It was concluded that such new technology has considerable power and potential as an emerging pedagogy with students with severe intellectual and physical disabilities.
Description:
This paper explores the pedagogical and social potential of emerging technologies, in particular the iPod, in facilitating the learning of young Australians with severe intellectual and social disabilities. The study, which was carried out in a segregated educational setting in Victoria, Australia, sought to establish whether the intrinsic portable, multi-media capabilities of the iPod particularly lent themselves to a practical application for students with severe disabilities. It was concluded that such new technology has considerable power and potential as an emerging pedagogy with students with severe intellectual and physical disabilities.
Effects of Tetranychus lintearius (Acari : Tetranychidae) on the structure and water potential in the foliage of the invasive Ulex europaeus (Fabaceae) in Australia
Description:
Ulex europaeus, a native of Western Europe and the Mediterranean coast, is a serious agricultural and environmental weed in many parts of the earth, including Australia. Tetranychus lintearius attacks U. europaeus in its natural range and is one of the four biological control agents introduced into Australia to regulate populations of U. europaeus. Tetranychus lintearius is specific to different species of Ulex, which enhances its status as a key biological control agent. Little is known on the physiological effects and structural changes induced by T. lintearius on U. europaeus. This article describes anatomical changes and evaluates the physiological effects in U. europaeus consequent to feeding by T. lintearius for more than 100 d. This study demonstrates that feeding by T. lintearius reduces the quantity of photosynthetic tissue in U. europaeus, as a result of feeding on mesophyll parenchyma by inserting its stylets through the stomatal aperture. Unfed parenchyma cells display signs of stress, either exhibiting deformed cell organelles aligned along the walls of vacant cells or with cells with no well-defined cell organelles. Subsequent to T. lintearius feeding, leaves externally manifest bleaching. After feeding by a population of T. lintearius, leaf water potential is decreased by 30% and tender shoots lose their turgor, indicating water-related stress. Tetranychus lintearius has the potential to decelerate vigour and retard the competitiveness of U. europaeus by inflicting stress. Our findings reinforce the use of T. lintearius in the biological management of populations of U. europaeus in temperate Australia.
Description:
Ulex europaeus, a native of Western Europe and the Mediterranean coast, is a serious agricultural and environmental weed in many parts of the earth, including Australia. Tetranychus lintearius attacks U. europaeus in its natural range and is one of the four biological control agents introduced into Australia to regulate populations of U. europaeus. Tetranychus lintearius is specific to different species of Ulex, which enhances its status as a key biological control agent. Little is known on the physiological effects and structural changes induced by T. lintearius on U. europaeus. This article describes anatomical changes and evaluates the physiological effects in U. europaeus consequent to feeding by T. lintearius for more than 100 d. This study demonstrates that feeding by T. lintearius reduces the quantity of photosynthetic tissue in U. europaeus, as a result of feeding on mesophyll parenchyma by inserting its stylets through the stomatal aperture. Unfed parenchyma cells display signs of stress, either exhibiting deformed cell organelles aligned along the walls of vacant cells or with cells with no well-defined cell organelles. Subsequent to T. lintearius feeding, leaves externally manifest bleaching. After feeding by a population of T. lintearius, leaf water potential is decreased by 30% and tender shoots lose their turgor, indicating water-related stress. Tetranychus lintearius has the potential to decelerate vigour and retard the competitiveness of U. europaeus by inflicting stress. Our findings reinforce the use of T. lintearius in the biological management of populations of U. europaeus in temperate Australia.
Historical mine sites as modern-day sources of contamination : Measurement and characterisation of arsenic in historical gold mine wastes to identify the potential for mobility and human exposure
Description:
Centuries of metalliferous mining activities have resulted in a legacy of contamination throughout the world. Unremediated mine wastes and tailings, as well as contaminated soils, water and sediments, represent ongoing sources of environmental degradation and human exposure, long after mine closure and abandonment. Despite global concern over these contaminant sources, there remain uncertainties surrounding the nature of human exposure to mine wastes and their toxicologically relevant characteristics. As urbanisation expands into areas proximal to abandoned mine sites, an understanding of the human-contaminant interface at this boundary is critical for assessing the potential health risks. This thesis addresses this knowledge gap by investigating the importance of particle size as a factor governing the distribution of metals and metalloids in historical gold mine wastes in regional Victoria, Australia, with an emphasis on arsenic as a contaminant of potential concern. By characterising those particle size fractions that are relevant to dust mobilisation and human exposure, this thesis examines the human-contaminant interface using a multi-pathway approach. In particular, this thesis focuses on the potential for exposure via inhalation of mine waste particulates. The outcomes of the studies presented in this body of work demonstrate that historical gold mine wastes in regional Victoria represent a source of readily ingestible and inhalable particulates characterised by extremely elevated levels of arsenic (and other contaminants) well above their bulk (in situ) concentrations. Although lung bioaccessibility testing and mineralogical analyses revealed that most of the arsenic in inhalable dust has been naturally immobilised, the lung-soluble fraction should be considered when undertaking risk assessments for chronic exposure. This thesis provides a framework for the development of targeted management strategies for unremediated historical gold mining wastes in regional Victoria. The findings suggest there is a need for environmental regulations to shift from generic guideline values to exposure-specific guidelines that more accurately reflect the human health risks posed by historical mine sites. This thesis has emphasised the notion that in order for remedial action to accurately match the level of risk, the sourcepathway- receptor linkage must be evaluated using a systematic size-resolved approach.
Description:
Centuries of metalliferous mining activities have resulted in a legacy of contamination throughout the world. Unremediated mine wastes and tailings, as well as contaminated soils, water and sediments, represent ongoing sources of environmental degradation and human exposure, long after mine closure and abandonment. Despite global concern over these contaminant sources, there remain uncertainties surrounding the nature of human exposure to mine wastes and their toxicologically relevant characteristics. As urbanisation expands into areas proximal to abandoned mine sites, an understanding of the human-contaminant interface at this boundary is critical for assessing the potential health risks. This thesis addresses this knowledge gap by investigating the importance of particle size as a factor governing the distribution of metals and metalloids in historical gold mine wastes in regional Victoria, Australia, with an emphasis on arsenic as a contaminant of potential concern. By characterising those particle size fractions that are relevant to dust mobilisation and human exposure, this thesis examines the human-contaminant interface using a multi-pathway approach. In particular, this thesis focuses on the potential for exposure via inhalation of mine waste particulates. The outcomes of the studies presented in this body of work demonstrate that historical gold mine wastes in regional Victoria represent a source of readily ingestible and inhalable particulates characterised by extremely elevated levels of arsenic (and other contaminants) well above their bulk (in situ) concentrations. Although lung bioaccessibility testing and mineralogical analyses revealed that most of the arsenic in inhalable dust has been naturally immobilised, the lung-soluble fraction should be considered when undertaking risk assessments for chronic exposure. This thesis provides a framework for the development of targeted management strategies for unremediated historical gold mining wastes in regional Victoria. The findings suggest there is a need for environmental regulations to shift from generic guideline values to exposure-specific guidelines that more accurately reflect the human health risks posed by historical mine sites. This thesis has emphasised the notion that in order for remedial action to accurately match the level of risk, the sourcepathway- receptor linkage must be evaluated using a systematic size-resolved approach.
Description:
The taxonomic status of the subgenera of Lepidocyrtus Bourlet is confused. Currently ten subgenera are recognised but their separation, using the existing set of diagnostic characters, is not clear. Collections over the last forty years have shown that species of Setogaster Salmon, originally described as a genus (Trichogaster Handschin) and currently considered a subgenus of Lepidocyrtus, are common and widespread in Australia. The diagnostic characters of Setogaster, as given by Handschin, are: 1) the basal mucronal spine with spinelet; 2) lack of scales on antennae, legs, ventral tube and dorsal region of manubrium; and, for some species, 3) tufts of long filaments laterally on abdomen III. These three diagnostic characters for Setogaster are shared with some other subgenera, making their delimitation unclear. We provide here an array of new characters that are associated with Handschin's characters which separate Setogaster from all European species of the subgenera Lanocyrtus and Lepidocyrtus s. str. On this basis we define subgenus Setogaster more in detail, redescribe some species in the subgenus, corroborate the presence of the subgenus in many Australian localities, and confirm three records of exotic, introduced species in Australia. Lepidocyrtus nigrofasciatus Womersley, Lepidocyrtus praecisus Schott, and the Hawaiian Lepidocyrtus kuakea Christiansen & Bellinger, are placed in Setogaster subgenus; Lepidocyrtus (Trichogaster) pallida Salmon from Singapore is placed in the subgenus Acrocyrtus; Merapicyrtus Yoshii & Suhardjono is considered a synonym of Setogaster.
Description:
On 30 November 1900, the Caledonian Society held Melbourne's last nineteeth century St Andrew's Day Dinner. It was an occasion for reflection on the past, rather than looking forward to the new century and those who spoke at the gathering routinely recited achievements of the century just closing, when Scottish emigrants had shaped locales across the British Empire. Scots, although acknowledged as poets, were lauded as 'shrewd, hard-headed, money-making' colonists who had take a leading role in the great advances of the nineteenth century.
Description:
Managers and staff in primary health care partnerships in local catchments, particularly in regional areas, are periodically required to work collaboratively to set health priorities. Setting priorities involves making decisions about which health needs are most important and what programs will be funded to address them. There is no universally agreed set of decision-making rules for setting priorities. Dominant approaches prioritise health economics, and have favoured expert knowledge drawn from technical-rational methodologies rather than consumer involvement and community action. However, research reveals that setting priorities is a complex, value laden, contested process buffeted by competing objectives and political interests. As such, an interdisciplinary, collaborative approach is called for. Using reflective practice from a priority setting project for a primary care partnership in a local, regional catchment in Victoria, Australia, a conceptual framework for priority setting is presented that identifies 13 interconnected factors spanning economic, political, policy, epidemiological, moral, evidentiary and evaluative domains. This interdisciplinary framework extends current knowledge about the considerations and trade-offs in setting priorities among collaborating primary health care agencies. It offers a potentially valuable heuristic tool for healthcare decision-makers in rural areas.
Description:
This thesis will argue that Catherine Helen Spence, a writer, preacher and reformer who migrated from Scotland to Australia in 1839, performed the role of a public intellectual in Australia similar to that played by a number of women of letters in Victorian England. While her ideas were strongly influenced by important British and European nineteenth-century intellectual figures and movements, as well as by Enlightenment thought, her work also reflects the different socio-political, historical and cultural environment of Australia. These connections and influences can be seen in her engagement with what were some of the "big ideas" of the nineteenth century, including feminism, socialism, religious scepticism, utopianism and the value of progress. In arguing that Spence was a public intellectual, I will consider the ways in which she used the literary genres of fiction and journalism, as well as her sermons, to try to help her fellow citizens make sense of the world, attempting to organise and articulate some of the significant ideas affecting the political, social and cultural climates in which they lived. Through the exploration of Spence's intellectual work, I will show how she can be regarded as making a significant contribution to nineteenth-century Australian intellectual life, one that has been under-recognised and under-valued.
Description:
This thesis will argue that Catherine Helen Spence, a writer, preacher and reformer who migrated from Scotland to Australia in 1839, performed the role of a public intellectual in Australia similar to that played by a number of women of letters in Victorian England. While her ideas were strongly influenced by important British and European nineteenth-century intellectual figures and movements, as well as by Enlightenment thought, her work also reflects the different socio-political, historical and cultural environment of Australia. These connections and influences can be seen in her engagement with what were some of the "big ideas" of the nineteenth century, including feminism, socialism, religious scepticism, utopianism and the value of progress. In arguing that Spence was a public intellectual, I will consider the ways in which she used the literary genres of fiction and journalism, as well as her sermons, to try to help her fellow citizens make sense of the world, attempting to organise and articulate some of the significant ideas affecting the political, social and cultural climates in which they lived. Through the exploration of Spence's intellectual work, I will show how she can be regarded as making a significant contribution to nineteenth-century Australian intellectual life, one that has been under-recognised and under-valued.
Description:
In an educational climate sharply focused on school improvement, a large Australian multi-campus secondary college has developed a formal and ongoing partnership with the School of Education at their regional university. This paper examines one of the initiatives they developed together; an approach aptly called Collaborative Learning Partnerships that aims to enable teachers to learn more deeply in the context of their work through critical reflection, self-analysis, collaborative planning processes, substantive conversation and the testing of new ideas and approaches. The initial concept was inspired by the growing body of research that indicates that teachers make the fundamental difference to students' learning. If teacher learning became a real priority in the college it was felt that students'; learning would subsequently be enhanced. How then could the classroom, the space where teachers spend most of their working time, be used as a context in which teachers too could learn deeply about their role and the complexity of their work? This paper points to the influence of complex social processes that are at play when teachers work together in this way and to the understandings about learning itself that are surfaced through such processes.
Description:
In an educational climate sharply focused on school improvement, a large Australian multi-campus secondary college has developed a formal and ongoing partnership with the School of Education at their regional university. This paper examines one of the initiatives they developed together; an approach aptly called Collaborative Learning Partnerships that aims to enable teachers to learn more deeply in the context of their work through critical reflection, self-analysis, collaborative planning processes, substantive conversation and the testing of new ideas and approaches. The initial concept was inspired by the growing body of research that indicates that teachers make the fundamental difference to students' learning. If teacher learning became a real priority in the college it was felt that students'; learning would subsequently be enhanced. How then could the classroom, the space where teachers spend most of their working time, be used as a context in which teachers too could learn deeply about their role and the complexity of their work? This paper points to the influence of complex social processes that are at play when teachers work together in this way and to the understandings about learning itself that are surfaced through such processes.