Description:
As with other industrialized nations Australia's population is aging and older workers are encouraged to work for longer. At the same time, Australia's university sector, which is aging, is being reconfigured through changes that potentially marginalize its older workers as higher education institutions try to become more competitive in a global market. In this context, youthfulness appears to embody competitiveness and academic institutions are increasingly aspiring to a young workforce profile. This qualitative article builds on previous research to explore to what extent ageist assumptions shape attitudes to older workers and human resource management (HRM) practices within Australian universities even when HRM practitioners are well versed in antidiscrimination legislation that (unlike the Age Discrimination in Employment Act in the United States) applies to workers of all ages. Semistructured interviews conducted with 22 HRM practitioners in Australian universities reveal that university HRM practices generally overlook the value of retaining an older workforce by conflating "potential" with "youthfulness," assuming that staff potential and performance share a negative correlation with age. While mostly lower-ranked institutions have attempted to retain older academics to maintain an adequate labor supply, this study finds that university policies targeting the ongoing utilization of older workers generally are underdeveloped. Consequently, the availability of late career employment arrangements is dependent upon institutions' strategic goals, with favorable ad hoc solutions offered to academics with outstanding performance records, while a rhetoric of performance decline threatens to marginalize older academic researchers and teachers more generally.
Description:
Drowning is an important public health issue with major impacts on young adults aged 15–24 years, yet little is known about the causal factors for drowning for this group. As young adults recreate with peers in unpatrolled aquatic environments, the capacity to perform effective and efficient rescues seems pivotal. This study examined perceived ability of young adults to perform a rescue; determined the level of aquatic rescue knowledge; and measured the effect of an aquatic rescue intervention. In total, 135 participants completed pre- and post-intervention surveys and rescue practical testing. Wilcoxon matched pairs signed rank tests were used to assess significant differences pre- and post-intervention and Mann–Whitney tests used to compare groups. Pre-intervention, participants had a low level of rescue knowledge (Mdn = 50) and the relationship between perceived rescue ability and practical rescue testing was weak (rs = 0.33, p ≤ 0.001). Post-intervention, ability to perform a contact tow demonstrated significant improvement (z = − 9.09, p < 0.001, r = − 0.79) and rescue knowledge also improved significantly (Mdn = 100, z = − 9.42, p < 0.001, r = − 0.81). Many young adults lacked both the physical capacity and knowledge required to safely perform a rescue, a factor that may place them at increased drowning risk if they attempt an aquatic rescue. As a rescue based intervention can significantly improve competency of young adults regardless of previous experience and/or qualifications, research needs to consider how best these competencies can be promoted and/or developed with this high risk group.
Description:
In this paper, an adaptive refinement strategy based on the scaled boundary finite element method on quadtree meshes for linear elasticity problems is discussed. Within this framework, the elements with hanging nodes are treated as polygonal elements and thus does not require special treatment. The adaptive refinement is supplemented with a novel error indicator. The local error is estimated directly from the solution of the scaled boundary governing equations. The salient feature is that it does not require any stress recovery techniques. The efficacy and the robustness of the proposed approach are demonstrated with a few numerical examples.
Description:
Digital images are increasingly being used as input data for computational analyses. This study presents an efficient numerical technique to perform image-based elastoplastic analysis of materials and structures. The quadtree decomposition algorithm is employed for image-based mesh generation, which is fully automatic and highly efficient. The quadtree cells are modeled by scaled boundary polytope elements, which eliminate the issue of hanging nodes faced by standard finite elements. A novel, simple, and efficient scaled boundary elastoplastic formulation with stablisation is developed. In this formulation, the return-mapping calculation is only required to be performed at a single point in a polytope element, which facilitates the computational efficiency of the elastoplastic analysis and simplicity of implementation. Numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the efficiency and accuracy of the proposed technique for performing the elastoplastic analysis of high-resolution images.
Description:
Langerhans cell histiocytosis is characterized by lesions containing inflammatory immune cells, including myeloid cells and T cells. Patient mortality remains unacceptably high and new treatment options are required. Several LCH studies have identified aberrant frequencies of T cell subsets with potential immune regulatory properties. High numbers of Foxp3+ regulatory T cells and gamma-delta T cells have been reported in patients with LCH, although, the cause of their presence or their significance is not yet clear. This review describes the current understanding of how LCH develops and progresses, focusing on the growing evidence that regulatory T cell subsets may be important and discussing the exciting potential for harnessing these cells to treat LCH using immune based therapies.
Description:
Reducing the capital cost of post combustion CO2 capture by eliminating flue gas desulfurisation (FGD) pre-treatment, requires management of the amines preferential SO2 absorption. Novel technologies such as CS-Cap restrict the impact of SO2 to only a small fraction of the amine inventory resulting in high sulfate burden amines. Traditional thermal reclamation of these spent absorbents has advantages regarding simplicity, but ranks poorly for industrial ecology around PCC. These amines require low energy regeneration technologies compatible with their physico-chemical properties that also maximise the potential for valorising by-products. This review summarises the sulfur chemistry and outlines several amine reclamation processes. It assesses the status of established and novel regeneration technologies for their applicability to high sulfur loaded amines. Should deep sulfur removal be required, a hybrid approach with initial bulk removal (as product) followed by a polishing step to further reduce sulfur is prospective. A preliminary estimation of the relative cost of using standard reclamation methods for treating Sulfur loaded CS-Cap absorbent revealed the cost would increase due to its higher sulfate burden despite comparable treatment volumes. Research gaps are identified which would enable better comparison between the costs of traditional FGD versus higher reclamation costs for combined capture technologies.
Description:
The Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI; Zimbardo & Boyd, 1999) assesses five time-related constructs - Past Negative (PN), Past Positive (PP), Present Fatalistic (PF), Present Hedonistic (PF), and Future (F) - and is one of the most frequently used time measures in the extant literature. Versions of the ZTPI have been translated into a variety of languages, but the psychometric support for ZTPI scores remains contested. We examined the internal consistency, structural validity, and convergent validity of scores on a version of the ZTPI that consisted only of items that specifically referenced time constructs, the ZTPI-TP. Participants consisted of five samples of adolescents and adults from four countries: Australia (653 adults), Slovenia (425 adolescents and adults), the United Kingdom (913 adolescents; 455 adults), and the United States (815 adolescents). Structural validity analyses provided stronger support for ZTPI-TP scores than for ZTPI scores, and convergent validity evidence also provided support for ZTPI-TP scores. However, analyses revealed that the PF and PH factors were still problematic, especially with regard to factor coefficients and internal consistency estimates. We concluded that the ZTPI-TP can form the basis for a more robust version of the ZTPI.
Description:
The article continues the study of the ‘regular’ arrangement of a collection of sets near a point in their intersection. Such regular intersection or, in other words, transversality properties are crucial for the validity of qualification conditions in optimization as well as subdifferential, normal cone and coderivative calculus, and convergence analysis of computational algorithms. One of the main motivations for the development of the transversality theory of collections of sets comes from the convergence analysis of alternating projections for solving feasibility problems. This article targets infinite dimensional extensions of the intrinsic transversality property introduced recently by Drusvyatskiy, Ioffe and Lewis as a sufficient condition for local linear convergence of alternating projections. Several characterizations of this property are established involving new limiting objects defined for pairs of sets. Special attention is given to the convex case.
Description:
The article continues the study of the ‘regular’ arrangement of a collection of sets near a point in their intersection. Such regular intersection or, in other words, transversality properties are crucial for the validity of qualification conditions in optimization as well as subdifferential, normal cone and coderivative calculus, and convergence analysis of computational algorithms. One of the main motivations for the development of the transversality theory of collections of sets comes from the convergence analysis of alternating projections for solving feasibility problems. This article targets infinite dimensional extensions of the intrinsic transversality property introduced recently by Drusvyatskiy, Ioffe and Lewis as a sufficient condition for local linear convergence of alternating projections. Several characterizations of this property are established involving new limiting objects defined for pairs of sets. Special attention is given to the convex case.
Description:
Objectives Cricket is a very popular sport in Sri Lanka. In this setting there has been limited research; specifically, there is little knowledge of cricket injuries. To support future research possibilities, the aim of this study was to cross-culturally adapt, translate and test the reliability of an Australian-developed questionnaire for the Sri Lankan context. Methods The Australian 'Juniors Enjoying Cricket Safely' (JECS-Aus) injury risk perception questionnaire was cross-culturally adapted to suit the Sri Lankan context and subsequently translated into the two main languages (Sinhala and Tamil) based on standard forward-back translation. The translated questionnaires were examined for content validity by two language schoolteachers. The questionnaires were completed twice, 2 weeks apart, by two groups of school cricketers (males) aged 11-15 years (Sinhala (n=24), Tamil (n=30)) to assess reliability. Test-retest scores were evaluated for agreement. Where responses were <100% agreement, Cohen's kappa (κ) statistics were calculated. Questions with moderate-to-poor test-retest reliability (κ <0.6) were reconsidered for modification. Results Both the Sinhala and Tamil questionnaires had 100% agreement for questions on demographic data, and 88%-100% agreement for questions on participation in cricket and injury history. Of the injury risk perception questions, 72% (Sinhala) and 90% (Tamil) questions showed a substantial (κ =0.61-0.8) and almost perfect (κ =0.81-1.0) test-retest agreement. Conclusion The adapted and translated JECS-SL questionnaire demonstrated strong reliability. This is the first study to adapt the JECS-Aus questionnaire for use in a different population, providing an outcome measure for assessing injury risk perceptions in Sri Lankan junior cricketers.
Description:
Objectives Cricket is a very popular sport in Sri Lanka. In this setting there has been limited research; specifically, there is little knowledge of cricket injuries. To support future research possibilities, the aim of this study was to cross-culturally adapt, translate and test the reliability of an Australian-developed questionnaire for the Sri Lankan context. Methods The Australian 'Juniors Enjoying Cricket Safely' (JECS-Aus) injury risk perception questionnaire was cross-culturally adapted to suit the Sri Lankan context and subsequently translated into the two main languages (Sinhala and Tamil) based on standard forward-back translation. The translated questionnaires were examined for content validity by two language schoolteachers. The questionnaires were completed twice, 2 weeks apart, by two groups of school cricketers (males) aged 11-15 years (Sinhala (n=24), Tamil (n=30)) to assess reliability. Test-retest scores were evaluated for agreement. Where responses were <100% agreement, Cohen's kappa (κ) statistics were calculated. Questions with moderate-to-poor test-retest reliability (κ <0.6) were reconsidered for modification. Results Both the Sinhala and Tamil questionnaires had 100% agreement for questions on demographic data, and 88%-100% agreement for questions on participation in cricket and injury history. Of the injury risk perception questions, 72% (Sinhala) and 90% (Tamil) questions showed a substantial (κ =0.61-0.8) and almost perfect (κ =0.81-1.0) test-retest agreement. Conclusion The adapted and translated JECS-SL questionnaire demonstrated strong reliability. This is the first study to adapt the JECS-Aus questionnaire for use in a different population, providing an outcome measure for assessing injury risk perceptions in Sri Lankan junior cricketers.
Description:
Aims: To evaluate the impact of Acute Deterioration Detection System (ADDS) charts introduced to a regional healthcare service. Background: To assist health professionals in identifying essential elements for recognizing patient clinical deterioration, a national initiative introduced track and trigger observation charts, to hospitals in Australia. This study investigated whether the introduction of ADDS charts had an impact on the number of Medical Emergency Team (MET) and Code Blue activations at one regional healthcare service, according to their incident recording database. Method: A retrospective study of all Code Blue and MET activations was undertaken at a regional hospital, pre and post the introduction of ADDS charts in a two year period, June 2012 to June 2014. Results: There was a significant increase in MET activations from 5.91 to 11.27 per 1000 admissions (p < 0.01) after the implementation of ADDS charts. There was also an unexplained non-significant increase from 0.50 to 0.88 per 1000 admissions in the activations of Code Blue during this period (p = 0.05). It was also found that ADDS charts did not overly influence the activation criteria for calling a MET/Code Blue, except for an increase in reports of high heart rate and a decrease in the use of the criteria ‘worried’. Conclusion: The introduction of ADDS charts has provided health professionals with a clear track and trigger set of criteria, improving the detection of early signs of deterioration in patients. This study demonstrated an increase in activations as a result of the introduction of ADDS charts in one regional healthcare service.
Description:
Human papillomavirus (HPV) is one of the most common sexually transmitted disease, transmitted through intimate skin contact or mucosal membrane. The HPV virus consists of a double-stranded circular DNA and the role of HPV virus in cervical cancer has been studied extensively. Thus it is critical to develop rapid identification method for early detection of the virus. A portable biosensing device could give rapid and reliable results for the identification and quantitative determination of the virus. The fabrication of electrochemical biosensors is one of the current techniques utilized to achieve this aim. In such electrochemical biosensors, a single-strand DNA is immobilized onto an electrically conducting surface and the changes in electrical parameters due to the hybridization on the electrode surface are measured. This review covers the recent developments in electrochemical DNA biosensors for the detection of HPV virus. Due to the several advantages of electrochemical DNA biosensors, their applications have witnessed an increased interest and research focus nowadays.
Description:
This study tested the hypothesis that adverse events are associated with increased risk of onset of anxiety disorders. Data from Waves 1 (N = 43,093; 2001–2002) and 2 (N = 34,653; 2004–2005) of the National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC) were used to assess whether adverse events at baseline are associated with increased risk of anxiety disorder onset over three years of follow up. Sixty-six percent (SE: 1.0) of respondents with an anxiety disorder in the intervening period between Waves 1 and 2 had experienced an adverse life event in the year prior to the Wave 1 interview. In logistic regression models adjusted for sociodemographic and psychiatric characteristics, adverse life events at baseline were associated with anxiety disorder onset within the three-year follow up period. The pattern of association between adverse events and anxiety disorder onset was similar across sub-types, and injury, illness or death of family or close friends consistently had the strongest association with anxiety disorder onset. These findings suggest that adverse life events play a role in the onset of anxiety disorders.