Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Adaptive Management: What Does It Mean And How Can It Be Used In Fire Management?, R. J. Whelan

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

‘Adaptive Management’ is becoming a frequently heard term but it is a much misunderstood concept. It does not mean that developments can go ahead and be ‘adapted’ if detrimental effects are discovered! Its greatest value is in defining an experimental approach to land management in situations where scientific knowledge is lacking but where immediate actions are required. This is especially important where doing nothing might conceivably be just as undesirable as applying any of the alternative management options. Given the lack of knowledge of fire responses of much of our native biota, adaptive management is clearly a sensible approach to …

Serve Sizes Of Grain Based Foods In Australia, P. G. Williams, B. Gibson, N. Smith

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

A survey was conducted of the recommended serve sizes used on the labelling of 807 grain based foods sold in Sydney stores in 2000. These values were compared with the serve sizes used in a variety of food selection guides, including the Australian Guide to Health Eating (AGHE). In most food categories there was a great deal of variation in the serve sizes recommended, sometimes up to 20 fold. The most consistent recommendations were for sliced breads, with most manufacturers recommending two slices as a serve, and ready-to-eat breakfast cereals (one cup). The median values for cereal products were mostly …

Streptococcus Pyogenes Prtfii, But Not Sfbi, Sfbii Or Fbp54, Is Represented More Frequently Among Invasive-Disease Isolates Of Tropical Australia, A. Delvecchio, B. J. Currie, Jason D. Mcarthur, Mark J. Walker, K. S. Sriprakash

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

Streptococcus pyogenes (group A streptococcus) strains may express several distinct ®bronectinbinding proteins (FBPs) which are considered as major streptococcal adhesins. Of the FBPs, SfbI was shown in Šitro to promote internalization of the bacterium into host cells and has been implicated in persistence. In the tropical Northern Territory, where group A streptococcal infection is common, multiple genotypes of the organism were found among isolates from invasive disease cases and no dominant strains were observed. To determine whether any FBPs is associated with invasive disease propensity of S. pyogenes, we have screened streptococcal isolates from bacteraemic and necrotizing fasciitis patients and …

Aerosol Optical Depth At Cape Grim, Tasmania 1986-1999, Stephen R. Wilson, B. W. Forgan

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

The aerosol optical depth at 4 wavelengths (368, 500, 778 and 868nm) has been measured automatically at Cape Grim since 1986. The site, on the northwest tip of Tasmania, Australia was chosen to be representative of much of the southern ocean. Fourteen years of measurement have been calibrated and analyzed. The data have been filtered so that only measurements made under on-shore wind conditions are considered. The major feature observed in the record is the eruption of Mt Pinatubo, which resulted in the aerosol optical depth at 500 nm rising to 0.2 – 0.3. If the period of high stratospheric …

Food Service Trends In New South Wales Hospitals, 1993-2001, R. Mibey, P. G. Williams

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

A survey of the food service departments in 93 hospitals throughout NSW Australia (covering 51% of hospital beds in the state) was conducted using a mailed questionnaire and the results compared with those from similar surveys conducted in 1986 and 1993. Over the past eight years there has been a significant increase in the proportion of hospitals using cook-chill food service production systems, from 18% in 1993 to 42% in 2001 (p<0.001). Hospitals with cook-chill systems had lower staff ratios than those with cook-fresh systems (8.3 vs 6.4 beds/full time equivalent staff; p<0.05), but there was no significant difference in the ratio of meals served per FTE. There was no difference between public and private hospitals in terms of ratios of beds or meals to food service staff. Managers using cook-chill systems reported significantly lower levels of satisfaction with the food service system compared to those using cook-fresh. Two aspects of the services have not changed since the last survey: approximately a quarter of food service departments are still managed by staff without formal qualifications and meal times remain the same, with more than 90% of hospitals serving the evening meal before 5.30pm and a median of 14.25 hours gap between the evening meal and breakfast.

Syllable Frequency Effects On Phonological Short-Term Memory Tasks, L. M. Nimmo, Steven Roodenrys

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Recent evidence suggests that phonological short-term memory (STM) tasks are influenced by both lexical and sublexical factors inherent in the selection and construction of the stimuli to be recalled. This study examined whether long-term memory (LTM) influences STM at a sublexical level by investigating whether the frequency with which one-syllable nonwords occur in polysyllabic words influences recall accuracy on two phonological STM tasks, nonword repetition and serial recall. The results showed that recall accuracy increases when the stimuli to be recalled consist of one-syllable nonwords that occur often in polysyllabic English words. This result is consistent with the notion that …

What Australians Eat For Breakfast: An Analysis Of Data From The 1995 National Nutrition Survey, P. G. Williams

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Objective To analyse data on the patterns of food consumption at breakfast reported in the 1995 National Nutrition Survey.

Design The Australian Bureau of Statistics was commissioned to undertake additional analysis of data on food intake collected using 24-hour recall interviews, a food frequency questionnaire and a food habits questionnaire.

Subjects Nationally representative sample of 13 858 Australians, from age 2 years, surveyed in the 1995 National Nutrition Survey.

Main outcome measures Percentage of people eating breakfast regularly, mean amount of food groups consumed at breakfast, the percentage of respondents consuming each food item, and the mean serve sizes.

Statistical …

Changing Staff Attitudes And Empathy For Working With People With Psychosis, H. J. Mcleod, F. P. Deane, B. Hogbin

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Seventy-seven mental health professionals completed a 3-day cognitive behavioural training course for managing hallucinations and delusions in schizophrenia. A questionnaire measuring attitudes and empathy towards working with people who have these symptoms was administered before and after the course. Significant increases in feelings of adequacy, legitimacy, employment related self-esteem, and expectations of work satisfaction were observed after the course and participants displayed high levels of motivation for working with this clinical population at both time points. In addition, the participants showed significant increases in perceived empathy for the experience of hallucinations and delusions. This was a predicted outcome as the …

Promotion Of Prescription Medicines: A Critical Review And Research Agenda, Janet Hoek, Philip Gendall, Judith Holdershaw, Sandra C. Jones, John Rossiter

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Direct to consumer advertising (DTCA) of prescription medicines has generated considerable controversy in both New Zealand and the United States, the only two countries that currently permit promotion ofrestricted medicines. Arguments against DTCA include the effect this may have on doctor-patient relationships, its implications for drug costs, and the extent to which it fully informs potential patients. Conversely, proponents of DTCA claim that it increases knowledge of a variety of common medical conditions, thus fostering earlier diagnosis and better compliance with treatments. However, although arguments for and against DTCA have merit, neither side has supported its position with empirical evidence. …

Adolescent Barriers To Seeking Professional Psychololgical Help For Personal-Emotional And Suicidal Problems, Coralie J. Wilson, Debra Rickwood, Joseph V. Ciarrochi, Frank P. Deane

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

A number of cognitive and affective barriers reduce the likelihood that young people will seek professional psychological help for either personal-emotional or suicidal problems. This paeer describes a study that has examined tbe relationship between helpseeking barriers and intentions in a highschool sample. Six hundred and eight high school students completed a questionnaire measunring help-seeking intetions and barriers to professional mental health source. Barriers related to Iower intentions to seek professional psychological help for suicidal and non-suicidal problems. Findings are discussed in terms of barrier reduction. Strategies for prevention and early intervention are suggested.

The Nature Of Human Adaptation To Cold, Alun Rees, Clare Eglin, Nigel Taylor, Mark Hetherington, Igor Mekjavic, Michael Tipton

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Human adaptation to repeated short term exposure to cold appears to be characterised by a decreased shivering threshold and unchanged sweating threshold, producing a widening of the inter-threshold zone (1). As a consequence, deep body temperature may fall more rapidly in cold habituated individuals on exposure to cold. This 'hypothermic adaptation' (2) may contribute to a range of problems, from hypothermia in the elderly to insidious hypothermia in occupational groups such as divers.

Although a reduction in the metabolic response to cold is probably the most widely and frequently reported alteration with cold habituation in humans (3), the nature of …

Comparative Analysis Of The Its Rdna Sequence And Nutrient Compositions Of An Un-Named Ganoderma Species In Australia, Li-Xia Liu, Peter Howe, Chen-Wei Su, Fei Sun, Ren Zhang

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

An Australian species of Ganoderma genus (temporally named Ganoderma nt) mistaken for Garoderma lucidum, a well-known herbal medicine, was examined with internal transcribed spacer ribosomal DNA (ITS rDNA) sequence as an aid to the taxonomy. Variation between G. nt and G. lucidum in the ITS rDNA sequence was 2% - 4 %. Also nutrient value in this species was analyzed compared with G. lucidum. G. nt had similar contents to G. lucidum in polysaccharides and monosaccharides on dry mass base in fruit body. However, G. nt fruit body had higher soluble protein (14 mg/g dry mass) and fatty acids (5.6 …

Increased Post-Immersion Afterdrop Following B-Adrenergic Blockade, Annerieke Zeyl, Cassandra Haley, Pornkamon Thoicharoen, Laura Welschen, Nicole Sinnema, Nigel A. S Taylor, Arthur Jenkins

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

It is well established that, during the initial rewarming from mild hypothermia, core temperature continues to decrease before returning towards its pre-immersion state (I). This phenomenon is known as the afterdrop, and has been ascribed to circulatory changes at the periphery, as well as to continued core-to-periphery thermal conduction, both of which may account for continued central-body heat loss after removal from the cold (2,3,4). In a recent series of experiments, in which we studied interactions between cold-water immersion, B-adrenergic blockade, plasma leptin concentration, rewarming and skin blood flow control, we also investigated the afterdrop. Our observations have revealed that …

Is Experience With One Illicit Drug Associated With Perceptions Of The Believability Of Anti-Drug Messages?, Sandra C. Jones, John R. Rossiter

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Cannabis (marijuana) use is on the increase in many countries, particularly among teenagers. Information dissemination is likely to become the main vehicle for minimising the harms associated with cannabis use. Thus there is a clear need to develop informative and convincing communication strategies to target young (potential and incipient) cannabis users. Cognitive dissonance theory, as well as research with warning labels on other products, suggests that young people who currently use cannabis will find the information about cannabis and the infonnation about other drugs (with which they have no experience) less believable than will non-users. This study finds support for …

Breast Cancer Detection Messages In Australian Print Media Advertising - Are They Promoting Correct Information?, Sandra C. Jones, John R. Rossiter

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

With breast cancer now the leading cause of cancer deaths among women in the western world, correct information about detection and treatment is vitally important. The media are often accused of conveying inaccurate information in their editorial coverage of health issues, but few studies have examined the accuracy of information in media advertising. In this study of breast cancer detection ads in Australian magazines and newspapers, many instances of misleading information were found. As the print media have a major influence on women's health beliefs, these findings have serious implications for health communication policy regarding socially responsible advertising.

Is The Technology Acceptance Model A Valid Model Of User Satisfaction Of Information Technology In Environments Where Usage Is Mandatory?, Dave Mather, Peter Caputi, Rohan Jayasuriya

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

The validity of the two models based on the extended Technology Acceptance Model (Venkatesh and Davies, 2000) in predicting user satisfaction of an incident reporting system in a mandated setting was tested using 84 employees from a large manufacturing company. The models differed in how the construct, subjective norm was represented. Although the results indicated that both models fitted the data, the anticipated relationship between subjective norms and user satisfaction was not supported. Furthermore, some of the antecedent factors did not predict perceived usefulness as anticipated.

Help-Seeking Patterns For Suicidal And Non-Suicidal Problems In Two High School Samples, Coralie J. Wilson, Joseph V. Ciarrochi, Debra Rickwood, Frank P. Deane

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Few distressed young people seek professional psychological help for either personal-emotional problems or suicidal ideation. This paper describes two studies that have examined help-seeking patterns in two contrasting high school populations. Two hundred and sixty four Il1awarra public high school students and 307 Queensland private high school students completed a questionnaire measuring intentions to seek help from a variety of fonnal and informal sources, in addition to no-one for personal-emotional and suicidal problems. Students in both samples indicated they would seek help from different sources of help for different problem types, but friends were rated as the most likely source …

Profiles Of Underreporting In Healthy Adults And Adults With Type Ii Diabetes Mellitus Participating In A Dietary Intervention Trial, Gina Martin, Linda C. Tapsell, Marijka Batterham

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Abstract from The Proceedings of the Nutrition Society of Australia, 2002.

Relative Bias In Diet History Measurements: A Quality Control Technique For Dietary Intervention Trials, Gina S. Martin, Linda C. Tapsell, Marijka Batterham, Kenneth G. Russell

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Objective: Investigation of relative bias in diet history measurement during dietary intervention trials.

Design: Retrospective analysis of human dietary data from two randomised controlled trials examining modified fat diets in the prevention and treatment of type II diabetes mellitus.

Setting: Wollongong, Australia.

Subjects: Thirty-five overweight, otherwise healthy subjects in trial 1 and 56 subjects with diabetes in trial 2.

Interventions: Diet history interviews and three-day weighed food records administered at one-month intervals in trial 1 and three-month intervals in trial 2.

Results: In a cross-sectional bias analysis, graphs of the association between bias and mean dietary intake showed that bias …

Consistent Stereoscopic Information Increases The Perceived Speed Of Vection In Depth, Stephen A. Palmisano

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

Previous research found that adding stereoscopic information to radially expanding optic flow decreased vection onsets and increased vection durations (Palmisano S, 1996 Perception & Psychophysics 58 1168-1176). In the current experiments, stereoscopic cues were also found to increase perceptions of egospeed and self-displacement during vection in depth - but only when these cues were consistent with monocularly-available information about self-motion. Stereoscopic information did not appear to be improving vection by increasing the perceived maximum extent of displays or by making displays appear more three-dimensional. Rather, it appeared that consistent patterns of stereoscopic optic flow provided extra, purely binocular information about …

Considerations For Capping Metal-Contaminated Sediments In Dynamic Estuarine Environments, Stuart L. Simpson, Ian D. Pryor, Ben R. Mewburn, Graeme E. Batley, Dianne F. Jolley

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

The effects of tides, bioturbating organisms and periods of anoxia on metal fluxes from contaminated harbour sediments in a shallow tidal estuarine bay were studied, together with capping technology options for the containment of metal contaminants. Zinc fluxes from the sediments were high, ranging from 10 to 89 mg Zn /m²/day. In the absence of capping, experiments in corer reactors showed that simulated tidal processes increased zinc fluxes 5- fold. Fluxes were also greater in the presence of sediment-dwelling organisms. If organisms were removed, and recolonising organisms later added, their bioturbation activities initially lowered zinc fluxes, but fluxes …

Clusterin Is An Extracellular Chaperone That Specifically Interacts With Slowly Aggregating Proteins On Their Off-Folding Pathway, Stephen Poon, T. M. Treweek, Mark R. Wilson, Simon B. Easterbrook-Smith, John A. Carver

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

Clusterin is an extracellular mammalian chaperone protein which inhibits stress-induced precipitation of many different proteins. The conformational state(s) of proteins that interact with clusterin and the stage(s) along the folding and off-folding (precipitation-bound) pathways where this interaction occurs were previously unknown. We investigated this by examining the interactions of clusterin with different structural forms of α-lactalbumin, γ-crystallin and lysozyme. When assessed by ELISA and native gel electrophoresis, clusterin did not bind to various stable, intermediately folded states of α-lactalbumin nor to the native form of this protein, but did bind to and inhibit the slow precipitation of reduced α-lactalbumin. Reduction-induced …

Mildly Acidic Ph Activates The Extracellular Molecular Chaperone Clusterin, Stephen Poon, M. S. Rybchyn, S. B. Easterbrook-Smith, J. A. Carver, G. J. Pankhurst, Mark R. Wilson

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

Many features of the chaperone action of clusterin are similar to those of the intracellular small heat shock proteins (sHSPs) which, like clusterin, exist in solution as heterogeneous aggregates. Increased temperature induces dissociation of some sHSP aggregates and an enhanced chaperone action, suggesting that a dissociated form is the active chaperone species. We recently reported that clusterin aggregates dissociate at mildly acidic pH. To further explore the similarities between clusterin and the sHSPs, we tested the effects of temperature and pH on the structure of clusterin and its chaperone action. Our results demonstrate that increased temperature does not induce dissociation …

Synthesis Of (+/-)Epipentenomycin I And Iii, Weerachai Phutdhawong, Stephen G. Pyne, Apiwat Baramee, Duang Buddhasukh, Brian W. Skelton, Allan H. White

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

A synthesis of (±) epipentenomycin I and III is reported from a regioselective epoxidation of racemic 3-hydroxy- and 3-acetoxy-2-methylene-4-cyclopentenone, respectively, with dimethyldioxirane followed by hydrolytic ring-opening of the resulting epoxide.

Synthesis Of Chiral Allylic Amines Via Palladium(0) Catalysed Allylations Of Allylic Carbonates With Chiral Sulfinamide Anions, Zemin Dong, Stephen G. Pyne

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

The palladium(0) catalysed allylation reactions of allylic carbonates with chiral sulfinamide anions to give unstable allylic sulfinamide products are described. These products are readily converted to stable, chiral N-benzoyl or N-tosyl allylic amine derivatives with poor to modest enantiomeric purities (ee 23-41%).

Thermal Protective Clothing And Cardiovascular Function, Alison L. Fogarty, Karen A. Armstrong, Christopher Gordon, Herb Groeller, Brian F. Woods, Jodie M. Stocks, Nigel A. S Taylor

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

While the primary purpose of thennal protective uniforms is to minimise heat loading from hostile working environments, such uniforms also add to the physiological load by increasing metabolic rate, and limiting evaporative heat dissipation (I). Before one can provide physiological specifications for the design of thennal protective garments, one requires a thorough understanding ofthe physiological effects of wearing such unifonns. However, research in this area is dominated by field studies, with few cardiovascular variables being investigated. These field studies, while important, often bypass clothing trials under controlled laboratory conditions. As a consequence, very little is known about the cardiac output, …

Can Motivational Signs Prompt Increases In Incidental Physical Activity In An Australian Health-Care Facility?, A L. Marshall, A E. Bauman, C Patch, J Wilson, J Chen

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This study aimed to evaluate whether a stairpromoting signed intervention could increase the use of the stairs over the elevator in a health-care facility. A time-series design was conducted over 12 weeks. Data were collected before, during and after displaying a signed intervention during weeks 4–5 and 8–9. Evaluation included anonymous counts recorded by an objective unobtrusive motion-sensing device of people entering the elevator or the stairs. Self-report data on stair use by hospital staff were also collected. Stair use significantly increased after the first intervention phase (P 0.02), but after the intervention was removed stair use decreased back towards …

Surface Reflectance Properties Of Antarctic Moss And Their Relationship To Plant Species, Pigment Composition And Photosynthetic Function, C. E. Lovelock, Sharon A. Robinson

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

We investigated how surface reflectance properties and pigment concentrations of Antarctic moss varied over species, sites, microtopography, and with water content. We found that species had significantly different surface reflectance properties, particularly in the region of the red edge (approximately 700 nm), but this did not correlate strongly with pigment concentrations. Surface reflectance of moss also varied in the visible region and in the characteristics of the red edge over different sites. Reflectance parameters, such as the Photochemical Reflectance Index (PRI) and Cold Hard Band (CBH) were useful discriminators of site, microtopographic position and water content. The PRI was correlated …

Was The Ad 1607 Coastal Flooding Event In The Severn Estuary And Bristol Channel (Uk) Due To A Tsunami?, Edward A. Bryant, S. K. Haslett

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

Extensive coastal lowlands known as Levels border the Severn Estuary and Bristol Channel in southwest Britain. The Levels are the result of many years of salt marsh reclamation, apparently initiated during the Roman Period, through a programme of sea bank construction. The altitude of the Levels is typically between 5-6 m Ordnance Datum (OD), an altitude that is below the current Mean High Water Springs level in the Severn Estuary. Therefore, the Levels are vulnerable to flooding, not only from river sources, but also from the sea at times when sea banks are overtopped and/or breached. A number of significant …

Models For Genesis Of Kamchatka Are Magmas: New Insights From U-Series, Anthony Dosseto, Bernard Bourdon

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

No abstract provided.