• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.203-209
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• 2014

Background: Coal mining is of significant economic importance to the Australian economy. Despite this fact, the related workforce is subjected to a number of psychosocial risks and musculoskeletal injury, and various psychological disorders are common among this population group. Because only limited research has been conducted in this population group, we sought to examine the relationship between physical (pain) and psychological (distress) factors, as well as the effects of various demographic, lifestyle, and fatigue indicators on this relationship. Methods: Coal miners (N = 231) participated in a survey of musculoskeletal pain and distress on-site during their work shifts. Participants also provided demographic information (job type, age, experience in the industry, and body mass index) and responded to questions about exercise and sleep quality (on-and off-shift) as well as physical and mental tiredness after work. Results: A total of 177 workers (80.5%) reported experiencing pain in at least one region of their body. The majority of the sample population (61.9%) was classified as having low-level distress, 28.4% had scores indicating mild to moderate distress, and 9.6% had scores indicating high levels of distress. Both number of pain regions and job type (being an operator) significantly predicted distress. Higher distress score was also associated with greater absenteeism in workers who reported lower back pain. In addition, perceived sleep quality during work periods partially mediated the relationship between pain and distress. Conclusion: The study findings support the existence of widespread musculoskeletal pain among the coal-mining workforce, and this pain is associated with increased psychological distress. Operators (truck drivers) and workers reporting poor sleep quality during work periods are most likely to report increased distress, which highlights the importance of supporting the mining workforce for sustained productivity.

• International Area Studies Review
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.62-84
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• 2010

Accurate forecasting of volatility is of considerable interest in financial volatility research, particularly in regard to portfolio allocation, option pricing and risk management because volatility is equal to market risk. So, we attempted to delineate a model with good ability to forecast and identified stylized features of volatility, with a focus on volatility persistence or long memory in the Australian futures market. In this context, we assessed the long-memory property in the volatility of index futures contracts using three conditional volatility models, namely the GARCH, IGARCH and FIGARCH models. We found that the FIGARCH model better captures the long-memory property than do the GARCH and IGARCH models. Additionally, we found that the FIGARCH model provides superior performance in one-day-ahead volatility forecasts. As discussed in this paper, the FIGARCH model should prove a useful technique in forecasting the long-memory volatility in the Australian index futures market.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.1-11
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• 2022

Fusarium culmorum is one of the most important causal agents of root rot of wheat. In this study, 10 F. culmorum isolates were collected from farms located in five agro-ecological regions of Morocco. These were used to challenge 20 durum wheat genotypes via artificial inoculation of plant roots under controlled conditions. The isolate virulence was determined by three traits (roots browning index, stem browning index, and severity of root rot). An alpha-lattice design with three replicates was used, and the resulting ANOVA revealed a significant (P < 0.01) effect of isolate (I), genotype (G), and G × I interaction. A total of four response types were observed (R, MR, MS, and S) revealing that different genes in both the pathogen and the host were activated in 53% of interactions. Most genotypes were susceptible to eight or more isolates, while the Moroccan cultivar Marouan was reported resistant to three isolates and moderately resistant to three others. Similarly, the Australian breeding line SSD1479-117 was reported resistant to two isolates and moderately resistant to four others. The ICARDA elites Icaverve, Berghisyr, Berghisyr2, Amina, and Icaverve2 were identified as moderately resistant. Principal component analysis based on the genotypes responses defined two major clusters and two sub-clusters for the 10 F. culmorum isolates. Isolate Fc9 collected in Khemis Zemamra was the most virulent while isolate Fc3 collected in Haj-Kaddour was the least virulent. This work provides initial results for the discovery of differential reactions between the durum lines and isolates and the identification of novel sources of resistance.

• Korean Journal of Comparative Education
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.51-73
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• 2011

In Australia, school education had maintained a state-based curriculum for a long time. However recently, Australia developed national curriculum and plans to implement it from 2011. It is meaningful to review why Australia tries to break with the tradition kept for many years and hand over the right to decide school curriculum from the states or territories to the nation, which is opposite from the Korean situation. Especially, because in Australia the introduction of national curriculum is regarded as one of the education revolutions, we need to investigate how the fundamental change corresponding to the 'revolution' is revealed in national curriculum. The purpose of this article is to look through process of the development and significant features about the national curriculum which Australia implements for the first time. To achieve the purpose, the article analyzes national curriculum of Australia in three ways. First, it reviews the process of introduction and development of the national curriculum. Second, the article investigates the features of curriculum guidelines and subject curriculum, focused on the structure of it. Finally, it discusses several implications that the case of Australia gives to the system of the Korean national curriculum.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.193-200
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• 2023

Background: International evidence shows that mining workers are at greater risk of suicide than other workers; however, it is not known whether this applies to the Australian mining sector. Methods: Using data from the National Coronial Information System, rates of suicide among male mining workers were compared to those of three comparators: construction workers, mining and construction workers combined, and all other workers. Age-standardized suicide rates were calculated for 2001-2019 and across three intervals '2001-2006', '2007-2011', and '2012-2019'. Incidence rate ratios for suicide were calculated to compare incidence rates for mining workers, to those of the three comparative groups. Results: The suicide rate for male mining workers in Australia was estimated to be between 11 and 25 per 100,000 (likely closer to 25 per 100,000) over the period of 2001-2019. There was also evidence that the suicide rate among mining workers is increasing, and the suicide rate among mining workers for the period 2012-2019 was significantly higher than the other worker group. Conclusions: Based on available data, we tentatively deduce that suicide mortality among male mining workers is of concern. More information is needed on both industry and occupation of suicide decedents in order to better assess whether, and the extent to which, mining workers (and other industries and occupations) are at increased risk of suicide.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2017.10a
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• pp.32-41
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• 2017

Accidents on offshore oil and gas platforms (OOGPs) usually cause serious fatalities and financial losses considering demanding environment platforms locate and complex topsides structure platforms own. Evacuation planning on platforms is usually challenging. The computational tool is a good choice to plan evacuation by emergency simulation. However, the complex structure of platforms and varied evacuation behaviors usually weaken the advantages of computational simulation. Therefore, this study developed a simulation model for OOGPs to evaluate different evacuation plans to improve evacuation performance by integrating building information modeling (BIM) and agent-based model (ABM). The developed model consists of four parts: evacuation model input, simulation environment modeling, agent definition, and simulation and comparison. Necessary platform information is extracted from BIM and then used to model simulation environment by integrating matrix model and network model. During agent definition, in addition to basic characteristics, environment sensing and dynamic escape path planning functions are also developed to improve simulation performance. An example OOGP BIM topsides with different emergent scenarios is used to illustrate the developed model. The results showed that the developed model can well simulate evacuation on OOGPs and improve evacuation performance. The developed model was also suggested to be applied to other industries such as the architecture, engineering, and construction industry.

• SUVANNABHUMI
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.17-53
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• 2016

Debates continue to multiply on the definition and rationale of Southeast Asia as a region and on the utility of the multidisciplinary field of area studies. However, we have now entered a post-colonialist, post-Orientalist, post-structuralist stage of reflection and re-orientation in the era of globalization, and a strong tendency on the part of insiders to pose these issues in terms of an insider-outsider dichotomy. On the one hand, the study of Southeast Asia for researchers from outside the region has become fragmented. This is for very obvious reasons: the strengthening and re-energizing of academic disciplines, the increasing popularity of other non-regional multidisciplinary studies, and the entry of globalization studies into our field of vision. On the other hand, how has the local Southeast Asian academy addressed these major issues of change in conceptualizing the region from an insider perspective? In filling in and giving substance to an outsider, primarily Euro-American-Australian-centric definition and vision of Southeast Asia, some local academics have recently been inclined to construct Southeast Asia in terms of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN): a nation-state-based, institutional definition of what a region comprises. Others continue to operate at a localized level exploring small-scale communities and territories, while a modest number focus on sub-regional issues (the Malay-Indonesian world or the Mekong sub-region are examples). However, further reflections suggest that the Euro-American-Australian hegemony is a thing of the past and the ground has shifted to a much greater emphasis on academic activity within the region. Southeast Asia-based academics are also finding it much more important to network within the region and to capture, understand, and analyze what Chinese, Japanese, and Korean scholars are saying about Southeast Asia, its present circumstances and trajectories, and their increasingly close involvement with the region within a greater Asia-Pacific rim. The paper argues that the insider-outsider dichotomy requires considerable qualification. It is a neat way of dramatizing the aftermath of colonialism and Orientalism and of reasserting local priorities, agendas, and interests. But there might be a way forward in resolving at least some of these apparently opposed positions with recourse to the concepts of culture and identity in order to address Southeast Asian diversities, movements, encounters, hybridization, and hierarchies.

• Educational Technology International
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.45-68
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• 2006

Living in the Information Age, schools and teachers are expected to utilize new information technology in education to make teaching more effective. In Japan, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) has been strongly implementing policies to promote information education (IE) in schools since 1988. According to a survey in 2005 (Japan MEXT, 2005), 100% of high schools in Japan at present have computers and the Internet connections. However, videoconferencing systems have only been introduced only in a small number of schools. This paper is the result of a pilot research to see the effects of using a videoconferencing system in a Japanese high school. The purpose of the research was to clarify the effects of introducing videoconferencing system in a Japanese high school and of utilizing it for conferences with other schools abroad on the studies of global issues. The target students were in the 12th Grade in the year 2006. The counterpart school was an Australian high school in Sydney and the conferences were held in English. International discussions on global warming were conducted between the Japanese and Australian students. Affective competence and cognitive competence were measured using questionnaires and worksheets given to students both before and after the videoconferences. The results showed that both cognitive and affective competences rose after each videoconference. Not only the students who actively participated in the conference but also those who were in the audience showed positive effects. In the field of international cooperation on global issues, especially, the effects were large. These results suggest that in order to teach global issues in which international effort and cooperation are needed, direct contacts with foreign students are effective in increasing student cognitive and affective competences. On the other hand, as English was the main communication tool in the conferences, Japanese students faced a certain difficulty in communication. Also, teachers, especially English teachers, were required to make great efforts to assist students in preparing for the conferences. The effectiveness of an international videoconference depends largely on students' English skills and teachers' efforts.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.299-303
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• 2011

Congestion is a growing concern of many global cities and the demands on Infrastructure services within a locale coupled by the rising expectations from the growing population places stress on these cities. This entails the ability to build a sustainable community that requires an understanding and recognition of Population growth, changing demographics and the ever changing urban development on both a macro and micro level. Infrastructure is an integral part of Australian economy, particularly the 'Infrastructure Assets Management' which highlights the importance towards the development of sustainable communities for Melbourne's future. Melbourne 2030 is a comprehensive representation of government's response to a wide-ranging population growth within Melbourne metropolitan and surrounding areas. Urban plan and specific Infrastructure Assets Planning needs not only to provide sufficient Infrastructure to a community, but it must also be efficient and innovative so that it produces an optimised management system. A system that incorporates engineering techniques that will be sustainable for decades to come by maintaining an acceptable level of services to its intended community in an effective manner, which also strengthens service delivery. The fundamental challenges for optimization of Infrastructure with the Melbourne urban plan is, the ability to manage and sustain maintenance of Infrastructure to provide the acceptable level of service required by the community in a most effective manner which also strengthens service delivery to contribute towards Melbourne 2030. This paper particularly investigates some of the fundamental issues within the Melbourne urban plan such as Infrastructure Asset Management, AusLink and the Australian Road Management Act 2004, which the Governments at all levels must deal with to provide an economically viable solution to the changing Infrastructure so it may suits the needs and services the strategies of a metropolis.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.209-213
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• 2024

Purpose: Trauma patients are at an elevated risk of developing venous thromboembolism (VTE), with the subsequent mortality in patients requiring intensive care unit admission ranging from 25% to 38%. There remains significant variability in clinical practice related to VTE prophylaxis in trauma patients due to the frequent presence of contraindications impacting the timing and consistency of application. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of the current practice of chemical VTE prophylaxis in trauma patients at a single Australian center. Methods: A prospective review was conducted on patients admitted to the ACT Trauma Service (Canberra, Australia) from July to November 2022. The included patients were 18 years or older, without a direct contraindication to anticoagulation, who received chemical VTE prophylaxis with low-molecular-weight heparin (enoxaparin) for at least three doses and underwent subsequent testing of anti-factor Xa (aFXa) levels. Results: During the study period, 187 patients were admitted, of whom 63 were included in the study. Of these, 47 patients achieved therapeutic levels of anticoagulation as determined by their aFXa levels, while 16 were subtherapeutic. The only statistically significant difference between the two groups was in weight, with patients in the subtherapeutic group weighing an average of 91.9 kg compared to 79.1 kg in the therapeutic group (P<0.05). Conclusions: A fixed-dose enoxaparin regimen was utilized, with limited individualization based on patient factors, such as injuries, comorbidities, and other biological factors. Sixteen patients (25%) had subtherapeutic VTE prophylaxis, as measured by aFXa levels. Higher weight was significantly correlated with inadequate VTE prophylaxis dosing. While age, sex, and smoking status might play important roles in clinical decision-making, weight-based dosing of low-molecular-weight heparin may be more effective in achieving adequate VTE prophylaxis.