Press performance amid threats of terror: Exploring reporting thresholds and criticism in elite coverage of an Identity Cards Bill

It is now commonplace to suggest that acts of terrorism on home soil impact the media’s ability to challenge the anti-terror policies that follow immediately from them. Still, complex contexts can emerge, and this article focuses on one that shapes a media response to a proposed UK anti-terror policy in 2006. It observes how proposed legislation for an identity card scheme, following closely after the 2005 London bombings, is reported in the elite press according to different ‘thresholds’. Emerging from an initial (1) observing of political conflict and a (2) detailing of claims made about the policy are (3) moments of performed criticism of the policy as a ‘threat’ to the British public’s ‘civil liberties’ by these newspapers. This verbally ‘empowered’ coverage provides an important exception to the previously observed media passivity in response to anti-terror policies/propaganda. Furthermore, the article argues that this is instigated by a complex context of political contest and reproduced cultural associations that encourage the performance of these newspapers’ ‘fourth estate’ role

Press performance amid threats of terror: Exploring reporting thresholds and criticism in elite coverage of an Identity Cards Bill

It is now commonplace to suggest that acts of terrorism on home soil impact the media’s ability to challenge the anti-terror policies that follow immediately from them. Still, complex contexts can emerge, and this article focuses on one that shapes a media response to a proposed UK anti-terror policy in 2006. It observes how proposed legislation for an identity card scheme, following closely after the 2005 London bombings, is reported in the elite press according to different ‘thresholds’. Emerging from an initial (1) observing of political conflict and a (2) detailing of claims made about the policy are (3) moments of performed criticism of the policy as a ‘threat’ to the British public’s ‘civil liberties’ by these newspapers. This verbally ‘empowered’ coverage provides an important exception to the previously observed media passivity in response to anti-terror policies/propaganda. Furthermore, the article argues that this is instigated by a complex context of political contest and reproduced cultural associations that encourage the performance of these newspapers’ ‘fourth estate’ role

When ‘less is more’: The rationale for an adaptive toolbox to manage the risk and uncertainty of rework

Determining the risk and uncertainty of rework in construction has received limited attention due to a paucity of information about its frequency and causes. Errors made during construction, which may require rework, can go undetected, manifesting as an engineering failure during an asset's operation and thus jeopardise system safety. Therefore, this paper addresses the following research question: How can practitioners make better decisions to mitigate the risk and uncertainty of rework during the construction of infrastructure assets and ensure system safety? Using a mega-transport infrastructure asset as a case setting, we adopt an interpretative line of inquiry and examine people's experiences with managing the risk and uncertainty of rework under the auspices of a sense-making lens. Our analysis revealed that heuristics were being used informally to determine rework risks and uncertainties due to the absence of information, resulting in them becoming curiosities as the same mistakes were repeated and learning stymied. We suggest that developing an adaptive-box tool comprising heuristics can provide the much-need theoretical foundation to effectively manage the risk and uncertainty of rework. Such heuristics would be adaptable to different situations as they are fitted to the environment through evolution and/or learning by amending them successively in small steps

A psychometric evaluation of the parent self-efficacy in managing the transition to school scale

The psychometric properties of the Parent Self-efficacy in Managing the Transition to School Scale (PSMTSS) were investigated with a sample of 763 mothers whose children were starting primary school in Australia. Exploratory factor analysis identified two factors, Efficacy and Worry, accounting for 56.6% of the total variance in parent self-efficacy scores. These factors were demonstrated to have excellent internal consistency. Convergent validity of the PSMTSS was established using the Parenting Sense of Competence Scale (PSOC) as a criterion measure. Finally, preliminary analyses reveal a significant relationship between parent self-efficacy to manage the transition to school and children's school adjustment outcomes. Implications for future school transition and parental self-efficacy research are discussed

Making the transition to primary school: An evaluation of a transition program for parents

The transition to primary school is an important time for both children and parents. The aim of this randomized controlled study was to assess the effectiveness of a Transition to Primary School Parent Program in strengthening parent knowledge and confidence to manage the transition process, increasing parent involvement in their children's learning, and improving child adjustment to starting school. Participants were 576 parents from 21 primary schools in Victoria, Australia. Results revealed that parents who received the intervention reported higher parental self-efficacy to help their children make the transition to school than parents in the control condition (i.e., routine transition practices provided by the school). These parents also reported greater parent involvement at school during the children's first term at school than parents in the control condition. There were no differences between the intervention and control groups on parent and teacher report of children's adjustment to school. This research is an important step towards developing empirically supported school transition programs focusing on parents

Building information modelling in construction: Insights from collaboration and change management perspectives

A case study is used to obtain the experiences from a contractor and their subcontractors involved with constructing the landmark Perth Stadium, which required a building information model (BIM) to be delivered for the purpose of asset management. Insights about ‘how’ the adoption of a BIM influenced the practice of collaboration and change management within the project are obtained. It was revealed that having limited experience and knowledge to deliver a model for asset management often resulted the project team ‘muddling through a problem’. This was not necessarily due to a shortage of training, but a lack of BIM knowledge, which inadvertently influenced every day practice. The research presented builds on the extant body of works that have examined how the construction industry can effectively acquire the benefits of BIM for asset management. It also highlights the need to incorporate education and learning into a project’s BIM implementation strategy

Rate and delay controlled core networks: An experimental demonstration

Growing demand for streaming, voice and interactive gaming applications emphasize the importance of quality of service (QoS) provisioning in the Internet, particularly the need for maximum end-to-end delay guarantee. Current methods of QoS provisioning have either scalability concerns or cannot guarantee end-to-end delay with acceptable packet loss unless bandwidth is over-provisioned. While low jitter guarantee is required for streaming applications, maximum end-to-end delay is also required for VoIP and interactive games. We propose, analyze the stability and demonstrate the viability of three combined rate and end-to-end delay controls. The stability analysis is done on a fluid network model with greedy flows showing that all controls are globally asymptotically stable without information time lags and one of them is also globally asymptotically stable with arbitrary time lags; however it substantivally under-utilizes the network. Another control, which numerically demonstrates stability with arbitrary time lags, is implemented in edge and core routers of our WAN-in-Lab with long haul links. The prototype implementation confirms its viability and its advantage over the Differentiated Service architecture. The viability of the two other controls is shown by detailed NS2 packet-based simulations of an eight-node real core network. ©2009 IEEE

A proposed model for the impact of parental fatigue on parenting adaptability and child development

Fatigue is a commonly reported problem for new parents. Considering that maternal fatigue is a risk factor for depression in the post-partum period, and that post-partum depression is associated with parent and child outcomes, it is important to investigate the relationship between fatigue, parenting, and child development. Further, given that research in areas other than parenting suggests that fatigue has a negative impact on performance via executive functioning, it is argued that parenting, being reliant on executive functioning, is likely to be disturbed by fatigue. Despite this, there is limited research investigating the relationship between fatigue, parenting, and child development. This paper applies the Optimal Parenting Development model to these constructs to propose a model for investigating the relationships between fatigue, parenting, child outcomes, and factors that may mediate these relationships. © 2010 Society for Reproductive and Infant Psychology

On-site solar PV generation and use: Self-consumption and self-sufficiency

As energy storage systems are typically not installed with residential solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, any “excess” solar energy exceeding the house load remains unharvested or is exported to the grid. This paper introduces an approach towards a system design for improved PV self-consumption and self-sufficiency. As a result, a polyvalent heat pump, offering heating, cooling and domestic hot water, is considered alongside water storage tanks and batteries. Our method of system analysis begins with annual hourly thermal loads for heating and cooling a typical Australian house in Geelong, Victoria. These hourly heating and cooling loads are determined using Transient System Simulation (TRNSYS) software. The house’s annual hourly electricity consumption is analysed using smart meter data downloaded from the power supplier and PV generation data measured with a PV system controller. The results reveal that the proposed system could increase PV self-consumption and self-sufficiency to 41.96% and 86.34%, respectively, resulting in the annual imported energy being reduced by about 74%. The paper also provides sensitivity analyses for the hot and cold storage tank sizes, the coefficient of performance of the heat pump, solar PV and battery sizes. After establishing the limits of thermal storage size, a significant impact on self-efficiency can be realised through battery storage. This study demonstrates the feasibility of using a polyvalent heat pump together with water storage tanks and, ultimately, batteries to increase PV self-consumption and self-sufficiency. Future work will concentrate on determining a best-fit approach to system sizing embedded within the TRNSYS simulation tool

Feasibility and consumer satisfaction ratings following an intervention for families who have a child with acquired brain injury

Objective: Our objective was to ascertain the feasibility and consumer satisfaction ratings of families who received an adapted pediatric acquired brain injury (ABI) 'Signposts for Building Better Behavior' program [25] in either group- or telephone-support delivery formats. Methods: Forty-eight families of children aged between 3 and 12 years with mild, moderate, and severe ABI completed Signposts in group (n=23) or telephone-support (n=25) format consisting of nine information booklets, a DVD, and Workbook. Results: All parents approved of the skills taught and a majority felt the materials were helpful in both managing challenging behavior associated with brain injury, and teaching new skills to their brain injured child. All parents rated a high level of feasibility for all of the Signposts materials. Conclusion: The current research has provided preliminary evidence for the feasibility and satisfaction of a family-centered parent-based behavioral intervention program called Signposts to be used with a pediatric ABI population. It also provides evidence for a less costly option of intervention delivery via telephone-support. © 2012 - IOS Press and the authors. All rights reserved