A Comparative Framework for Maneuverability and Gust Tolerance of Aerial Microsystems

Aerial microsystems have the potential of navigating low-altitude, cluttered environments such as urban corridors and building interiors. Reliable systems require both agility and tolerance to gusts. While many platform designs are under development, no framework currently exists to quantitatively assess these inherent bare airframe characteristics which are independent of closed loop controllers. This research develops a method to quantify the maneuverability and gust tolerance of vehicles using reachability and disturbance sensitivity sets. The method is applied to a stable flybar helicopter and an unstable flybarless helicopter, whose state space models were formed through system identification. Model-based static H-infinity controllers were also implemented on the vehicles and tested in the lab using fan-generated gusts. It is shown that the flybar restricts the bare airframe's ability to maneuver in translational velocity directions. As such, the flybarless helicopter proved more maneuverable and gust tolerant than the flybar helicopter. This approach was specifically applied here to compare stable and unstable helicopter platforms; however, the framework may be used to assess a broad range of aerial microsystems

A journey into e-resource administration hell

The author discusses the administrative problems which can still occur when looking after a large and complex portfolio of electronic resources, and focuses on some of the recurring ‘nightmares’ involving e-journals in particular. Amongst the subjects discussed are lost archives, activation codes which change without anyone being told, unreasonable expiry dates, poor service, wandering URLs, lack of publicity, failure to keep licensing conditions, and title changes. The article ends with a look at some emerging examples of excellent practice to do with e-journal management, proving all parties involved can work together to ensure a smooth and efficient service

Promoting healthy weight in the preschool years: a portfolio and planning guide to address barriers in primary care

The rapidly rising incidence of overweight and obesity in Australia, particularly among young children has led to an urgent need for effective prevention. Recent figures indicate that 15% of preschool children in Australia are overweight, and a further 6% are obese1,2, with rates rising steadily especially among children from lower socioeconomic groups. Family, childcare, primary health care, early childhood education and the community are influential environments for young children3-7 with the potential to engage in an integrated approach to promote healthy weight and development of healthy eating and active lifestyle habits during the pre-school years5,8,9. In 2006, the Child Health Promotion Research Centre (CHPRC) team conducted a major systematic review on the prevention of overweight and obesity among children aged 2-6 years, on behalf of the Australian Primary Health Care Institute (APHCRI), with funding from the Australian Department of Health and Ageing (DOHA)10

Pastoral care in education

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. During the past decade, there has been growing recognition the school environment plays a major role in the social and emotional competence and wellbeing of children. As a consequence, increasing national and international commitment has been directed towards the development of Health Promoting Schools2, with efforts being made to assess how curriculum and pastoral practice can best contribute to students’ social, emotional, physical and moral wellbeing. Within Australia, the National Safe Schools Framework3 has set as a key priority the importance of achieving a shared vision of physical and emotional safety and wellbeing for all students in all Australian schools, as well as identifying guiding principles and standards that can inform practice and assist school communities to build safe and supportive environments. 2. Within this context, the present report investigates current empirical and theoretical literature describing pastoral care standards to inform the development of new guidelines for all Western Australian government schools. The first section of the report begins by reviewing definitions of the concept of pastoral care, and what it implies for the process of implementing successful strategies. The second section examines a number of best practice pastoral care standards developed nationally and internationally, and assesses their implications for Western Australian government schools. In doing this, the report analyses the impact of these policies on: developing supportive processes for children, teachers and schools; shaping teaching and learning; encouraging dialogue with the students; developing partnerships with other services within the community; shaping the school organisation, ethos, and environment; and developing tools for evaluating pastoral care standards. Finally, the last section draws on the findings of both the literature review, as well as an audit of Australian government and non-government education sector pastoral care policies and standards, to compile a series of recommendations to inform future practice of pastoral care standards in schools by the Western Australian Department of Education and Training. 3. In reviewing current literature, four factors continually emerge as core components in pastoral care, namely: the promotion of health and wellbeing, resilience, academic care, and social capital. While traditionally, definitions of pastoral care have been associated with the fostering of children’s moral welfare and values of mutual respect through extra-curricular activities, today the health and wellbeing of students is increasingly being attributed to school conditions, school relationships, means of fulfilment, and health status4. Subsequently, pastoral care has taken on a more inclusive function, being seen as inextricably linked with academic curriculum and the structural organisation of the school, thereby promoting: “pupils’ personal and social development and fostering positive attitudes: through the quality of teaching and learning; through the nature of relationships amongst pupils, teachers and adults other than teachers; through arrangements for monitoring pupils’ overall progress, academic, personal and social; through specific pastoral and support systems; and through extra-curricular activities and the school ethos”. From this perspective, pastoral care can assist adolescents to develop positive self-esteem, healthy risk taking, goal setting and negotiation, enhancing protective factors contributing to their resiliency as well as developing a sense of social cohesion that together can improve their overall health and wellbeing. 4. In section two of the report, an overview of best practice models of pastoral care in Australia (the Gatehouse Project, the K-10 Framework, the New Basics Project, MindMatters, the Community Care Project, and the Catholic Sector model), Great Britain, Canada and the United States, draws attention to core principles and standards which form the basis upon which to develop appropriate approaches to improving student health and wellbeing. Notably, past experience points to the need for comprehensive, multi-level interventions which incorporate whole school approaches, group targeted approaches, individual target programs, and casework, focusing on: - Primary prevention - to promote health and wellbeing and build a sense of belonging; - Early Intervention - to strengthen coping and reduce risk; - Intervention - to build networks to access support and treatment; and - Postvention - to restore positive relationships. 5. Nevertheless, an audit of the use of pastoral care policy by different school sectors across Australia indicated that only 4 out of 29 sectors reporting having a pastoral care policy for their schools. Moreover, while sectors recognised the strengths of pastoral care policy, key perceived weaknesses included their fundamental complexity and the burden of overload in meeting these obligations, as well as the lack of professional education and guidance for teachers and parents, student staff relations, and how policy may be operationalised by schools at the local level. Thus much remains to be done with regard to developing and implementing effective regional/national standards for effective practice, and any real change will require long-term commitment from both the government and schools

Preventing overweight and obesity in young children: synthesising the evidence for management and policy making

Today, 3.24 million Australians are estimated to be obese. Without effective preventative programs, particularly among young children, this figure could rise to 7.2 million by 2025. This review provides practical information on successful and/or promising interventions that strengthen the primary health care response, through the promotion of healthy weight among young children aged two to six years. It reviews the policy implications of implementing these in different settings.The research reported in this paper is a project of the Australian Primary Health Care Research Institute, which is supported by a grant from the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing under the Primary Health Care Research, Evaluation and Development Strategy

Not just a number: examining coverage and content of antenatal care in low-income and middle-income countries.

INTRODUCTION: Antenatal care (ANC) provides a critical opportunity for women and babies to benefit from good-quality maternal care. Using 10 countries as an illustrative analysis, we described ANC coverage (number of visits and timing of first visit) and operationalised indicators for content of care as available in population surveys, and examined how these two approaches are related. METHODS: We used the most recent Demographic and Health Survey to analyse ANC related to women's most recent live birth up to 3 years preceding the survey. Content of care was assessed using six components routinely measured across all countries, and a further one to eight additional country-specific components. We estimated the percentage of women in need of ANC, and using ANC, who received each component, the six routine components and all components. RESULTS: In all 10 countries, the majority of women in need of ANC reported 1+ ANC visits and over two-fifths reported 4+ visits. Receipt of the six routine components varied widely; blood pressure measurement was the most commonly reported component, and urine test and information on complications the least. Among the subset of women starting ANC in the first trimester and receiving 4+ visits, the percentage receiving all six routinely measured ANC components was low, ranging from 10% (Jordan) to around 50% in Nigeria, Nepal, Colombia and Haiti. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that even among women with patterns of care that complied with global recommendations, the content of care was poor. Efficient and effective action to improve care quality relies on development of suitable content of care indicators

An Analysis of Employment at Will and Its Effect on the Discharge Policies of Industries in Bladen and Robeson Counties

Discharge is a sensitive issue and one of great importance to the employee in question, the employer, and society as a whole. A discharged employee will have to bear a number of hardships as a result of his dismissal, including a loss of income of social problems such as alcoholism or divorce resulting from a sense of failure and an inability to provide for loved ones. A discharge is expensive for the employer as well; there are costs of locating and training a replacement and a loss of the investment made in training of the previous employee. society may also have a burden to bear. It is responsible for providing unemployment and welfare compensation for the discharged employee. Therefore, employment-at-will poses an important social and economic problem which affects a great number of people and demands immediate attention

Pregnant women who requested a '108' ambulance in two states of India.

We studied the pregnant women, who requested a '108' ambulance in two Indian states (Andhra Pradesh (AP) and Himachal Pradesh (HP)). We conducted a cross-sectional telephone survey to study the characteristics and outcomes of those who (1) were transported using '108' ambulance, (2) were sent '108' ambulance but did not use it and (3) were not assigned a '108' ambulance. We conducted interviews within 24 hours of clients' call and followed them up at 48 hours, on the 7th and 28th day. 90% of pregnant women callers in AP and only 16% in HP were from poorer socioeconomic circumstances. 22.5% of women who were not provided an ambulance in HP lived in tribal areas. A higher proportion of women who were transported using '108' reported either a high-risk condition (AP, 22%; HP, 27%) or an early complication in pregnancy (AP and HP, 16%), compared with the other groups (AP, 18% and 8%; HP, 19% and 16%). In AP, women who were sent an ambulance but did not use it had higher prevalence of obstetric emergency (9.8%) compared with the other groups (ambulance used, 7.4%; not assigned, 4.1%). One-fifth of women in AP and one-seventh in HP delivered by caesarean section. One woman who called, but was not transported by '108', died in AP. Ten stillbirths and 22 neonatal deaths were reported in AP and 17 and 16, respectively, in HP. Strategies are required to improve '108' service for tribal areas in HP. The '108' services should be improved to reduce non-use of ambulance, especially for women who report obstetric emergencies