Building a dynamic model linking potential mercury regulations to risk to susceptible populations.

Human exposure to mercury has been shown to cause a number of adverse health outcomes, predominantly neurological effects. The developing fetus is most susceptible, and even low levels of exposure have been shown to produce nervous system deficits. A systems approach was used to address the problem of human exposure to mercury from the consumption of contaminated fish from local waterways. Two models were developed in order to link environmental levels of mercury with human exposure. The human exposure model characterizes the disposition of mercury in the human body and fetus. The bioaccumulation model tracks the movement of mercury from water column to fish tissue. The two models were combined in order to evaluate the outcome of potential policy scenarios. The human disposition model projects mercury concentrations in common biomarkers of exposure in response to mercury concentrations in fish. The model predicts biomarkers for fish consumption rates representing the mean, 90th, 95th, and 99th percentiles of populations of interest. Water quality and basin characteristics were inputs into the bioaccumulation model and fish tissue mercury the output. Mean average prediction error for calibration sites was 26% and 51 % for evaluation sites. Sensitive parameters influenced the system at several points and included forested and wetlands coverage, and nutrient levels. Less sensitive parameters modified the system at only one point and included the total mercury input and the portion of the basin that is developed. The two models were combined and the impacts of potential policies were analyzed. Evaluated policy scenarios included fish consumption advisories, emissions reductions, and watershed management strategies. Simulations indicated the characteristics of a basin combined with the unique pattern of intake rates of susceptible populations determine the risk associated with fish consumption from a given waterway. Each population had a unique pattern of biomarker response to changes in fish tissue mercury. Bioaccumulation efficiency, a result of basin characteristics, determined the responsiveness of a basin to reductions in loading. Management strategies that lowered bioaccumulation rates lessened ecosystem services to an unacceptable degree. Targeting systems with greater bioaccumulation efficiency for reductions in loading would provide the benefit of reduced contamination and greater services

Assessing the sensitivity of two TEWL measuring methods: open vs. closed chamber

Transepidermal water loss (TEWL) is a key parameter in the assessment of skin barrier impairment and recovery. The aim of this study was to perform a comparative assessment of the two types of TEWL instruments, with specific emphasis on their sensitivity in detecting small differences. An open chamber (Tewameter TM300, Courage & Khazaka, Germany) and a closed, condenser-chamber instrument (AquaFlux AF200, Biox Systems, UK) were used in the study. A complimentary skin hydration test (Corneometer CM825, Courage & Khazaka, Germany) was also carried out. In the first study, the closed chamber results have revealed two additional sets of significantly different data, in comparison to the open chamber method. In the second study, where the level of barrier impairment was higher, both methods have resulted in the same statistical outcome. It was concluded that the condenser-chamber instrument possesses higher sensitivity than the open chamber when assessing small differences in TEWL, under the same experimental conditions

Open data adoption in Australian government agencies: an exploratory study

Australia is among the leading countries that envisaged releasing unclassified public data under open license and reusable format with no further restriction on re/use. But, according to the Australian Information Commissioner John McMillan, Australia’s progress on open data is ‘patchy’ and ‘transitional’. He also evidenced that although a few agencies are proactive and have embraced the movements quite seriously, still there are “many obstacles that worked against effort to make government information and data discoverable and usable” (Hilvert 2013). Despondently, there is little empirical evidence that could explain what makes public departments not to release public data. Driven by the nature of the research, this study conducted an exploratory field study in Australia by interviewing eleven employees from six different government agencies. Applying content analysis technique, this study identifies six important antecedents to adoption of open data in public organisations, and proposes future research to test their relationships. As the main theoretical contribution, this study extends organisational behaviour toward technology diffusion. The findings of this study incite policymakers and managers to think about and prepare future strategies on open data developments

Improving the estimation of project overheads in construction companies in Hong Kong

Project overheads cover the site cost of administrating a project as a whole, rather than a particular work section. Estimation of these items is one of the routine tasks of all parties including the contractors and project owners. Nevertheless, our understanding of this subject mainly lies on the theoretical level due to the limited empirical study in the past. More importantly, estimation of project overheads demands a lot of expertise but still exhibits a high risk of inaccuracy. Therefore, the aims of this research study are to explore the estimation and expenses of project overheads in practice and to devise an efficient model for project overheads estimation. [Continues.

Encouraging small firm up-take of SCM using education: a future research agenda

The success of supply chain management (SCM) practices often depends on small firms in the supply chain adopting these practices, yet they are often reluctant to do so. The existing literature mostly explores SCM adoption barriers rather than approaches to encourage adoption. This paper argues that an educational perspective has promise, and proposes a research agenda which should guide future studies by all researchers studying small firm SCM up-take. The agenda encompasses the diversity of small firms, the major educational players, appropriate types of education approaches and the theoretical framework to underpin this research. The paper then gives an example of how this research agenda can be applied to a specific research project which will explore the impact of the Supply Chain Knowledge Centre (SCKC), a state of the art SCM education facility developed by GS1 Australia, on small firm SCM up-take.<br /

Generic skills : do capstone courses deliver?

Generic skills are increasingly the focus of universities worldwide and are often developed in professional practice courses. This paper presents qualitative findings from students regarding their perceptions of the generic skills they developed during a capstone course in an Information Systems program. The study found that the capstone course improved their collaborative team-work, presentation skills and ability to apply skills/knowledge to new situations. The paper also demonstrates that students&rsquo; perceptions of generic skills were more closely tied to the discipline than university-wide generic skills. This lends support for generic skills policy/practice to be driven bottom-up rather than top-down.<br /

Using multimedia and interactive games to enhance students\u27 understanding of SCM

It is challenging to teach supply chain management (SCM) practices and technologies to tertiary students. This is because the back-end and highly dynamic processes can be difficult to visualise and because many students only have experience as a consumer. This paper reports the authors\u27 experiences using a variety of multimedia and interactive enhancements we have used with our SCM learning materials: SCM business simulations; online learning modules with interactive games; and multimedia resources such as videos and animations. The paper also provides an overview of the challenges faced using these approaches, which gives rise to a number of future research opportunities. It also argues that these approaches can support educators with any epistemological view of learning. The paper makes a significant contribution because there has been little if any research into the use of these approaches in SCM education.<br /