Helping design educators foster collaborative learning amongst design students

This paper discusses the development of online teaching resources that enable design educators to foster collaborative learning amongst students in the design disciplines. These online teaching resources will be made available through the Design Collaboration website. This website was recently set up by Northumbria University, a UK based institution, to provide an online resource for design educators wishing to develop collaborative pedagogies in design education. It currently contains case studies of collaborative student projects but lacks practical teaching resources. As a result, a research project was set up to compliment the current case studies by creating a suite of design-specific tools and resources that will help foster team management and development. Although various institutions have addressed the subject of group work and collaborative learning, there has been no online resource dedicated to the development of practical teaching tools to help design students work and learn together. This paper focuses on showcasing the range of teaching tools and resources developed through classroom-based trials. These resources have been developed specifically in consultation with Northumbria University's design educators and trialled with undergraduate and postgraduate students from different design disciplines. In addition, issues surrounding the translation of these tools into a practical, easy to use and accessible in an online format is discussed. The Icograda World Design Congress 2009 Education Conference is the ideal international platform to share these tools with the wider design education community. More importantly, we hope to grow the website by encouraging other design educators to submit case studies to the website, using it not only as a means of sharing good practice but also as a tool for reflection. The research value is two-fold (a) translating implicit knowledge of collaborative learning into a practical teaching resource and, (b) helping tutors improve their teaching practice, by linking the teaching resource to real experiences through case studies and interviews

Analysis of factors critical to construction project success in Malaysia

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to study the principal factors that are critical to the success of a construction project in Malaysia, and determine their relative importance as perceived by different respondents. The findings of this study will provide the researcher with up-to-date information in formulating appropriate strategies to address the challenges brought about by human-related issues. The paper will only discuss the first part of the ongoing research based on the pilot survey. Design/methodology/approach - Following a thorough literature search, a total of 37 factors were consolidated and grouped into seven major categories. These factors were assembled into a questionnaire survey and distributed to clients, consultants and contractors. The respondents represent a wide range of professions, including those who are involved in design, construction, engineering, project management and quantity surveying. An analysis of the responses identified 15 factors to be accepted as critical to the success of construction projects. Findings - The results suggest a strong consistency in perception between respondents in recognising the significance of human-related factors such as competence, commitment, communication and cooperation towards the success of a construction project. These factors being the core element in relationship-based procurement reinforced the need and viability of such procurement methods to the Malaysian construction industry. Practical implications - The findings can be used to facilitate the analysis of performance of various procurement systems, as well as identifying critical elements crucial to the development of a relationship-based procurement in Malaysia. Originality/value - This paper captures the perception of construction participants regarding the critical success factors of construction projects in Malaysia and fulfils an identified need to study the critical elements vital to the development of a new procurement approach in Malaysi

Beta Testing of CFD Code for the Analysis of Combustion Systems

A preliminary version of OpenNCC was tested to assess its accuracy in generating steady-state temperature fields for combustion systems at atmospheric conditions using three-dimensional tetrahedral meshes. Meshes were generated from a CAD model of a single-element lean-direct injection combustor, and the latest version of OpenNCC was used to calculate combustor temperature fields. OpenNCC was shown to be capable of generating sustainable reacting flames using a tetrahedral mesh, and the subsequent results were compared to experimental results. While nonreacting flow results closely matched experimental results, a significant discrepancy was present between the code's reacting flow results and experimental results. When wide air circulation regions with high velocities were present in the model, this appeared to create inaccurately high temperature fields. Conversely, low recirculation velocities caused low temperature profiles. These observations will aid in future modification of OpenNCC reacting flow input parameters to improve the accuracy of calculated temperature fields

Morbidity after surgical management of cervical cancer in low and middle income countries: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective: To investigate morbidity for patients after the primary surgical management of cervical cancer in low and middle-income countries (LMIC). Methods: The Pubmed, Cochrane, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Embase, LILACS and CINAHL were searched for published studies from 1st Jan 2000 to 30th June 2017 reporting outcomes of surgical management of cervical cancer in LMIC. Randomeffects meta-analytical models were used to calculate pooled estimates of surgical complications including blood transfusions, ureteric, bladder, bowel, vascular and nerve injury, fistulae and thromboembolic events. Secondary outcomes included five-year progression free (PFS) and overall survival (OS). Findings: Data were available for 46 studies, including 10,847 patients from 11 middle income countries. Pooled estimates were: blood transfusion 29% (95%CI 0.19–0.41, P = 0.00, I 2 = 97.81), nerve injury 1% (95%CI 0.00–0.03, I 2 77.80, P = 0.00), bowel injury, 0.5% (95%CI 0.01–0.01, I 2 = 0.00, P = 0.77), bladder injury 1% (95%CI 0.01–0.02, P = 0.10, I 2 = 32.2), ureteric injury 1% (95%CI 0.01–0.01, I 2 0.00, P = 0.64), vascular injury 2% (95% CI 0.01– 0.03, I 2 60.22, P = 0.00), fistula 2% (95%CI 0.01–0.03, I 2 = 77.32, P = 0.00,), pulmonary embolism 0.4% (95%CI 0.00–0.01, I 2 26.69, P = 0.25), and infection 8% (95%CI 0.04–0.12, 2 95.72, P = 0.00). 5-year PFS was 83% for laparotomy, 84% for laparoscopy and OS was 85% for laparotomy cases and 80% for laparoscopy. Conclusion: This is the first systematic review and meta-analysis of surgical morbidity in cervical cancer in LMIC, which highlights the limitations of the current data and provides a benchmark for future health services research and policy implementation

Waste heat generation: A comprehensive review

A comprehensive review of heat generation in various types of wastes and of the thermal regime of waste containment facilities is provided in this paper. Municipal solid waste (MSW), MSW incineration ash, and mining wastes were included in the analysis. Spatial and temporal variations of waste temperatures, thermal gradients, thermal properties of wastes, average temperature differentials, and heat generation values are provided. Heat generation was influenced by climatic conditions, mean annual earth temperatures, waste temperatures at the time of placement, cover conditions, and inherent heat generation potential of the specific wastes. Time to onset of heat generation varied between months and years, whereas timelines for overall duration of heat generation varied between years and decades. For MSW, measured waste temperatures were as high as 60–90 °C and as low as −6 °C. MSW incinerator ash temperatures varied between 5 and 87 °C. Mining waste temperatures were in the range of −25 to 65 °C. In the wastes analyzed, upward heat flow toward the surface was more prominent than downward heat flow toward the subsurface. Thermal gradients generally were higher for MSW and incinerator ash and lower for mining waste. Based on thermal properties, MSW had insulative qualities (low thermal conductivity), while mining wastes typically were relatively conductive (high thermal conductivity) with ash having intermediate qualities. Heat generation values ranged from −8.6 to 83.1 MJ/m3 and from 0.6 to 72.6 MJ/m3 for MSW and mining waste, respectively and was 72.6 MJ/m3 for ash waste. Conductive thermal losses were determined to range from 13 to 1111 MJ/m3 yr. The data and analysis provided in this review paper can be used in the investigation of heat generation and thermal regime of a wide range of wastes and waste containment facilities located in different climatic regions

Multiple system atrophy

This is a practical guide to diagnosing and managing multiple system atrophy (MSA). We explain the newly published Movement Disorders Society Consensus Diagnostic Criteria, which include new ‘Clinically Established MSA’ and ‘Possible Prodromal MSA’ categories, hopefully reducing time to diagnosis. We then highlight the key clinical features of MSA to aid diagnosis. We include a list of MSA mimics with suggested methods of differentiation from MSA. Lastly, we discuss practical symptom management in people living with MSA, including balancing side effects, with the ultimate aim of improving quality of life

LIFESTYLE INTERVENTIONS TO SUPPORT PEOPLE WITH CHRONIC NON-SPECIFIC LOW BACK PAIN

The broad aim of this thesis was to investigate the health and lifestyle factors influencing health care utilisation for low back pain, and to examine the role of psychological interventions (including lifestyle interventions) for improving health outcomes and/or reducing health service utilisation in people with chronic non-specific low back pain. To address the broad aim, the studies included in this thesis were conducted and organised according to three aims: (i) to identify health and lifestyle factors associated with patients seeking care for low back pain, (ii) to investigate the comparative effectiveness and safety of psychological interventions for improving health outcomes in patients with chronic low back pain, and (iii) to evaluate the effectiveness of introducing a lifestyle intervention, involving health coaching, into the discharge care pathway for patients with low back pain to reduce the use of health services for low back pain and improve health outcomes. Chapter One provided an overview of current literature related to the epidemiology and global patterns of health care utilisation for low back pain, as well as an introduction to the relevance of lifestyle interventions for improving health outcomes in people with chronic non-specific low back pain. Chapters Two and Three addressed the first aim. Chapter Two investigated the relationship between various anthropometric, sociodemographic, health, and lifestyle factors, and the use of medical care for chronic non-specific low back pain. A co-twin case-control design was used to adjust for the potential confounding influence of aggregated familial factors (e.g., genetics and the early shared environment) on the relationship between these factors and the use of medical care for chronic non-specific low back pain. Poor sleep quality was identified as the only factor associated with seeking medical care for low back pain in the long term, with the relationship being independent of aggregated familial factors. Chapter Three examined the relationship between different intensities, volumes, and/or domains of physical activity and sedentary behaviour, on various care-seeking behaviours for low back pain. The study in Chapter Three discovered that different intensities, volumes, and/or domains of physical activity and sedentary behaviour, at baseline, have different effects on varying patterns of health care utilisation for low back pain. Specifically, engagement in medium-to-high volumes of household domain physical activity at baseline significantly increases the risk of the overall utilisation of care, and the utilisation of self-management strategies, for low back pain over one year. Further, people who engage in medium-to-high volumes of physically demanding tasks at work at baseline utilise more overall care for low back pain, whilst people who engage in medium-to-high volumes of sedentary behaviour at baseline utilise more self-management strategies for low back pain, over a one-year period. In contrast, engagement in medium-to-high volumes of moderate-to-vigorous intensity physical activity appears to halve the risk of overall care utilisation for low back pain. No physical activity or sedentary behaviour variables demonstrated any significant associations with the utilisation of health services for low back pain. Chapters Four and Five addressed the second aim. Chapter Four described the protocol of a systematic review including a network meta-analysis of psychological interventions for chronic non-specific low back pain. The primary outcomes were patients’ physical function and pain intensity, and the secondary outcomes were fear avoidance, health-related quality of life and intervention compliance, and safety. The results of the systematic review and meta-analysis are presented in Chapter Five. In total, 97 randomised controlled trials involving 13,136 participants and 17 treatment nodes were included. Results of the network meta-analysis demonstrated that compared with physiotherapy care alone (mainly structured exercise), pain education programs delivered with physiotherapy care (mainly structured exercise) offer the most sustainable effects of treatment for physical function and fear avoidance. Differently, behavioural therapy delivered with physiotherapy care (mainly structured exercise) results in the most sustainable effects of treatment for pain intensity. There is uncertainty surrounding their long-term effectiveness (12 months post-intervention) because of a lack of studies with long-term follow-up periods. However, limited but consistent evidence suggests psychological interventions are safe for people with chronic non-specific low back pain, given that the occurrence of adverse events related to the intervention is rare (i.e., only reported in three of 20 studies). Even when reported, the adverse events are not considered serious in nature. The review also confirmed a prevailing lack of high-quality randomised clinical trials investigating the effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions (i.e., mindfulness-based stress reduction), and counselling-based interventions (i.e., lifestyle interventions) for this population. Building on the evidence gaps identified in Chapters Four and Five, Chapters Six, Seven, and Eight addressed the final aim of this thesis. Chapter Six described the protocol of a randomised controlled trial designed to evaluate the effectiveness of introducing a support system, involving a lifestyle intervention (i.e., a health coaching program), into the discharge care pathway for patients with chronic non-specific low back pain (Get Back to Healthy trial). The comparison intervention is usual care provided at discharge from treatment, and the primary outcome is the use of health services for low back pain, over one year. The trial will recruit 374 adults in Australia. However, the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant delays in the progress of the trial. Disruptions to recruitment and data collection have precluded the completion of an additional study, which was intended for inclusion in this thesis. The proposed study was designed to investigate the joint association between physical activity and sleep on various care-seeking behaviours for low back pain. In the absence of sufficient data to complete the proposed study, Chapter Seven reports on the progress made during the early implementation phase of the trial, summarises preliminary findings to date, and describes the intended interim statistical analysis plan. To conclude, Chapter Eight provides a narrative summary of the specific challenges and key lessons learned during the implementation of the Get Back to Healthy trial, described in Chapter Six. Chapter Eight aimed to bring greater awareness to the complexity of conducting a large, pragmatic, multi-site randomised clinical trial of a lifestyle intervention, delivered by an established public health service, during a global pandemic. Practical recommendations to improve the conduct and implementation of clinical trials, in any context in the future, are presented in this chapter. Finally, Chapter Nine summarised the key findings, clinical implications, and strengths and limitations of this thesis, and also provided recommendations for future research

Campylobacter fetus Subspecies Contain Conserved Type IV Secretion Systems on Multiple Genomic Islands and Plasmids

Acknowledgments We like to thank Dr. John Devenish and Dr. Brian Brooks (Canadian Food Inspection Agency) for providing strains. We thank Nathaniel Simon and Mary Chapman for the generation of Illumina MiSeq reads and we thank James Bono for the generation of PacBio RS reads. Funding: The authors have no support or funding to report.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Repeatability of a Short Food Frequency Questionnaire to Assess Calcium Intake in Older Australians

Objective. To assess the repeatability of the validated Flinders Calcium Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQCA) for estimating dietary calcium intake in a sample of community dwelling older Australians. Methods. A test-retest repeatability study involving 100 subjects (≥65 years) living independently in metropolitan Adelaide, Australia. Estimates of daily calcium intake from the first (FFQCA1) and repeated administration (FFQCA2) were calculated from two versions (35-item and 15-item) of the FFQCA. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to assess the repeatability. Results. Moderate and comparable ICC values (r = 0.5, r = 0.6) were found across the two versions of the FFQCA. Conclusion. Both FFQCA versions demonstrated moderate repeatability, supporting the results of previous studies

Changes in waist circumference independent of weight: Implications for population level monitoring of obesity

Population monitoring of obesity is most commonly conducted using body mass index (BMI). We test the hypothesis that because of increases in waist circumference (WC) independent of increases in weight, BMI alone detects an increasingly smaller proportion of the population with obesity. Methods: Australian adults with measured height, weight, and WC were selected from three nationally representative cross-sectional surveys (1989, 1999–2000, 2011–12; n = 8313, 5903 & 3904). Participants were defined as having obesity using classifications for an obese BMI (≥ 30 kg·m− 2) and substantially-increased-risk WC (≥ 88 cm [women], ≥ 102 cm [men]). Age-standardised prevalence of obesity according to BMI and/or WC, and the proportion of these detected by BMI and by WC were compared across surveys. Findings: Between 1989 and 2011–12, weight and WC increased by 5.4 kg and 10.7 cm (women), and by 7.0 kg and 7.3 cm (men). For women and men, 63% and 38% of increases in WC were independent of increases in weight. Over this period, the prevalence of obesity according to BMI and/or WC increased by 25.3 percentage-points for women (18.9% to 44.3%) and 21.1 percentage-points for men (17.1% to 38.2%). The proportion of these detected by BMI decreased for women by 20 percentage-points (77% to 57%) with no change for men. The proportion of these detected by WC increased for women and men by 10 percentage-points (87% to 97%) and 6 percentage-points (85% to 91%) respectively. Conclusion: BMI alone is detecting a decreasing proportion of those considered obese by BMI and/or WC. Renewed discussion regarding how we monitor obesity at the population level is required