528 research outputs found
Developing Multi-Agent Systems with Degrees of Neuro-Symbolic Integration [A Position Paper]
In this short position paper we highlight our ongoing work on verifiable
heterogeneous multi-agent systems and, in particular, the complex (and often
non-functional) issues that impact the choice of structure within each agent
Munch and Move: evaluation of a preschool healthy eating and movement skill program
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Early childhood services have been identified as a key setting for promoting healthy eating and physical activity as a means of preventing overweight and obesity. However, there is limited evidence on effective nutrition and physical activity programs in this setting. The purpose of this study was to evaluate <it>Munch and Move</it>, a low-intensity, state-wide, professional development program designed to support early childhood professionals to promote healthy eating and physical activity among children in their care.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The evaluation involved 15 intervention and 14 control preschools (n = 430; mean age 4.4 years) in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia and was based on a randomised-control design with pre and post evaluation of children's lunchbox contents, fundamental movement skills (FMS), preschool policies and practices and staff attitudes, knowledge and confidence related to physical activity, healthy eating and recreational screen time.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>At follow up, FMS scores for locomotor, object control and total FMS score significantly improved by 3.4, 2.1 and 5.5 points more (respectively) in the intervention group compared with the control group (P < 0.001) and the number of FMS sessions per week increased by 1.5 (P = 0.05). The lunchbox audit showed that children in the intervention group significantly reduced sweetened drinks by 0.13 serves (i.e., 46 ml) (P = 0.05).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The findings suggest that a low intensity preschool healthy weight intervention program can improve certain weight related behaviours. The findings also suggest that change to food policies are difficult to initiate mid-year and potentially a longer implementation period may be required to determine the efficacy of food policies to influence the contents of preschoolers lunchboxes.</p
Preventing repeat victimization: a systematic review
In any given year, most crimes occur against targets that have already
been victimized. The crime prevention strategy deriving from
this knowledge is that targeting repeat victimization provides a
means of allocating crime prevention resources in an efficient and
informed manner. This report presents the findings of a systematic
review of 31 studies that evaluate efforts to prevent repeat victimization.
Most of the evaluations focus on preventing residential burglary,
but commercial burglary, domestic violence, and sexual victimization
are also covered.
The main conclusion is that the evidence shows that repeat victimization
can be prevented and crime can be reduced. Over all the
evaluations, crimes decreased by one-sixth in the prevention condition
compared with the control condition. The decreases were greatest
(up to one-fifth) for programmes that were designed to prevent
repeat burglaries (residential and commercial). There were fewer
evaluations of programmes designed to prevent repeat sexual victimization,
but these did not seem to be effective in general.
There are indications about what factors increase the success of
prevention efforts. Appropriately tailored and implemented situational
crime prevention measures, such as target hardening and
neighbourhood watch, appear to be the most effective. Advice to
victims, and education of victims, are less effective. They are often
not prevention measures themselves and do not necessarily lead to
the adoption of such measures.
The effectiveness of these crime prevention measures increased as
the degree of implementation increased. There were many problems
of implementation, including poor tailoring of interventions to crime
problems, difficulty of recruiting, training and retaining staff, breakdown
in communications, data problems, and resistance to tactics
by potential recipients or implementers
A Compositional Approach to Verifying Modular Robotic Systems
Robotic systems used in safety-critical industrial situations often rely on
modular software architectures, and increasingly include autonomous components.
Verifying that these modular robotic systems behave as expected requires
approaches that can cope with, and preferably take advantage of, this inherent
modularity. This paper describes a compositional approach to specifying the
nodes in robotic systems built using the Robotic Operating System (ROS), where
each node is specified using First-Order Logic (FOL) assume-guarantee contracts
that link the specification to the ROS implementation. We introduce inference
rules that facilitate the composition of these node-level contracts to derive
system-level properties. We also present a novel Domain-Specific Language, the
ROS Contract Language, which captures a node's FOL specification and links this
contract to its implementation. RCL contracts can be automatically translated,
by our tool Vanda, into executable monitors; which we use to verify the
contracts at runtime. We illustrate our approach through the specification and
verification of an autonomous rover engaged in the remote inspection of a
nuclear site, and finish with smaller examples that illustrate other useful
features of our framework.Comment: Version submitted to RA
Student led social work clinic hub: Increasing capacity in challenging contexts
Social work and human services (SWHS) field education continues to experience challenges in securing quality practicums. Increasing competition through multiple schools of SW&HS, increased enrolments, government cut backs to services resulting in ongoing insecurity around roles and the future of services and their capacity, have all created a landscape where organisational capacity to offer practicums continues to reduce. Added to this is the availability of appropriately qualified on site social workers to supervise students. Student led clinics are not a new concept; they provide an innovative and creative way to provide quality and meaningful placement experiences for students while also creating increased capacity in services offered. In this presentation we discuss the progress of a newly developed Social Work student hub based with the QUT Health Clinics at QUT as part of the School of Public Health and Social Work. The Social Work student hub will commence in July 2014 with a significant focus on the Vision Rehabilitation Centre. The aim of introducing social work services was to increase the capacity of existing psychosocial service offerings in the Vision Rehabilitation Centre and introduce services to the QUT Health Clinics, including provision of outreach services to community organisations
Excisional treatment in women with cervical adenocarcinoma in situ (AIS): a prospective randomised controlled noninferiority trial to compare AIS persistence/recurrence after loop electrosurgical excision procedure with cold knife cone biopsy: protocol for a pilot study
Introduction: Adenocarcinoma in situ (AIS) of the uterine cervix is the precursor to invasive endocervical adenocarcinoma. An excisional biopsy such as a cold knife cone biopsy (CKC) should be performed to exclude invasive adenocarcinoma. Loop electrosurgical excision procedure (LEEP) is an alternative modality to CKC but is controversial in AIS. There is a perception that there is a greater likelihood of incomplete excision of AIS with LEEP because the depth of excised tissue tends to be smaller and the tissue margins may show thermal artefact which can interfere with pathology assessment. In the USA, guidelines recommend that any treatment modality can be used to excise AIS, provided that the specimen remains intact with interpretable margins. However, there are no high-quality studies comparing LEEP with CKC and well-designed prospective studies are needed. If such a study were to show that LEEP was non-inferior to CKC for the outcomes of post-treatment persistence, recurrence and adenocarcinoma, LEEP could be recommended as an appropriate treatment option for AIS in selected patients. This would benefit women because, unlike CKC, LEEP does not require general anaesthesia and may be associated with reduced morbidity.
Methods and analysis: The proposed exploratory study is a parallel group trial with an allocation ratio of 2:1 in favour of the intervention (LEEP: CKC). Participants are women aged ≥18 to ≤45 years diagnosed with AIS on cervical screening and/or colposcopically directed biopsy in Australia and New Zealand, who are to receive excisional treatment in a tertiary level centre.
Ethics and dissemination: Ethical approval for the study has been granted by the St John of God Healthcare Human Research Ethics Committee (reference number #1137)
Mean Dynamic Topography of the Arctic Ocean
ICESat and Envisat altimetry data provide measurements of the instantaneous sea surface height (SSH) across the Arctic Ocean, using lead and open water elevation within the sea ice pack. First, these data were used to derive two independent mean sea surface (MSS) models by stacking and averaging along-track SSH profiles gathered between 2003 and 2009. The ICESat and Envisat MSS data were combined to construct the high-resolution ICEn MSS. Second, we estimate the 5.5-year mean dynamic topography (MDT) of the Arctic Ocean by differencing the ICEn MSS with the new GOCO02S geoid model, derived from GRACE and GOCE gravity. Using these satellite-only data we map the major features of Arctic Ocean dynamical height that are consistent with in situ observations, including the topographical highs and lows of the Beaufort and Greenland Gyres, respectively. Smaller-scale MDT structures remain largely unresolved due to uncertainties in the geoid at short wavelengths
An Assessment of State-of-the-Art Mean Sea Surface and Geoid Models of the Arctic Ocean: Implications for Sea Ice Freeboard Retrieval
State-of-the-art Arctic Ocean mean sea surface (MSS) models and global geoid models (GGMs) are used to support sea ice freeboard estimation from satellite altimeters, as well as in oceanographic studies such as mapping sea level anomalies and mean dynamic ocean topography. However, errors in a given model in the high frequency domain, primarily due to unresolved gravity features, can result in errors in the estimated along-track freeboard. These errors are exacerbated in areas with a sparse lead distribution in consolidated ice pack conditions. Additionally model errors can impact ocean geostrophic currents, derived from satellite altimeter data, while remaining biases in these models may impact longer-term, multi-sensor oceanographic time-series of sea level change in the Arctic. This study focuses on an assessment of five state-of-the-art Arctic MSS models (UCL13/04, DTU15/13/10) and a commonly used GGM (EGM2008). We describe errors due to unresolved gravity features, inter-satellite biases, and remaining satellite orbit errors, and their impact on the derivation of sea ice freeboard. The latest MSS models, incorporating CryoSat-2 sea surface height measurements, show improved definition of gravity features, such as the Gakkel Ridge. The standard deviation between models ranges 0.03-0.25 m. The impact of remaining MSS/GGM errors on freeboard retrieval can reach several decimeters in parts of the Arctic. While the maximum observed freeboard difference found in the central Arctic was 0.59 m (UCL13 MSS minus EGM2008 GGM), the standard deviation in freeboard differences is 0.03-0.06 m
Risk of venous thromboembolism in women taking the combined oral contraceptive: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Risk of venous thromboembolism in women taking the combined oral contraceptive: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Εκ παραδρομής ο πρακτικογράφος εμφανίζει την απόφαση στο φυσικό αρχείο με εσφαλμένη ημερομηνία
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