The equipping inclusion studies : assistive technology use and outcomes in Victoria ; key findings and policy implications, study 1 - the equipment study, study 2 - the economic study

Approximately one in five of the Australian population lives with disability (AIHW 2006a; ABS 2003). Of these, almost 1.9 million rely on assistive technologies to live independently (Hobbs, Close, Downing, Reynolds &amp; Walker 2009).Assistive Technology (AT) is defined as,&lsquo;any device, system or design, whether acquired commercially or off the shelf, modified or customised, that allows an individual to perform a task that they would otherwise be unable to do, or increase the ease and safety with which a task can be performed&rsquo; (Independent Living Centres Australia n.d).&lsquo;Assistive Technology solutions&rsquo; have been defined as entailing a combination of devices (aids and equipment), environmental modifications (both in the home and outside of it), and personal care (paid and unpaid) (Assistive Technology Collaboration n.d).Despite a large number of Australians relying on AT, there is little data available about life for these Australians, the extent of AT use, or unmet need for AT. Existing research in Australia suggests that aids and equipment provision in Australia is &lsquo;fragmented&rsquo; across a plethora of government and non government programs (AIHW 2006a:35). In Victoria, one of the prime sources of government funding for AT is the Victorian Aids and Equipment Program (VAEP) which is a subsidy program for the purchase of aids and equipment, home and vehicle modifications for people with permanent or long term disability. Recent research suggests that waiting times for accessing equipment through the VAEP are high, as is the cost burden to applicants (Wilson, Wong &amp; Goodridge 2006). In addition, there appears to be a substantial level of unmet need (KPMG 2007).Additionally, there is a paucity of literature around the economic evaluation of AT interventions and solution packages, resulting in little evidence of their cost-effectiveness credentials.<br /

Does Capital Structure impact on the Performance of South African listed Firms?

Issues surrounding capital structure and performance have been widely debated in literature, yetthere has been no conclusion as to how composition of firm&rsquo;s capital impact on it performance.Using data on 136 quoted companies on the JSE from January 2000 to December 2014, and with aGMM analysis we explore the impact of capital structure on firm performance metrics in SouthAfrican. The study suggests that total debt to total equity and total debt to total assets are inverselyrelated to both Tobin q and return on assets, while long-term debt to total assets was relatedpositively to both Tobin q and return on assets. On the other hand, total debt to total equity andlong-term debt to total assets were inversely related to return on equity, while total debt to totalassets were positively related to return on equity. It is therefore recommended that firms need todefine their financial objective &ndash; either to maximise ROA or ROE. However, an optimal debt/equitymix must be sought, if both financial objectives must be pursued

Identifying acne treatment uncertainties via a James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnership

Objectives: The Acne Priority Setting Partnership (PSP) was set up to identify and rank treatment uncertainties by bringing together people with acne, and professionals providing care within and beyond the National Health Service (NHS). Setting: The UK with international participation. Participants: Teenagers and adults with acne, parents, partners, nurses, clinicians, pharmacists, private practitioners. Methods: Treatment uncertainties were collected via separate online harvesting surveys, embedded within the PSP website, for patients and professionals. A wide variety of approaches were used to promote the surveys to stakeholder groups with a particular emphasis on teenagers and young adults. Survey submissions were collated using keywords and verified as uncertainties by appraising existing evidence. The 30 most popular themes were ranked via weighted scores from an online vote. At a priority setting workshop, patients and professionals discussed the 18 highest-scoring questions from the vote, and reached consensus on the top 10. Results: In the harvesting survey, 2310 people, including 652 professionals and 1456 patients (58% aged 24 y or younger), made submissions containing at least one research question. After checking for relevance and rephrasing, a total of 6255 questions were collated into themes. Valid votes ranking the 30 most common themes were obtained from 2807 participants. The top 10 uncertainties prioritised at the workshop were largely focused on management strategies, optimum use of common prescription medications and the role of nondrug based interventions. More female than male patients took part in the harvesting surveys and vote. A wider range of uncertainties were provided by patients compared to professionals. Conclusions: Engaging teenagers and young adults in priority setting is achievable using a variety of promotional methods. The top 10 uncertainties reveal an extensive knowledge gap about widely used interventions and the relative merits of drug versus non-drug based treatments in acne management

Depot Park: An Ecological Showcase

Depot Park is the central gathering space for the City of the Village of Clarkston. Clarkston is a small village located 45 minutes north of Detroit in Southeastern Michigan. The village is approximately one-half mile square, and its small size reflects the community’s desire to uphold the historic village boundaries. Clarkston has a popular influence on surrounding communities, and many neighboring citizens in Independence Township consider themselves from the village, though they live beyond Clarkston’s official boundaries. Depot Park is located in the heart of Clarkston’s historic downtown. The park serves many civic functions throughout the year, including Art in the Park, farmers markets, summer concerts, and car club events. The park has a prime location to educate and inspire the public, and its current popularity engages visitors from Clarkston and surrounding communities. The Clarkston Watershed Group (CWG) is a group of committed citizens that are focused on improving Depot Park and protecting the natural resources of the greater Clarkston area. With its central location and frequent use, Depot Park can become a living tool to illustrate principles of ecological and sustainable design. The park is currently operating without a master plan, which complicates routine decisions such as placement of memorials. The University of Michigan team is providing the Clarkston Watershed Group with a cohesive master plan that will ensure the future success of Depot Park as an inspiring and effective civic space. This University of Michigan Masters Practicum Team specializes in providing designs that are both ecologically sensitive and aesthetically engaging. Our educational background in ecological design complements the environmental enthusiasm of the Clarkston Watershed Group. With the implementation of our master plan and supporting documents, the CWG can continue to foster education and environmental change in and around Depot Park.Master of Landscape ArchitectureNatural Resources and EnvironmentUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/58215/4/Watershed Handbook.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/58215/3/Final Species List Depot Park.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/58215/2/Final Display Boards Depot Park.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/58215/1/Executive Summary_Depot Park_4-14-2008.pd

Micro-drive Array for Chronic in vivo Recording: Tetrode Assembly

The tetrode, a bundle of four electrodes, has proven to be a valuable tool for the simultaneous recording of multiple neurons in-vivo. The differential amplitude of action potential signatures over the channels of a tetrode allows for the isolation of single-unit activity from multi-unit signals. The ability to precisely control the stereotaxic location and depth of the tetrode is critical for studying coordinated neural activity across brain regions. In combination with a micro-drive array, it is possible to achieve precise placement and stable control of many tetrodes over the course of days to weeks. In this protocol, we demonstrate how to fabricate and condition tetrodes using basic tools and materials, install the tetrodes into a multi-drive tetrode array for chronic in-vivo recording in the rat, make ground wire connections to the micro-drive array, and attach a protective cone onto the micro-drive array in order to protect the tetrodes from physical contact with the environment

Micro-drive Array for Chronic in vivo Recording: Drive Fabrication

Chronic recording of large populations of neurons is a valuable technique for studying the function of neuronal circuits in awake behaving rats. Lightweight recording devices carrying a high density array of tetrodes allow for the simultaneous monitoring of the activity of tens to hundreds of individual neurons. Here we describe a protocol for the fabrication of a micro-drive array with twenty one independently movable micro-drives. This device has been used successfully to record from hippocampal and cortical neurons in our lab. We show how to prepare a custom designed, 3-D printed plastic base that will hold the micro-drives. We demonstrate how to construct the individual micro-drives and how to assemble the complete micro-drive array. Further preparation of the drive array for surgical implantation, such as the fabrication of tetrodes, loading of tetrodes into the drive array and gold-plating, is covered in a subsequent video article

A New Thermal Elasto-Hydrodynamic Lubrication Solver Implementation in OpenFOAM

Designing effective thermal management systems within transmission systems requires simulations to consider the contributions from phenomena such as hydrodynamic lubrication regions. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) remains computationally expensive for practical cases of hydrodynamic lubrication while the thermo elasto-hydrodynamic lubrication (TEHL) theory has demonstrated good accuracy at a lower computational cost. To account for the effects of hydro-dynamic lubrication in high-power transmission systems requires integrating TEHL into a CFD framework such that these methodologies can be interfaced. This study takes an initial step by developing a TEHL solver within OpenFOAM such that the program is prepared to be interfaced with a CFD module in future versions. The OpenFOAM solver includes the Elrod-Adams cavitation model, thermal effects, and elastic deformation of the surfaces, and considers mixing between the recirculating flow and oil feed by applying energy and mass continuity. A sensitivity study of the film mesh is presented to show the solution variation with refinement along the circumferential, axial and radial directions. A validation case is presented of an experimental single axial groove journal bearing which shows good agreement in the pressure and temperature results. The peak pressure in the film is predicted within 12% and the peak temperature in the bush is predicted within 5% when comparing the centerline profiles

A machine learning-driven approach to predicting thermo-elasto-hydrodynamic lubrication in journal bearings

Traditional methods of evaluating the performance of journal bearings, for example thermal-elastic-hydrodynamic- lubrication theory, are limited to simplified conditions that often fail to accurately model real-world components. Numerical models that include additional phenomena such as cavitation and fully coupled effects like deformation, temperature, pressure and viscosity can be more accurate but require a large amount of computational overhead, making analysis slower and more costly. To address this limitation, a novel machine learning-driven approach is developed to predict the 2D distribution of surface deformation, film thickness, temperature, and pressure across the bearing surface as a function of design variables such as load and speed. The training dataset, generated using a fully coupled Reynolds’ Equation solver implemented in OpenFOAM, contains a significantly extended range of conditions than in previous studies with approximately 39 000 000 points encompassing 4925 different test cases. Modelled bearing speeds range from 2000 to 10 000 rpm, while load values are varied between 1 and 30 kN. Predicting surface deformation, film thickness, temperature and pressure across the bearing surface results in a mean absolute percentage error below 0.4 % or better. The work also demonstrates that the trained models have a strong ability to generalise the prediction beyond the original training data range with only a 1 % error at up to 200 % of the highest trained speed. This work also demonstrates that machine learning-based processes are a practical alternative to physics-based numerical modelling, especially in cases where rapid performance evaluation is desired as real-time calculation is possible with significantly reduced computational cost. This has the potential to enable development of rapid design optimisation tools and real-time performance monitoring at high resolution and with low latency. Using consumer hardware, it is found that the neural network-based approach is faster than the existing numerical modelling technique by a factor of over 10 000, enabling real-time predictions of lubrication systems