Work-life Balance: Experiences of Women in the Australian Construction Industry

Considerable changes in Australian lifestyles and the relationship between work and family life over recent decades have lead to the progressive entry of women into the workforce. Their increased numbers in the workplace have led many women to have a stronger voice to demand benefits to help them balance their work and life responsibilities. The accompanying shifts in the traditional roles of men and women have raised new issues for employers. In an effort to meet the changing needs of todayâs workforce, many organisations now implement work-family or work-life programs. While women in the workforce face various barriers the primary focus of this paper is on the conflicting demands of career and family life for women in male dominated industry of construction. The paper will draw on exploratory research to examine the career barriers faced by women in the Australian construction industry and compare them to those identified in the literature by women in the British construction industry (eg Fielden, Davidson, Gale and Davey 2001; Gale 1994). The paper puts forward Australian results that support the research findings in Britain that claim that despite lack of work-family or work-life programs women who choose to work within the industry are highly satisfied with their choice

Estimation of auditory filter shapes across frequencies using machine learning

When fitting a hearing aid, the level-dependent gain prescribed at each frequency is usually based on the hearing loss at that frequency. This often results in reasonable fittings for a typical cochlear hearing loss, but may fail when the individual frequency selectivity and/or loudness growth are different from what would be typical for that hearing loss. Individualised fitting based on measures of frequency selectivity might be useful in improving a fitting, for example by reducing across-channel masking. A popular measure of frequency selectivity is the notched-noise method, but this test is time-consuming. To reduce testing time, Shen and Richards (2013) proposed an efficient machine-learning test that determines the slope of the skirts of the auditory filter (p), its minimum response for wide notches (r), and detection efficiency (K). However, their test did not determine asymmetries in the auditory filter, which are important to consider during fitting to reduce across-channel masking. The test proposed here provides a time-efficient way of estimating the auditory filter shape and asymmetry as a function of center frequency. The noise level required for threshold is estimated for a tone with frequency fs presented at 15 dB SL in nine symmetric or asymmetric notched noises with notch edge frequencies between 0.6 and 1.4 fs. Using only narrow to medium notch widths provides good information about the tip of the auditory filter, which is of most importance in determining across-channel masking for speech-like signals (but the tail is not well defined). The nine thresholds for a given fs can be used to fit an auditory filter model with three parameters: the slopes of the lower and upper sides (pl, pu) and K. In practice, these model parameters are estimated as a continuous function of fs, and fs is varied across trials over the range 0.5-4 kHz. The stimulus parameters on a given trial (fs, notch condition, noise level) are chosen to maximally reduce the uncertainty in the model parameters, exploiting the covariance between thresholds for adjacent values of fs. Six subjects have been tested so far. The whole procedure took about 45 minutes per ear. The lower slopes typically corresponded with values expected from the audiogram and a cochlear hearing loss. The upper slopes were steeper in some cases, although not necessarily across the whole frequency range. Reference Shen, Y., and Richards, V. M. (2013). "Bayesian adaptive estimation of the auditory filter," J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 134, 1134-1145.EPSR

Protrusion-Mediated Signaling Regulates Patterning of the Developing Nervous System

During brain development, the tissue pattern and specification are the foundation of neuronal circuit formation. Contact-mediated lateral inhibition is well known to play an important role in determining cell fate decisions in the nervous system by either regulating tissue boundary formation or the classical salt-and-pepper pattern of differentiation that results from direct neighboring cell contacts. In many systems, however, such as the Drosophila notum, Drosophila wing, zebrafish pigmented cells, and zebrafish spinal cord, the differentiation pattern occurs at multiple-cell diameter distances. In this review, we discuss the evidence and characteristics of long-distance patterning mechanisms mediated by cellular protrusions. In the nervous system, cellular protrusions deliver the Notch ligand Delta at long range to prevent cells from differentiating in their vicinity. By temporal control of protrusive activity, this mechanism can pattern differentiation in both space and time

Subsquares Approach - Simple Scheme for Solving Overdetermined Interval Linear Systems

In this work we present a new simple but efficient scheme - Subsquares approach - for development of algorithms for enclosing the solution set of overdetermined interval linear systems. We are going to show two algorithms based on this scheme and discuss their features. We start with a simple algorithm as a motivation, then we continue with a sequential algorithm. Both algorithms can be easily parallelized. The features of both algorithms will be discussed and numerically tested.Comment: submitted to PPAM 201

Searching for quantum optimal controls under severe constraints

The success of quantum optimal control for both experimental and theoretical objectives is connected to the topology of the corresponding control landscapes, which are free from local traps if three conditions are met: (1) the quantum system is controllable, (2) the Jacobian of the map from the control field to the evolution operator is of full rank, and (3) there are no constraints on the control field. This paper investigates how the violation of assumption (3) affects gradient searches for globally optimal control fields. The satisfaction of assumptions (1) and (2) ensures that the control landscape lacks fundamental traps, but certain control constraints can still introduce artificial traps. Proper management of these constraints is an issue of great practical importance for numerical simulations as well as optimization in the laboratory. Using optimal control simulations, we show that constraints on quantities such as the number of control variables, the control duration, and the field strength are potentially severe enough to prevent successful optimization of the objective. For each such constraint, we show that exceeding quantifiable limits can prevent gradient searches from reaching a globally optimal solution. These results demonstrate that careful choice of relevant control parameters helps to eliminate artificial traps and facilitate successful optimization.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figure

Control of microtubule dynamics by Par3 is required for contact inhibition of locomotion

Cell-cell adhesion junctions are essential for the maintenance of epithelial cell polarity and thus tissue integrity. However, the role of such proteins in collectively migrating mesenchymal cells has not yet been investigated. Here, I investigate the role of the polarity protein Par3 in the neural crest, a collectively migrating embryonic cell population. Par3 is localised to the adhesion complex and is important in the definition of apico-basal polarity in epithelial cells, but the localisation and function of Par3 in mesenchymal cells is not well characterised. Here, I show that Par3 is localised to the cell-cell contact in neural crest cells and is important for contact inhibition of locomotion, a phenomenon essential for appropriate migration of neural crest cells. Par3 promotes contact inhibition of locomotion by controlling microtubule dynamics at the site of cell-cell contact. A morpholino designed to inhibit Par3 reduces microtubule depolymerisation at the site of cell-cell contact and abrogates contact inhibition of locomotion. This can be rescued by a low concentration of the microtubule depolymerising drug nocodazole, by inhibiting Rac1, or by coinjection with a morpholino against the Rac1-GEF Trio. Further, Trio and Par3 interact, as shown by co-imunoprecipitation, and localise at the cell contact, as shown by immunofluorescence. I propose that Par3 sequesters Trio and prevents Rac1 activation at cell contacts, thus inhibiting Rac1 promotion of microtubule stability

Prevalence of gambling behaviours and their associations with socioemotional harm among 11-16 year olds in Wales: findings from the School Health Research Network survey

This is the final version. Available on open access from OUP via the DOI in this recordBACKGROUND: Gambling opportunities are increasingly available and acceptable to many adolescents. Adolescent problem gambling has been associated with poor outcomes, such as lower reported physical and mental health. While much research has focussed on 'problem' gambling, analysing the distribution and determinants of experimentation with gambling is important in order to understand its normalization and population level consequences. This study describes the distribution of inequalities and socioemotional harms associated with adolescent gambling. METHODS: Data were drawn from a subsample of students (N = 37 363) who completed gambling questions as part of the 2017 School Health Research Network Student Health and Wellbeing Survey, representing 193 secondary schools in Wales. Using imputations, we estimated a series of single-predictor and multi-predictor regressions for count of gambling behaviours, any gambling in the past 12 months and socioemotional harms of gambling. RESULTS: Approximately two-fifths (41.0%) of respondents reported gambling in the past 12 months, of whom 16.2% reported feeling bad as a result of their own gambling. We found significant sex differences in gambling, with boys gambling more frequently than girls. Adolescents from more affluent families reported a higher count of gambling behaviours and socioemotional harms, although paradoxically, increasing affluence was also associated with lower prevalence of gambling in the last year. Non-White British ethnicities and students who felt less connected to school were more likely to engage in gambling and experience socioemotional harms. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings provide important new insights regarding risk factors in adolescence associated with gambling behaviours and socioemotional harms.British Heart FoundationCancer Research UKEconomic and Social Research Council (ESRC)Medical Research Council (MRC)Welsh GovernmentWellcome Trus

Translating musculoskeletal bioengineering into tissue regeneration therapies.

Musculoskeletal injuries and disorders are the leading cause of physical disability worldwide and a considerable socioeconomic burden. The lack of effective therapies has driven the development of novel bioengineering approaches that have recently started to gain clinical approvals. In this review, we first discuss the self-repair capacity of the musculoskeletal tissues and describe causes of musculoskeletal dysfunction. We then review the development of novel biomaterial, immunomodulatory, cellular, and gene therapies to treat musculoskeletal disorders. Last, we consider the recent regulatory changes and future areas of technological progress that can accelerate translation of these therapies to clinical practice

2010 ACVIM Small Animal Consensus Statement on Leptospirosis: Diagnosis, Epidemiology, Treatment, and Prevention

This report offers a consensus opinion on the diagnosis, epidemiology, treatment, and prevention of leptospirosis in dogs, an important zoonosis. Clinical signs of leptospirosis in dogs relate to development of renal disease, hepatic disease, uveitis, and pulmonary hemorrhage. Disease may follow periods of high rainfall, and can occur in dogs roaming in proximity to water sources, farm animals, or wildlife, or dogs residing in suburban environments. Diagnosis is based on acute and convalescent phase antibody titers by the microscopic agglutination test (MAT), with or without use of polymerase chain reaction assays. There is considerable interlaboratory variation in MAT results, and the MAT does not accurately predict the infecting serogroup. The recommended treatment for optimal clearance of the organism from renal tubules is doxycycline, 5 mg/kg PO q12h, for 14 days. Annual vaccination can prevent leptospirosis caused by serovars included in the vaccine and is recommended for dogs at risk of infection