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Despite the exponential growth of social media in emergency services design and delivery, academic research and managerial practice have paid little attention to how to adopt and use it to transform operations and enhance organizational performance. This paper aims to provide some insights of a longitudinal case study of the adoption and use of social media technologies by the New South Wales (NSW) state emergency service (SES) in Australia. The study identifies a set of internal and external factors explaining the adoption and use of social media by the NSW SES including: the social media bandwagon effect, the effectiveness of social media use during the January 2011 Queensland floods, the NSW state strategic planning on emergency services, the opportunity offered by the upgrade of the NSW SES web site, and a strong internal management leadership toward the use of social media to support emergency operations. Finally, implications for research and practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research on remote nineteenth-and early twentieth-century Indigenous missions in northern and central Australia point to their often tenuous existence and the complex nature of engagements between Christian Missionaries and Indigenous people. This paper explores the contribution and significance of Indigenous production of wild foods in the context of one such settlement located at Weipa on Cape York Peninsula, north eastern Australia. It is premised on the assertion that investigation of the economies of these often remote settlements has the potential to reveal much about the character of cross-cultural engagements within the context of early mission settlements. Many remote missions had a far from secure economic basis and were sometimes unable to produce the consistent food supplies that were central to their proselytizing efforts. In this paper it is suggested that Indigenous-produced wild foods were of significant importance to the mission on a day-to-day basis in terms of their dietary contribution (particularly in terms of protein sources) and were also important to Indigenous people from a social and cultural perspective. We develop this argument through the case study of culturally modified trees that resulted from the collection of wild honey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a problem faced by CS Energy's Swanbank Power Station in the Australian state of Queensland. It involved the personnel scheduling (rostering) of staff with multiple skill levels at the power station. Such a problem can be classified using the six stage construction process proposed by Ernst et al. We assume that the three processes of ‘demand modelling,’ ‘shift starting times’ and ‘task scheduling’ are specified. We are concerned with the essential processes of ‘day off scheduling,’ ‘line of work construction’ and ‘shift assignment to staff’ with requirements to maintain multiple skills. Several other authors have reported results for staff with hierarchical skills while the methods proposed in this paper are for non-hierarchical skill sets. The paper describes a set covering approach to the multi-skilled rostering problem. We propose a number of solution strategies for the set covering approach and give a comparison of the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accessible and efficient service are vital features of well-utilized public transit systems. Modeling approaches to support the evaluation of transit operations for management and planning are essential for continued improvement. A hybrid coverage model is developed in this paper for simultaneously expanding service access and increasing accessibility. This paper discusses the use and integration of this model in a geographic information system environment for strategic planning. Analysis is presented for public transit service in Brisbane, Australia. The structured model provides flexibility in developing viable policies for addressing system improvements and service expansion, all of which are likely to promote increased utilization of public transit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A recent paper inferred that all seagrass in Cairns Harbour, tropical north-eastern Australia, had undergone 'complete and catastrophic loss' as a result of tropical cyclone Yasi in 2011. While we agree with the concern expressed, we would like to correct the suggestion that the declines were the result of a single climatic event and that all seagrass in Cairns Harbour were lost. Recent survey data and trend analysis from an on-ground monitoring program show that seagrasses in Cairns Harbour do remain, albeit at low levels, and the decline in seagrasses occurred over several years with cyclone Yasi having little additional impact. We have conducted annual on-ground surveys of seagrass distribution and the above-ground meadow biomass in Cairns Harbour and Trinity Inlet since 2001. This has shown a declining trend in biomass since a peak in 2004 and in area since it peaked in 2007. In 2012, seagrass area and above-ground biomass were significantly below the long-term (12 year) average but seagrass was still present. Declines were associated with regional impacts on coastal seagrasses from multiple years of above-average rainfall and severe storm and cyclone activity, similar to other nearby seagrass areas, and not as a result of a single event. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is an historical archaeological examination of the socioeconomic relations of the Chinese and European communities of Cooktown in north Queensland during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It looks at the social landscape and production, exchange and consumption of material culture to show that the Chinese were not a disengaged group, as depicted in conventional understandings of colonial life, but integral to the town's socioeconomic fabric. This close relationship arose out of a process of negotiation between Chinese and Europeans which responded to the strengths, weaknesses and resources of their individual business networks, and the particular conditions of Cooktown's frontier environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this guest editor's introduction to this thematic volume on the historical archaeology of Queensland, Australia, I briefly discuss some of the history and archaeology of Queensland in light of some of the major themes currently being investigated. The papers presented in this volume are also introduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mount Shamrock township was one of the earliest gold mining towns in the Upper Burnett district of Queensland, Australia. A study of the township and associated industrial area demonstrates the integration of town and mine in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This paper examines the relative permanence of the mining settlement and reveals a multifaceted landscape influenced not only by miners but by the women, children and other non-mining residents operating within distinct social and administrative frameworks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ability of historical archaeology to make a significant contribution to our understanding of Queensland's recent past is hindered by factors including few practitioners, limited publications about historical archaeological research and a need to establish its relevance beyond the archaeological community. There exists great opportunities in Queensland for researchers to explore a diverse range of research topics of which only some are beginning to be investigated through historical archaeological enquiry. This paper investigates the current state of the discipline in Queensland, the challenges practitioners face today and into the future, and the avenues down which historical archaeologists may make significant contributions to our understanding of Queensland's recent past. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park was established to provide for conservation and ecologically sustainable multiple use of 344,400 km of a large marine ecosystem. Management is based on multiple use, with zoning as a fundamental component of marine spatial planning. The legislative framework, including a specific Act and Regulations, address the objectives of ecosystem-based, integrated management of human uses and impacts consistent with best contemporary understanding of biological diversity. Zoning is one of a suite of management tools that include other spatial and temporal management tools and non-spatial measures including public education, community engagement, codes of environmental best practice, industry partnerships and economic instruments. The first section of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park came into operation in 1981 and the most recent zoning came into operation in mid 2004. The paper discusses some common misunderstandings about zoning and identifies lessons that appear relevant for others addressing management and use of marine ecosystems and natural resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines whether there was an excess of deaths and the relative role of temperature and ozone in a heatwave during 7–26 February 2004 in Brisbane, Australia, a subtropical city accustomed to warm weather. The data on daily counts of deaths from cardiovascular disease and non-external causes, meteorological conditions, and air pollution in Brisbane from 1 January 2001 to 31 October 2004 were supplied by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australian Bureau of Meteorology, and Queensland Environmental Protection Agency, respectively. The relationship between temperature and mortality was analysed using a Poisson time series regression model with smoothing splines to control for nonlinear effects of confounding factors. The highest temperature recorded in the 2004 heatwave was 42°C compared with the highest recorded temperature of 34°C during the same periods of 2001–2003. There was a significant relationship between exposure to heat and excess deaths in the 2004 heatwave [estimated increase in non-external deaths: 75 ([95% confidence interval, CI: 11–138; cardiovascular deaths: 41 (95% CI: −2 to 84)]. There was no apparent evidence of substantial short-term mortality displacement. The excess deaths were mainly attributed to temperature but exposure to ozone also contributed to these deaths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Mornington Island Mission in the Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia, was a site of historical engagement between Aboriginal people and missionaries. In this paper, we apply the theoretical concepts of “domains” and the “intercultural” to the investigation of this engagement between 1914 and 1942, when the mission was overseen by the Reverend Robert Wilson. Through the examination of the removal of Aboriginal children, the establishment of a mission compound and Aboriginal camp and the inclusion of Aboriginal adults into the mission compound through production and economy, we show how mutually constituted domains operated. At the same time, the interaction between Aboriginal adults and children with missionaries within these domains was increasingly intercultural in nature. Thus, both “domains” and the “intercultural” are shown to have relevance to the historical case study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indigenous people of the Torres Strait Islands have been concerned about the safety of their traditional seafoods since the discovery of high cadmium levels in the liver and kidney of dugong and turtle in 1996. This study explored links between urinary cadmium levels and consumption frequency of these traditional foods and piloted a community-based methodology to identify potential determinants of cadmium exposure and accumulation. Consultations led to selection of one community for study from which 60 women aged 30 to 50 years participated in health and food frequency survey, urine collection and a routine health check. Urinary cadmium levels were determined by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry; data were analysed using SPSS-14. The geometric mean cadmium level in this group of women was 1.17 (arithmetic mean 1.86) μg/g creatinine with one-third exceeding 2.0 μg/g creatinine. Heavy smoking (≥300 pack years) was linked to higher cadmium in urine, as was increasing age and waist circumference. Analysis of age-adjusted residuals revealed significant associations (P<0.05) between cadmium level and higher consumption of turtle liver and kidney, locally gathered clams, peanuts, coconut, chocolate and potato chips. Dugong kidney consumption approached significance (P=0.06). Multiple regression revealed that 40% (adjusted r2) of variation in cadmium level was explained by the sum of these associated foods plus heavy smoking, age and waist circumference. No relationships between cadmium and pregnancy history were found. This paper presents a novel approach to explore contributions of foods and other factors to exposure to toxins at community level and the first direct evidence that frequent turtle (and possibly dugong) liver and kidney and wild clam consumption is linked to higher urinary cadmium levels among Torres Strait Islander women.Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology (2007) 17, 298–306. doi:10.1038/sj.jes.7500547; published online 24 January 2007 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Universities now have a lot to say about tertiary teaching. University policy, teaching units, and promotion criteria have a very specific understanding of good teaching within the academy. This case study of Queensland University of Technology (QUT) found that good teaching has two central features: it is necessarily student centred, and it is `innovative', a characteristic that, at QUT at least, is increasingly equated with the use of technology. This paper – based upon interviews with twenty-four QUT academics across three faculties (Education, Science, and Law), an analysis of QUT's teaching and learning policies, and some additional historical research – will suggest four things. First, that the concept of student centred learning, based on ideals of progressive education, is neither an historical inevitability nor theoretically unproblematic. Second, that irrespective of discipline, all lecturers espouse an underpinning `progressive' teaching philosophy, even though, in practice, teaching style appears to be determined primarily by subject-matter. Third, given that, in practice, the progressive model seems to suit some faculties and subject areas better than others (i.e. Education, as opposed to Science and Law) this has significant professional implications for the lecturers concerned. Finally, that rather than promoting a `progressive' pedagogy, the use of technology in teaching actually appears to reinforce traditional teaching techniques. Consequently, it is suggested that monolithic understandings of good teaching, when applied across the academy irrespective of context, are often inappropriate, ineffective and inequitous, and that universities need to think through their teaching policies and programmes more thoroughly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes an investigation of conceptions of learning held by 22 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students from three universities in Queensland, Australia. Other areas investigated were students' experiences of informal learning, their reasons for studying and the strategies they used to learn. Research into conceptions of learning is gaining impetus and current beliefs include the premise that approaches to learning adopted by university students, and hence learning outcomes, are closely related to their conceptions of learning. There is substantial research focused on Aboriginal learning styles in early childhood and primary school which indicates that Aboriginal children prefer to learn in a practical way as well as through observation and imitation and trial and error. Very little research has focused specifically on Aboriginal university students' conceptions of learning. Results of this study found that these students view and approach formal university learning in much the same way as other university students and most hold quantitative conceptions of learning. The most interesting result was the difference between students' conceptions of formal learning and their experiences of informal learning. Many students' experiences of informal learning were grounded in practical activities or exhibited a cultural focus, however, most formal learning is not dependent upon practical or cultural knowledge. It is proposed that formal learning for Indigenous students recognise and include an Indigenous perspective such as integrating, where appropriate, practical strategies for learning. We also suggest that Indigenous students be helped to develop conceptions that will enable them to learn formal, theoretical material successfully. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the methods and findings of the Student Focus Project, a sixmonth study of student perceptions of service at a large university in Brisbane, Australia. The study paneled 24 focus groups of undergraduate students to assess their beliefs about a pretested set of questions concerning positive and negative aspects of university life, successes and frustrations with university service, attempts to overcome the obstacles of university life, and what students expect from their relationship to the university. Of the themes identified in the Student Focus study, it was found that “malignant bureaucracy” and the “balkanization of Information” are systemic factors that negatively influence student perceptions of the quality of university service. It was also found that student strategies for service recovery can contribute to the overall confusion and poor performance of university services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Replying to J. B. Losos & R. M. Pringle 475, 10.1038/nature10140 (2011)We agree with several of the points raised by Losos and Pringle, but we show here that our data still implicate competition as an agent of natural selection, while providing only limited support for a role of predation. Although patterns of density-dependent survival and selection on Kidd Cay are highly congruent with those on experimental islands, this site could be considered fundamentally different. We therefore base our rebuttal on analyses that use mean values per island (as in our original paper) but which now exclude Kidd Cay (n = 6 experimental islands). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the analysis on retraction of medical papers. The studies remark that the retractions are not due to innocent mistake but to misconduct. It cites Karen Woolley as the co-author of one of the new studies and chief executive officer of the professional medical writing company ProScribe, based in Queensland. Moreover, Woolley's study found that retractions from misconduct increased in percentage from 40 percent to 60 percent.