Showing papers by "Monash University published in 1991"

Community Languages: The Australian Experience

Abstract: Without even considering the 150 Aboriginal languages still spoken, Australia has an unparalleled mix of languages other than English in common usage, languages often described by the term 'community'. Drawing on census data and other statistics, this book addresses the current suitation of community languages in Australia, analysing which are spoken, by whom, and whereabouts. It focuses on three main issues: how languages other than English are maintained in an English speaking environment, how the structure of the languages themselves changes over time, and how the government has responded to such ethnolinguistic diversity. At a time of unprecedented awareness of these languages within society and a realisation of the importance of mutlilingualism in business, this book makes a significant contribution to understanding the role of community languages in shaping the future of Australian society.

Adolescent self‐efficacy, self‐esteem and sexual risk‐taking

Abstract: Self efficacy self esteem and sexual risk taking are examined among 1788 post secondary school students in victoria Australia in the classroom and a mail in questionnaire on knowledge attitudes and behavior related to AIDs. The mean age was 18.3 years; 73% were female. Volunteers came from rural urban vocational and liberal arts schools. 98% were heterosexual and only nonvirgins were selected. Self efficacy was based on a 20 item scale by Libman et al. Self esteem was adapted from scales by Offer and Marsh and tested in a pilot study for consistency. Sexual behavior and risk questions were developed by the project. The results indicated that respondents felt confident in their ability to engage in a range of sex behaviors and to obtain condoms discuss their use and delay sex until contraception was available. However there were low levels of reported condom use. There is a disparity between what respondents say they do and what they believe they can do. Discussing pregnancy prevention may be easier that discussing safe sex. The self efficacy scale wasnt very discriminatory. Care must be taken in linking self efficacy with behavior. Mastery of contraception may not imply the same regard for safe sex precautions. Sexual risktaking was accounted for very little by the set of sexual self perceptions. There were differences in the sense of mastery and in sexual self esteem between men and women however the patterns of relationships which predicted risktaking were similiar. Also factors predicting risk with a casual partner were different from those with a regular partner. Saying No to sex reduces the incidence of unsafe sex among casual partners but in a long term relationship trust of ones partner and communication skills are more salient. AIDs is not perceived to be a risk factor. Assertive skills and feelings of self worth lead to sexual satisfaction but not necessarily protection from AIDs. The reality is that many youth engage in regular relationships that are short term and not monogamous and this is perceived as sexually safe. Spontaneity of sexual behavior may be a critical factor in ones taking precautions. Control of immediate encounters is what requires mastery. Self reports of sexual behavior studies are all limited by accuracy honesty of recall and willingness to report socially disapproved behavior but there is no alternative. The decision to engage in safe sex is governed by multiple factors only 1 of which is confidence in ones ability.

The effects of habitat complexity on the macroinvertebrates colonising wood substrates in a lowland stream.

Abstract: Woody debris is a major structural component of south-eastern Australian lowland streams, and the decayed wood substrates provide a structurally complex habitat for macroinvertebrate colonization. I tested for the presence of a species richness-habitat complexity relationship for macroinvertebrate species inhabiting the surfaces of decayed submerged logs (snags) in a lowland stream in northern Victoria. The species-habitat complexity relationship is defined as the increase in species richness due to increased structural complexity of a habitat when area is held constant. The response of macroinvertebrates to seven treatments of artificial and natural substrates of differing levels and types of structural complexity were examined using cluster analyses and MANOVAs. These analyses revealed a significant species-habitat complexity relationship. In addition, a comparison of species evenness between simple and complex habitats supported the hypothesis that more complex habitats contained more species because they possessed more resources. Analysis of species richness, though informative, masked the complexity of species responses revealed by multivariate analyses of species abundances. These analyses showed that different species groups selected different microhabitats on snags, particularly in response to the level of sediment deposition, which was greater on more structurally complex snags. In comparison with the benthos, snags were significantly richer in species abundances, possibly related to low levels of dissolved oxygen in benthic habitats.

Budget use, task uncertainty, system goal orientation and subunit performance: A test of the ‘fit’ hypothesis in not-for-profit hospitals

Abstract: Researchers have used contingency theory to argue that organizations perform more effectively if structures and control systems are designed to match contextual variables. The ‘fit’ hypotheses developed in the organization and management control literatures to test this theory have generally assumed the existence of a unifying set of organization goals and that individual behaviour can be directed towards the achievement of these goals. Management control systems, such as budgeting, have been similarly conceptualized. This paper argues that the extent to which individuals will behave in an ‘administratively’ rational manner and wittingly or unwittingly match the use of control strategies to organizational contextual variables will depend on whether they identify with the organization as a system. The paper tests the three-way interaction between task uncertainty, budget use and system goal orientation. The empirical analysis based on a sample of 192 subunit managers in four large Australian not-for-profit hospitals provides results to support the hypothesis developed.

Elimination of systematic error in subpixel accuracy centroid estimation [also Letter 34(11)3347-3348(Nov1995)]

Abstract: An analysis of the properties of the centroid method for subpixel accuracy image feature location is presented. This method is free of systematic error if the maximum spatial frequency of the image incident on the image sensor is less than the sensor's sampling frequency. This can be achieved by using a lens aperture setting such that the modulation transfer function cut-off frequency due to diffraction is appropriately small. Both simulation and experimental tests of this prediction are presented for the case of the location of the center lines of the images of projected light stripes in a triangulation-based three-dimensional shape measurement system.

Hidden severe psychiatric morbidity in sentenced prisoners: an Australian study.

Abstract: OBJECTIVE The aim of this survey was to estimate the prevalence of severe mental disorders in a representative sample of sentenced prisoners. METHOD The subjects were selected as a random sample of sentenced prisoners in Melbourne's three metropolitan prisons. Interviews were conducted with 158 men and 31 women. Clinicians used the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R (SCID) to diagnose psychotic, affective, and substance use disorders. RESULTS Six prisoners (3%) received current diagnoses of psychotic disorders, and 23 (12%) were diagnosed as having current mood disorders, mainly major depression. A lifetime diagnosis of at least one mental disorder each was made for 82% of the respondents, and in 26% more than one lifetime disorder was diagnosed. Sixty-nine percent received lifetime diagnoses of dependence on or abuse of alcohol, other psychoactive substances, or a combination of these. CONCLUSIONS These findings do not indicate a large-scale shift of deinstitutionalized psychotically ill people from mental hospitals to prisons. They do, however, highlight the diversion into the corrections system of substance-dependent people and the apparent pool of prisoners with largely untreated major depression.

Adolescent Invulnerability and Perceptions of AIDS Risk

Abstract: The Elkind notion of the perceived invulnerability of adolescents and the Weinstein view about unrealistic optimism concerning undesirable events taken together predict that adolescents who engage in "at risk" sexual behaviors will underestinate their vulnerability to the AIDS virus. This study examined the AIDS risk perceptions and sexual practices of 1,008 nonvirginal, heterosexualAustralian adolescents, age 17 to 20 years. Those who perceived tlhemselves to be least at risk ofAIDS were those who had a strong stereotype of an AIDS victim, believed they had control over the possibility of their contracting the AIDS virus, were more likely to be females, and engaged in fewer unsafe sexual practices. However, the relationship between risky sexual behavior andperceived risk, although statistically significant, was only limited. A large group of respondents engaging in risky behavior saw themselves as at very low risk The perceived invulnerable group of adolescents was compared with a "risk and be damned" gr...

Situational factors and thought processes associated with unprotected intercourse in gay men

Abstract: Gay men were asked to recall two sexual encounters from the preceding year: one in which they had unprotected intercourse (“unsafe” encounter or UE) and one in which they had resisted a strong temptation to have unprotected intercourse (“safe” encounter or SE). In each case questions covered the type of partner involved, physical location, desires at each stage of the encounter, level of sexual attraction and arousal, mood, communication about desires regarding safe sex, and alcohol and drug consumption. For UE, respondents also identified self-justifications they had used when deciding to have unprotected intercourse. Type of partner distinguished between UE and SE. With this variable controlled, desires, sexual attraction, mood, knowledge of condom availability, and communication about safe sex differentiated between the encounters. Consumption of alcohol or drugs, by contrast, did not. The most common self-justification used in UE was a resolution to have intercourse without ejaculation. The f...

Effects of communication skills training on students' diagnostic efficiency.

Abstract: This study evaluates the impact of a training programme in communications skills on subsequent diagnostic efficiency. Videotaped history-taking interviews conducted by groups of specially trained and control groups of students were rated for their diagnostic efficiency by two medical practitioners. Students in the trained group had shown greatly increased skills in interviewing and interpersonal effectiveness as a result of their training. A comparison of ratings given by the two experimentally naive, independent observers revealed that trained students were significantly better at eliciting full, relevant data from patients--they were diagnostically more efficient, but took no longer than their control group counterparts to elicit the information. Further research with the medical interview rating scale will clarify the skills required of medical students in interviewing and diagnosis and facilitate remedial training for students who show poor interview skills.

Deformation in the Ballarat Slate Belt, central Victoria, and implications for the crustal structure across southeast Australia

Abstract: Chevron folds, high‐angle reverse faults and spaced cleavage characterize crustal shortening above subsurface detachments in the quartz‐rich turbidite succession of the Ballarat Slate Belt of central Victoria Part of an east‐vergent thrust‐belt with leading‐imbricate fan geometry, the succession is imbricated and allochthonous with respect to the underlying substrate Palinspastic restoration of the belt gives an original width of 370 km compared with the present width of 110 km Inferred detachments are within the Lancefieldian (Early Ordovician) and the lower part of the Cambrian succession Section‐balancing and thrust‐sheet thickness require significant duplexing within the Cambrian metavolcanics (greenstone) that are considered to underline the quartz‐rich turbidite succession Diachronous west‐to‐east deformation, a consequence of the thrust‐belt geometry, is supported by the 30–40 Ma age variation in older syn‐tectonic granite in the west to younger post‐tectonic granite in the eastern part of the

Classification by minimum-message-length inference

Abstract: Although classifiation is perhaps the oldest practical application of MML inference, the early algorithm was subject to weakly inconsistent estimation The same problem is inherent in any MML inference which infers many discrete "nuisance" parameters A solution has been found using a novel coding trick, which could be useful in many inductive inferences

Sulindac inhibits the rate of growth and appearance of colon tumors in the rat.

Abstract: • Sulindac ( cis -5-fluoro-2-methyl-1-[ p -(methylsulfinyl) benzylidene] indene-3-acetic acid), an inhibitor of prostaglandin synthesis, has been reported to cause regression of colon polyps in patients with familial polyposis coli and Gardner's syndrome. We examined the effect of sulindac on the growth of primary colon carcinomas in rats. Colon tumors were induced in 18 rats by repeated subcutaneous administration of dimethylhydrazine. The site and diameter of each tumor were measured via laparotomy and colonoscopy. Rats were randomized to receive either sulindac (10 mg/kg) twice daily or vehicle (0.5% methylcellulose). After 4 weeks of treatment, the site and size of tumors in the colon were again recorded. In eight rats receiving sulindac, no new tumors were identified, while in 10 control rats, 13 additional tumors were found after treatment. There was a significantly greater increase in size of the tumors in the control group (56.4 mm for 26 tumors) compared with the rats receiving sulindac (9.3 mm for 14 tumors). We report that sulindac inhibits the rate of development and the rate of growth of colon tumors in the rat. ( Arch Surg . 1991;126:1094-1096)

Attenuated responses to endothelin-1, KCl and CaCl2, but not noradrenaline, of aortae from rats with streptozotocin-induced diabetes mellitus.

Abstract: 1. This study investigated the responsiveness to vasoconstrictor agents (including endothelin-1, ET-1) of aortic rings from rats with two-week streptozotocin (STZ, 60 mg kg-1, i.v.)-induced diabetes and vehicle-treated control rats. The basal tension was 10 g, which was estimated to be more physiological than the tension of 1-2 g that has been previously used for most studies of aortic rings from diabetic rats. 2. Maximum responses to ET-1 (0.13-18 nM), KCl (2-20 mM) or CaCl2 (10 microM-10 mM) were reduced in aortae from STZ-treated rats compared to those from control rats. Such reductions were still evident after removal of the endothelium. 3. Responses to noradrenaline (NA, 0.1 nM-26 microM) of aortae from STZ-treated rats were not significantly different from responses of aortae of control rats. 4. Removal of endothelium resulted in a significant reduction in the EC50 values for NA of rings from both STZ-treated rats (6.90 +/- 0.13 and 8.17 +/- 0.35 (-log M) with and without endothelium, respectively, n = 5) and control rats (6.90 +/- 0.15 and 8.37 +/- 0.44 (-log M) with and without endothelium, respectively, n = 5). 5. In calcium-free medium (with 1 mM EGTA), responses to NA and ET-1 were reduced compared with those in normal Krebs solution and maximum responses were less in rings from STZ-treated compared with control rats. 6. Indomethacin (5 microM) did not prevent the reduced maximum responsiveness to ET-1 in rings from STZ-treated rats compared with those from controls.7. This study indicates that changes in vascular responsiveness to ET-1, KCI and CaCl2 (but not NA) occur in aortae of two-week STZ-treated rats. The endothelium does not appear to play a major role in mediating changes in responsiveness to ET-1.

A tRNA(Lys) mutation in the mtDNA is the causal genetic lesion underlying myoclonic epilepsy and ragged-red fiber (MERRF) syndrome.

Abstract: Skeletal muscle mtDNA of three patients with mitochondrial encephalomyopathy, characterized clinically by myoclonic epilepsy and ragged-red fiber (MERRF) syndrome, has been sequenced to determine the underlying molecular defect(s). An A-to-G substitution of nt 8344 in the tRNA(Lys) gene, a substitution suggested to be associated with MERRF encephalomyopathy, was detected in these patients. Abnormal patterns of mitochondrial translation products were observed in the skeletal muscle of patients, consistent with the expected consequential defect in protein synthesis. The genealogical studies of the three patients, as well as mtDNA from one published MERRF patient and from nine other normal and disease controls, revealed that the tRNA(Lys) mutations in the MERRF patients have arisen independently. These observations provided evidence that the base substitution is a causal mutation for MERRF.

The prevalence of psychiatric morbidity in general hospital inpatients

Abstract: The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence of psychiatric morbidity in a sample of medical and surgical inpatients in an Australian general hospital. Using the 60-item General Health Questionnaire, the estimated prevalence was 30% (previous studies have yielded estimates generally between 20 and 50%). The prevalence of morbidity was significantly higher in medical (45%) than in surgical (23%) inpatients. Twelve percent of patients (20% of medical patients and 8% of surgical patients) satisfied DSM-III criteria for a current Major Depressive Episode. Anxiety scores on the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory were higher than those reported in general population samples. There were no significant differences between males and females on any scores. The problems associated with the definition and identification of depressive and anxiety syndromes in medical and surgical inpatients are discussed, whilst the importance of this task is emphasized.