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Already in the late 1970´s it became clear that the traditional catalogs in libraries were not suited for children, neither their interests nor their way expressing themselves were accounted for. The goal of this thesis is to investigate if and how children’s OPACs (Open public access catalogs) interface design is at present adapted to the presumed audience of children. My method consists of literature studies and an investigation on the graphical interfaces in OPACs for children, according to the five criteria formulated by childrens library consultant Lena Lundgren and IT-consultant Kia Gumbel. The aims are to find out: a) what requirements for children’s OPAC interfaces and their usability are defined in literature and b) what the actual (real) features of the children’s OPAC interfaces are. What interests me, regarding the graphical interfaces, is the actual appearance seen by the children, and partly the interactivity supplied by the OPACs. Using the criteria of Lundgren and Gumbel, I analyse figures, the front page, key-words, the text and the quality appearing in the different OPACs. In conclusion, the graphical interfaces of the three OPACs for children are somewhat adapted for children according to the Lundgren/Gumbel criteria. By using for example more user-polls, individualized graphical interfaces and reference groups consisting of children, the graphical interface for OPACs can be modified, and hopefully optimised, to take full account of the varied abilities of children. / Uppsatsnivå: C

Beryllium-7 is a cosmogenic radionuclide produced in the atmosphere through the spallation of nitrogen and oxygen nuclei by cosmic-ray-produced neutrons and protons. It is carried in the atmosphere attached to aerosols and is deposited on land and ocean surfaces by wet and dry deposition processes. Beryllium-7 decays by electron capture to lithium-7 and has a half-life of approximately 53 days. It is a potentially useful radionuclide for studying different natural processes. This thesis presents a collection of scientific papers on the occurrence of beryllium-7 in the natural environment, particularly in the Southeast Queensland region of Australia. It shows the results of experimental measurements and discusses their implications. Overall, this thesis contributes to advancing our understanding of the distribution and behaviour of beryllium-7 in the natural environment and provides a foundation for the development of nuclear techniques for the evaluation of environmental problems.

In an era of acute concern about airline safety, bird strikes are still one of the major hazards to aviation worldwide. The severity of the problem is such that it is mandatory in all developed countries to include bird management as part of airport safety management programs. In Australia, there are approximately 500 bird aircraft strikes per year (Bailey 2000). Brisbane airport has a relatively high occurrence of strikes, with an average of 77 recorded every year (2002-2004). Given the severity of the problem, a variety of techniques have been employed by airports to reduce bird strikes. Scare devices, repellents, continuous patrols for bird hazing, use of raptors to clear airspace of birds and depredation are used by many airports. Even given the diversity of control methods available, it is accepted that habitat management is the most effective long term way to control birds in and around the airport space. Experimental studies have shown that habitat manipulation and active scaring measures (shooting, scaring etc), can reduce bird numbers to an acceptable level. The current study investigated bird populations in six major vegetation habitat types identified within the operational and surrounding areas of Brisbane airport. In order to determine areas where greater bird control and management should be focused, bird abundance, distribution, and activity were recorded and habitats that pose the greatest bird strike risk to aircraft were identified. Secondly, species with high hazard potential were identified and ranked according to their hazard potential to aircraft. This study also investigated the effectiveness of different vegetation management options to reduce bird species abundance within operational areas of Brisbane airport. Four different management options were compared. Each management option was assessed for grass structural complexity and potential food resources available to hazardous bird species. Analysis of recorded data showed that of the habitats compared within the Brisbane airport boundaries, grasslands surrounding runways, taxiways and aprons possess the greatest richness and abundance of bird species that pose the greatest potential hazard to aircraft. Ibis and the Australian kestrel were identified as the bird species that pose the greatest risk to aircraft at Brisbane airport, and both were found in greatest numbers within the managed grasslands surrounding operational areas at the airport. An improved reporting process that allows correct identification of all individual bird species involved in bird strikes will not only increase the accuracy of risk assessments, but will also allow implementation of more effective control strategies at Brisbane airport. Compared with current grassland management practice, a vegetation management option of maintaining grass height at 30-50cm reduced total bird utilisation by 89% while utilisation of grassland by potentially hazardous birds was also reduced by 85%. Maintaining grass height within the 30-50cm range also resulted in a 45% reduction in the number of manipulations required per year (11 to 6), when compared with current management practices, and a 64% reduction in annual maintenance cost per hectare. When extrapolated to the entire maintained grass area at Brisbane airport, this resulted in a saving of over $60 000 annually. Optimisation of potential hazard reduction will rely on future studies that investigate the effect of particular vegetation species that could replace the existing mix of grasses used at Brisbane airport and an understanding of the relative importance of vegetation structure and food supply in determining utilisation by potentially hazardous bird species.

The measurement of submicrometre (< 1.0 m) and ultrafine particles (diameter < 0.1 m) number concentration have attracted attention since the last decade because the potential health impacts associated with exposure to these particles can be more significant than those due to exposure to larger particles. At present, ultrafine particles are not regularly monitored and they are yet to be incorporated into air quality monitoring programs. As a result, very few studies have analysed their long-term and spatial variations in ultrafine particle concentration, and none have been in Australia. To address this gap in scientific knowledge, the aim of this research was to investigate the long-term trends and seasonal variations in particle number concentrations in Brisbane, Australia. Data collected over a five-year period were analysed using weighted regression models. Monthly mean concentrations in the morning (6:00-10:00) and the afternoon (16:00-19:00) were plotted against time in months, using the monthly variance as the weights. During the five-year period, submicrometre and ultrafine particle concentrations increased in the morning by 105.7% and 81.5% respectively whereas in the afternoon there was no significant trend. The morning concentrations were associated with fresh traffic emissions and the afternoon concentrations with the background. The statistical tests applied to the seasonal models, on the other hand, indicated that there was no seasonal component. The spatial variation in size distribution in a large urban area was investigated using particle number size distribution data collected at nine different locations during different campaigns. The size distributions were represented by the modal structures and cumulative size distributions. Particle number peaked at around 30 nm, except at an isolated site dominated by diesel trucks, where the particle number peaked at around 60 nm. It was found that ultrafine particles contributed to 82%-90% of the total particle number. At the sites dominated by petrol vehicles, nanoparticles (< 50 nm) contributed 60%-70% of the total particle number, and at the site dominated by diesel trucks they contributed 50%. Although the sampling campaigns took place during different seasons and were of varying duration these variations did not have an effect on the particle size distributions. The results suggested that the distributions were rather affected by differences in traffic composition and distance to the road. To investigate the occurrence of nucleation events, that is, secondary particle formation from gaseous precursors, particle size distribution data collected over a 13 month period during 5 different campaigns were analysed. The study area was a complex urban environment influenced by anthropogenic and natural sources. The study introduced a new application of time series differencing for the identification of nucleation events. To evaluate the conditions favourable to nucleation, the meteorological conditions and gaseous concentrations prior to and during nucleation events were recorded. Gaseous concentrations did not exhibit a clear pattern of change in concentration. It was also found that nucleation was associated with sea breeze and long-range transport. The implications of this finding are that whilst vehicles are the most important source of ultrafine particles, sea breeze and aged gaseous emissions play a more important role in secondary particle formation in the study area.

Emissions from airport operations are of significant concern because of their potential impact on local air quality and human health. The currently limited scientific knowledge of aircraft emissions is an important issue worldwide, when considering air pollution associated with airport operation, and this is especially so for ultrafine particles. This limited knowledge is due to scientific complexities associated with measuring aircraft emissions during normal operations on the ground. In particular this type of research has required the development of novel sampling techniques which must take into account aircraft plume dispersion and dilution as well as the various particle dynamics that can affect the measurements of the aircraft engine plume from an operational aircraft. In order to address this scientific problem, a novel mobile emission measurement method called the Plume Capture and Analysis System (PCAS), was developed and tested. The PCAS permits the capture and analysis of aircraft exhaust during ground level operations including landing, taxiing, takeoff and idle. The PCAS uses a sampling bag to temporarily store a sample, providing sufficient time to utilize sensitive but slow instrumental techniques to be employed to measure gas and particle emissions simultaneously and to record detailed particle size distributions. The challenges in relation to the development of the technique include complexities associated with the assessment of the various particle loss and deposition mechanisms which are active during storage in the PCAS. Laboratory based assessment of the method showed that the bag sampling technique can be used to accurately measure particle emissions (e.g. particle number, mass and size distribution) from a moving aircraft or vehicle. Further assessment of the sensitivity of PCAS results to distance from the source and plume concentration was conducted in the airfield with taxiing aircraft. The results showed that the PCAS is a robust method capable of capturing the plume in only 10 seconds. The PCAS is able to account for aircraft plume dispersion and dilution at distances of 60 to 180 meters downwind of moving a aircraft along with particle deposition loss mechanisms during the measurements. Characterization of the plume in terms of particle number, mass (PM2.5), gaseous emissions and particle size distribution takes only 5 minutes allowing large numbers of tests to be completed in a short time. The results were broadly consistent and compared well with the available data. Comprehensive measurements and analyses of the aircraft plumes during various modes of the landing and takeoff (LTO) cycle (e.g. idle, taxi, landing and takeoff) were conducted at Brisbane Airport (BNE). Gaseous (NOx, CO2) emission factors, particle number and mass (PM2.5) emission factors and size distributions were determined for a range of Boeing and Airbus aircraft, as a function of aircraft type and engine thrust level. The scientific complexities including the analysis of the often multimodal particle size distributions to describe the contributions of different particle source processes during the various stages of aircraft operation were addressed through comprehensive data analysis and interpretation. The measurement results were used to develop an inventory of aircraft emissions at BNE, including all modes of the aircraft LTO cycle and ground running procedures (GRP). Measurements of the actual duration of aircraft activity in each mode of operation (time-in-mode) and compiling a comprehensive matrix of gas and particle emission rates as a function of aircraft type and engine thrust level for real world situations was crucial for developing the inventory. The significance of the resulting matrix of emission rates in this study lies in the estimate it provides of the annual particle emissions due to aircraft operations, especially in terms of particle number. In summary, this PhD thesis presents for the first time a comprehensive study of the particle and NOx emission factors and rates along with the particle size distributions from aircraft operations and provides a basis for estimating such emissions at other airports. This is a significant addition to the scientific knowledge in terms of particle emissions from aircraft operations, since the standard particle number emissions rates are not currently available for aircraft activities.

" Dwelling at the Margins" is an exegesis of the short film Boundaries. Boundaries is a journey into the world of marginalised young people in inner urban Brisbane seen through the eyes of a the female main character with an eye for gentle beauty. The film forms the first part of the research and in the exegesis the ideas unfold that were behind the making of the film and that emerged further through its production and audience reception. The exegesis discussion centres on the major aspects of the film which are visual representations, female narratives and the themes of home and dwelling. Boundaries is a political film that looks from the edges of society. The exegesis seeks to explain the ideas behind this intention.

Background of the Study The aims of this study was to specifically investigate the differences in culture, attitude towards life and social networks between Australian and Taiwanese men and women in addition to determining the factors that predict midlife men and women's quality of life in both countries. Because individualism and collectivism are the two most thoroughly researched constructs in inter-cultural and cross-cultural studies we should look at how these construct affects societies. The theme for individualist cultures (such as Western cultures) is autonomy, while the theme for collectivist cultures (such as Asian cultures) is connection. Most literature available on individualism and collectivism note all cultures have different values that influence their society and ultimately a person's individual health outcome. Very little work has been undertaken in this domain in Australia or Taiwan, particularly in the area of midlife transition and from a cultural perspective. Methodology Data was collected from a cross-sectional, supervised self-administered survey using census data and a probability proportional sampling (PPS) strategy on a general population of men and women aged 40-59 years old who live permanently in Brisbane, Australia and Taipei, Taiwan. The study population was divided into 163 Statistical Local Areas (SLAs) in Brisbane, and 449 Local Government Communities (LGCs) in Taipei. Sixty clusters were randomly selected using probability proportional sampling (PPS) to obtain 30 Australian clusters and 30 Taiwanese clusters. In this study, the 30 (areas) by 7(people) method was used with an additional strategy. The variables were measured including: culture (vertical and horizontal individualism and collectivism), attitude towards life (the total score of optimism), social networks (the total score of emotional, informational, affectionate, tangible, and positive social interaction) and quality of life (physical, psychological, social, and environmental health), social demographical factors and religion and spiritualty. The data analysis procedure included descriptive, bivarite and multivariate multiple regressions and classifications and regression trees (CART). A comparison of the linear regression and regression tree results were discussed. All data analysis was performed by SPSS and S-Plus softwares. Results The overall response rate for the study was 84.2% for midlife Australian men and women and 88.4% for midlife Taiwanese men and women this resulted in 278 Australians (45.3% men) and 398 Taiwanese (35.4% men) providing data to be analysed. Findings in this study indicated country of residence has an overwhelming impact on quality of life with significant differences seen between midlife Australian and Taiwanese men and women (F4, 666= 59.31, P< .001). Results suggest midlife Australian men and women have a better quality of life than midlife Taiwanese men and women. In addition, a comparison of the linear regression and regression tree results reveals that two models identified the same major affect variable for different countries of residence: which was attitude towards life in midlife Australians and social networks in midlife Taiwanese. However, regression trees were able to capture important nonlinear effects as well as interactions between cultural attribute variables. This study demonstrated culture significantly involves multiple functions and interacts with attitude towards life, social networks and individual factors to influence a person's quality of life. The interaction of cultural circumstances and the internal and external factors involved, show less comparative attributes and increased equality attributes, defining the need for people to have a good social networks and a healthy positive disposition. Conclusion Because of the ever increasing flexibility of world travel and a global population, people have much more opportunity to interact with many other cultures which would create improvement in learning opportunities and better health management effectiveness for people the world over. This study has addressed and contributed to the assessment of multi-cultural quality of life research and has important implications for all health professions in addition to government departments and organisational policy makers of both countries. And finally, this study has identified that there needs to be a concerted effort to implement major policy shifts in the near future because of the changing fabric of modern societies. At the same time technology and globalisation have advanced rapidly and point to new opportunities within and across countries for more diverse approaches in research and the implementation of policy initiatives to occur. This study has highlighted that opportunities exist to reflect on current policies for Australian and Taiwanese societies to provide enhanced opportunities to care for the growing midlife populations.

AFRIKAANS: In hierdie studie word daar na die narratiewe van Suid-Afrikaans gebore immigrante, wat hulself in Brisbane, Australië, gevestig het, geluister. Die plaaslike konteks word in die gereformeerde gemeente van Mansfield gevind en die ontwikkeling van diensbare leierskap word beskryf as deel van die kultuur van die gemeente wat fokus op die nood van immigrante. Die navorsing vind plaas vanuit ‘n epistemologie wat uit ‘n narratiewe benadering vloei. Die post-fundamentele teologiese posisionering inkorporeer die sosiale konstruksionisme, met die doel om ‘n dieper verstaan van die narratiewe navorsing te bewerkstellig. Die praxis word as die beginpunt van navorsing in hierdie post-fundamentele prakties-teologiese studie gesien. Die gevolg is dat eerstehandse kennis opgedoen en geïnterpreteer word deurdat die verhale van mede-navorsers aangehoor en beskryf word. Die plaaslike geloofsgemeenskap in Mansfield bied in-kontekstuele ervaringe wat deur die mede-navorsers vertel word en wat deur die tradisies van interpretasie beïnvloed word. Hierdie ervaringe word deur die aanstelling van respondente vanuit verskillende vakgebiede verder geïnterpreteer en betekenis word aan die verhale gegee in ‘n inter-dissiplinêre gesprek. Die inter-dissiplinêre gesprek word vanuit die teorie van transversale rasionaliteit gestimuleer en ‘n relevante literatuurstudie komplementeer die navorsingsproses en word in die studie geïntegreer. Aan die einde van die navorsingsproses word alternatiewe interpretasies en voorstelle gemaak wat dui op die konteks groter as net die plaaslike. Die navorsingsproses word dus ontwikkel vanuit ‘n post-fundamentele teologiese posionering met die doel om die narratiewe van immigrante aan die orde te stel. Hierdie narratiewe word geïnterpreteer en ‘n dieper verstaan word ontwikkel deurdat sekere diskoerse geïdentifiseer word deur ‘n proses van dekonstruksie. Kritiese vrae word gevra en die spesifieke temas vanuit die verhale word bespreek met die doel om die werklikheid van immigrasie te beskryf soos wat die mede-navorsers dit beleef. Die taalkwessie en hoe taal aangewend word om betekenis aan verhale te gee word bespreek. Die eie interpretasies van mede-navorsers word in opvolggesprekke getoets en die verhale word hierdeur toegelaat om te ontwikkel. Die geloofstaal en die taal van die twyfel van immigrante word aangehoor ten einde hulle belewenisse van die teenwoordigheid van God in hulle lewens tydens immigrasie te verstaan. Die ontwikkeling van Diensbare Leierskap word as ‘n natuurlike uitvloeisel van die immigrasieproses bespreek. Die immigrante beleef die diensbaarheid van die leiers in die gemeente van Mansfield positief. Hierdie studie vertel die verhale van immigrante wat deur die diensbaarheid van ander, self ook die kultuur van diensbaarheid aanneem en deelneem aan omgee-aksies om ander immigrante te bedien. Die literatuur oor diensbare leierskap wys self-leierskap, leierskap in spanverband, leierskapontwikkeling en strategiese leierskap uit as kritiese areas in die ontwikkeling van diensbare leierskap. Die gevolgtrekking op hierdie studie is dat diensbare leierskap as ‘n integrale deel van gelowige immigrasie verstaan word en dat dit intensioneel deel vorm van die leierskapkultuur in ‘n immigrant-vriendelike gemeente. Die voorstel wat hieruit voortvloei is dat verskillende gemeentes en kerkverbande kan baat by die aanwending van diensbare leierskap binne die konteks van immigrasie. ENGLISH: In this study narratives of immigration are listened to and described from the local context of the Christian Reformed Church, Mansfield in Brisbane, Australia. The development of servant leadership is described as part of the culture of the congregation. The congregation focuses on the needs of immigrants as an immigrant-friendly church. The research approach in this study flows from an epistemology based on a narrative theory. The post foundational approach incorporates social constructionism as part of the process in exploring a deeper meaning of the stories told by immigrants. Within this framework of post foundational practical theology, the praxis is the starting point of research. This consists of local knowledge, described and interpreted by the co-researchers and informed by traditions of interpretation. The experiences of co-researchers are interpreted on a second level with the appointment of four interdisciplinary respondents. The respondents take part in an interdisciplinary conversation and they each contribute from their field of experience. This is done by using transversal rationality and the in-context experiences are thickened through interdisciplinary investigation. Furthermore, a study of relevant literature is introduced and added to the conversation. At the end of the research process some suggestions and alternative interpretations that point beyond the local context, are made. The research process is therefore developed from a post foundational theological positioning with the aim of describing immigration narratives and interpreting these narratives in order to facilitate a deeper knowledge and insight into the immigration process. Different discourses will be explored by asking critical questions and using a process of deconstruction. The in-context experiences of co-researchers are the primary narrative and their interpretations of experiences will be studied. The language of co-researchers and how they use language will be discussed. Their own interpretations will be used as discussion points in follow up conversations and their narratives will therefore be allowed into a process of growth. Their language, pointing to their experience of the presence of God as well as their language of doubt in the process of immigration will be listened to. Servant leadership will be discussed as an integral part of immigration for believers. The stories of the co-researchers reveal servant leadership in many different forms as part of the culture of the congregation in Mansfield. The narratives show the co-researchers becoming part of the ministry of servant leaders in the congregation. Co-researchers experience the influence of the servant leadership of others in their lives and tell stories of how their needs as immigrants are met by the servant leaders in the congregation. The literature on servant leadership points to self leadership, team leadership, leadership development and strategic leadership as relevant themes to be explored. The conclusion of this study shows servant leadership as an integral part of immigration and that an intentional focus on a culture of servanthood will benefit an immigration friendly congregation. The proposal following from this study is to engage other congregations and churches in a conversation on the effect of servant leadership within the context of immigration. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Practical Theology / unrestricted