Knowledge bank
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| Jeff Axup |
Postgraduate research is booming at UQ and students are winning widespread acclaim for the quality and integrity of their projects
Imagine backpacking with access to up-to-the minute information on your destination from someone you have never met but might even be able to catch up with when you arrive.
Jeff Axup believes this is possible through his “mobile information sharing” project which allows people to electronically share their experiences with other travellers while they are on the road. Mr Axup said his research, done through the Interaction Design Research Division in the School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, would ultimately lead to developing software applications that could be used on existing and future mobile phones and communicators.
“We are looking at ways for communities, or in this case backpackers, to communicate in a timely and immediate way,” Mr Axup said.
“But instead of hoping to find the right person by chance, you could be notified when you are near them, or be able to rapidly search travel diaries of relevant people.
“What we are looking at is not really a replacement for guidebooks, travel agents or bulletin boards, but rather an extension or addition to existing methods to make the travelling experience richer and more rewarding.”
A Queensland theatrical producer was not just expecting criticism from her audience of a play she produced in June, she actively encouraged it.
Caroline Heim produced Anne of the Thousand Days at the Brisbane Powerhouse as part of her PhD research into audience reception theory.
It was the first time the Maxwell Anderson play, depicting the turbulent relationship between King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, had been produced in Australia in more than 50 years.
A professional actress with New York and Sydney credits, Ms Heim studied the reaction of the audience and the interaction between the audience and the play, holding symposiums afterwards to critically discuss production values.
She said her thesis in theatre theory was about interaction with all of the different texts and public discourses including the play, the program and the posters. Ms Heim chose the play for her study because she wanted to attract an audience that would provide the broadest response possible.
“I also wanted a play that wasn’t very well known even though the story is well known. It’s a relationship play so it speaks to the audience,” she said.
Doing business in a globalised economy is not as complex or challenging as some economists and analysts say.
UQ Business School PhD student Tim Kastelle has shown that technological advances and the rise of China and India have hardly changed the structure of the world’s trade networks over the past six decades. Mr Kastelle made his finding after two months collecting and sorting International Monetary Fund data from 1938 to 2003.
He counted the number of trade links between countries and then used network analysis in an effort to measure globalisation.
“Most economies trade with eight to 12 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) nations and with their close neighbors,” Mr Kastelle said.
“And that pattern hasn’t changed substantially since 1938.
“People have a perception that there have been dramatic changes in the nature of international trade in recent years, but this view is not supported by the data.
“Businesses don’t need a completely different rule book since globalisation, they just might need to add a page or two.”
The United States, Germany, France, United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, China, Japan, and Belgium were found to be the most well-connected trading nations.
“Canada and Mexico are the least connected, reflecting their reliance on the United States under the North American Free Trade Agreement,” Mr Kastelle said
His study found that old trade and seafaring routes were still valuable and that 1938, just prior to World War II, was the least globalised time in the last 150 years.
Traditional Chinese exercises could play a significant role in preventing Australia’s spiralling diabetes rate.
PhD student Liu Xin, a Qigong and Tai Chi master, developed the series of diabetes-control exercises for Australia’s first clinical trial evaluating the effectiveness of traditional Chinese exercises in preventing diabetes.
A pilot study found that performing Qigong and Tai Chi significantly improved several indicators of metabolic syndrome including HbA1c, blood pressure, bodyweight and waist circumference.
Australia has one of the highest rates of diabetes in the developed world. An estimated 7.5 percent of adults aged 25 years and over have diabetes and a further 16 percent of adults are at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.
“The results of the study show that this specific program has a beneficial effect on indicators of glucose metabolism and may therefore play a role in developing secondary prevention strategies for Type 2 diabetes,” Mr Liu said.
During a three-month study, 11 people undertook a program including Qigong, a 5000-year-old self-healing art believed to help cleanse the body of toxins, restore energy and reduce stress.
The Diabetes Queensland Qigong Program, funded by the Diabetes Australia Research Trust, is being conducted at UQ’s School of
Human Movement Studies by Mr Liu, project leader Professor Wendy Brown and researchers Dr Yvette Miller and Dr Nicola Burton.
Mr Liu, who has studied Qigong and Tai Chi for more than 30 years, said the spiral movements of the specially designed exercises could stimulate the muscles more than conventional exercises, leading to greater uptake and utilisation of glucose.
“One of the most important results of the study was the significant reduction in waist-circumference measurement,” he said.
“Waist circumference is an indicator of central obesity, and is recognised as an important risk factor for developing many health problems including diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.”
