Improving Productivity in Emergency Service Personnel. Emergency service personnel experience marked levels of lost productivity, absenteeism, early retirements, and compensation claims as a result of stress reactions. This project aims to improve productivity and reduce compensation costs in emergency service organisations by evaluating a program that reduces stress reactions and increases cognitive functioning in police, firefighters, and paramedics in NSW. An individual program will be admini ....Improving Productivity in Emergency Service Personnel. Emergency service personnel experience marked levels of lost productivity, absenteeism, early retirements, and compensation claims as a result of stress reactions. This project aims to improve productivity and reduce compensation costs in emergency service organisations by evaluating a program that reduces stress reactions and increases cognitive functioning in police, firefighters, and paramedics in NSW. An individual program will be administered to 120 emergency service personnel who have difficulty maintaining their work duties because of stress reactions. Expected outcomes will be reduction in absenteeism, improved productivity, and reduced costs to insurers.
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Beyond Speech: Towards better communication for children with hearing loss. Despite the benefits of early newborn hearing screening and early intervention programs for children with hearing loss, most still experience academic and social challenges at school. This is partly due to ongoing listening effort, leading to communicative breakdown. This project aims to identify the locus of the communicative challenges these children face during daily discourse interactions. The outcomes will identify ....Beyond Speech: Towards better communication for children with hearing loss. Despite the benefits of early newborn hearing screening and early intervention programs for children with hearing loss, most still experience academic and social challenges at school. This is partly due to ongoing listening effort, leading to communicative breakdown. This project aims to identify the locus of the communicative challenges these children face during daily discourse interactions. The outcomes will identify which levels of language are most compromised and will inform future interventions to reduce children’s listening effort. This will be undertaken by bringing together researchers in basic science with hearing service providers, parents and industry, providing an innovative model for solving multidisciplinary challenges.Read moreRead less
The ABC’s of listening and learning: a study in the Northern Territory. Indigenous Australian children experience middle ear disorders earlier in life and for longer periods than their non-Indigenous counterparts. The resulting listening challenges can have implications for academic achievement and future health and well-being, despite normal hearing thresholds. The current project aims to determine the effects of pervasive otitis media and related hearing loss on Indigenous children’s listening ....The ABC’s of listening and learning: a study in the Northern Territory. Indigenous Australian children experience middle ear disorders earlier in life and for longer periods than their non-Indigenous counterparts. The resulting listening challenges can have implications for academic achievement and future health and well-being, despite normal hearing thresholds. The current project aims to determine the effects of pervasive otitis media and related hearing loss on Indigenous children’s listening and pre-literacy skills in the Northern Territory, and how to better identify those at most risk for poor educational outcomes. The findings will lead to policy recommendations to help improve these children’s learning potential.Read moreRead less
Optimising lasers for ablation of structurally complex solid non-metals. This project aims to take the latest developments in fibre laser technology to create a new ablation system for precision cutting and reshaping of structurally complex non-metal materials. Fibre lasers provide high quality beams, high average power, and precise pulse timing. Guided by the composition of the material and its response to incident mid-infrared light, the project will create a tailored laser beam to provide ac ....Optimising lasers for ablation of structurally complex solid non-metals. This project aims to take the latest developments in fibre laser technology to create a new ablation system for precision cutting and reshaping of structurally complex non-metal materials. Fibre lasers provide high quality beams, high average power, and precise pulse timing. Guided by the composition of the material and its response to incident mid-infrared light, the project will create a tailored laser beam to provide accurate and high-rate ablation. The expected outcomes include minimal damage to the surrounding area and a level of precision not possible with any mechanical alternative. The project will provide long term benefits to the aerospace and healthcare industries and, be a boost to Australia’s manufacturing sector.Read moreRead less