p 378.9431
~ueensland
University Technol
Newsp~~
Issue No. 50
-7Oft 1989
O.U.T. llBRARY
Queensland University of Technology 2 George Street Brisbane Q. 4000 Telephone (07) 223 2111
Registered by Australia Post- Publication No. QBF 4778 30 November 1989
Study to investigate common human parasite
QUT medical parasitologist, As- Despite the threadworm's "Threadworms have been suspected IOOOOeggsaroundtheanuswhichthen sociate Professor john Welch, has prevalence, no definitive study on its of causing large bowel problems and in- can become irritated and itchy.
received a $60 000 commercial grant transmission or survival outside a host itiating appendicitis, especially in Children could scratch the area caus- to study the ~orld's most common ha?, been c?nducted. children, but this has never been ing reinfection and secondary inf~ction
human paras1te -threadworm A prehmmary study by a QUT proven. where scratching creates sores.
Pfizer, a large pharmaceutical ~om- honours student this year i?dicated that "The worms are often found in dis- A final ear student ro ·ect in pany, put up the money m recogmtwn the worm does not surv1ve for long sected appendix, but that's not to say p f Wy 1 h' D pt J 1 f
f h. ·b · · 1 · · d ·d h h " Pr f ro essor e c s epar men o
o IS contn ut10n to paras1to ogy In per10 s outs1 e t e ost, o essor they will cause infection," Professor M d" 1 L b S . 1 k d
A Ira!"
w
1 h ·d "' 1 h ·d e 1ca a oratory CJence oo eus Ja. . e c sm · vve c sal · at the transmission and incidence of
Thre.adworm (Enterob1us ver- He will use the funds to employ a He hopes the research will also en- threadworm in Brisbane kinder arten miculans), also called pmworm, IS PhD or masters student to extend thiS compass threadworm immunology. aged h"ld g
thought to infect more than 90 percent study. . c 1
ren. .
of the world's population at some point The researcher will also investigate No study has investigated whether Michelle Collop~n and Cathenne
in their lives. ways to disinfect contaminated areas adults develop an immunity to thread- Sherry d1ag. nosed children at randomly
worm infection. 1 d k d h R 1
Children are the most likely hosts. and study the mode of action of avail- se ecte , In erg.artens and t e oya
"Although it is not dangerous, it is able treatments. "''ll be asking why the incidence of Children s Hospital.
associated with bedwetting, irritability The research should indicate how threadworm infection is higher in The pair took scrapings from under and abdominal pains in children and ap- best to diagnose and treat threadworm children than in adults," he said. children's fingernails and perianal
pendicitis. in the future. The most commonly accepted swabs.
"It's hard to diagnose, but drugs and One area of concentration will be the answer to the question hinges on child From the information the students worm treatments exist which easily rid incidence of the worm in irritated and hygiene standards and the threadworm concluded that threadworm eggs under the person of the worms once detected," inflamed large bowels and the appen- reproductive cycle. , fingernails were a mode of reinfection
Professor Welch said. dix. The female worm lays as many as and transmission. Professor John Welch
A newly hatched threadworm, usually one millimetre long, is magnified here approximately 470 times.
State fund gives QUT
$120 000 for courses
The new Queensland Tertiary Education Foundation (QTEF) will give QUT $120 000 in 1990 to ex- tend the Survey Practice course to interstate and overseas students.
The one-year Graduate Diploma in Surveying Practice is the only course in Australia to qualify graduate sur- veyors for a surveying licence.
The QTEF was established as a joint initiative between the State Government and industry to en- courage and promote the develop- ment and expansion of tertiary education and training.
This is the first QTEF-approved grant.
Survey Practice course coor- dinator, Mr Brian Hannigan, said the course, which started in 1988, was an initjative involving the Queensland surveying industry and QUT.
"QTEF's recognition will enable
this cooperation to extend interstate and overseas," he said.
Of the additional $387 000 needed to expand the course in its first year, the QTEF will provide
$120 000, administered through the QUT Foundation.
The remaining required money will be provided from fees and in- dustry donations.
This will allow for an extra 20 stu- dents - I 0 from interstate and I 0 in- ternational students.
The QTEF could extend funding in 1991 and 1992 if a further QUT submission is accepted.
The extended course will bring substantial benefits to Queensland, including the promotion of innova- tive and entrepreneurial activities in land-related industries, the develop- ment of a knowledge base to estab- lish export opportunities and the development of managerial and
technical skills in the land manage- ment workforce.
Mr Hannigan said land manage- ment skills and land information handling methods were available to land managers in industry.
However, the majority of inter- state and international land manage- ment professionals lacked the train- ing and skills to embrace the new technology. The extended courses would change this.
He said: "The course concentrates on business and management aspects, rather than research. We train people in these skills and the use of technology."
The course - one third academic and two thirds practical - covers mapping, all types . of surveys (cadastral, engineering, buiJding control and detail); professional practice, computing, project management and office operatjons.
·.~ . .
Party forms the foundation for a
QUT Chancellor, Mr Vic Pullar, and Santa are pictured at the QUT Founda- tion members' Christmas party, held on
14 November.
About 100 members attended the celebration on campus, which was heralded a success.
Organisers, preoccupied with the festive season's cleansing powers, sought the sponsorship of Spotless
catering and hired a four piece jazz band called Squeeky Clean.
The swinging foursome bellowed out a rocking rendition of "Oh come all ye faithful''.
Santa Claus, alias Mr Henk Smit, husband of Ms Gwen Smit, Develop- ment Office secretary, handed out candy and good cheer to the guests.
Academic salaries big issue for 90s
Contrary to what some people in private enterprise may think, academics work hard. They also make an extremely valuable contribution to society. However, they are poorly paid compared with their colleagues in the professions.
This situation is so marked in some disciplines that universities at present just cannot fill vacancies, let alone with gifted academics.
Governments at state and national levels have now accepted that universities must make a major contribution to the economic regeneration of Australia and have challenged higher education to work towards this national goal. OUT has accepted the challenge.
OfT staff worked hard. In 1989, OUT staff have worked harder to meet demand- ing goals in teaching, research and community service. All OUT staff can take pride in our 1989 accomplishments. The university looks forward to exciting developments and growth in the 1990s.
But in order to grow and to maintain our quality of output, we must be able to retain existing staff and recruit new staff. Indeed if higher education is to meet community and government ex- pectations of its contribution to Australia's economic future, it must be seen to be providing worthwhile careers for able people. Universities must give a fair day's pay for a good day's work and governments must ac- cept this. Academic salaries, I believe, is one of the major issues facing higher education in the 1990s.
I wish all staff, students and other readers a merry Christmas and a relaxing holiday to prepare you for the start of the new decade.
Professor Dennis Gibson
NSw QUT Council
The new Council of QUT met for the first time on 30 November, electing Mr Vic Pullar as Chancellor and Mr Kevin Davies as Deputy Chancellor.
The Council comprises:
QUT Vice-Chancellor Professor Dennis Gibson. State Government appointees
Mr Vic Pullar (Chairman, South Bank Corporation), Mr Kevin Davies (Sur- veyor General), Dr Mary Mahoney (State Director, Royal Australian College of General Practitioners Family Medicine Program), Mrs Betty Byrne Henderson (Governing Director, Byrne Ford Pty Ltd), Dr David Fraser (Medical Superin- tendent, Royal Children's Hospital), Miss Merline Muldoon (School Principal, State Special School, Royal Children's Hospital), Mr Bill Siganto (Company Director, Siganto and Stacey Pty Ltd), Mr Neil Watson (Executive General Manager, Queensland Country Division of Telecom Australia).
Director General's nominee Mr John Dwyer (Chief Inspector, Department of Education).
Elected staff
Dr Doug Blackmur (School of Management), Mr Trevor Lewis (Department of Physics), Associate Professor Gill Palmer (Key Centre in Strategic Management), Mr Bill Ryan (Staff Development Officer).
Elected convocation members Mr Malcolm Cathcart (Partner, Hall Brown and Stephens), Mr Paul Mc- Gahan (Warehouse and Distribution Manager, Castlemaine Perkins Ltd).
Students
Mr Mike Kennedy, Mr Jonathan Klupp.
QUTwas required under its Actto have a new council in office by 31 December 1989. If the proposed merger with B ris- bane College~of Advanced Education proceeds, a council will be appointed rep- resentative of the expanded institution.
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US public relations expert's international view relieved PR students' cultural bias
QUT's first adjunct professor in communication, public relations ex- pert Professor Dennis Wilcox, will return to America in December. "In- side QUT" spoke to him and the Head of Communication, Professor Bruce Molloy, about adjunct profes- sorships.
* * *
Professor Bruce Molloy says visiting professors foster a healthy self- criticism within the host institution.
He said: "QUT had Queensland's first school in public relations and ad- vertising. Many of our lecturers were trained here and so there is the danger
· of being inward looking and avoiding self-criticism."
He believed Adjunct Professor Den-
nis Wilcox's six month stay had helped call into question basic public relations assumptions.
However, Professor Molloy ad- mitted there were some problems in catering for an adjunct professor.
"A visiting academic must wrestle with cultural differences and adapt to local rules and customs," he said.
This extended to the lecture theatre where the academic had to strive to use Australian examples to stress points rather than examples from another culture.
Professor Wilcox said the problem was more difficult to tackle than first expected.
"Australian libraries are full of public relations texts written overseas," he said.
"The first two years of a four year program are devoted to general studies and, because full-time and part-time students hold the same status and pay equal fees, they tend to take longer to finish a course," Professor Wilcox said.
However, he said the technical skills of QUT students amazed him.
"There will be ·a few aspects of QUT's course I will try to emulate.
"Teaching our students to work on the technical aspects of the 'Spartan Daily' student newspaper production earlier in the course will be one aspect."
Both professors agreed that compar- ing the two public relations courses re- quired caution.
Graduate profile: Engineer helped form local multi-million dollar computer firm
"Using American texts could lead to students only recognising public rela- tions issues which will not affect Australia."
He believes Australian students lack a "world view", and that the structure of tertiary education in the United States offers broader study and en- courages travel.
"The American PR environment i more sophistica~ than tie -1 as evolved over the last 40 years, whereas Australian PR education is only about 16 years old," Professor Molloy said.
Professor Wilcox will return to San Jose University where he is coordinator of the public relations degree program in the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication.
QUT 1981 electrical engineering graduate, Mr Tony Merenda, was in- strumental in establishing a Brisbane computer company which recently opened an office in Silicon Valley.
A major part of Anvil Designs busi- ness is producing performance enhan- cements for UNIX operating systems - a part of the computer software from which other application programs can be run. The operating system on most personal computers is DOS.
QUT and Anvil Designs last month won $44 000 in support through the Federal Government's National Teach- ing Company Scheme to conduct fur- ther UNIX research.
Mr Merenda began his career as a hardware design engineer with Hartley Computers. The company won an Australian Design Award for a UNIX system.
In 1985 he joined forces with another QUT graduate, Mr Kim Laurie, to es- tablish Anvil Designs. The pair first sold IBM compatibles to make money.
A year later the infant company began to design computer products.
In 1987 Mr Merenda, his wife and Anvil Design's president, Mr Bob Wal- die, opened a small US office.
"It was difficult to portray a profes- sional atmosphere when at your dis- posal was two people in a three metre square office," he admitted.
In two years the company's employee numbers have grown from seven to 50, 13 of whom work in the United States.
Mr Merenda, Anvil's Director of In- ternational Business, said the firm was a leader in the computer technology race but needed greater sales and marketing support to win further points.
He said international sales would play a large part in the company's fu- ture and to secure success Anvil had sought help from the QANTAS koala and fult size replicas of crocodiles and goanna.s at US and European travel shows.
The firm has even named its latesrtwo software programs after the notorious croc and the shy goanna or 'Monitor'.
His favourite memory of QUT was the final exam.
"It was only in fourth year that I realised why I was at QIT," Mr Merenda said.
He said the introduction of manufac- turing engineering subjects into the electronic systems course would be in- valuable.
"When you are building computers and computer products you need manufacturing knowledge and an idea of standards," he said.
Mr Tony Merenda, Anvil Director and OUT graduate.
INSIDE OUT, 30 November 1989
Letters to the editor
Great aim for QUT
At the recent inauguration ceremony, OUT's Chancellor, Mr Vic Pullar heartily endorsed the views of 19th century Herbert Spen- cer that "the great aim of education is not knowledge but action".
The celebrated biologist T H Hux- ley, for whom action is the stuff of life itself and not just the aim of a cultural process, said something similar. "The great end of life is not knowledge but action". So while these two eminent Victorians differ in ways, they express something close to OUT'S educational and so- cial ethic (which is optimistic, out- ward looking and utilitarian).
No one doubts that productive, skilled people at all levels of techni- cal, civic and commercial life are needed as much today in Australia as they were a century ago in Britain. Global competitiveness and the future of the economy depend on such people. Irrespective of what undergraduates learn, a university today is judged by the actions and acceptability of its graduates -it is held accountable for them by the government.
But what about their education?
A university always identifies knowledge either as a discipline or the path to a profession. A cur- riculum indicates the knowledge needed (the "know how" and "know what'J. Is this knowledge then no more than the means to an end? If true, then what is taught in the kinds
of courses offered at OUT (or another university) is probably not an important issue.
On the other hand intellectual vitality, informed judgement, in- tegrity and community awareness cannot be learned from any par- ticular kind of curriculum. Rather, these qualities have been drawn forth and practised in the process of education, as part of gaining knowledge. That is what "educa- tion" literally means. These qualities, as much as the know-how and know-what of the published cur- riculum, prepare a person for active participation in the community and we hope as a successful member of a profession.
OUT has dedicated staff and a tradition of community service. It can be confident in its mission to offer action based education and knowledge in every sense of the word. No further justification is necessary.
Dr Garth Everson
Thanks for votes
Thanks to the OUT staff who sup- ported my recent election to OUT Council. I see my role as a repre- sentative one and would encourage staff members to keep me informed of issues which ought to be con- sidered by the governing body of the university.
Dr Doug Blackmur
Student built MERV three- wheeled motorcycle is set for 1990 Shell economy run
A group of mechanical engineering students has combined complex tech- nology with design simplicity to build MERV, a milage economy run vehicle.
The motorised three-wheel bicycle was built to run in the Shell Milage
Marathon and should be the first Queensland vehicle to enter the com- petition.
The annual event, held in Sydney, pits custom built vehicles against time and a near square shaped 20 kilometre course. The vehicle which uses the least MERV students {from left), Glenn Doherty, Danny Markus, Brad Ryan and Jeffrey Young in the car.
QUT unit will test for household lead paint
QUT's forensic science unit has opened its doors to the public after household pets in Brisbane have been poisoned from chewing wood painted with old lead based paints.
The Analytical Electron Microscope Facility (AEMF) unit will conduct an inexpensive and quick test to determine if paint samples contain lead.
Unit supervisor, Dr David Allen, said the tests could help people identify dangerous areas of their house or work environments.
"Small children are also at danger be- cause they tend to chew what ever is in
their grasp and the renovation boom has seen handymen in the hundreds sand- ing old walls," he said.
AEMF researcher, Dr David Cousens, said home renovators could be the most likely victims.
"Lead was used in paint pigment before World War Two-the era when many of the older homes now being renovated would have last been painted.
"When sanding, the fine paint par- ticles could be inhaled," Dr Cousens said.
The symptoms of minor lead poison- ing are not easily identified and could be associated with a number of other ill- nesses. However, lead accumulates in
the body and in severe cases can result in serious nervous disorders.
To carry out the lead testing, AEMF researchers need only a tiny chip of paint.
"However, the sample must be deep enough to analyse even the original primer, so it must be taken back to the wood," Dr Cousens said.
"If we were to discover lead in the
samples then the home owner would be wise to remove the old paint - but by chemical stripping rather than sanding or burning the paint off," he said.
The AEMF unit can analyse any mineral, chemical or biological sample for identification. This includes plant and animal tissue, glass, ink, fibres and soil.
"We also check materials and products for quality control," Dr Allen said.
A QUT research team is set to test a range of firefighter's garments to determine which suit offers the best combination of comfort and protec- tion.
The State Fire Services which coor- dinates Queensland's fire brigades has granted QUT $31 000 to conduct the study.
QUT physics staff, Mr Trevor Lewis, Dr Bob Treffene and Associate Profes- sor Brian W Thomas, will carry out the tests with the help of research assistant, Mr Andrew Martin.
There is no Australian standard for firefighting suits and a variety of suits are being worn throughout Australia- a fact the fire services would like changed.
The research will concentrate on monitoring the physiological strain on firefighters wearing different out- fits.
They will don six different suits, ranging from woollen to synthetic, for
fuel to complete the event within a given time wins.
Senior lecturer, Mr Bob Nicol, said two groups of final year students had already worked on the vehicle as part of their fourth year project. The 1989 group were so enthusiastic that they had already seconded next year's stu- dents.
This year's team are Brad Ryan, Glenn Doherty, Harald Kemmetmuller and Tim Brown. They have worked primarily on designing the mechanics of MERV and constructing the body from a I 988 student design.
Notyetraceworthy,MERVmuststill have a 13.3cc model aircraft engine (converted to petrol) fitted before next year's event in September.
This motor will only be a temporary one to enable a group to enter the race in 1990. A further two students - Richard Andrei and Brian Lloyd - are designing two more fuel efficient en- gines for future years.
Brad Ryan explained that although the race was contested over 20 kilometres, results were altered to a reading of miles per gallon.
"The 1990 team should be able to get somewhere around 2000 miles to the gallon, but that's not competitive," he said.
That is expected to change after 1991 when the more fuel efficient engines are fitted.
When complete, the 30 kilogram vehicle will carry a single 50 kilogram person.
Drivers are traditionally female be- cause of size and weight constraints.
QUT may have to break the feminine stronghold - only one short female mechanical engineering student is available but she has not yet agreed to race.
Driving skill comes into play in the final result as well. On one section of the course drivers can coast down a hill saviag petrol before turning the vehicle back to climb the incline.
The frame of MERV, covered by a heat shrink film, is made from tubular aluminium. The vehicle has a single gear and is steered by a unique but simple lever mechanism designed and built by the students.
With the exception of a single wheel sprocket, the students have built the en- tire vehicle.
Glenn Doherty said: "We have al- ready spent more than $3000 - other competitors have sponsors."
Mr Nicol said another problem facing the project was continuity.
"Each year a new group of students must try to take on where last year's left off and there is always a long 'learning curve' which hinders progress," he said.
testing in a temperature controlled chamber at the fire service's Roma Street training centre.
Of the outfits, two are already in use in Queensland, two are manufac- tured in Victoria, another is made in Sydney and the last is American produced.
Mr Lewis said: "The problem is that the physical properties of the materials are well documented but the physiological affect on the wearer is not as well understood.
"Although protection from external heat is required, suits must also dis- sipate body heat, allow for good mobility and be lightweight," he said.
The team will monitor each firefighter's body temperature and heart rate in the hope of gaining a greater insight into each garment's suitability.
The funding has been administered through QUT's Office of Commercial Services.
Month by month
QUT has made a fashion statement with the release of new QUT polo shirts ($22.50), dropped-shoulder T-shirts ($14) and singlets ($12). An assortment of colours has been chosen to suit both the trendy wearer as well as the more conservative buyer, and each has an embroidered QUT logo on the front.
They are available from the Campus Shop. QUT ties are also available. Both will be marketed through the QUT Foundation at a discount to members.
Although growing, OUT's range of mementos cannot com- pete with the variety offered by some of the 'more established' institutions. Harvard University, for instance, offers its graduates a limited edition wallpaper emblazoned with the university shield. And maybe not surprisingly, Melbourne University alumni do a roaring trade in umbrellas!
* * *
Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research}, Professor Peter Coaldrake, changed gears on state election night from predictive mode to commenting on the election results as
a
member of the ABC television panel covering the elec- tion.In the lead-up to the election Professor Goa/drake's of- fice at QUT received scores of phone calls
a
week from journalists seeking his analytical comments. With the dynamics of this election, evena
daily tape recording would not have been practical.* * *
Dr Bill Dodd from Biology, on PEP leave in Bavaria, has had a healthy appetite for more than scientific knowledge while over- seas. The institute at which he is working is located in an old castle and houses the Grunbach brewery - noted for its wheat beer.
* * *
Newcomers QUT and Bond University are the only two Queensland institutions competing in "University Chal- lenge". The ABC ran trials at each of Australia's 25 univer- sities and hand picked the 12 universities which gained the highest trial score.
* * *
Senior lecturer in mechanical and manufacturing engineer- ing, Dr Doug Hargreaves, has been re-elected as chairman of the mechanical branch of the Institution of Engineers Queensland chapter. During the last year he has chaired a work- ing party on the occupational health and safety legislation.
* * *
QUT health administration lectul'ler ,.._,...,.._.._ . . .
~~-~·~
was elected President of the Medical Record Association of Australia on 3 November. The association is the nation- al policy and decision making body for the medical records profession in Australia.
Ms Mitchel came to QUT in 1984 when the medical records strand in the Bachelor of Business - Health Ad- ministration degree began.
* * *
There are now 840 professional people who lecture or tutor part-time at OUT. This is double the number of full-time academic staff employed at OUT.
Laser-bonded metal stronger than steel
A QUT engineer has laser-bonded metals and a ceramic to aluminium to produce materials which are har- der and more durable than steel.
Aluminium is a relatively soft metal in a pure state. "Hard facing" the metal gives it a wear resistant surface.
Senior lecturer in mechanical and manufacturing engineering, Mr Alan Crooks, said the material which most successfully bonded to the aluminium was silicon carbide (a ceramic).
"It could be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to car manufac- turers," he said.
Cast aluminium is used extensively in car engines. The hard facing process would increase the longevity of engine parts.
Mr Crooks said that although there were three car manufacturers in Australia, the technology could be ex- ported.
Japanese car makers impregnate silicon carbide with aluminium -a far more costly and difficult technique than hard facing.
The metal or ceramic -the hard face - is adhered to the aluminium using a very high powered laser beam capable of "melting" the two materials together.
Mr Crooks is one of five researchers in the world working on hard facing aluminium. He is convinced aluminium will be the metal of the 21st century.
He tried bonding 25 metal combina- tions to aluminium of which seven suc- cessfully bonded. After these he at-
tempted the silicon carbide bonding - the only one free from cracks.
Mr Crooks recently travelled to Ger- many to conduct the research because the process required a multi kilowatt laser. The largest laser in Australia is only 1.2 kilowatts.
This has convinced him that Australia needs two centres oflaser ex- cellence. One has already been estab- lished in New South Wales and QUT is the major contender for the other in Mr Crooks' eyes.
"Queensland is a dominant force in laser technology and research in Australia and QUT has unique exper- tise to offer.
"I have proposed that Australia's first laser technicians course be established at QUT. It could be a one year post- graduate course in the Applied Science field," he said.
Mr Crooks insisted that to ignore laser technology was to bypass next century's major industrial tool.
"Lasers and robots are going to be the production equipment of the future," he said.
Already lasers are used for eye opera- tions, sports medicine and a gamut of engineering applications.
"However, there are no training cour- ses on offer in Australia to teach profes- sionals to do vital maintenance work and adapt lasers for purposes other than what they were bought to do," M(
Crooks said.
INSIDE OUT, 30 November 1989 Page 3
Student designed television antenna has wide band to double performance
'Cocktail of poisons' offers vital clues to Ciguatoxin
A QUT student has designed a television antenna which can double the performance of available models.
Fourth year electrical engineering student, Robert Balmer, said the stand- ard model, called a Log Periodic Dipole
Array (LPDA}, was similar to his design but received a smaller bandwidth.
His antenna is wide band and can receive the entire VHF and UHF range. It is an improved design -both Final year electrical engineering student, Robert Balmer, examines his antenna prototype.
Hook/round worm infection is higher than expected: survey
A QUT medical parasitologist has discovered hookworm and roundworm infection in Australia is far more widely spread than general- ly accepted.
Head of Medical Laboratory Science, Professor John Welch, con- ducted a three year survey of Australian pathology laboratories to determine the incidence of infection.
"The standard literature says hook- worm and roundworm are restricted to the tropical and subtropical climates where there is adequate warmth and rain to encourage parasite transmis- sion," he said.
He found that 78 percent of cases oc- curred in the cold, dry and developed urban areas of southern Australia. And there had been a one-third increase in hookworm cases in Australia over the three year survey period.
"We have to watch this pattern to see if the increase will continue," Professor Welch said. "There is no reason for complacency."
Hookworm larvae burrow through the skin. Large numbers can cause anaemia and if great numbers reach the lung at once then pneuomonitis (in- flammation of the lung) can result.
Roundwonn, on the other hand, can cause a range of problems from minor liver complaints to pneumonia, and act as a trigger for asthma.
Professor Welch says these worms cause minimal damage if they remain in those areas of the body best suited to acting as host.
Problems arise when the worms migrate to unsuitable sections, such as the lungs and stomach.
For instance, roundworms which migrate to the stomach can be vomited up through the nose and mouth block- ing the respiratory tract.
There have been a number of fata!Uies from respiratory obstruction from tbundworm.
Professor Welch said doctors and pharmacists who see cases where they suspect threadworm infection should also keep roundworm and hookworm in mind.
"At some point the level of medi- cal and community awareness about these parasites must be raised," he said.
QUT will teach BCAE nurses
BCAE has contracted QUT to teach the 150 nursing students set to start at the college next year.
Deputy Vice-Chancellor of QUT, Professor Tom Dixon, said the con- tract was initially for one year as merger negotiations were in early stages and BCAE had not yet ap- pointed a full range of academic nurs- ing staff.
Professor Dixon said QUTwould ad- minister the science and nursing sec- tions of the first-year unit while BCAE would handle the social sciences sec- tions. Stafffrom both institutions would teach in either section.
Professor Dixon assured students entering first year in both institutions that the contract would not cause any logistic problems.
"A $2 million government grant has allowed us to modify theN ursing build- ing atQUT.
"Alterations are being made so the buildings can house QUT's first and second year nursing students in 1990 and 1991, so it follows that the 150 BCAE and 200 QUT first years will be comfortable," he said.
BCAE has also received a $4 million grant to construct a nursing building.
Work is anticipated to start early next year.
Page 4 INSIDE OUT, 30 November 1989
in performance and construction method.
"TV antennas sold in Australia before SBS TV was introduced did not receive the entire VHF band- only par- ticular frequencies in that band," Robert said. "New modified antennas which had a wider band were needed to receive SBS after its introduction."
The combined UHFNHF antennas allow people from regional areas such as the Gold Coast, to receive a Brisbane channel which they would not get on a VHF-only antenna.
Robert said that to be practical, his initial prototype would need to be reduced in length by a metre.
A second prototype was slightly shorter, less bulky and had less com- ponents than the first.
"The second prototype enforced my impressions that the design and con- struction methods used for the first were good and with a bit more development could be marketable," Robert said.
Robert designed the antenna as part of his final year project.
He came second in a recent Institu- tion of Engineers Australia seminar competition based on students' final year projects.
Robert has accepted a job with Honeywell in Sydney as a contracts en- gineer, which he got through the QUT Campus Interview Scheme. He was also offered three other jobs through the same program.
Next year's fourth year electrical en- gineering students will continue the an- tenna project.
A physiologist who recently visited QUT has set out to prove which toxins cause the fish-borne poisoning Ciguatera.
The illness is a major headache (and bellyache) for Queensland Spanish Mackerel and Barracuda lovers, al- though few deaths have been recorded locally.
Adjunct professor in Public Health and Nutrition, Professor Donald Miller, from Southern Illinois University, said particular organisms had been isolated as the manufacturers of Ciguatera toxins.
He said: "Researchers are starting to think it's a cocktail of poisons. Five or so single celled organisms are suspected of producing a range of toxins.
"They are passed to people through a process called biological magnifica- tion. The organisms are eaten and passed along the food chain to the larger fish.
"People then eat the larger fish which by now carry the toxins," Professor Miller said.
He, together with Illinois colleague Dr Donald Tindall, have set about isolating each organism and growing each type in sufficient numbers to ex- tract large amounts of toxin.
Identifying the toxins will be the first step in developing a cure.
"A major problem with Ciguatera identification is that there is no way to prove a person has ingested the poison.
"People complain of different symptoms and each symptom could be
associated with a number of diseases,"
Professor Miller said.
These include diarrhoea, nausea, tin- gling in the hands, burning sensations,
"even teeth feel like they're falling out of the sockets," he said.
The symptom which pointed most to Ciguatera poisoning was sensory temperature reversal.
Professor Miller, who visited QUT for two months until mid-November, gave a Ciguatera talk called "Death at the dinner table", a title reminiscent of an Agatha Christie murder mystery.
A newspaper article with the same headline told of a man in the Caribbean, a tourist mecca for Americans, who did not believe fish species banned from local restaurants carried Ciguatera. He was convinced the ban was for economic reasons.
To prove his claim he ate a Barracuda -and died.
QUT researchers from the Depart- ment of Public Health and Nutrition are also investigating Ciguatoxin.
Headed by Dr Mike Capra, the team is analysing Spanish Mackerel and Bar- racuda from Fraser Island to locate the source area of the poisoned fish.
While at QUT, Professor Miller and the QUT team studied the pharmacol- ogy of the toxins and their passage through the ecosystem, and visited the QUT study sites on Fraser and Heron islands.
The Fishing Industry Research and Development Cou nci I and the Queensland Department of Primary In- dustries supported Professor Miller's adjunct professorship.
QEC-backed project could save big money for electricity users
A final year engineering project could save the Queensland Electricity Commission, and hence the electricity consumer, hundreds of thousands of dollars.
QEC wants bearings - hollow cylinders which encase a rotating shaft - which are lubricated by water, rather than oil, to run in cooling water pumps at power stations.
Water lubricated bearings have been used before but only with limited suc- cess in cooling pumps and bearing failure costs up to $250 000 in shut down time and repairs.
Mechanical and manufacturing en- gineering student, Mr John Shephard, tested non-metallic journal bearings to determine what sort of bearing was best suited to the QEC task.
Without such tests it would be dif- ficult to choose the best bearing for the job and QEC would run a greater risk of mechanical failure in pumping equipment.
Senior lecturer, Dr Doug Hargreaves, said although oil was a better lubricant, a separate mechanical system would need to be built if oil was to lubricate the cooling pumps.
"On the other hand, the cooling water pump stations already use water," he said.
The student has tested four bearings made from different non-metallic com- posites.
"I've already given the QEC an ini- tial report which indicates which of the four showed the least wear during test- ing," John said.
Tests have been conducted on a spe- cially built rig-unique in being able to test water lubricated bearings under hostile conditions.
The bearing is fitted around a shaft.
The space between the bearing and shaft is then flooded and 400 kilograms of lead placed on top of an external housing, putting the bearing under a heavy load.
While the shaft rotates in the station- ary bearing, sand and mud particles in the water then begin to wear away the bearing.
In machinery where the b.earings are placed vertically the shaft and the bear- ing rotate together, although at different speeds. This condition is known as bearing whirl.
Dr Hargreaves believes the rig is the first capable of simulating both condi- tions.
A $16 000 Australian Electrical Re- search Board grant has helped finance commissioning and testing of the rig.
Dr Hargreaves and Associate Professor Will Scott are also working on a new method of evaluating bear- ing wear.
In this technique a diamond tipped stylus slides along the internal wall of the bearing. Measurements are taken prior to running the bearing for an ex-
tended period and then again after- wards.
The stylus is attached to a computer which digitises the readings of bearing wear.
"This eliminates having to weigh a bearing before and after doing the water lubricated testing.
"The problem with weighing the bearings is that some can absorb water during the test which makes the final weight reading inaccurate," Dr Hargreaves said.
Mechanical engineering student, Mr John Shephard, with the bearing test rig.
First house for the disabled will be built to QUT student's design
Brisbane's first house where people with disabilities can live without professional home care is to be built according to a QUT architec- ture student's design.
Ms Cathy Archer beat dozens of dis- tinguished architects' entries in a na- tional competition, organised by the Royal Australian Institute of Architects Queensland chapter.
The aim of the competition, the first of its kind in Australia, was to create af- fordable housing for people with dis- abilities, while maintaining the typical external features of a suburban home.
"Buildings which accommodate people with disabilities should not ob- viously do so," Ms Archer said.
The house, to be built on a suburban block at Sunnybank Hills, will accom- modate four people with disabilities, in- cluding people who are wheelchair bound.
Queensland Housing Commission (QHC) spokesperson, Mr Bob Rose, said the QHC had purchased the parcel of land and was awaiting pricing of con- struction costs before letting a contract.
If approved, it is proposed that Queensland Master Builders' appren- tices would construct the home.
The original competition brief re- quired the house be built to accom- modate four very specific, but hypothetical, individuals.
"I had to consider a female in a wheelchair, an agrophobic (someone afraid of open space), a deaf male and a dyslexic male," Ms Archer said.
She said this design had to be altered to suit the anonymity of the disabled oc- cupants of the Sunnybank home.
"Because every disabled person is different, the design had to be extreme- ly flexible," she said.
All four bedrooms will be wheelchair accessible, sliding doors will be used wherever possible, passageways will be wide and each bedroom will have a semi-private outdoor courtyard.
"The occupants will spend the greater part of their lives in and around the house - more so than the typical family," Ms Archer said.
She designed the house plan so that it could be mirrored to suit land where the street was to the south, east or west -only eliminating a northern street ac- cess.
The house is likely to be a display home for some months, with specially designed landscaping and interiors.
Graduate Diploma in Industrial Design students last semester designed prefabricated bathroom units. Lecturer,
Ms Vesna Popovic, said the students created 12 solutions to bathroom problems suggested by blind, wheel- chair-bound and disabled people.
It is hoped a prototype of the bathroom units will be incorporated if the display home goes ahead.
Ms Archer designed the house last year while doing full-time study. She now works part-time for Phillips Smith Conwell Architects, a long established firm which specialises in institutional and educational projects.
The QHC, QMBAand SEQEB spon- sored the competition.
Cathy Archer displays the winning plans for a house for people with dis- abilities being built in Sunnybank.
QUT bred crayfish could claw its way
into hungry Japan
A Japanese fmn has expressed interest in a QUT proposal to breed a Queensland crayfish for the lucra- tive seafood market in Japan.
Dean of Science, Professor Ron Gar- diner, visited Japan recently as part of an "around the world in 80 days" PEP leave trip.
He emphasised that the scheme had been recently suggested and that years of work lay ahead if it were ac- cepted.
QUT's Department of Biology has researched the Queensland red claw crayfish.
"If one was to farm the crayfish com- mercially then knowledge of its biology would be required - and QUT re- searchers now have that knowledge,"
Professor Gardiner said.
The population of the crayfish at QUT has slowly decreased over the last few months and their numbers would need significant boosting before the proposal could be con- sidered.
"I told contacts in Japan that QUT , was keen to help commercialise aquaculture ventures," Professor Gar- diner said.
Another problem exists - the Japanese seafood market is saturated with imported products.
"This is despite the Japanese being the largest seafood eaters in the world, either in dollar terms or by kilogram per head of population.
"Seafood is so popular that a whole university in Tokyo is dedicated to seafood research and education,"
Professor Gardiner said.
He said to gauge the crayfish popularity QUT could invite members of the local Japanese community to taste a crayfish dish.
"If their response was positive then maybe we could supply a Japanese res- taurant in Brisbane with crayfish, but once again we would need to build a larger population to maintain constant supply," he said.
Only after local success would the scheme look towards exporting con- signments to Japan.
Professor Gardiner also visited Taiwan, Malaysia, South Korea, America, Canada, the Netherlands, Britain and India.
Much of his time in North America and Asia was spent on recruiting over- seas students and identifying areas of collaboration with overseas tertiary in- stitutions.
"One country where I'm convinced good opportunities exist to recruit students is India, but firstly Australian institutions must over- come two prejudices they possess,"
he said.
He believed Australia did not recog- nise that schooling in India could be academically equivalent to that in Australia and that institutions of vary- ing quality operated in India as in the United States.
"Academics here are reluctant to ac- knowledge that there are good quality graduates and bad quality graduates from Indian institutions, but rather choose to believe all are substandard,"
Professor Gardiner said.
He said Australia was missing the boat because it did not offer financial incentives for overseas postgraduate students, while its undergraduate cour- ses were expensive.
"However, Australia allows overseas students to undertake part-time work, unlike the US," he said.
The people of San Francisco have been asking whether their recent earthquake was the big one which had been predicted. Seismologists have answered that a still larger one will come. QUT surveyor, Mr Sep Humphries, explains how the experts came to that conclusion.
anticipated to move over time as the fault became active, while the others remained stable.
helps survey student pass f ina l year exams
* * *
The study of specific faults, such as the destructive San Andreas fault, is im- perative in predicting the severity of earthquakes.
The earth's surface is covered with faults which may open or slide when an earthquake occurs. Numerous rock for- mations and geological characteristics, such as rock structures which are dis- continuous, can indicate where a fault line lies.
"Whenever a fault moves an earthquake occurs, although the move- ment could be too small to detect without equipment. On the other hand, the San Francisco quake was sufficient- ly large that recordings were made here in Brisbane about 20 minutes later," Mr Humphries said.
To determine the severity of a future earthquake, surveyors monitor the ex- tent of earth movement between the tec- tonic plates of each continent. (Con- sider each continent to be an iceberg with the largest portion under sea level.
This submerged section is that continent's tectonic plate.)
Markers are placed close to a fault line while others are established I 0 to 12 kilometres away. Each of these markers (pillars or brass plaques set into concrete) has a theodolite placed on top.
"Measurements are then taken be- tween each pair of markers-setting up a chain of triangles. From these, sur- veyors can measure the distance and angle between each pair," Mr Humphries said.
Those markers close to the fault were
Satellite recordings monitored the external markers to check that they did not move and then recorded the relative movements if they did.
"Each mark is measured for both horizontal and vertical movement.
"This method, called a geodetic survey, can register a movement of less than three centimetres over more than 10 kilometres in 30 seconds," he said.
From such data geologists and seis- mologists can determine the size of forthcoming earthquakes.
The larger the amount of relative movement recorded prior to an earthquake the bigger the quake is when it strikes.
In the case of San Francisco, the recent quake was not sufficiently severe to correlate with the size of the geodetic survey readings taken on the San Andreas fault.
Seismologists thus predict a larger earthquake will occur sometime in the future, although they do not know when.
Mr Humphries said no such surveys were carried out in Australia.
"Our tectonic plate is very old, making Australia a stable continent.
We have very few earthquakes," he said.
That is not to say none strike, however. An isolated part of the North- em Territory recorded an earthquake last year in which the earth moved five metres vertically.
"That's similar to the measurement of the recent San Francisco quake - it's just that we don't have cities built on our major faults," Mr Humphries said.
Minor faults have been found around Brisbane - an earthquake shook the Woodridge area a few years ago.
A surveying student has turned to Ancient Greek wisdom to help him through his final year.
Bernie Snodgrass decided to study the "development of the shape and size of the earth as thought of by the Ancient Greeks" for his final year project.
He concentrated on Eratosthenes, a second century BC scientist who was the first to formulate the earth's circum- ference - using a technique similar to that used today.
"He was out in his calculation only by about two percent; amazing when you consider that 250 years earlier Pythagoras was the first to state that the earth was a sphere.
"Before that the Greeks thought it was a disk floating in an endless sea,"
Bernie said.
He suggested that Eratosthenes had a colleague ride a camel from Alexandria to Syene and by calculating the speed of camel travel and the time the journey took, estimated the distance involved.
"Eratosthenes noted that no sun dial shadow was cast at Syene on the sum- mer solstice, putting that city on the Tropic of Cancer. A shadow was cast at Alexandria, however," he said.
"The amount the shadow differed be- tween each city allowing Eratosthenes to work out that the angle between the two was about seven degrees at the earth's centre.
"If the distance between Syene and Alexandria represented seven degrees then he could calculate the distance over the 360 degrees," Bernie said.
He hoped to reconstruct the exercise from Rockhampton, on the Tropic of Capricorn, to a western Queensland town but time defeated him.
His research also looked at other an- cient civilizations' perceptions of the earth and its evolution.
"The Hindu people, for instance, also believed that the earth was a disk but they thought the disk rested on the backs of three elephants which in turn stood on a turtle's back. The turtle rested in the sea," he said.
In this intriguing theory, earthquakes were explained away as the elephants' frustration at being bitten by fleas.
Surveying student Bernie Snodgrass standing before a paint- ing of Ancient Greek ruins -the in- spiration for his final year project.
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