Application of acoustic emission technology in monitoring structure integrity of bridges

Bridges are an important part of a nation’s infrastructure and reliable monitoring methods are necessary to ensure their safety and efficiency. Most bridges in use today were built decades ago and are now subjected to changes in load patterns that can cause localized distress, which can result in bridge failure if not corrected. Early detection of damage helps in prolonging lives of bridges and preventing catastrophic failures. This paper briefly reviews the various technologies currently used in health monitoring of bridge structures and in particular discusses the application and challenges of acoustic emission (AE) technology. Some of the results from laboratory experiments on a bridge model are also presented. The main objectives of these experiments are source localisation and assessment. The findings of the study can be expected to enhance the knowledge of acoustic emission process and thereby aid in the development of an effective bridge structure diagnostics system.

Financial planning and well-being

The aim of this paper is to provide a review of the theoretical and research literature on the ways in which financial planning can enhance well-being. In reviewing the literature, the paper develops a conceptual framework for thinking about the extended value of financial planning, beyond financial outcomes, by examining the process of planning in the financial domain and its relationship to life satisfaction, living an intentional life, attainment of life goals, and the development of a sense of mastery. An essential element of psychological well-being is engagement in life tasks and roles. Planning can be considered a life management strategy that enables individuals to control and structure their lives. Having meaningful goals and the plans to achieve those goals enable individuals to experience higher levels of life engagement and well-being (MacLeod et al., 2008). Recent research on well-being suggests that domain-specific behaviours contribute to domain-specific satisfactions, which in turn contribute to an individual’s overall satisfaction with life (Easterlin, 2003; 2006). Thus changes in domain satisfaction, such as financial satisfaction, are likely to effect changes in life satisfaction.

Semantic oscillations : encoding context and structure in complex valued holographic vectors

In computational linguistics, information retrieval and applied cognition, words and concepts are often represented as vectors in high dimensional spaces computed from a corpus of text. These high dimensional spaces are often referred to as Semantic Spaces. We describe a novel and efficient approach to computing these semantic spaces via the use of complex valued vector representations. We report on the practical implementation of the proposed method and some associated experiments. We also briefly discuss how the proposed system relates to previous theoretical work in Information Retrieval and Quantum Mechanics and how the notions of probability, logic and geometry are integrated within a single Hilbert space representation. In this sense the proposed system has more general application and gives rise to a variety of opportunities for future research.

Cultural economic geography and global media studies : the rise of asian media capitals?

This paper considers the scope to develop an approach to the spatial dimensions of media and culture that is informed by cultural-economic geography. I refer to cultural-economic geography as that strand of research in the field of geography that has been informed on the one hand by the ‘cultural turn’ in both geographical and economic thought, and which focuses on the relationship between, space, knowledge and identity in the spheres of production and consumption, and on the other to work by geographers that has sought to map the scale and significance of the cultural or creative industries as new drivers of the global economy. The paper considers the extent to which this work enables those engaged with urban cultural policy to get beyond some of the impasses that have arisen with the development of “creative cities” policies derived from the work of authors such as Richard Florida as well as the business management literature on clusters. It will frame these debates in the context of recent work by Michael Curtin on media capitals, and the question of whether cities in East Asia can emerge as media capitals from outside of the US-Europe-dominated transnational cultural axis.

Toward a cultural economic geography of creative industries and urban development : introduction to the special issue on creative industries and urban development

The connections between the development of creative industries and the growth of cities was noted by several sources over the 2000s, but explanations relating to the nature of the link have thus far provide to be insufficient. The two dominant ‘scripts’ were those of ‘creative clusters’ and ‘creative/cities/creative class’ theories, but both have proved to be insufficient, not least because they privilege amenities-led, supply-drive accounts of urban development that fail to adequately situate cities in wider global circuits of culture and economic production. It is proposed that the emergent field of cultural economic geography provides some insights into redressing these lacunae, particularly in the possibilities for an original synthesis of cultural and economic geography, cultural studies and new strands of economic theory.

Mapping the territory of economic risk

It is widely contended that we live in a „world risk society‟, where risk plays a central and ubiquitous role in contemporary social life. A seminal contributor to this view is Ulrich Beck, who claims that our world is governed by dangers that cannot be calculated or insured against. For Beck, risk is an inherently unrestrained phenomenon, emerging from a core and pouring out from and under national borders, unaffected by state power. Beck‟s focus on risk's ubiquity and uncontrollability at an infra-global level means that there is a necessary evenness to the expanse of risk: a "universalization of hazards‟, which possess an inbuilt tendency towards globalisation. While sociological scholarship has examined the reach and impact of globalisation processes on the role and power of states, Beck‟s argument that economic risk is without territory and resistant to domestic policy has come under less appraisal. This is contestable: what are often described as global economic processes, on closer inspection, reveal degrees of territorial embeddedness. This not only suggests that "global‟ flows could sometimes be more appropriately explained as international, regional or even local processes, formed from and responsive to state strategies – but also demonstrates what can be missed if we overinflate the global. This paper briefly introduces two key principles of Beck's theory of risk society and positions them within a review of literature debating the novelty and degree of global economic integration and its impact on states pursuing domestic economic policies. In doing so, this paper highlights the value for future research to engage with questions such as "is economic risk really without territory‟ and "does risk produce convergence‟, not so much as a means of reducing Beck's thesis to a purely empirical analysis, but rather to avoid limiting our scope in understanding the complex relationship between risk and state.

Using economic data to reduce healthcare-acquired infection

In this issue Burns et al. report an estimate of the economic loss to Auckland City Hospital from cases of healthcare-associated bloodstream infection. They show that patients with infection stay longer in hospital and this must impose an opportunity cost because beds are blocked. Harder to measure costs fall on patients, their families and non-acute health services. Patients face some risk of dying from the infection.

Research-led educational renewal and economic-cultural convergence

The 'Queensland Model' grew out of three convergent agendas: educational renewal, urban redevelopment, and the Queensland state government's 'Smart State' strategy.

Australian consumers' attitudes about sports sponsorship during an economic downturn

This paper provides an overview of the prevailing attitudes held by Australian residents as they relate to sports sponsorship during a global financial downturn. A survey of 1,158 Australians assessed changes in attitudes from 2008 to 2009; then it addressed issues specific to the economic conditions of 2009. In general, Australians view sports sponsorship favourably.

Is the association between temperature and mortality modified by age, gender and socio-economic status?

Background: A number of studies have examined the relationship between high ambient temperature and mortality. Recently, concern has arisen about whether this relationship is modified by socio-demographic factors. However, data for this type of study is relatively scarce in subtropical/tropical regions where people are well accustomed to warm temperatures. Objective: To investigate whether the relationship between daily mean temperature and daily all-cause mortality is modified by age, gender and socio-economic status (SES) in Brisbane, Australia. Methods: We obtained daily mean temperature and all-cause mortality data for Brisbane, Australia during 1996–2004. A generalised additive model was fitted to assess the percentage increase in all deaths with every one degree increment above the threshold temperature. Different age, gender and SES groups were included in the model as categorical variables and their modification effects were estimated separately. Results: A total of 53,316 non-external deaths were included during the study period. There was a clear increasing trend in the harmful effect of high temperature on mortality with age. The effect estimate among women was more than 20 times that among men. We did not find an SES effect on the percent increase associated with temperature. Conclusions: The effects of high temperature on all deaths were modified by age and gender but not by SES in Brisbane, Australia.

Media Economics

A concise introduction to the key ideas and issues in the study of media economics, drawing on a broad range of case studies - from Amazon and Twitter, to Apple and Netflix - to illustrate how economic paradigms are not just theories, but provide important practical insights into how the media operates today. Understanding the economic paradigms at work in media industries and markets is vitally important for the analysis of the media system as a whole. The changing dynamics of media production, distribution and consumption are stretching the capacity of established economic paradigms. In addition to succinct accounts of neo-classical and critical political economics, the text offers fresh perspectives for understanding media drawn from two 'heterodox' approaches: institutional economics and evolutionary economics. Applying these paradigms to vital topics and case studies, Media Economics stresses the value – and limits – of contending economic approaches in understanding how the media operates today. It is essential reading for all students of Media and Communication Studies, and also those from Economics, Policy Studies, Business Studies and Marketing backgrounds who are studying the media. Table of Contents: 1. Media Economics: The Mainstream Approach 2. Critical Political Economy of the Media 3. Institutional Economics 4. Evolutionary Economics 5. Case Studies and Conclusions

Developing a motorcycle and scooter safety compendium for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)

Motorcycle and scooter crashes are significant contributors to road trauma in many low, medium and high income countries. The APEC Transportation Working Group has commissioned CARRS-Q to develop a compendium of best practice measures that can be used to reduce crashes, post-crash trauma and associated socio-economic costs. The compendium will be informed by findings from a literature review and an expert survey. The literature review examined motorcycle and scooter safety usage and fatalities along with socio-cultural factors which might influence safety in each economy. A discussion is provided regarding the processes involved in the expert survey and how this might be integrated with the findings from the literature review. The implications for developing the compendium are discussed as is the next step of a workshop to further disseminate findings. This will enable the identification of important motorcycle safety issues in APEC economies and implications for implementation of countermeasures.

A robust structure and motion replacement for bundle adjustment

This paper demonstrates the application of a robust form of pose estimation and scene reconstruction using data from camera images. We demonstrate results that suggest the ability of the algorithm to rival methods of RANSAC based pose estimation polished by bundle adjustment in terms of solution robustness, speed and accuracy, even when given poor initialisations. Our simulated results show the behaviour of the algorithm in a number of novel simulated scenarios reflective of real world cases that show the ability of the algorithm to handle large observation noise and difficult reconstruction scenes. These results have a number of implications for the vision and robotics community, and show that the application of visual motion estimation on robotic platforms in an online fashion is approaching real-world feasibility.

Structure of selected basic zinc/copper (II) phosphate minerals based upon near-infrared spectroscopy : implications for hydrogen bonding

The NIR spectra of reichenbachite, scholzite and parascholzite have been studied at 298 K. The spectra of the minerals are different, in line with composition and crystal structural variations. Cation substitution effects are significant in their electronic spectra and three distinctly different electronic transition bands are observed in the near-infrared spectra at high wavenumbers in the 12000-7600 cm-1 spectral region. Reichenbachite electronic spectrum is characterised by Cu(II) transition bands at 9755 and 7520 cm-1. A broad spectral feature observed for ferrous ion in the 12000-9000 cm-1 region both in scholzite and parascholzite. Some what similarities in the vibrational spectra of the three phosphate minerals are observed particularly in the OH stretching region. The observation of strong band at 5090 cm-1 indicates strong hydrogen bonding in the structure of the dimorphs, scholzite and parascholzite. The three phosphates exhibit overlapping bands in the 4800-4000 cm-1 region resulting from the combinations of vibrational modes of (PO4)3- units.

Pseudo-merohedral twinning in the structure of the hydrated 1:1 proton-transfer compound of 5-sulfosalicylic acid with 4-aminopyridine

The structure of the pseudo-merohedrally twinned crystal of the 1:1 proton-transfer compound of 5-sulfosalicylic acid (3-carboxy-4-hydroxybenzenesulfonic acid) with 4-aminopyridine: 4-aminopyridinium 3-carboxy-4-hydroxybenzenesulfonate sesquihydrate has been determined at 180 K and the hydrogen-bonding pattern is described. Crystals of the compound are monoclinic with space group P21/c, with unit cell dimensions a = 35.2589(8), b = 7.1948(1), c = 24.5851(5) Å, β = 110.373(2)o, and Z = 16. The monoclinic asymmetric unit comprises four cation-anion pairs and six water molecules of solvation with only the pyridinium cations having pseudo-symmetry as a result of inter-cation aromatic ring π-π stacking effects. Extensive hydrogen bonding gives a three-dimensional framework structure.