Post occupancy evaluations relating to discomfort glare : a study of green buildings in Brisbane

Glare indices have yet to be extensively tested in daylit open plan offices, as such there is no effective method to predict discomfort glare within these spaces. This study into discomfort glare in open plan green buildings targeted full-time employees, working under their everyday lighting conditions. Three green buildings in Brisbane were used for data collection, two were Green Star accredited and the other contained innovative daylighting strategies. Data were collected on full-time employees, mostly aged between 30 and 50 years, who broadly reflect the demographics of the wider working population in Australia. It was discovered 36 of the 64 respondents experienced discomfort from both electric and daylight sources at their workspace. The study used a specially tailored post-occupancy evaluation (POE) survey to help assess discomfort glare. Luminance maps extracted from High Dynamic Range (HDR) images were used to capture the luminous environment of the occupants. These were analysed using participant data and the program Evalglare. The physical results indicated no correlation with other developed glare metrics for daylight within these open plan green buildings, including the recently developed Daylight Glare Probability (DGP) Index. The strong influence of vertical illuminance, Ev in the DGP precludes the mostly contrast-based glare from windows observed in this investigation from forming a significant part of this index. Furthermore, critical assessment of the survey techniques used are considered. These will provide insight for further research into discomfort glare in the endeavour to fully develop a suitable glare metric.

Diagenesis in interplanetary dust - chondritic porous aggregate w7029-star-a

In previous Analytical Electron Microscope studies of extraterrestrial Chondritic Porous Aggregate (CPA) W7029* A, we have reported on the presence of layer silicates(Rietmeijer and Mackinnon, 1984a; Mackinnon and Rietmeijer, 1983) and metal oxides (Rietmeijer and Mackinnon, 1984a; Mackinnon and Rietmeijer, 1984). We present here a continuation ofthis detailed mineralogical study and propose a scenario which may account for the variety and types of phases observed in this CPA. At least 50% ofCPA W7029*A is carbonaceous material, primarily poorly graphitised carbon (POC) with morphologies similar to POC in acid residues of carbonaceous chondrites (Smith and Busek, 1981; Lumpkin, 1983). The basal spacing of graphite in CPA W7029*A ranges from 3.47-3.52 A and compares with doo, of graphite in the Allende residues (Smith and Buseck, 1981; Lumpkin, 1983). Low-temperature phases comprise - 20% of CPA W7029*A and include layer silicates, Bi,O" a-FeOOH(Rietmeijer and Mackinnon, 1984a; Mackinnon and Rietmeijer, 1983), BaSO.,.Ti.O, plates, pentlandite-violarite and bornite. Clusters of Mg-rich olivine and pyroxene make up - 12% of the aggregate...

Process for forming alumino-silicate derivatives

A process for the preparation of an amorphous alumino-silicate derivative which involves reacting a solid corresponding starting material with MOH where M is alkali metal or ammonium cation. The solid corresponding starting material may be selected from montmorillonite, kaolin, natural zeolite (e.g., clinoliptolite/heulandite) as well as illite, palygorskite and saponite and additional reactant MX wherein X is halide may be utilized in conjunction with MOH. The invention also includes alumino-silicate derivatives of the general formula M.sub.p Al.sub.q Si.sub.2 O.sub.r (OH).sub.s X.sub.t.uH.sub.2 O as well as alumino-silicate derivatives of the general formula M.sub.p Al.sub.q Si.sub.2 O.sub.r (OH).sub.s.uH.sub.2 O.

Green Star points obtained by Australian building projects

The green building trend has increased rapidly worldwide in recent decades as a means of addressing growing concerns over climate change and global warming and to reduce the impact of the building industry on the environment. A significant contribution in Australia is the use of a series of rating tools by the Green Building Council Australia (GBCA) for the certification of various types of buildings. This paper reviews the use of the Green Star system in Australian building construction, and investigates the potential challenges involved in acquiring the certification of Australian buildings by critically analysing a database of most recently certified GBCA projects. The results show that management-related credits and innovation-related credits are the easiest and most difficult respectively to obtain. Additionally, 6-Star green buildings achieve significantly higher points than other certified buildings in the Energy category. In contrast, 4 Star green buildings achieve more points in the Material category than 5 and 6 Star buildings. The study offers a useful reference for both property developers and project teams to obtain a better understanding of the rating scheme and consequently the effective preparation of certification documentation.

Star performers : task and contextual performance are components, but are they enough?

Identifying outstanding performers or ‘stars’ is a critical component of managing talent. However, organizational effectiveness in this area is limited by the current lack of guidance about the behaviour and characteristics of stars. We address this gap by combining a conceptual analysis with an empirical study involving 174 managers. Conceptually we examine the alignment of managers’ perceptions of outstanding performance with the well established task and contextual performance model and find this framework accounts for a core element in managers’ judgments about outstanding performers. However, a second, more qualitative approach finds that other dimensions including being self-directed, and a willingness to lead are also important. Our findings are consistent with a long-term trend toward identifying work effectiveness with highly discretionary, psychological and behavioural elements, and we consider the implications of this for the study and management of high level, individual effectiveness.

Forming a joint venture project team for multi-discipline engineering services in Australia

Joint venture design teams are formed to combine resources and expertise in order to secure multi-discipline engineering design services on major projects. Bringing together resources from two ordinarily competing companies to form one joint team is however challenging as each parent company brings to the project its own organisational culture, processes and team attitudes. This study examined the factors that impact on forming a successful joint venture project team. Three critical areas were identified from an extensive literature review; Joint Venture Arrangements, Parent Companies and Forming the Team; and a survey was conducted with professionals who have worked in joint venture project teams in the Australian building industry in order to identify factors that affected successful joint venture team formation, and the common lessons learnt. This study reinforced the importance of three key criteria - trust, commitment and compatibility - for partner alignment. The results also identified four key lessons learnt which included; selecting the right resources, enabling a collaborative working environment by way of project office, implementing an independent Joint Venture Manager, and allocating work which is best for project with fees reflecting risk where risk is disproportionate.

Science of winning soccer : emergent pattern-forming dynamics in association football

Quantitative analysis is increasingly being used in team sports to better understand performance in these stylized, delineated, complex social systems. Here we provide a first step toward understanding the pattern-forming dynamics that emerge from collective offensive and defensive behavior in team sports. We propose a novel method of analysis that captures how teams occupy sub-areas of the field as the ball changes location. We used the method to analyze a game of association football (soccer) based upon a hypothesis that local player numerical dominance is key to defensive stability and offensive opportunity. We found that the teams consistently allocated more players than their opponents in sub-areas of play closer to their own goal. This is consistent with a predominantly defensive strategy intended to prevent yielding even a single goal. We also find differences between the two teams' strategies: while both adopted the same distribution of defensive, midfield, and attacking players (a 4:3:3 system of play), one team was significantly more effective both in maintaining defensive and offensive numerical dominance for defensive stability and offensive opportunity. That team indeed won the match with an advantage of one goal (2 to 1) but the analysis shows the advantage in play was more pervasive than the single goal victory would indicate. Our focus on the local dynamics of team collective behavior is distinct from the traditional focus on individual player capability. It supports a broader view in which specific player abilities contribute within the context of the dynamics of multiplayer team coordination and coaching strategy. By applying this complex system analysis to association football, we can understand how players' and teams' strategies result in successful and unsuccessful relationships between teammates and opponents in the area of play.

STAR : Predicting recombination sites from amino acid sequence

Background Designing novel proteins with site-directed recombination has enormous prospects. By locating effective recombination sites for swapping sequence parts, the probability that hybrid sequences have the desired properties is increased dramatically. The prohibitive requirements for applying current tools led us to investigate machine learning to assist in finding useful recombination sites from amino acid sequence alone. Results We present STAR, Site Targeted Amino acid Recombination predictor, which produces a score indicating the structural disruption caused by recombination, for each position in an amino acid sequence. Example predictions contrasted with those of alternative tools, illustrate STAR'S utility to assist in determining useful recombination sites. Overall, the correlation coefficient between the output of the experimentally validated protein design algorithm SCHEMA and the prediction of STAR is very high (0.89). Conclusion STAR allows the user to explore useful recombination sites in amino acid sequences with unknown structure and unknown evolutionary origin. The predictor service is available from http://pprowler.itee.uq.edu.au/star.

Into darkness: A study of deviance in Star Trek

Purpose The purpose of this chapter is to analyse the deviant behaviour of individuals in organisations. Deviants are those who depart from organisational norms. A typology of perceived deviant behaviour is developed from the deviance literature, and subsequently tested. Methodology/approach Star Trek: Into Darkness text is qualitatively analysed as a data source. Three different character arcs are analysed in relation to organisational deviance. Starfleet is the specific, fictional, organisational context. Findings We found that the typology of deviance is conceptually robust, and facilitates categorisation of different types of deviant behaviour, over time. Research limitations/implications Deviance is socially ascribed; so better categorisation of such behaviour improves our understanding of how specific behaviour might deviate from organisational norms, and how different behaviours can mean individuals can be viewed positively or negatively over time. Further research might determine management responses to the different forms of deviance, and unpack the processes where individuals eschew ‘averageness’ and become deviants. Practical implications The typology advanced has descriptive validity to describe deviant behaviour. Social implications Social institutions such as organisations ascribe individual deviants, both negatively and positively. Originality/value This chapter extends our understanding of positive and negative deviance in organisations by developing a new typology of deviant behaviour. This typology has descriptive validity in understanding deviant behaviour. Our understanding of both positive and negative deviance in organisational contexts is enhanced, as well as the utility of science fiction literature in ethical analysis.

Toward a model for forming psychological safety climate in construction project management

The nature of construction projects and their delivery exposes participants to accidents and dangers. Safety climate serves as a frame of reference for employees to make sense of safety measures in the workplace and adapt their behaviors. Though safety climate research abounds, fewer efforts are made to investigate the formation of a safety climate. An effort to explore forming psychological safety climate, an operationalization of safety climate at the individual level, is an appropriate starting point. Taking the view that projects are social processes, this paper develops a conceptual framework of forming the psychological safety climate, and provides a preliminary validation. The model suggests that management can create the desired psychological safety climate by efforts from structural, perceptual, interactive, and cultural perspectives. Future empirical research can be built on the model to provide a more comprehensive and coherent picture of the determinants of safety climate.

Automated counting of the Northern Pacific Sea Star in the Derwent using shape recognition

A novel shape recognition algorithm was developed to autonomously classify the Northern Pacific Sea Star (Asterias amurenis) from benthic images that were collected by the Starbug AUV during 6km of transects in the Derwent estuary. Despite the effects of scattering, attenuation, soft focus and motion blur within the underwater images, an optimal joint classification rate of 77.5% and misclassification rate of 13.5% was achieved. The performance of algorithm was largely attributed to its ability to recognise locally deformed sea star shapes that were created during the segmentation of the distorted images.

Double star chopper cell converter for battery electric vehicles with inter-module SoC balancing and fault tolerant control

A modularized battery system with Double Star Chopper Cell (DSCC) based modular multilevel converter is proposed for a battery operated electric vehicle (EV). A design concept for the modularized battery micro-packs for DSCC is described. Multidimensional pulse width modulation (MD-PWM) with integrated inter-module SoC balancing and fault tolerant control is proposed and explained. The DSCC can be operated either as an inverter to drive the EV motor or as a synchronous rectifier connected to external three phase power supply equipment for charging the battery micro-packs. The methods of operation as inverter and synchronous rectifier with integrated inter-module SoC balancing and fault tolerant control are discussed. The proposed system operation as inverter and synchronous rectifier are verified through simulations and the results are presented.

Facebook: A basis for forming a peer learning community for nursing students in a bioscience unit

First year nursing students commonly find bioscience to be challenging. A Facebook community site was established to support and engage these students. The site was facilitated by virtual peer mentors and the unit coordinator. The high participation rate and the strong recommendation to future students indicated that the site successfully enabled student interaction and engagement with their learning. The students found it to be a readily accessible network and valued the useful resources and learning strategies provided by their peers. The sharing of both learning challenges and successful learning practices can help students build a sense of belonging and an understanding of academic practices and behaviours that can contribute to their learning success at university.

Synthesis and luminescent properties of star-burst D-Pi-A compounds based on 1,3,5-triazine core and carbazole end-capped phenylene ethynylene arms

Two new star-burst compounds based on 1,3,5-triazine core and carbazole end-capped phenylene ethynylene arms (1a and 1b) were synthesized and characterized. Their photophysical properties were investigated systematically via spectroscopic and theoretical methods. Both compounds exhibit strong 1π–π⁎ transitions in the UV region and intense 1π–π⁎/intramolecular charge transfer (1ICT) absorption bands in the UV–vis region. Introducing the carbazole end-capped phenylene ethynylene arm on the 1,3,5-triazine core causes a slight bathochromic shift and enhanced molar extinction coefficient of the 1π–π⁎/1ICT transition band. Both compounds are emissive in solution at room temperature and 77 K, which exhibit pronounced positive solvatochromic effect. The emitting state could be ascribed to 1ICT state in more polar solvent, and 1π–π⁎ state in low-polarity solvent. The high emission quantum yields (Φem=0.90~1.0) of 1a and 1b (in hexane and toluene) make them potential candidates as efficient light-emitting materials. The spectroscopic studies and theoretical calculations indicate that the photophysical properties of these compounds can be tuned by the carbazole end-capped phenylene ethynylene arm, which would also be useful for rational design of photofunctional materials.