Infrastructure project planning decision making : challenges for decision support system applications

Most infrastructure projects share the same characteristics in term of management aspects and shortcomings. Human factor is believed to be the major drawbacks due to the nature of unstructured problems which can further contribute to management conflicts. This growing complexity in infrastructure projects has shift the paradigm of policy makers to adopt Information Communication Technology (ICT) as a driving force. For this reason, it is vital to fully maximise and utilise the recent technologies to accelerate management process particularly in planning phase. Therefore, a lot of tools have been developed to assist decision making in construction project management. The variety of uncertainties and alternatives in decision making can be entertained by using useful tool such as Decision Support System (DSS). However, the recent trend shows that most DSS in this area only concentrated in model development and left few fundamentals of computing. Thus, most of them were found complicated and less efficient to support decision making within project team members. Due to the current incapability of many software aspects, it is desirable for DSS to provide more simplicity, better collaborative platform, efficient data manipulation and reflection to user needs. By considering these factors, the paper illustrates four challenges for future DSS development i.e. requirement engineering, communication framework, data management and interoperability, and software usability

Joseph A. Schumpeter, capitalism, socialism, and democracy

This is a review of "Capitalism, socialism, and democracy", by Joseph A. Schumpeter, New York, Harper Perennial, 1942 (first Harper Colophon edition published 1975). "The public mind has by now so thoroughly grown out of humor with it as to make condemnation of capitalism and all its works a foregone conclusion – almost a requirement of the etiquette of discussion. Whatever his political preference, every writer or speaker hastens to conform to this code and to emphasize his critical attitude, his freedom from ‘complacency’, his belief in the inadequacies of capitalist achievement, his aversion to capitalist and his sympathy with anti-capitalist interests. Any other attitude is voted not only foolish but anti-social and is looked upon as an indication of immoral servitude." We might easily mistake this for a voice weary of contemplating the implications for neo-liberal nostrums of our current global financial crisis were it not for the rather formal, slightly arch, style and the gender exclusive language. It was in fact penned in the depths of World War II by Harvard economist Joseph Schumpeter, who fell off the map only to re-emerge from the 1970s as oil shocks and stagflation in the west presaged the decline of the Keynesian settlement, as east Asian newly industrialising economies were modelling on his insistence that entrepreneurialism, access to credit and trade were the pillars of economic growth, and as innovation became more of a watchword for post-industrial economies in general. The second coming was perhaps affirmed when his work was dubbed by Forbes in 1983 – on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the birth of both men – as of greater explanatory import than Keynes’. (And what of our present resurgent Keynesian moment?)...

Crowd Counting Using Multiple Local Features

In public venues, crowd size is a key indicator of crowd safety and stability. Crowding levels can be detected using holistic image features, however this requires a large amount of training data to capture the wide variations in crowd distribution. If a crowd counting algorithm is to be deployed across a large number of cameras, such a large and burdensome training requirement is far from ideal. In this paper we propose an approach that uses local features to count the number of people in each foreground blob segment, so that the total crowd estimate is the sum of the group sizes. This results in an approach that is scalable to crowd volumes not seen in the training data, and can be trained on a very small data set. As a local approach is used, the proposed algorithm can easily be used to estimate crowd density throughout different regions of the scene and be used in a multi-camera environment. A unique localised approach to ground truth annotation reduces the required training data is also presented, as a localised approach to crowd counting has different training requirements to a holistic one. Testing on a large pedestrian database compares the proposed technique to existing holistic techniques and demonstrates improved accuracy, and superior performance when test conditions are unseen in the training set, or a minimal training set is used.

Bearing-only SLAM : a vision-based navigation system for autonomous robots

To navigate successfully in a previously unexplored environment, a mobile robot must be able to estimate the spatial relationships of the objects of interest accurately. A Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) sys- tem employs its sensors to build incrementally a map of its surroundings and to localize itself in the map simultaneously. The aim of this research project is to develop a SLAM system suitable for self propelled household lawnmowers. The proposed bearing-only SLAM system requires only an omnidirec- tional camera and some inexpensive landmarks. The main advantage of an omnidirectional camera is the panoramic view of all the landmarks in the scene. Placing landmarks in a lawn field to define the working domain is much easier and more flexible than installing the perimeter wire required by existing autonomous lawnmowers. The common approach of existing bearing-only SLAM methods relies on a motion model for predicting the robot’s pose and a sensor model for updating the pose. In the motion model, the error on the estimates of object positions is cumulated due mainly to the wheel slippage. Quantifying accu- rately the uncertainty of object positions is a fundamental requirement. In bearing-only SLAM, the Probability Density Function (PDF) of landmark position should be uniform along the observed bearing. Existing methods that approximate the PDF with a Gaussian estimation do not satisfy this uniformity requirement. This thesis introduces both geometric and proba- bilistic methods to address the above problems. The main novel contribu- tions of this thesis are: 1. A bearing-only SLAM method not requiring odometry. The proposed method relies solely on the sensor model (landmark bearings only) without relying on the motion model (odometry). The uncertainty of the estimated landmark positions depends on the vision error only, instead of the combination of both odometry and vision errors. 2. The transformation of the spatial uncertainty of objects. This thesis introduces a novel method for translating the spatial un- certainty of objects estimated from a moving frame attached to the robot into the global frame attached to the static landmarks in the environment. 3. The characterization of an improved PDF for representing landmark position in bearing-only SLAM. The proposed PDF is expressed in polar coordinates, and the marginal probability on range is constrained to be uniform. Compared to the PDF estimated from a mixture of Gaussians, the PDF developed here has far fewer parameters and can be easily adopted in a probabilistic framework, such as a particle filtering system. The main advantages of our proposed bearing-only SLAM system are its lower production cost and flexibility of use. The proposed system can be adopted in other domestic robots as well, such as vacuum cleaners or robotic toys when terrain is essentially 2D.

Deepening our understanding about school leadership : learning from educators and non-educators

Increasingly, leadership is argued as a way forward to improve performance and practice in a variety of contexts. School leadership is no different. There is little doubt that in the current globalised world characterized by change and complexity, effective school leadership is a key requirement. The contribution of this chapter is framed around a synthesis of current research, writing and theoretical insights regarding leadership. It draws upon three bodies of writing, Firstly, it begins by distilling several key themes and trends regarding educational leadership from the current research and writing. Secondly, it reports on the findings of a current research project carried out by the authors that explored the leadership stories of ten outstanding leaders from non-educational settings in Australia. Finally, it concludes by referring to some of the paradoxes and tensions inherent in the work of school leaders. It is argued that understanding and endeavouring to reconcile these dilemmas is a pre-requisite for school leaders as they continue to operate in an environment fraught with change and complexity.

Designing for engagement : building IT systems

Context The School of Information Technology at QUT has recently undertaken a major restructuring of their Bachelor of Information Technology (BIT) course. Some of the aims of this restructuring include a reduction in first year attrition and to provide an attractive degree course that meets both student and industry expectations. Emphasis has been placed on the first semester in the context of retaining students by introducing a set of four units that complement one another and provide introductory material on technology, programming and related skills, and generic skills that will aid the students throughout their undergraduate course and in their careers. This discussion relates to one of these four fist semester units, namely Building IT Systems. The aim of this unit is to create small Information Technology (IT) systems that use programming or scripting, databases as either standalone applications or web applications. In the prior history of teaching introductory computer programming at QUT, programming has been taught as a stand alone subject and integration of computer applications with other systems such as databases and networks was not undertaken until students had been given a thorough grounding in those topics as well. Feedback has indicated that students do not believe that working with a database requires programming skills. In fact, the teaching of the building blocks of computer applications have been compartmentalized and taught in isolation from each other. The teaching of introductory computer programming has been an industry requirement of IT degree courses as many jobs require at least some knowledge of the topic. Yet, computer programming is not a skill that all students have equal capabilities of learning (Bruce et al., 2004) and this is clearly shown by the volume of publications dedicated to this topic in the literature over a broad period of time (Eckerdal & Berglund, 2005; Mayer, 1981; Winslow, 1996). The teaching of this introductory material has been done pretty much the same way over the past thirty years. During this period of time that introductory computer programming courses have been taught at QUT, a number of different programming languages and programming paradigms have been used and different approaches to teaching and learning have been attempted in an effort to find the golden thread that would allow students to learn this complex topic. Unfortunately, computer programming is not a skill that can be learnt in one semester. Some basics can be learnt but it can take many years to master (Norvig, 2001). Faculty data typically has shown a bimodal distribution of results for students undertaking introductory programming courses with a high proportion of students receiving a high mark and a high proportion of students receiving a low or failing mark. This indicates that there are students who understand and excel with the introductory material while there is another group who struggle to understand the concepts and practices required to be able to translate a specification or problem statement into a computer program that achieves what is being requested. The consequence of a large group of students failing the introductory programming course has been a high level of attrition amongst first year students. This attrition level does not provide good continuity in student numbers in later years of the degree program and the current approach is not seen as sustainable.

Sewage disposal and wildlife health in Antarctica

Sewage and its microbiology, treatment and disposal are important to the topic of Antarctic wildlife health because disposal of untreated sewage effluent into the Antarctic marine environment is both allowed and commonplace. Human sewage contains enteric bacteria as normal flora, and has the potential to contain parasites, bacteria and viruses which may prove pathogenic to Antarctic wildlife. Treatment can reduce levels of micro-organisms in sewage effluent, but is not a requirement of the Environmental Protocol to the Antarctic Treaty (the Madrid Protocol). In contrast, the deliberate release of non-native organisms for any other reason is prohibited. Hence, disposal of sewage effluent to the marine environment is the only activity routinely undertaken in Antarctica knowing that it will likely result in the release of large numbers of potentially non-native species. When the Madrid Protocol was negotiated, the decision to allow release of untreated sewage effluent was considered the only pragmatic option, as a prohibition would have been costly, and may not have been achievable by many Antarctic operators. In addition, at that time the potential for transmission of pathogens to wildlife from sewage was not emphasised as a significant potential risk. Since then, the transmission of disease-causing agents between species is more widely recognised and it is now timely to consider the risks of continued discharge of sewage effluent in Antarctica and whether there are practical alternatives.

In search of a hidden long-term isolated sub-chondritic 142Nd/144Nd reservoir in the deep mantle : implications for the Nd isotope systematics of the Earth

Here we search for evidence of the existence of a sub-chondritic 142Nd/144Nd reservoir that balances the Nd isotope chemistry of the Earth relative to chondrites. If present, it may reside in the source region of deeply sourced mantle plume material. We suggest that lavas from Hawai’i with coupled elevations in 186Os/188Os and 187Os/188Os, from Iceland that represent mixing of upper mantle and lower mantle components, and from Gough with sub-chondritic 143Nd/144Nd and high 207Pb/206Pb, are favorable samples that could reflect mantle sources that have interacted with an Early-Enriched Reservoir (EER) with sub-chondritic 142Nd/144Nd. High-precision Nd isotope analyses of basalts from Hawai’i, Iceland and Gough demonstrate no discernable 142Nd/144Nd deviation from terrestrial standards. These data are consistent with previous high-precision Nd isotope analysis of recent mantle-derived samples and demonstrate that no mantle-derived material to date provides evidence for the existence of an EER in the mantle. We then evaluate mass balance in the Earth with respect to both 142Nd/144Nd and 143Nd/144Nd. The Nd isotope systematics of EERs are modeled for different sizes and timing of formation relative to ε143Nd estimates of the reservoirs in the μ142Nd = 0 Earth, where μ142Nd is ((measured 142Nd/144Nd/terrestrial standard 142Nd/144Nd)−1 * 10−6) and the μ142Nd = 0 Earth is the proportion of the silicate Earth with 142Nd/144Nd indistinguishable from the terrestrial standard. The models indicate that it is not possible to balance the Earth with respect to both 142Nd/144Nd and 143Nd/144Nd unless the μ142Nd = 0 Earth has a ε143Nd within error of the present-day Depleted Mid-ocean ridge basalt Mantle source (DMM). The 4567 Myr age 142Nd–143Nd isochron for the Earth intersects μ142Nd = 0 at ε143Nd of +8 ± 2 providing a minimum ε143Nd for the μ142Nd = 0 Earth. The high ε143Nd of the μ142Nd = 0 Earth is confirmed by the Nd isotope systematics of Archean mantle-derived rocks that consistently have positive ε143Nd. If the EER formed early after solar system formation (0–70 Ma) continental crust and DMM can be complementary reservoirs with respect to Nd isotopes, with no requirement for significant additional reservoirs. If the EER formed after 70 Ma then the μ142Nd = 0 Earth must have a bulk ε143Nd more radiogenic than DMM and additional high ε143Nd material is required to balance the Nd isotope systematics of the Earth.

Measuring episodic memory: A novel approach with an indefinite number of alternative forms

Both clinical practice and clinical research settings can require successive administrations of a memory test, particularly when following the trajectory of suspected memory decline in older adults. However, relatively few verbal episodic memory tests have alternative forms. We set out to create a broad based memory test to allow for the use of an essentially unlimited number of alternative forms. Four tasks for inclusion in such a test were developed. These tasks varied the requirement for recall as opposed to recognition, the need to form an association between unrelated words, and the need to discriminate the most recent list from earlier lists, all of which proved useful. A total of 115 participants completed the battery of tests and were used to show that the test could differentiate between older and younger adults; a sub-sample of 73 participants completed alternative forms of the tests to determine test-retest reliability and the amount of learning to learn.

Behaviour and design of cold-formed steel compression members at elevated temperatures

Cold-formed steel members have been widely used in residential, industrial and commercial buildings as primary load bearing structural elements and non-load bearing structural elements (partitions) due to their advantages such as higher strength to weight ratio over the other structural materials such as hot-rolled steel, timber and concrete. Cold-formed steel members are often made from thin steel sheets and hence they are more susceptible to various buckling modes. Generally short columns are susceptible to local or distortional buckling while long columns to flexural or flexural-torsional buckling. Fire safety design of building structures is an essential requirement as fire events can cause loss of property and lives. Therefore it is essential to understand the fire performance of light gauge cold-formed steel structures under fire conditions. The buckling behaviour of cold-formed steel compression members under fire conditions is not well investigated yet and hence there is a lack of knowledge on the fire performance of cold-formed steel compression members. Current cold-formed steel design standards do not provide adequate design guidelines for the fire design of cold-formed steel compression members. Therefore a research project based on extensive experimental and numerical studies was undertaken at the Queensland University of Technology to investigate the buckling behaviour of light gauge cold-formed steel compression members under simulated fire conditions. As the first phase of this research, a detailed review was undertaken on the mechanical properties of light gauge cold-formed steels at elevated temperatures and the most reliable predictive models for mechanical properties and stress-strain models based on detailed experimental investigations were identified. Their accuracy was verified experimentally by carrying out a series of tensile coupon tests at ambient and elevated temperatures. As the second phase of this research, local buckling behaviour was investigated based on the experimental and numerical investigations at ambient and elevated temperatures. First a series of 91 local buckling tests was carried out at ambient and elevated temperatures on lipped and unlipped channels made of G250-0.95, G550-0.95, G250-1.95 and G450-1.90 cold-formed steels. Suitable finite element models were then developed to simulate the experimental conditions. These models were converted to ideal finite element models to undertake detailed parametric study. Finally all the ultimate load capacity results for local buckling were compared with the available design methods based on AS/NZS 4600, BS 5950 Part 5, Eurocode 3 Part 1.2 and the direct strength method (DSM), and suitable recommendations were made for the fire design of cold-formed steel compression members subject to local buckling. As the third phase of this research, flexural-torsional buckling behaviour was investigated experimentally and numerically. Two series of 39 flexural-torsional buckling tests were undertaken at ambient and elevated temperatures. The first series consisted 2800 mm long columns of G550-0.95, G250-1.95 and G450-1.90 cold-formed steel lipped channel columns while the second series contained 1800 mm long lipped channel columns of the same steel thickness and strength grades. All the experimental tests were simulated using a suitable finite element model, and the same model was used in a detailed parametric study following validation. Based on the comparison of results from the experimental and parametric studies with the available design methods, suitable design recommendations were made. This thesis presents a detailed description of the experimental and numerical studies undertaken on the mechanical properties and the local and flexural-torsional bucking behaviour of cold-formed steel compression member at ambient and elevated temperatures. It also describes the currently available ambient temperature design methods and their accuracy when used for fire design with appropriately reduced mechanical properties at elevated temperatures. Available fire design methods are also included and their accuracy in predicting the ultimate load capacity at elevated temperatures was investigated. This research has shown that the current ambient temperature design methods are capable of predicting the local and flexural-torsional buckling capacities of cold-formed steel compression members at elevated temperatures with the use of reduced mechanical properties. However, the elevated temperature design method in Eurocode 3 Part 1.2 is overly conservative and hence unsuitable, particularly in the case of flexural-torsional buckling at elevated temperatures.

Sustainable urban futures : an ecological approach to sustainable urban development

In recent years, cities show increasing signs of environmental problems due to the negative impacts of urban activities. The degradation and depletion of natural resources, climate change and development pressure on green areas have become major concerns for cities. In response to these problems, urban planning policies have shifted to a sustainable focus and authorities have begun to develop new strategies for improving the quality of urban ecosystems. An extremely important function of an urban ecosystem is to provide healthy and sustainable environments for both natural systems and communities. Therefore, ecological planning is a functional requirement in the establishment of sustainable built environment. With ecological planning human needs are supplied while natural resources are used in the most effective and sustainable manner. And the maintenance of ecological balance is sustained. Protecting human and environmental health, having healthy ecosystems, reducing environmental pollution and providing green spaces are just a few of the many benefits of ecological planning. In this context, the paper briefly presents a short overview of the importance of the implementation of ecological planning into sustainable urban development. Furthermore, the paper defines the conceptual framework of a new method for developing sustainable urban ecosystems through ecological planning approach. In the future of the research, this model will be developed as a guideline for the assessment of the ecological sustainability in built environments.

Ecological perspectives and wellness

Since the industrial revolution, the development of a lifestyle lived predominantly indoors has resulted in less contact with nature. Research over the last twenty years has gradually been identifying the human health benefits attributed to re-connecting with the natural environment. The significance of feeling connected to natural environments, families and friends are described as a foundational requirement for human health and wellbeing (Maller et al., 2008). Also, the early findings of Schultz‟s (2002) work indicated that by feeling connected to the natural world a person is more likely to be committed to positively interact with and protect the natural world. Research on young people has indicated that young people are even more disconnected from the natural world. Leading some writers to call this disconnection a crisis termed “Nature Deficit Disorder.” Participants (n = 131) from 1st year university Physical Education and Human Movement Studies were asked to complete two questionnaires the Connectedness to Nature scale (CNS) (Mayer & Frantz, 2004) and the New Ecological Paradigm Scale (NEP) (Dunlap, Van Liere, Mertig, & Jones, 2000). The NEP and CNS are two scales most commonly used to explore beliefs and feelings of connectedness to the natural world (Schultz, 2002). The NEP was developed over thirty years ago by Dunlap and Van Liere (1978) and originally termed the New Environmental Paradigm. The NEP is now the foremost International tool for measuring beliefs about the natural world (Dunlap, 2008). The CNS measures an individual‟s trait levels of emotional connection to the natural world. It is a relatively new tool for understanding ecological behaviour based on ecopsychology theory and employed to predict behaviour (Mayer and Frantz, 2004). Both questionnaires are based on a 1-5 scale (Strongly disagree to Strongly agree). By combing both scales the researchers aim to develop a snap shot of beliefs and emotional feelings towards the natural world and therefore an idea of intended behaviour. The two questionnaires were combined as one online survey with additional material asking for demographics and self assessments of type of leader included before the surveys. An email inviting outdoor leaders to participate was sent out to networks and interest groups. A basic descriptive statistical analysis was used to interpret data.

Internships in marketing: Goals, structures and assessment - student, company and academic perspectives

Work-integrated learning in the form of internships is increasingly important for universities as they seek to compete for students, and seek links with industries. Yet, there is surprisingly little empirical research on the details of internships: (1) What they should accomplish? How they should be structure? (3) How students performance should be assess? There is also surprisingly little conceptual analysis of these key issues, either for business internships in general. or for marketing internships in particular. Furthermore, the "answers" on these issues may differ depending upon the perspective if the three stakeholders: students, business managers and university academics. There is not study in the marketing literature which surveys all three groups on these important aspects of internships. To fill these gaps, this paper discusses and analyses internships goals, internship structure, and internship assessment or undergraduate marketing internships, and then reports on a survey of the views of all three stakeholder groups on these issues. There are a considerable variety of approaches for internships, but generally there is consensus among the stake holder groups, with some notable differences. Managerial implication include recognition of the importance of having and academic aspects in internships; mutual understanding concerning needs and constraints; and the requirement that companies, students, and academics take a long-term view of internship programs to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes.

Towards an automatic road lane marks extraction based on ISODATA segmentation and shadow detection from large-scale aerial images

The automatic extraction of road features from remote sensed images has been a topic of great interest within the photogrammetric and remote sensing communities for over 3 decades. Although various techniques have been reported in the literature, it is still challenging to efficiently extract the road details with the increasing of image resolution as well as the requirement for accurate and up-to-date road data. In this paper, we will focus on the automatic detection of road lane markings, which are crucial for many applications, including lane level navigation and lane departure warning. The approach consists of four steps: i) data preprocessing, ii) image segmentation and road surface detection, iii) road lane marking extraction based on the generated road surface, and iv) testing and system evaluation. The proposed approach utilized the unsupervised ISODATA image segmentation algorithm, which segments the image into vegetation regions, and road surface based only on the Cb component of YCbCr color space. A shadow detection method based on YCbCr color space is also employed to detect and recover the shadows from the road surface casted by the vehicles and trees. Finally, the lane marking features are detected from the road surface using the histogram clustering. The experiments of applying the proposed method to the aerial imagery dataset of Gympie, Queensland demonstrate the efficiency of the approach.

Control and protection of a microgrid with converter interfaced micro sources

This paper describes protection and control of a microgrid with converter interfaced micro sources. The proposed protection and control scheme consider both grid connected and autonomous operation of the microgrid. A protection scheme, capable of detecting faults effectively in both grid connected and islanded operations is proposed. The main challenge of the protection, due to current limiting state of the converters is overcome by using admittance relays. The relays operate according to the inverse time characteristic based on measured admittance of the line. The proposed scheme isolates the fault from both sides, while downstream side of the microgrid operates in islanding condition. Moreover faults can be detected in autonomous operation. In grid connected mode distributed generators (DG) supply the rated power while in absence of the grid, DGs share the entire power requirement proportional to rating based on output voltage angle droop control. The protection scheme ensures minimum load shedding with isolating the faulted network and DG control provides a smooth islanding and resynchronization operation. The efficacy of coordinated control and protection scheme has been validated through simulation for various operating conditions.