Development of a practical design guide for balcony acoustic treatments

Balcony acoustic treatments can be demonstrated to provide important benefits in reducing road traffic noise within the balcony space and consequently internally for any adjacent room. The actual effect on road traffic noise is derived from a multitude of variables that can be broadly categorized into (a) acoustical and (b) geometrical for two distinct propagation volumes being (i) the street space, and (ii) the balcony space. A series of recent research activities in this area has incorporated the use of a combined image and diffuse source model, which can be used to predict the effect of balconies on road traffic noise for large number of scenarios. This paper investigates and presents a method and capability to summarize predictive data into user friendly guidelines aimed for use by acoustical professionals and architects and possible implementation in building design policies for environmental noise. The paper concludes with a presentation of the likely format of a potential design guide.

Metabolic and ecological study of environmental pentose utilizing bacteria (E-PUB)

Lignocellulosic materials, such as sugar cane bagasse, a waste product of the sugarcane processing industry, agricultural residues and herbaceous crops, may serve as an abundant and comparatively cheap feedstock for largescale industrial fermentation, resulting in the production of marketable end-products. However, the complex structure of lignocellulosic materials, the presence of various hexose and pentose sugars in the hemicellulose component, and the presence of various compounds that inhibit the organisms selected for the fermentation process, all constitute barriers that add to the production costs and make full scale industrial production economically less feasible. The work presented in this thesis was conducted in order to screen microorganisms for ability to utilize pentose sugars derived from the sugar mill industrial waste. A large number of individual bacterial strains were investigated from hemi-cellulose rich material collected at the Proserpine and Maryborough sugar mills, notably soil samples from the mill sites. The research conducted to isolation of six pentose-capable Gram-positive organisms from the actinomycetes group by using pentose as a sole carbon source in the cultivation process. The isolates were identified as Corynebacterium glutamicum, Actinomyces odontolyticus, Nocardia elegans, and Propionibacterium freudenreichii all of which were isolated from the hemicellulose-enriched soil. Pentose degrading microbes are very rare in the environment, so this was a significant discovery. Previous research indicated that microbes could degrade pentose after genetic modification but the microbes discovered in this research were able to naturally utilize pentose. Six isolates, identified as four different genera, were investigated for their ability to utilize single sugars as substrates (glucose, xylose, arabinose or ribose), and also dual sugars as substrates (a hexose plus a pentose). The results demonstrated that C. glutamicum, A. odontolyticus, N. elegans, and P. freudenreichii were pentose-capable (able to grow using xylose or other pentose sugar), and also showed diauxie growth characteristics during the dual-sugar (glucose, in combination with xylose, arabinose or ribose) carbon source tests. In addition, it was shown that the isolates displayed very small differences in growth rates when grown on dual sugars as compared to single sugars, whether pentose or hexose in nature. The anabolic characteristics of C. glutamicum, A. odontolyticus, N. elegans and P. freudenreichii were subsequently investigated by qualitative analysis of their end-products, using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). All of the organisms produced arginine and cysteine after utilization of the pentose substrates alone. In addition, P. freudenreichii produced alanine and glycine. The end-product profile arising from culture with dual carbon sources was also tested. Interestingly, this time the product was different. All of them produced the amino acid glycine, when grown on a combination substrate-mix of glucose with xylose, and also glucose with arabinose. Only N. elegans was able to break down ribose, either singly or in combination with glucose, and the end-product of metabolism of the glucose plus ribose substrate combination was glutamic acid. The ecological analysis of microbial abundance in sugar mill waste was performed using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and also the metagenomic microarray PhyloChip method. Eleven solid samples and seven liquid samples were investigated. A very complex bacterial ecosystem was demonstrated in the seven liquid samples after testing with the PhyloChip method. It was also shown that bagasse leachate was the most different, compared to all of the other samples, by virtue of its richness in variety of taxa and the complexity of its bacterial community. The bacterial community in solid samples from Proserpine, Mackay and Maryborough sugar mills showed huge diversity. The information found from 16S rDNA sequencing results was that the bacterial genera Brevibacillus, Rhodospirillaceae, Bacillus, Vibrio and Pseudomonas were present in greatest abundance. In addition, Corynebacterium was also found in the soil samples. The metagenomic studies of the sugar mill samples demonstrate two important outcomes: firstly that the bagasse leachate, as potentially the most pentose-rich sample tested, had the most complex and diverse bacterial community; and secondly that the pentose-capable isolates that were initially discovered at the beginning of this study, were not amongst the most abundant taxonomic groups discovered in the sugar mill samples, and in fact were, as suspected, very rare. As a bioprospecting exercise, therefore, the study has discovered organisms that are naturally present, but in very small numbers, in the appropriate natural environment. This has implications for the industrial application of E-PUB, in that a seeding process using a starter culture will be necessary for industrial purposes, rather than simply assuming that natural fermentation might occur.

Organisational innovativeness : the role of strategic orientation and environmental scanning

This study examined the effects of strategic orientation and environmental scanning on a firm’s propensity to innovate (organisational innovativeness). Previous research has mostly proposed descriptive and theoretical relationships between strategic orientation, environmental scanning and organisational innovation adoption (Beal, 2000; Jennings & Lumpkin, 1992; Raymond, Julien, & Ramangalahy, 2001). However, strategic orientation and environmental scanning, as distinct constructs, have not been empirically examined directly before in relation to organisational innovativeness. Furthermore the directionality of the relationship between strategic orientation and environmental scanning on organisational innovation adoption is still unclear (Hagen, Haile, & Maghrabi, 2003). For example, does scanning the environment result in certain types of organisational strategies, and these strategies in turn influence levels of organisational innovativeness? Or do certain types of strategic orientations pre-determine the levels of environmental scanning, and then this environmental scanning influences an organisation’s propensity to innovate? Therefore, this study using a more nuanced measure of strategic orientation; the Venkatraman’s (1989) STROBE framework of analysis, defensiveness, futurity, proactiveness, aggressiveness and riskiness, examined the directional effects of strategy and environmental scanning on organisational innovativeness Specifically, two competing models of directionality between strategic orientation and environmental scanning in relation to organisational innovativeness were proposed. Model 1 (Behavioural View) proposed that certain strategic orientation dimensions affect levels of environmental scanning, which in turn influences organisational innovativeness. In contrast, Model 2 (Open Systems view) proposed that environmental scanning affects the emphasis on certain strategic orientation dimensions, which in turn influences organisational innovativeness. Data was collected from 117 industrial firms and path analyses were used to test the two competing models. The results supported both models, suggesting a bi-directional relationship, as both models had adequate fit indices and significant paths with the data. However, overall Model 2 – the Open Systems Model had the stronger fit indices and stronger indirect effect compared to Model 1 – the Behavioural Model, suggesting that overall environmental scanning does not exert a strong direct effect on innovativeness but has more of a stronger indirect effect through the analysis and proactiveness strategic orientation dimensions. In sum, the thesis results suggest that firms’ that emphasise environmental scanning – that is continually seeking information from the environment about customers, markets, industry and new technology - are more likely to emphasise strategic orientations such as proactiveness – being innovative - and also analysis – being analytical and comprehensive in decision making - and both these strategic orientations in turn greatly influence these firms’ propensity to innovate. Discussion is given to these findings and implications are drawn for organisations and future research.

The diversity of interests in environmental governance : a challenge for the rule of law

The function of environmental governance and the principle of the rule of law are both controversial and challenging. To apply the principle of the rule of law to the function of environmental governance is perhaps even more controversial and challenging. A system of environmental governance seeks to bring together the range of competitive and potentially conflicting interests in how the environment and its resources are managed. Increasingly it is the need for economic, social and ecological sustainability that brings these interests – both public and private – together. Then there is the relevance of the principle of the rule of law. Economic, social and ecological sustainability will be achieved – if at all – by a complex series of rules of law that are capable of enforcement so as to ensure compliance with them. To what extent do these rules of law reflect the principle of the rule of law? Is the principle of the rule of law the formally unstated value that is expected to underpin the legal system or is it the normative predicate that directs the legal system both vertically and horizontally? Is sustainability an aspirational value or a normative predicate according to which the environment and its resources are managed? Let us deal sequentially with these issues by reviewing a number of examples that demonstrate the relationship between environmental governance and the rule of law.

Environmental education through listening to children

Environmental education centres contribute to schools and communities in Environmental Education and Education for Sustainability through nature and urban -based, experiential learning and action learning approaches. An underlying assumption of these centres is that intensive, short-term, outdoor/environmental education experiences can change key attitudes and/or actions leading to positive environmental behaviour. This study reflects the interests of a researching professional who investigated aspects of a program that he designed and implemented as principal of an environmental education centre. Most evaluations of similar programs have used quasi-experimental designs to measure the program outcomes. However, this study considered the experiences of the program from the perspectives of a group of key stakeholders often overlooked in the literature; the children who participated in the program. This study examined children’s accounts of their own experiences in order to contribute new understandings of children’s perspectives and how they can be considered when designing and implementing environmental education programs. This research drew on key theoretical assumptions derived from the sociology of childhood. Within sociology of childhood, children are considered to be competent practitioners within their social worlds, who, through their talk and interaction, participate actively in the construction of their own social situations. This approach also views children as capable and competent learners who construct their knowledge through everyday participation in social experiences. This study set out to generate children’s own accounts of their experiences of a five day residential program at the Centre. In total, 54 children participated in the study that used a multi-faceted data collection approach that included conversations, drawings, photographs and journal writing. Using content analysis, data were analysed by means of an inductive approach to develop themes related to the children’s perspectives of their experiences. Three interrelated and co-dependent components of the experience emerged from the analysis; space and place; engagement and participation; and responsiveness and reflection. These components co-exist and construct the conditions for effective experiences in environmental education at the Centre. The first key finding was the emphasis that the children placed on being provided with somewhere where they could feel safe and comfortable to interact with their environment and engage in a range of outdoor experiences. The children identified that place was an outdoor classroom where they could participate in first-hand experiences and, at times, explore out-of-bound spaces; that is, a place where they had previously been limited, often by adults, in their opportunities to interact with nature. A second key finding was the emphasis that the children placed on engagement and participation in environmental experience. The children described participating in a range of new primary experiences that involved first-hand, experiences and also described participating in collaborative experiences that involved interacting with peers and with teachers, who appeared to behave differently to how they behaved at school. Finally, the children described a different type of interactional relationship with teachers, comparing the active educational role they played on camp to a more passive role at school where they sat at a table and the teacher wrote on the board. The final key finding was the emphasis that the children placed on responsiveness and reflection in the experience. In responding to their experiences, the children described the fun and excitement, confidence and satisfaction that they gained from the experience. The children also identified how their experiences contributed to the development of a caring-for-nature attitude and the value of a disorienting dilemma in promoting responsiveness to the environment. This disorienting dilemma was an event that caused the children to reassess their own beliefs and attitudes. From the three main findings, a theoretical framework that represented the children’s accounts of their experiences and a pedagogic approach that respected their accounts was developed. This pedagogic approach showed how a disorienting dilemma could create a disequilibrium in relation to a child’s existing ideas and experiences. As a result, children were challenged to reflect upon their existing environmental beliefs and practices. The findings of this research have implications for the field of environmental education. Adopting sociology of childhood provides an alternative foundation to research and can present a deeper understanding of what children believe, than an approach that relies solely on using scientific methods to undercover and analyse these understandings. This research demonstrates the value of gaining children’s accounts to assist educators to design environmental education programs as it can offer more than adult and educator perspectives. This study also provides understandings of environmental education practice by describing how the children engaged with informal learning situations. Finally, two sets of recommendations, drawn from this study, are made. The first set considers nine recommendations about and for future research and the second relates to redesigning of the environmental educational program at the research site, with six recommendations made.

Environmental pollution from shipbreaking industry : international law and national legal response

The international legal regime on shipbreaking is in its formative years. At the international level, the shipbreaking industry is partially governed by the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal. However, how far this convention will be applicable for all aspects of transboundary movement of end-of-life ships is still, at least in the view of some scholars, a debatable issue. Against this backdrop, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has adopted a new, legally binding convention for shipbreaking. There is a rising voice from the developing countries that the convention is likely to impose more obligations on recycling facilities in the developing countries than on shipowners from rich nations. This may be identified as a clear derogation from the globally recognized international environmental law principle of common but differentiated treatment. This article will examine in detail major international conventions regulating transboundary movement and environmentally sound disposal of obsolete ships, as well as the corresponding laws of Bangladesh for implementing these conventions in the domestic arena. Moreover this article will examine in detail the recently adopted IMO Ship Recycling Convention.

The effect of exercise repetition on the frequency characteristics of motor output force : Implications for Achilles tendinopathy rehabilitation

Objectives: To investigate the frequency characteristics of the ground reaction force (GRF) recorded throughout the eccentric Achilles tendon rehabilitation programme described by Alfredson. Design: Controlled laboratory study, longitudinal. Methods: Nine healthy adult males performed six sets (15 repetitions per set) of eccentric ankle exercise. Ground reaction force was recorded throughout the exercise protocol. For each exercise repetition the frequency power spectrum of the resultant ground reaction force was calculated and normalised to total power. The magnitude of peak relative power within the 8-12 Hz bandwidth and the frequency at which this peak occurred was determined. Results: The magnitude of peak relative power within the 8-12 Hz bandwidth increased with each successive exercise set and following the 4th set (60 repetitions) of exercise the frequency at which peak relative power occurred shifted from 9 to 10 Hz. Conclusions: The increase in magnitude and frequency of ground reaction force vibrations with an increasing number of exercise repetitions is likely connected to changes in muscle activation with fatigue and tendon conditioning. This research illustrates the potential for the number of exercise repetitions performed to influence the tendons' mechanical environment, with implications for tendon remodelling and the clinical efficacy of eccentric rehabilitation programmes for Achilles tendinopathy.

How much is enough? The effect of exercise repetition on the force frequency characteristics of eccentric exercise used for tendinopathy rehabilitation

Introduction: Eccentric exercise (EE) is a commonly used treatment for Achilles tendinopathy. While vibrations in the 8–12 Hz frequency range generated during eccentric muscle actions have been put forward as a potential mechanism for the beneficial effect of EE, optimal loading parameters required to expedite recovery are currently unknown. Alfredson's original protocol employed 90 repetitions of eccentric loading, however abbreviated protocols consisting of fewer repetitions (typically 45) have been developed, albeit with less beneficial effect. Given that 8–12 Hz vibrations generated during isometric muscle actions have been previously shown to increase with fatigue, this research evaluated the effect of exercise repetition on motor output vibrations generated during EE by investigating the frequency characteristics of ground reaction force (GRF) recorded throughout the 90 repetitions of Alfredson's protocol. Methods: Nine healthy adult males performed six sets (15 repetitions per set) of eccentric ankle exercise. GRF was recorded at a frequency of 1000 Hz throughout the exercise protocol. The frequency power spectrum of the resultant GRF was calculated and normalized to total power. Relative spectral power was summed over 1 Hz widows within the frequency rage 7.5–11.5 Hz. The effect of each additional exercise set (15 repetitions) on the relative power within each widow was investigated using a general linear modelling approach. Results: The magnitude of peak relative power within the 7.5–11.5 Hz bandwidth increased across the six exercise sets from 0.03 in exercise set one to 0.12 in exercise set six (P < 0.05). Following the 4th set of exercise the frequency at which peak relative power occurred shifted from 9 to 10 Hz. Discussion: This study has demonstrated that successive repetitions of eccentric loading over six exercise sets results in an increase in the amplitude of motor output vibrations in the 7.5–11.5 Hz bandwidth, with an increase in the frequency of these vibrations occurring after the 4th set (60th repetition). These findings are consistent with findings from previous studies of muscle fatigue. Assuming that the magnitude and frequency of these vibrations represent important stimuli for tendon remodelling as hypothesized within the literature, the findings of this study question the role of abbreviated EE protocols and raise the question; can EE protocols for tendinopathy be optimized by performing eccentric loading to fatigue?

The politics and poetics of coexistence : experiments at the intersection of art and environmental engineering

This research project explores how interdisciplinary art practices can provide ways for questioning and envisaging alternative modes of coexistence between humans and the non-humans who together, make up the environment. As a practiceled project, it combines a body of creative work (50%) and this exegesis (50%). My interdisciplinary artistic practice appropriates methods and processes from science and engineering and merges them into artistic contexts for critical and poetic ends. By blending pseudo-scientific experimentation with creative strategies like visual fiction, humour, absurd public performance and scripted audience participation, my work engages with a range of debates around ecology. This exegesis details the interplay between critical theory relating to these debates, the work of other creative practitioners and my own evolving artistic practice. Through utilising methods and processes drawn from my prior career in water engineering, I present an interdisciplinary synthesis that seeks to promote improved understandings of the causes and consequences of our ecological actions and inactions.

Virtual birding : extending an environmental pastime into the virtual world for citizen science

This paper investigates engaging experienced birders, as volunteer citizen scientists, to analyze large recorded audio datasets gathered through environmental acoustic monitoring. Although audio data is straightforward to gather, automated analysis remains a challenging task; the existing expertise, local knowledge and motivation of the birder community can complement computational approaches and provide distinct benefits. We explored both the culture and practice of birders, and paradigms for interacting with recorded audio data. A variety of candidate design elements were tested with birders. This study contributes an understanding of how virtual interactions and practices can be developed to complement existing practices of experienced birders in the physical world. In so doing this study contributes a new approach to engagement in e-science. Whereas most citizen science projects task lay participants with discrete real world or artificial activities, sometimes using extrinsic motivators, this approach builds on existing intrinsically satisfying practices.

Legal activism for ensuring environmental justice

This article reviews some of the roles environmental lawyers have played in ensuring environmental justice in Bangladesh. It leans on law and social movement theories to explicate the choice (and ensuing success) of litigation as a movement strategy in Bangladesh. The activists successfully moved the courts to read the right to a decent environment into the fundamental right to life, and this has had the far-reaching effect of constituting a basis for standing for the activists and other civil society organisations. The activists have also sought to introduce emerging international law principles into the jurisprudence of the courts. These achievements notwithstanding, the paper notes that litigation is not a sustainable way to institute enduring environmental protection in any jurisdiction and recommends the utilisation of the reputation and recognition gained through litigation to deploy or encourage more sustainable strategies.

Alternative models of cardiac rehabilitation : a systematic review

The traditional hospital-based model of cardiac rehabilitation faces substantial challenges, such as cost and accessibility. These challenges have led to the development of alternative models of cardiac rehabilitation in recent years. The aim of this study was to identify and critique evidence for the effectiveness of these alternative models. A total of 22 databases were searched to identify quantitative studies or systematic reviews of quantitative studies regarding the effectiveness of alternative models of cardiac rehabilitation. Included studies were appraised using a Critical Appraisal Skills Programme tool and the National Health and Medical Research Council's designations for Level of Evidence. The 83 included articles described interventions in the following broad categories of alternative models of care: multifactorial individualized telehealth, internet based, telehealth focused on exercise, telehealth focused on recovery, community- or home-based, and complementary therapies. Multifactorial individualized telehealth and community- or home-based cardiac rehabilitation are effective alternative models of cardiac rehabilitation, as they have produced similar reductions in cardiovascular disease risk factors compared with hospital-based programmes. While further research is required to address the paucity of data available regarding the effectiveness of alternative models of cardiac rehabilitation in rural, remote, and culturally and linguistically diverse populations, our review indicates there is no need to rely on hospital-based strategies alone to deliver effective cardiac rehabilitation. Local healthcare systems should strive to integrate alternative models of cardiac rehabilitation, such as brief telehealth interventions tailored to individual's risk factor profiles as well as community- or home-based programmes, in order to ensure there are choices available for patients that best fit their needs, risk factor profile, and preferences.

Transnational organised environmental crime

Transnational environmental crime must become a government priority, as organised criminal networks continue to exploit the environment with unprecedented profits. Such earnings come at a substantial social, economic and environmental expense for communities and their livelihoods. Indeed, organised environmental crime is identified by the United Nations as a key factor in the impoverishment, displacement and violent conflicts affecting millions of people — notably in developing societies.2 It is widely recognised that organised environmental crime syndicates, motivated by substantial financial rewards, continue to flourish and expand in disadvantaged societies with porous borders, where corruption is widespread and regulation is poor. The theft of biodiversity and the demise of animal species and habitats have resulted not only in financial loss, but also in an increase in “environmental refugees” — people dislocated and forced to migrate due to loss of livelihoods.