Parents as coteachers of science and technology in a middle-school classroom

This study explores coteaching/cogenerative dialoguing with parents to investigate how it may be employed to engage parents more meaningfully in schools. The cogens provided a space where participants became aware of resources available for coteaching, made decisions about planning and enacting coteaching, as well as interstitial culture that facilitated positive parent-teacher relationships.

Electron interaction with gel dosimeters : effective atomic numbers for collisional, radiative and total interaction processes

The effective atomic number is widely employed in radiation studies, particularly for the characterisation of interaction processes in dosimeters, biological tissues and substitute materials. Gel dosimeters are unique in that they comprise both the phantom and dosimeter material. In this work, effective atomic numbers for total and partial electron interaction processes have been calculated for the first time for a Fricke gel dosimeter, five hypoxic and nine normoxic polymer gel dosimeters. A range of biological materials are also presented for comparison. The spectrum of energies studied spans 10 keV to 100 MeV, over which the effective atomic number varies by 30 %. The effective atomic numbers of gels match those of soft tissue closely over the full energy range studied; greater disparities exist at higher energies but are typically within 4 %.

Life-cycle management of construction projects based on virtual prototyping technology

Life-cycle management (LCM) has been employed in the management of construction projects for many years in order to reduce whole life cost, time, risk and improve the service to owners. However, owing to lack of an effective information sharing platform, the current LCM of construction projects is not effectively used in the construction industry. Based upon the analysis of the information flow of LCM, a virutal prototyping (VP)-based communication and collaboration information platform is proposed. Following this, the platform is customized using DASSAULT sofware. The whole process of implementing the VP-based LCM are also discussed and, from a simple case study, it is demonstrated that the VP-based communication and collaboration information platform is an effective tool to support the LCM of construction projects.

Advanced Gen-1, 2 and 3 biofuels research in Australia - Fuelling advanced biofuels training for international scientists

Flinders University and Queensland University of Technology, biofuels research interests cover a broad range of activities. Both institutions are seeking to overcome the twin evils of "peak oil" (Hubbert 1949 & 1956) and "global warming" (IPPC 2007, Stern 2006, Alison 2010), through development of Generation 1, 2 and 3 (Gen-1, 2 & 3) biofuels (Clarke 2008, Clarke 2010). This includes development of parallel Chemical Biorefinery, value-added, co-product chemical technologies, which can underpin the commercial viability of the biofuel industry. Whilst there is a focused effort to develop Gen-2 & 3 biofuels, thus avoiding the socially unacceptable use of food based Gen-1 biofuels, it must also be recognized that as yet, no country in the world has produced sustainable Gen-2 & 3 biofuel on a commercial basis. For example, in 2008 the United States used 38 billion litres (3.5% of total fuel use) of Gen-1 biofuel; in 2009/2010 this will be 47.5 billion litres (4.5% of fuel use) and in 2018 this has been estimated to rise to 96 billion litres (9% of total US fuel use). Brazil in 2008 produced 24.5 billion litres of ethanol, representing 37.3% of the world’s ethanol use for fuel and Europe, in 2008, produced 11.7 billion litres of biofuel (primarily as biodiesel). Compare this to Australia’s miserly biofuel production in 2008/2009 of 180 million litres of ethanol and 75 million litres of biodiesel, which is 0.4% of our fuel consumption! (Clarke, Graiver and Habibie 2010) To assist in the development of better biofuels technologies in the Asian developing regions the Australian Government recently awarded the Materials & BioEnergy Group from Flinders University, in partnership with the Queensland University of Technology, an Australian Leadership Award (ALA) Biofuel Fellowship program to train scientists from Indonesia and India about all facets of advanced biofuel technology.

Lift@Weimar : sustainable interaction with food, technology, and the city (Workshop)

This workshop explores innovative approaches to understanding and cultivating sustainable food culture in urban environments via human-computer-interaction (HCI) design and ubiquitous technologies. We perceive the city as an intersecting network of people, place, and technology in constant transformation. Our 2009 OZCHI workshop, Hungry 24/7? HCI Design for Sustainable Food Culture, opened a new space for discussion on this intersection amongst researchers and practitioners from diverse backgrounds including academia, government, industry, and non-for-profit organisations. Building on the past success, this new instalment of the workshop series takes a more refined view on mobile human-food interaction and the role of interactive media in engaging citizens to cultivate more sustainable everyday human-food interactions on the go. Interactive media in this sense is distributed, pervasive, and embedded in the city as a network. The workshop addresses environmental, health, and social domains of sustainability by bringing together insights across disciplines to discuss conceptual and design approaches in orchestrating mobility and interaction of people and food in the city as a network of people, place, technology, and food.

A story worth telling : putting oral history and digital collections online in cultural institutions

Digital platforms in cultural institutions offer exciting opportunities for oral history and digital storytelling that can augment and enrich traditional collections. The way in which cultural institutions allow access to the public is changing dramatically, prompting substantial expansions of their oral history and digital story holdings. In Queensland, Australia, public libraries and museums are becoming innovative hubs of a wide assortment of collections that represent a cross-section of community groups and organisations through the integration of oral history and digital storytelling. The State Library of Queensland (SLQ) features digital stories online to encourage users to explore what the institution has in the catalogue through their website. Now SLQ also offers oral history interviews online, to introduce users to oral history and other components of their collections,- such as photographs and documents to current, as well as new users. This includes the various departments, Indigenous centres and regional libraries affiliated with SLQ statewide, who are often unable to access the materials held within, or even full information about, the collections available within the institution. There has been a growing demand for resources and services that help to satisfy community enthusiasm and promote engagement. Demand increases as public access to affordable digital media technologies increases, and as community or marginalised groups become interested in do it yourself (DIY) history; and SLQ encourages this. This paper draws on the oral history and digital story-based research undertaken by the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) for the State Library of Queensland including: the Apology Collection: The Prime Minister’s apology to Australia’s Indigenous Stolen Generation; Five Senses: regional Queensland artists; Gay history of Brisbane; and The Queensland Business Leaders Hall of Fame.

Bonding of aluminum alloy by hot-dipping tin coating

This paper presents bonding technology of aluminum alloy by hot-dipping tin. The dissolution curve of copper in molten tin liquid was obtained in the experiment of hot-dipping Sn. Optimal hot-dipping parameter which was suitable for soldering was designed. To elucidate characteristics of interfacial evolution, the microstructure of the coatings, soldered joint were analyzed using optical microscopy, SEM and EDX. The shear strength of soldered joints was tested as high as 39.9Mpa, which is high enough to achieve the requirement of electronic industry.

Pet food from bovine origin drying by green heat pump technology and fluidization

Bovine intestine was dried in a heat pump fluid bed combination. Minimum fluidisation velocity was calculated by Ergun Equation and some relations were established.

CC & Government Guide: Using Creative Commons 3.0 Australia Licences on Government Copyright Materials

This guide explains how copyright law applies to Australian government material, how copyright can be managed to facilitate beneficial open access practices by government, how CC licenses can be used to achieve open access to government material, and provides practical step-by-step guidance for agencies and their officers on licensing and use of government copyright materials under CC 3.0 Australia licences.

Application of reliability-centred maintenance technology on electric trains

This paper demonstrates the application of the reliability-centred maintenance (RCM) process to analyse and develop preventive maintenance tasks for electric multiple units (EMU) in the East Rail of the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation (KCRC). Two systems, the 25 kV electrical power supply and the air-conditioning system of the EMU, have been chosen for the study. RCM approach on the two systems is delineated step by step in the paper. This study confirms the feasibility and effectiveness of RCM applications on the maintenance of electric trains.

Highly efficient, stoichiometric radical exchange reactions using isoindoline profluorescent nitroxides

Exchange reactions between the isoindoline profluorescent nitroxide 1,1,3,3-tetramethyldibenzo[e,g]isoindolin-2-yloxyl (TMDBIO) and a TEMPO capped polystyrene were carried out. High conversions to the desired products were achieved using only stoichiometric ratios of nitroxide relative to polymer. The scope of this study was expanded by exploiting a di-nitroxide 9,10-bis(5-[1,1,3,3-tetramethylisoindolin-2-yloxy])anthracene (BTMIOA) as a connector between two polymer chains forming PS–nitroxide–PS systems.

Science and technology supervision resources

This document is an adaptation of a report submitted to the ALTC in 2009, with additional data collected through subsequent interviews with science supervisors. The organisation of the contents also reflects a development of thought since the original project. The framework presented in this document is intended to provide science and technology supervisors with a range of options with respect to supervisory pedagogy. It has been developed to highlight different aspects of thinking about supervision as a teaching and learning practice; as well as approaches, strategies and roles associated with supervision. It will enable science and technology supervisors to become aware of the diverse options available to them and provide systematic ways of thinking about supervisory practices. Use of this framework will encourage supervisors to make choices based on broader, rather than more limited, repertoires. It will also encourage thinking about supervision as a teaching and learning practice.

Rayleigh theory of ultrasound scattering applied to liquid-filled contrast nanoparticles

We present a novel modified theory based upon Rayleigh scattering of ultrasound from composite nanoparticles with a liquid core and solid shell. We derive closed form solutions to the scattering cross-section and have applied this model to an ultrasound contrast agent consisting of a liquid-filled core (perfluorooctyl bromide, PFOB) encapsulated by a polymer shell (poly-caprolactone, PCL). Sensitivity analysis was performed to predict the dependence of the scattering cross-section upon material and dimensional parameters. A rapid increase in the scattering cross-section was achieved by increasing the compressibility of the core, validating the incorporation of high compressibility PFOB; the compressibility of the shell had little impact on the overall scattering cross-section although a more compressible shell is desirable. Changes in the density of the shell and the core result in predicted local minima in the scattering cross-section, approximately corresponding to the PFOB-PCL contrast agent considered; hence, incorporation of a lower shell density could potentially significantly improve the scattering cross-section. A 50% reduction in shell thickness relative to external radius increased the predicted scattering cross-section by 50%. Although it has often been considered that the shell has a negative effect on the echogeneity due to its low compressibility, we have shown that it can potentially play an important role in the echogeneity of the contrast agent. The challenge for the future is to identify suitable shell and core materials that meet the predicted characteristics in order to achieve optimal echogenity.

Householder experiences with resource monitoring technology in sustainable homes

The use of feedback technologies, in the form of products such as Smart Meters, is increasingly seen as the means by which 'consumers' can be made aware of their patterns of resource consumption, and to then use this enhanced awareness to change their behaviour to reduce the environmental impacts of their consumption. These technologies tend to be single-resource focused (e.g. on electricity consumption only) and their functionality defined by persons other than end-users (e.g. electricity utilities). This paper presents initial findings of end-users' experiences with a multi-resource feedback technology, within the context of sustainable housing. It proposes that an understanding of user context, supply chain management and market diffusion issues are important design considerations that contribute to technology 'success'.

Urban telecommunications network : technology convergence and urban infrastructure

Rapidly developing information and telecommunication technologies and their platforms in the late 20th Century helped improve urban infrastructure management and influenced quality of life. Telecommunication technologies make it possible for people to deliver text, audio and video material using wired, wireless or fibre-optic networks. Technologies convergence amongst these digital devices continues to create new ways in which the information and telecommunication technologies are used. The 21st Century is an era where information has converged, in which people are able to access a variety of services, including internet and location based services, through multi-functional devices such as mobile phones. This chapter discusses the recent developments in telecommunication networks and trends in convergence technologies, their implications for urban infrastructure planning, and for the quality of life of urban residents.