Gone with the wind: copyright law and fair use

The copyright defence of fair use has been tested in a recent United States case involving the classic Gone with the wind. [Suntrust Bank, as Trustee of the Stephens Mitchell trusts v Houghton Mifflin Company (2001) 136 F. Supp. 2d 1357; and Suntrust Bank, as Trustee of the Stephens Mitchell trusts v Houghton Mifflin Company (2001) US Appeal Lexis 21690.]

What happens on the field stays on the field? – Battery in sport

This article provides an overview of battery, with a particular focus on the role that consent plays in contact sports. The limits of implied consent in sport will also be discussed, followed by a brief overview of other relevant defences. Finally, issues of damages and vicarious liability will be addressed.

Speed-based diagnostics of aerodynamic and mass imbalance in large wind turbines

Any kind of imbalance in the operation of a wind turbine has adverse effect on the downstream torsional components as well as tower structure. It is crucial to detect imbalance at its very inception. The identification of the type of imbalance is also required so that appropriate measures of fault accommodation can be performed in the control system. In particular, it is important to distinguish between mass and aerodynamic imbalance. While the former is gradually caused by a structural anomaly (e.g. ice deposition, moisture accumulation inside blade), the latter is generally associated to a fault in the pitch control system. This paper proposes a technique for the detection and identification of imbalance fault in large scale wind turbines. Unlike most other existing method it requires only the rotor speed signal which is readily available in existing turbines. Signature frequencies have been proposed in this work to identify imbalance type based on their physical phenomenology. The performance of this technique has been evaluated by simulations using an existing benchmark model. The effectiveness of the proposed method has been confirmed by the simulation results.

Adding paths to resilience and daily accounts to an already rich field of inquiry: A brief commentary on James Jackson's "Social structure and health disparities"

In absolute terms, there have been improvements in social resources for all racial and ethnic groups in the United States. The rise in education levels among blacks and Hispanics, for instance, suggests a lessening of the gap between classes, beginning in the later part of the 1960’s (Kao & Thompson, 2003). Yet the divide in income and to a lesser extent education between peoples who differ in gender, skin color and ethnic origin continues and in many ways is greater now than ever (Danziger & Gottschalk, 1997); (Gottschalk, 1997). The psychological distance between those high and those low in social-economic status continues unabated and threatens to undermine the capacity of communities to foster the positive architecture of hope, optimism and equal opportunity that holds us together as a nation...

Impacts of wind power integration on small signal stability and low frequency oscillation characteristics of interconnected power systems

为研究风电并网对互联系统低频振荡的影响,基于完整的双馈风电机组模型,定性分析了两区域互联系统在风电机组并网前后阻尼特性的变化情况.从双馈风电机组并网输送距离、并网容量、互联系统联络线传送功率、是否加装电力系统稳定器等多个方面,多角度分析了风电场并网对互联系统小干扰稳定及低频振荡特性的影响.之后,以两个包括两个区域的电力系统为例,进行了系统的计算分析和比较.结果表明,有双馈风电机组接入的互联电力系统,在不同运行模式下,双馈风电机组的并网输送距离、出力水平、联络线传送功率对低频振荡模式的影响在趋势和程度上均有显著差异,这样在对风电场进行入网规划、设计和运行时就需要综合考虑这些因素的影响.

5-year Chlamydia vaccination programme could reverse disease-related koala population decline: Predictions from a mathematical model using field data

BACKGROUND Many koala populations around Australia are in serious decline, with a substantial component of this decline in some Southeast Queensland populations attributed to the impact of Chlamydia. A Chlamydia vaccine for koalas is in development and has shown promise in early trials. This study contributes to implementation preparedness by simulating vaccination strategies designed to reverse population decline and by identifying which age and sex category it would be most effective to target. METHODS We used field data to inform the development and parameterisation of an individual-based stochastic simulation model of a koala population endemic with Chlamydia. The model took into account transmission, morbidity and mortality caused by Chlamydia infections. We calibrated the model to characteristics of typical Southeast Queensland koala populations. As there is uncertainty about the effectiveness of the vaccine in real-world settings, a variety of potential vaccine efficacies, half-lives and dosing schedules were simulated. RESULTS Assuming other threats remain constant, it is expected that current population declines could be reversed in around 5-6 years if female koalas aged 1-2 years are targeted, average vaccine protective efficacy is 75%, and vaccine coverage is around 10% per year. At lower vaccine efficacies the immunological effects of boosting become important: at 45% vaccine efficacy population decline is predicted to reverse in 6 years under optimistic boosting assumptions but in 9 years under pessimistic boosting assumptions. Terminating a successful vaccination programme at 5 years would lead to a rise in Chlamydia prevalence towards pre-vaccination levels. CONCLUSION For a range of vaccine efficacy levels it is projected that population decline due to endemic Chlamydia can be reversed under realistic dosing schedules, potentially in just 5 years. However, a vaccination programme might need to continue indefinitely in order to maintain Chlamydia prevalence at a sufficiently low level for population growth to continue.

Real-time wind speed estimation and compensation for improved flight

This paper presents the development and experimental validation of a prototype system for online estimation and compensation of wind disturbances onboard small Rotorcraft unmanned aerial systems (RUAS). The proposed approach consists of integrating a small pitot-static system onboard the vehicle and using simple but effective algorithms for estimating the wind speed in real time. The baseline flight controller has been augmented with a feed-forward term to compensate for these wind disturbances, thereby improving the flight performance of small RUAS in windy conditions. The paper also investigates the use of online airspeed measurements in a closed-loop for controlling the RUAS forward motion without the aid of a global positioning system (GPS). The results of more than 80 flights with a RUAS confirm the validity of our approach.

Temporal trend of pesticide concentrations in the Chikugo River (Japan) with changes in environmental regulation and field infrastructure

Contamination of pesticides, which are applied to rice paddy fields, in river water has been a major problem in Japan for decades. A prolonged water holding period after pesticide application in paddy fields is expected to reduce the concentration of rice pesticides in river water. Therefore, a long monitoring campaign was conducted from 2004 to 2010 to measure the concentrations of pesticides in water samples collected from several points along the Chikugo River (Japan) including tributaries and the main stream to see if there was any reduction in the level of pesticide contamination after the extension of the water holding period (from 3–4 days to 7 days) was introduced in 2007 by the new water management regulation. No significant difference (p > 0.05) was found in pesticide concentrations between the periods before and after 2007 in all monitoring points, except in one tributary where the pesticide concentrations after 2007 were even higher than that of the previous period. A detailed study in one of the tributaries also revealed that the renovated infrastructure did not reduce the pesticide concentrations in the drainage canals. Neither the introduction of the new regulation nor the improved infrastructure had any significant effect on reducing the contamination of pesticides in water of the Chikugo River. It is probably because most farmers did not properly implement the new requirement of holding paddy water within the field for 7 days after the application of pesticides. Only tightening the regulation would not be sufficient and more actions should be taken to enforce/provide extension support for the new water management regulation in order to reduce the level of residual pesticides in river water in Japan.

Twelve not so angry men: Masculinities and the perceptions of the 'off-field' violence involved in Australian body contact sports

Recently, media 'scandals' have pervaded a number of Australian body contact sports, in particular rugby league, rugby union and Australian rules football. Utilising the theoretical framework of masculinities, this research interviews footballers to gauge their perceptions of this media attention and how it compares to their own perspectives regarding off-field violence. Drawing inspiration from James Messerschmidt's (2000) 'Nine Lives' study and R.W. Connell's (1995) theoretical masculinities framework, in-depth, semi-structured interviews—known as life histories—were conducted with 12 footballers. Twelve life histories were completed with four men from each of the three major Australian football codes, namely Australian rules football, rugby union and rugby league. The research explores linkages between masculinity, body contact sport and engagement (or lack thereof) in violence 'off field'.

Detection of anuran calling activity in long field recordings for bio-acoustic monitoring

This paper presents a system to analyze long field recordings with low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) for bio-acoustic monitoring. A method based on spectral peak track, Shannon entropy, harmonic structure and oscillation structure is proposed to automatically detect anuran (frog) calling activity. Gaussian mixture model (GMM) is introduced for modelling those features. Four anuran species widespread in Queensland, Australia, are selected to evaluate the proposed system. A visualization method based on extracted indices is employed for detection of anuran calling activity which achieves high accuracy.

An automated emergency landing system for fixed-wing aircraft: Planning and control

A number of hurdles must be overcome in order to integrate unmanned aircraft into civilian airspace for routine operations. The ability of the aircraft to land safely in an emergency is essential to reduce the risk to people, infrastructure and aircraft. To date, few field-demonstrated systems have been presented that show online re-planning and repeatability from failure to touchdown. This paper presents the development of the Guidance, Navigation and Control (GNC) component of an Automated Emergency Landing System (AELS) intended to address this gap, suited to a variety of fixed-wing aircraft. Field-tested on both a fixed-wing UAV and Cessna 172R during repeated emergency landing experiments, a trochoid-based path planner computes feasible trajectories and a simplified control system executes the required manoeuvres to guide the aircraft towards touchdown on a predefined landing site. This is achieved in zero-thrust conditions with engine forced to idle to simulate failure. During an autonomous landing, the controller uses airspeed, inertial and GPS data to track motion and maintains essential flight parameters to guarantee flyability, while the planner monitors glide ratio and re-plans to ensure approach at correct altitude. Simulations show reliability of the system in a variety of wind conditions and its repeated ability to land within the boundary of a predefined landing site. Results from field-tests for the two aircraft demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed GNC system in live operation. Results show that the system is capable of guiding the aircraft to close proximity of a predefined keyhole in nearly 100% of cases.

More than just food: Field visits to an emergency relief centre

Emergency relief centres provide financial, housing, food and other types of support to families and individuals who experience financial hardship. These centres are non-profit, often government supported organizations that rely on the help of their volunteers and social workers. This paper reports on our preliminary findings from field visits to one such centre called Communify, in the inner west of Brisbane, Australia. Communify runs an emergency food relief facility for people who find themselves in a crisis or temporarily unable to afford groceries. Over a period of five months, we did several field visits to the centre and carried out 21 short in-situ interviews, with a mix of Communify clients and volunteers. Our results shed light on people’s experiences of financial hardship and their interactions with the emergency relief centre. In particular, issues related to their perceived values and stigmas associated with their experiences are highlighted in our findings. We identify opportunities for design that can empower people struggling with financial hardship.

Boarding Control System - for Improved Accessibility to Offshore Wind Turbines

This paper considers the dynamic modelling and motion control of a Surface Effect Ship (SES) for safer transfer of personnel and equipment from vessel to-and-from an offshore wind-turbine. Such a vessel is a key enabling factor for operation and maintenance (O&M) of offshore wind-energy infrastructure. The control system designed is referred to as Boarding Control System (BCS). We investigate the performance of this system for a specific wind-farm service vessel–The Wave Craft. A two-modality vessel model is presented to account for the vessel free motion and motion whilst in contact with a wind-turbine. On a SES, the pressurized air cushion carries the majority of the vessel mass. The control problem considered relates to the actuation of the pressure such that wave-induced vessel motions are minimized. This leads to a safer personnel transfer in developed sea-states than what is possible today. Results for the BCS is presented through simulation and model-scale craft testing.

Creating a standardised teaching and learning framework for social work field placements

Mapping and evaluating a student's progress on placement is a core element of social work education but there has been scant attention to indicate how to effectively create and assess student learning and performance. This paper outlines a project undertaken by the Combined Schools of Social Work to develop a common learning and assessment tool that is being used by all social work schools in Victoria. The paper describes how the Common Assessment Tool (CAT) was developed, drawing on the Australian Association of Social Work Practice Standards, leading to seven key learning areas that form the basis of the assessment of a student's readiness for practice. An evaluation of the usefulness of the CAT was completed by field educators, liaison staff, and students, which confirmed that the CAT was a useful framework for evaluating students' learning goals. The feedback also identified a number of problematic features that were addressed in a revised CAT and rating scale.