Empirical analysis of freeway traffic oscillation : its safety impact and evolution

Traffic oscillations are typical features of congested traffic flow that are characterized by recurring decelerations followed by accelerations. However, people have limited knowledge on this complex topic. In this research, 1) the impact of traffic oscillations on freeway crash occurrences has been measured using the matched case-control design. The results consistently reveal that oscillations have a more significant impact on freeway safety than the average traffic states. 2) Wavelet Transform has been adopted to locate oscillations' origins and measure their characteristics along their propagation paths using vehicle trajectory data. 3) Lane changing maneuver's impact on the immediate follower is measured and modeled. The knowledge and the new models generated from this study could provide better understanding on fundamentals of congested traffic; enable improvements to existing traffic control strategies and freeway crash countermeasures; and instigate people to develop new operational strategies with the objective of reducing the negative effects of oscillatory driving.

Power through influence : the evolution of arts management in Australia

The purpose of this paper is to frame effective models of arts management for Australia in the nineties and beyond based on an analysis of historical practices. The evolutionary process of government subvention of the arts through non-profit arts organisations provides a clear statement of the role of power and influence. In particular the ascendancy of arts organisations and their management constitute a background against which to study other non-profit corporations.

Multiple evolutionary rate classes in animal genome evolution

The proportion of functional sequence in the human genome is currently a subject of debate. The most widely accepted figure is that approximately 5% is under purifying selection. In Drosophila, estimates are an order of magnitude higher, though this corresponds to a similar quantity of sequence. These estimates depend on the difference between the distribution of genomewide evolutionary rates and that observed in a subset of sequences presumed to be neutrally evolving. Motivated by the widening gap between these estimates and experimental evidence of genome function, especially in mammals, we developed a sensitive technique for evaluating such distributions and found that they are much more complex than previously apparent. We found strong evidence for at least nine well-resolved evolutionary rate classes in an alignment of four Drosophila species and at least seven classes in an alignment of four mammals, including human. We also identified at least three rate classes in human ancestral repeats. By positing that the largest of these ancestral repeat classes is neutrally evolving, we estimate that the proportion of nonneutrally evolving sequence is 30% of human ancestral repeats and 45% of the aligned portion of the genome. However, we also question whether any of the classes represent neutrally evolving sequences and argue that a plausible alternative is that they reflect variable structure-function constraints operating throughout the genomes of complex organisms.

An entrepreneurial model of economic and environmental co-evolution

A basic tenet of ecological economics is that economic growth and development are ultimately constrained by environmental carrying capacities. It is from this basis that notions of a sustainable economy and of sustainable economic development emerge to undergird the “standard model” of ecological economics. However, the belief in “hard” environmental constraints may be obscuring the important role of the entrepreneur in the co-evolution of economic and environmental relations, and hence limiting or distorting the analytic focus of ecological economics and the range of policy options that are considered for sustainable economic development. This paper outlines a co-evolutionary model of the dynamics of economic and ecological systems as connected by entrepreneurial behaviour. We then discuss some of the key analytic and policy implications.

The sun gives without ever receiving

YEAR: 2010 ROLE: Artist FORMAT: Miniature 3D Sculpture produced in resin using 3D printing technologies. WITH: International Touring Show ‘Inside Out’ WHAT: A miniature sculpture that contributes towards my ongoing explorations into how our collective ability to sustain (the future) is as much a cultural problematic as it is an economic or technological one. OVERVIEW: The curatorial brief was for each curated artist was to design a piece in CAD suitable for 3D resin printing - The object should be entirely generated through 3D visualisation and modelling tools and should be machined and shipped within the dimensions of 6cm x 6cm x 6cm. My design for this brief was influenced by recent research I had conducted in Mildura in the Sunraysia irrigated region of NW Victoria. Each name set within the work is an Australian soldier/settler – who, on returning from the ‘Great War’ was duly awarded a ‘block’ in Australia’s new inland irrigated settlements - with the explicit task of clearing it to plant and reap. Through their concerted and well-intentioned efforts, these workers began to profoundly re-shape Australia’s marginal country - inadvertently presaging the bleak future faced today by many of Australia’s inland lands and river systems. Furthermore, through that time's predominant colonial conception of ‘terra nullius’ (this land is unoccupied and therefore free to be claimed) they each played a small but formative part in building the profound cultural divide between land and peoples that still haunts Australia today. THE EXHIBITION: Inside Out is a compelling international touring exhibition featuring forty-six miniature sculptures produced in resin using 3D printing technologies. Developments in virtual computer visualisation and integrated digital technologies are giving contemporary makers new insight and opportunities to create objects and forms which were previously impossible to produce or difficult to envisage. The exhibition is the result of collaboration between the Art Technology Coalition, the University of Technology Sydney and RMIT University in Australia along with De Montfort University, Manchester Metropolitan University and Dartington College of Arts at University College Falmouth in the United Kingdom.

Factors associated with recall of media reports about vitamin D and sun protection

Objective: To assess the recall of media reports about vitamin D and associated factors. Methods: Analysis of cross-sectional telephone interview data (2,001 Queensland adults, 18-70 years) on vitamin D and personal sun protection, recall of media reports and participant characteristics. Results: 83.7% of participants had heard of vitamin D, 47.5% through the media. Only 513 (25.6%) participants recalled the media content within four main themes: vitamin D is beneficial/comes from the sun (47.0%); some people aren’t getting enough vitamin D, need more sun (27.9%); need to balance sun exposure and skin protection (11.5%); or other (13.6%). Only 65 of the 950 participants (6.8%) reported a change to their behaviour(s) due to the media report. Conclusion: Although the media were the main source of information about vitamin D for almost 50% of participants, recall of the content and direct effect on behaviour was low. Only a small minority recalled a balanced media report of beneficial and harmful aspects of sun exposure. Implications Health professionals often supply media with background information. To achieve best public health practice for sun protection and vitamin D, information to foster balanced media reports should be provided.