Modelling resilience in a water supply system : contrasting conditions of drought and flood

This paper presents an approach to modelling the resilience of a generic (potable) water supply system. The system is contextualized as a meta-system consisting of three subsystems to represent the natural catchment, the water treatment plant and the water distribution infrastructure for urban use. An abstract mathematical model of the meta-system is disaggregated progressively to form a cascade of equations forming a relational matrix of models. This allows the investigation of commonly implicit relationships between various operational components within the meta system, the in-depth understanding of specific system components and influential factors and the incorporation of explicit disturbances to explore system behaviour. Consequently, this will facilitate long-term decision making to achieve sustainable solutions for issues such as, meeting a growing demand or managing supply-side influences in the meta-system under diverse water availability regimes. This approach is based on the hypothesis that the means to achieve resilient supply of water may be better managed by modelling the effects of changes at specific levels that have a direct or in some cases indirect impact on higher-order outcomes. Additionally, the proposed strategy allows the definition of approaches to combine disparate data sets to synthesise previously missing or incomplete higher-order information, a scientifically robust means to define and carry out meta-analyses using knowledge from diverse yet relatable disciplines relevant to different levels of the system and for enhancing the understanding of dependencies and inter-dependencies of variable factors at various levels across the meta-system. The proposed concept introduces an approach for modelling a complex infrastructure system as a meta system which consists of a combination of bio-ecological, technical and socio-technical subsystems.

Design and construction of fixed bed pyrolysis system and plum seed pyrolysis for bio-oil production

This work investigated the production of bio oil from plum seed (Zyziphus jujuba) by fixed bed pyrolysis technology. A fixed bed pyrolysis system has been designed and fabricated for production of bio oil. The major components of the system are: fixed bed reactor, liquid condenser and liquid collector. Nitrogen gas was used to maintain the inert atmosphere in the reactor where the pyrolysis reaction takes place. The feedstock considered in this study is plum seed as it is available waste material in Bangladesh. The reactor is heated by means of a cylindrical biomass external heater. Rice husk was used as the energy source. The products are oil, char and gas. The parameters varied are reactor bed temperature, running time and feed particle size. The parameters are found to influence the product yields significantly. The maximum liquid yield of 39 wt% at 5200C for a feed particle size of 2.36-4.75 mm and a gas flow rate of 8 liter/min with a running time of 120 minute. The pyrolysis oil obtained at these optimum process conditions are analyzed for some of their properties as an alternative fuel. The density of the liquid was closer with diesel. The viscosity of the plum seed liquid was lower than that of the conventional fuels. The calorific value of the pyrolysis oil is one half of the diesel fuel.

Abatement of energy loss by insulating system and designing automatic water heater

The most suitable temperature range for domestic purposes is about 200C to 260C .Besides, both cold and hot water appear to be essential frequently for industrial purposes. In summer bringing down the water temperature at a comfortable range causes significant energy consumption. This project aims at saving energy to control water temperature by making water tank insulated .Therefore applying better insulation system which would reduce the disparity between the desired temperature and the actual temperature and hence saving energy significantly. Following the investigation, this project used cotton jacket to insulate the tank and the tank was placed under a paddy straw shade with a view to attaining the maximum energy saving. Finally, it has been found that reduction in energy consumption is to be about 50-60% which is quite satisfactory. Since comfortable temperature range varies from person to person this project thus combines insulating effect with automatic water heater.

Controlled emergency landing of an unpowered unmanned aerial system

The ability to perform autonomous emergency (forced) landings is one of the key technology enablers identified for UAS. This paper presents the flight test results of forced landings involving a UAS, in a controlled environment, and which was conducted to ascertain the performances of previously developed (and published) path planning and guidance algorithms. These novel 3-D nonlinear algorithms have been designed to control the vehicle in both the lateral and longitudinal planes of motion. These algorithms have hitherto been verified in simulation. A modified Boomerang 60 RC aircraft is used as the flight test platform, with associated onboard and ground support equipment sourced Off-the-Shelf or developed in-house at the Australian Research Centre for Aerospace Automation (ARCAA). HITL simulations were conducted prior to the flight tests and displayed good landing performance, however, due to certain identified interfacing errors, the flight results differed from that obtained in simulation. This paper details the lessons learnt and presents a plausible solution for the way forward.

Prognostic significance of IGF and ECM induced signalling proteins in breast cancer patients

Breast cancer is a leading contributor to the burden of disease in Australia. Fortunately, the recent introduction of diverse therapeutic strategies have improved the survival outcome for many women. Despite this, the clinical management of breast cancer remains problematic as not all approaches are sufficiently sophisticated to take into account the heterogeneity of this disease and are unable to predict disease progression, in particular, metastasis. As such, women with good prognostic outcomes are exposed to the side effects of therapies without added benefit. Furthermore, women with aggressive disease for whom these advanced treatments would deliver benefit cannot be distinguished and opportunities for more intensive or novel treatment are lost. This study is designed to identify novel factors associated with disease progression, and the potential to inform disease prognosis. Frequently overlooked, yet common mediators of disease are the interactions that take place between the insulin-like growth factor (IGF) system and the extracellular matrix (ECM). Our laboratory has previously demonstrated that multiprotein insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I): insulin-like growth factor binding protein (IGFBP): vitronectin (VN) complexes stimulate migration of breast cancer cells in vitro, via the cooperative involvement of the insulin-like growth factor type I receptor (IGF-IR) and VN-binding integrins. However, the effects of IGF and ECM protein interactions on the dissemination and progression of breast cancer in vivo are unknown. It was hypothesised that interactions between proteins required for IGF induced signalling events and those within the ECM contribute to breast cancer metastasis and are prognostic and predictive indicators of patient outcome. To address this hypothesis, semiquantitative immunohistochemistry (IHC) analyses were performed to compare the extracellular and subcellular distribution of IGF and ECM induced signalling proteins between matched normal, primary cancer, and metastatic cancer among archival formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) breast tissue samples collected from women attending the Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards (PH) regression survival models in conjunction with a modified „purposeful selection of covariates. method were applied to determine the prognostic potential of these proteins. This study provides the first in-depth, compartmentalised analysis of the distribution of IGF and ECM induced signalling proteins. As protein function and protein localisation are closely correlated, these findings provide novel insights into IGF signalling and ECM protein function during breast cancer development and progression. Distinct IGF signalling and ECM protein immunoreactivity was observed in the stroma and/or in subcellular locations in normal breast, primary cancer and metastatic cancer tissues. Analysis of the presence and location of stratifin (SFN) suggested a causal relationship in ECM remodelling events during breast cancer development and progression. The results of this study have also suggested that fibronectin (FN) and ¥â1 integrin are important for the formation of invadopodia and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) events. Our data also highlighted the importance of the temporal and spatial distribution of IGF induced signalling proteins in breast cancer metastasis; in particular, SFN, enhancer-of-split and hairy-related protein 2 (SHARP-2), total-akt/protein kinase B 1 (Total-AKT1), phosphorylated-akt/protein kinase B (P-AKT), extracellular signal-related kinase-1 and extracellular signal-related kinase-2 (ERK1/2) and phosphorylated-extracellular signal-related kinase-1 and extracellular signal-related kinase-2 (P-ERK1/2). Multivariate survival models were created from the immunohistochemical data. These models were found to fit well with these data with very high statistical confidence. Numerous prognostic confounding effects and effect modifications were identified among elements of the ECM and IGF signalling cascade and corroborate the survival models. This finding provides further evidence for the prognostic potential of IGF and ECM induced signalling proteins. In addition, the adjusted measures of associations obtained in this study have strengthened the validity and utility of the resulting models. The findings from this study provide insights into the biological interactions that occur during the development of breast tissue and contribute to disease progression. Importantly, these multivariate survival models could provide important prognostic and predictive indicators that assist the clinical management of breast disease, namely in the early identification of cancers with a propensity to metastasise, and/or recur following adjuvant therapy. The outcomes of this study further inform the development of new therapeutics to aid patient recovery. The findings from this study have widespread clinical application in the diagnosis of disease and prognosis of disease progression, and inform the most appropriate clinical management of individuals with breast cancer.

Stress and addiction : contribution of the corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) system in neuroplasticity

Corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) has been shown to induce various behavioral changes related to adaptation to stress. Dysregulation of the CRF system at any point can lead to a variety of psychiatric disorders, including substance use disorders (SUDs). CRF has been associated with stress-induced drug reinforcement. Extensive literature has identified CRF to play an important role in the molecular mechanisms that lead to an increase in susceptibility that precipitates relapse to SUDs. The CRF system has a heterogeneous role in SUDs. It enhances the acute effects of drugs of abuse and is also responsible for the potentiation of drug-induced neuroplasticity evoked during the withdrawal period. We present in this review the brain regions and circuitries where CRF is expressed and may participate in stress-induced drug abuse. Finally, we attempt to evaluate the role of modulating the CRF system as a possible therapeutic strategy for treating the dysregulation of emotional behaviors that result from the acute positive reinforcement of substances of abuse as well as the negative reinforcement produced by withdrawal.

The public hospital system

When you finish this chapter you should be able to: * understand how the public hospital system is funded by the Federal, state and territory governments * appreciate some of the major funding issues facing public hospitals in Australia * have a beginning understandingof casemix Deagnosis Related Groups (DRGs) * have insight into the position of the various interest groups funding public hospitals in Australia.

Adaptive subcarrier allocation in multiuser OFDM system using forced cost based decisions

Subcarrier allocation scheme for Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing(OFDM) based multiuser system is proposed. Most previous algorithms use greedy approach as a subcarrier allocation scheme until a conflict occurs or as an initial first round allocation with improvement steps carried out in next rounds. Our algorithm uses information obtained by the forced costs of a system that incur by a current allocation to make assignment decisions. This algorithm does not rely on greedy approach and therefore can also be considered as a substitute for first layer Greedy algorithms. Simulation results show that for two user case this algorithm gives better or equal allocation 80-90 percent of the time when compared with the greedy allocation.

Real-time power line extraction from unmanned aerial system video images

In this paper a real-time vision based power line extraction solution is investigated for active UAV guidance. The line extraction algorithm starts from ridge points detected by steerable filters. A collinear line segments fitting algorithm is followed up by considering global and local information together with multiple collinear measurements. GPU boosted algorithm implementation is also investigated in the experiment. The experimental result shows that the proposed algorithm outperforms two baseline line detection algorithms and is able to fitting long collinear line segments. The low computational cost of the algorithm make suitable for real-time applications.

The role of organisational concern for workplace fairness in the choice of a performance mesaurement system

Prior studies linking performance management systems (PMS) and organisational justice have examined how PMS influence procedural fairness. Our investigation differs from these studies. First, it examines fairness as an antecedent (instead of as a consequence) of the choice of PMS. Second, instead of conceptualising organisational fairness as procedural fairness, it relies on the impression management interpretation of organisational fairness. Hence, the study investigates how the need of senior managers to cultivate an impression of being fair is related to the choice of PMS systems and employee outcomes. Based on a sample of 276 employees, the results indicate that the need of senior management to cultivate an impression of being fair is associated with employee performance. They also indicate that a substantial component of these effects is indirect through the choice of comprehensive performance measures (CPM) and employee job satisfaction. These findings highlight the importance of organisational concern for workplace fairness as an antecedent of choice of CPM. From a theoretical perspective, the adoption of the impression management interpretation of organisational fairness contributes by providing new insights into the relationship between fairness and choice of PMS from a perspective that is different from those used in prior management accounting research.

Improving stability of a DFIG-based wind power system with tuned damping controller

This paper focuses on the implementation of a damping controller for the doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) system. Coordinated tuning of the damping controller to enhance the damping of the oscillatory modes is presented using bacterial foraging technique. The effect of the tuned damping controller on converter ratings of the DFIG system is also investigated. The results of both eigenvalue analysis and the time-domain simulation studies are presented to elucidate the effectiveness of the tuned damping controller in the DFIG system. The improvement of the fault ride-through capability of the system is also demonstrated.

Rough fuzzy control of SVC for power system stability enhancement

This paper presents a new approach to the design of a rough fuzzy controller for the control loop of the SVC (static VAR system) in a two area power system for stability enhancement with particular emphasis on providing effective damping for oscillatory instabilities. The performances of the rough fuzzy and the conventional fuzzy controller are compared with that of the conventional PI controller for a variety of transient disturbances, highlighting the effectiveness of the rough fuzzy controller in damping the inter-area oscillations. The effect of the rough fuzzy controller in improving the CCT (critical clearing time) of the two area system is elaborated in this paper as well.

Introduction : creative industries and cities

The 2000s were marked by a resurgence of interest in creativity and cities. If the rapid global proliferation of the Internet and digital media technologies in the 1990s had set off enthusiasm for a post-industrial ‘new economy’, where the significance of location would be in decline, the 2000s saw an energetic search by artists, entrepreneurs, investors, policy-makers, journalists and many others to uncover the well-springs of creativity and its relationship to place (Flew 2012a). This chapter begins with a discussion of the discourses or ‘scripts’ that have emerged to try and conceptualise the relationship between creativity and cities, notably theories of creative clusters, creative cities and creative class theories. Such work can be seen as representing a growth in the field of cultural economic geography although – as is noted in the chapter – it possesses some significant gaps. Among the issues that are drawn out in this book, and discussed in this chapter, are: the need to move beyond ‘imagined geographies’ of creative inner cities and come to terms with empirical evidence that suggests significant concentrations of the creative workforce in suburbs and regional cities; the relevance of urban cultural policy as a variable in the rise of cities as creative hubs or, in a different model, media capitals; and the challenges of bringing together cultural research with economic discourses in ways that get beyond caricatured representations of the ‘other’, as found, for instance, in some of the most influential framings of the concept of neo-liberalism.

The expression of plasminogen activator system in a rat model of periodontal wound healing

BACKGROUND: The plasminogen activator system has been proposed to play a role in proteolytic degradation of extracellular matrices in tissue remodeling, including wound healing. The aim of this study was to elucidate the presence of components of the plasminogen activator system during different stages of periodontal wound healing. METHODS: Periodontal wounds were created around the molars of adult rats and healing was followed for 28 days. Immunohistochemical analyses of the healing tissues and an analysis of the periodontal wound healing fluid by ELISA were carried out for the detection of tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA), urokinase-type plasminogen activator (u-PA), and 2 plasminogen activator inhibitors (PAI-1 and PAI-2). RESULTS: During the early stages (days 1 to 3) of periodontal wound healing, PAI-1 and PAI-2 were found to be closely associated with the deposition of a fibrin clot in the gingival sulcus. These components were strongly associated with the infiltrating inflammatory cells around the fibrin clot. During days 3 to 7, u-PA, PAI-1, and PAI-2 were associated with cells (particularly monocytes/macrophages, fibroblasts, and endothelial cells) in the newly formed granulation tissue. During days 7 to 14, a new attachment apparatus was formed during which PAI-1, PAI-2, and u-PA were localized in both periodontal ligament fibroblasts (PDL) and epithelial cells at sites where these cells were attaching to the root surface. In the periodontal wound healing fluid, the concentration for t-PA increased and peaked during the first week. PAI-2 had a similar expression to t-PA, but at a lower level over the entire wound-healing period. CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate that the plasminogen activator system is involved in the entire process of periodontal wound healing, in particular with the formation of fibrin matrix on the root surface and its replacement by granulation tissue, as well as the subsequent formation of the attachment of soft tissue to the root surface during the later stages of wound repair.

An expressed sequence tag (EST) library for Drosophila serrata, a model system for sexual selection and climatic adaptation studies

The native Australian fly Drosophila serrata belongs to the highly speciose montium subgroup of the melanogaster species group. It has recently emerged as an excellent model system with which to address a number of important questions, including the evolution of traits under sexual selection and traits involved in climatic adaptation along latitudinal gradients. Understanding the molecular genetic basis of such traits has been limited by a lack of genomic resources for this species. Here, we present the first expressed sequence tag (EST) collection for D. serrata that will enable the identification of genes underlying sexually-selected phenotypes and physiological responses to environmental change and may help resolve controversial phylogenetic relationships within the montium subgroup.