Resource allocation and scheduling of multiple composite web services in cloud computing using cooperative coevolution genetic algorithm

In cloud computing, resource allocation and scheduling of multiple composite web services is an important and challenging problem. This is especially so in a hybrid cloud where there may be some low-cost resources available from private clouds and some high-cost resources from public clouds. Meeting this challenge involves two classical computational problems: one is assigning resources to each of the tasks in the composite web services; the other is scheduling the allocated resources when each resource may be used by multiple tasks at different points of time. In addition, Quality-of-Service (QoS) issues, such as execution time and running costs, must be considered in the resource allocation and scheduling problem. Here we present a Cooperative Coevolutionary Genetic Algorithm (CCGA) to solve the deadline-constrained resource allocation and scheduling problem for multiple composite web services. Experimental results show that our CCGA is both efficient and scalable.

Volcanology and petrology of submarine volcanoes of the New Hebrides island arc

The New Hebrides Island Arc, an intra-oceanic island chain in the southwest Pacific, is formed by subduction of the Indo-Australian Plate beneath the Pacific Plate. The southern end of the New Hebrides Island Arc is an ideal location to study the magmatic and tectonic interaction of an emerging island arc as this part of the island chain is less than 3 million years old. A tectonically complex island arc, it exhibits a change in relative subduction rate from ~12cm/yr to 6 cm/yr before transitioning to a left-lateral strike slip zone at its southern end. Two submarine volcanic fields, Gemini-Oscostar and Volsmar, occur at this transition from normal arc subduction to sinistral strike slip movement. Multi-beam bathymetry and dredge samples collected during the 2004 CoTroVE cruise onboard the RV Southern Surveyor help define the relationship between magmatism and tectonics, and the source for these two submarine volcanic fields. Gemini-Oscostar volcanic field (GOVF), dominated by northwest-oriented normal faults, has mature polygenetic stratovolcanoes with evidence for explosive subaqueous eruptions and homogeneous monogenetic scoria cones. Volsmar volcanic field (VVF), located 30 km south of GOVF, exhibits a conjugate set of northwest and eastwest-oriented normal faults, with two polygenetic stratovolcanoes and numerous monogenetic scoria cones. A deep water caldera provides evidence for explosive eruptions at 1500m below sea level in the VVF. Both volcanic fields are dominated by low-K island arc tholeiites and basaltic andesites with calcalkalic andesite and dacite being found only in the GOVF. Geochemical signatures of both volcanic fields continue the along-arc trend of decreasing K2O with both volcanic fields being similar to the New Hebrides central chain lavas. Lavas from both fields display a slight depletion in high field strength elements and heavy rare earth elements, and slight enrichments in large-ion lithophile elements and light rare earth elements with respect to N-MORB mantle. Sr and Nd isotope data correlate with heavy rare earth and high field strength element data to show that both fields are derived from depleted mantle. Pb isotopes define Pacific MORB mantle sources and are consistent with isotopic variation along the New Hebrides Island Arc. Pb isotopes show no evidence for sediment contamination; the subduction component enrichment is therefore a slab-derived enrichment. There is a subtle spatial variation in source chemistry which sees a northerly trend of decreasing enrichment of slab-derived fluids.

Crisis communication under transformative change : the emergent context and roles of primary and secondary organisations

In an era of complex challenges that draw sustained media attention and entangle multiple organisational actors, this thesis addresses the gap between current trends in society and business, and existing scholarship in public relations and crisis communication. By responding to calls from crisis communication researchers to develop theory (Coombs, 2006a), to examine the interdependencies of crises (Seeger, Sellnow, & Ulmer, 1998), and to consider variation in crisis response (Seeger, 2002), this thesis contributes to theory development in crisis communication and public relations. Through transformative change, this thesis extends existing scholarship built on a preservation or conservation logic where public relations is used to maintain stability by incrementally responding to changes in an organisation‘s environment (Cutlip, Center, & Broom, 2006; Everett, 2001; Grunig, 2000; Spicer, 1997). Based on the opportunity to contribute to ongoing theoretical development in the literature, the overall research problem guiding this thesis asks: How does transformative change during crisis influence corporate actors’ communication? This thesis adopts punctuated equilibrium theory, which describes change as alternating between long periods of stability and short periods of revolutionary or transformative change (Gersick, 1991; Romanelli & Tushman, 1994; Siggelkow, 2002; Tushman, Newman, & Romanelli, 1986; Tushman & Romanelli, 1985). As a theory for change, punctuated equilibrium provides an opportunity to examine public relations and transformative change, building on scholarship that is based primarily on incremental change. Further, existing scholarship in public relations and crisis communication focuses on the actions of single organisations in situational or short-term crisis events. Punctuated equilibrium theory enables the study of multiple crises and multiple organisational responses during transformative change. In doing so, punctuated equilibrium theory provides a framework to explain both the context for transformative change and actions or strategies enacted by organisations during transformative change (Tushman, Newman, & Romanelli, 1986; Tushman & Romanelli, 1985; Tushman, Virany, & Romanelli, 1986). The connections between context and action inform the research questions that guide this thesis: RQ1: What symbolic and substantive strategies persist and change as crises develop from situational events to transformative and multiple linked events? RQ2: What features of the crisis context influence changes in symbolic and substantive strategies? To shed light on these research questions, the thesis adopts a qualitative approach guided by process theory and methods to explicate the events, sequences and activities that were essential to change (Pettigrew, 1992; Van de Ven, 1992). Specifically, the thesis draws on an alternative template strategy (Langley, 1999) that provides several alternative interpretations of the same events (Allison, 1971; Allison & Zelikow, 1999). Following Allison (1971) and Allison and Zelikow (1999), this thesis uses three alternative templates of crisis or strategic response typologies to construct three narratives using media articles and organisational documents. The narratives are compared to identify and draw out different patterns of crisis communication strategies that operate within different crisis contexts. The thesis is based on the crisis events that affected three organisations within the pharmaceutical industry for four years. The primary organisation is Merck, as its product recall crisis triggered transformative change affecting, in different ways, the secondary organisations of Pfizer and Novartis. Three narratives are presented based on the crisis or strategic response typologies of Coombs (2006b), Allen and Caillouet (1994), and Oliver (1991). The findings of this thesis reveal different stories about crisis communication under transformative change. By zooming in to a micro perspective (Nicolini, 2009) to focus on the crisis communication and actions of a single organisation and zooming out to a macro perspective (Nicolini, 2009) to consider multiple organisations, new insights about crisis communication, change and the relationships among multiple organisations are revealed at context and action levels. At the context level, each subsequent narrative demonstrates greater connections among multiple corporate actors. By zooming out from Coombs‘ (2006b) focus on single organisations to consider Allen and Caillouet‘s (1994) integration of the web of corporate actors, the thesis demonstrates how corporate actors add accountability pressures to the primary organisation. Next, by zooming further out to the macro perspective by considering Oliver‘s (1991) strategic responses to institutional processes, the thesis reveals a greater range of corporate actors that are caught up in the process of transformative change and accounts for their varying levels of agency over their environment. By zooming in to a micro perspective and out to a macro perspective (Nicolini, 2009) across alternative templates, the thesis sheds light on sequences, events, and actions of primary and secondary organisations. Although the primary organisation remains the focus of sustained media attention across the four-year time frame, the secondary organisations, even when one faced a similar starting situation to the primary organisation, were buffered by the process of transformative change. This understanding of crisis contexts in transforming environments builds on existing knowledge in crisis communication. At the action level, the thesis also reveals different interpretations from each alternative template. Coombs‘ (2006b) narrative shows persistence in the primary organisation‘s crisis or strategic responses over the four-year time frame of the thesis. That is, the primary organisation consistently applies a diminish crisis response. At times, the primary organisation drew on denial responses when corporate actors questioned its legitimacy or actions. To close the crisis, the primary organisation uses a rebuild crisis posture (Coombs, 2006). These finding are replicated in Allen and Caillouet‘s (1994) narrative, noting this template‘s limitation to communication messages only. Oliver‘s (1991) narrative is consistent with Coombs‘ (2006b) but also demonstrated a shift from a strategic response that signals conformity to the environment to one that signals more active resistance to the environment over time. Specifically, the primary organisation‘s initial response demonstrates conformity but these same messages were used some three years later to set new expectations in the environment in order to shape criteria and build acceptance for future organisational decisions. In summary, the findings demonstrate the power of crisis or strategic responses when considered over time and in the context of transformative change. The conclusions of this research contribute to scholarship in the public relations and management literatures. Based on the significance of organisational theory, the primary contribution of the theory relates to the role of interorganisational linkages or legitimacy buffers that form during the punctuation of equilibrium. The network of linkages among the corporate actors are significant also to the crisis communication literature as they form part of the process model of crisis communication under punctuated equilibrium. This model extends existing research that focuses on crisis communication of single organisations to consider the emergent context that incorporates secondary organisations as well as the localised contests of legitimacy and buffers from regulatory authorities. The thesis also provides an empirical base for punctuated equilibrium in public relations and crisis communication, extending Murphy‘s (2000) introduction of the theory to the public relations literature. In doing this, punctuated equilibrium theory reinvigorates theoretical development in crisis communication by extending existing scholarship around incrementalist approaches and demonstrating how public relations works in the context of transformative change. Further research in this area could consider using alternative templates to study transformative change caused by a range of crisis types from natural disasters to product tampering, and to add further insight into the dynamics between primary and secondary organisations. This thesis contributes to practice by providing guidelines for crisis response strategy selection and indicators related to the emergent context for crises under transformative change that will help primary and secondary organisations‘ responses to crises.

On the computation and interpretation of auto- and cross-trispectra

This paper discusses the principal domains of auto- and cross-trispectra. It is shown that the cumulant and moment based trispectra are identical except on certain planes in trifrequency space. If these planes are avoided, their principal domains can be derived by considering the regions of symmetry of the fourth order spectral moment. The fourth order averaged periodogram will then serve as an estimate for both cumulant and moment trispectra. Statistics of estimates of normalised trispectra or tricoherence are also discussed.

Mean and variance of estimates of the bispectrum of a harmonic random process-an analysis including leakage effects

Analytical expressions are derived for the mean and variance, of estimates of the bispectrum of a real-time series assuming a cosinusoidal model. The effects of spectral leakage, inherent in discrete Fourier transform operation when the modes present in the signal have a nonintegral number of wavelengths in the record, are included in the analysis. A single phase-coupled triad of modes can cause the bispectrum to have a nonzero mean value over the entire region of computation owing to leakage. The variance of bispectral estimates in the presence of leakage has contributions from individual modes and from triads of phase-coupled modes. Time-domain windowing reduces the leakage. The theoretical expressions for the mean and variance of bispectral estimates are derived in terms of a function dependent on an arbitrary symmetric time-domain window applied to the record. the number of data, and the statistics of the phase coupling among triads of modes. The theoretical results are verified by numerical simulations for simple test cases and applied to laboratory data to examine phase coupling in a hypothesis testing framework

The design and development of an undergraduate signal processing laboratory

The School of Electrical and Electronic Systems Engineering of Queensland University of Technology (like many other universities around the world) has recognised the importance of complementing the teaching of signal processing with computer based experiments. A laboratory has been developed to provide a "hands-on" approach to the teaching of signal processing techniques. The motivation for the development of this laboratory was the cliche "What I hear I remember but what I do I understand." The laboratory has been named as the "Signal Computing and Real-time DSP Laboratory" and provides practical training to approximately 150 final year undergraduate students each year. The paper describes the novel features of the laboratory, techniques used in the laboratory based teaching, interesting aspects of the experiments that have been developed and student evaluation of the teaching techniques

Library and information science education 2.0: guiding principles and models of best practice. Interview with Sue Reynolds.

In 2005, Stephen Abram, vice president of Innovation at SirsiDynix, challenged library and information science (LIS) professionals to start becoming “librarian 2.0.” In the last few years, discussion and debate about the “core competencies” needed by librarian 2.0 have appeared in the “biblioblogosphere” (blogs written by LIS professionals). However, beyond these informal blog discussions few systematic and empirically based studies have taken place. A project funded by the Australian Learning and Teaching Council fills this gap. The project identifies the key skills, knowledge, and attributes required by “librarian 2.0.” Eighty-one members of the Australian LIS profession participated in a series of focus groups. Eight themes emerged as being critical to “librarian 2.0”: technology, communication, teamwork, user focus, business savvy, evidence based practice, learning and education, and personal traits. Guided by these findings interviews with 36 LIS educators explored the current approaches used within contemporary LIS education to prepare graduates to become “librarian 2.0”. This video presents an example of ‘great practice’ in current LIS educative practice in helping to foster web 2.0 professionals.

Library and information science education 2.0 : guiding principles and models of best practice : interview with John Terrell

In 2005, Stephen Abram, vice president of Innovation at SirsiDynix, challenged library and information science (LIS) professionals to start becoming “librarian 2.0.” In the last few years, discussion and debate about the “core competencies” needed by librarian 2.0 have appeared in the “biblioblogosphere” (blogs written by LIS professionals). However, beyond these informal blog discussions few systematic and empirically based studies have taken place. A project funded by the Australian Learning and Teaching Council fills this gap. The project identifies the key skills, knowledge, and attributes required by “librarian 2.0.” Eighty-one members of the Australian LIS profession participated in a series of focus groups. Eight themes emerged as being critical to “librarian 2.0”: technology, communication, teamwork, user focus, business savvy, evidence based practice, learning and education, and personal traits. Guided by these findings interviews with 36 LIS educators explored the current approaches used within contemporary LIS education to prepare graduates to become “librarian 2.0”. This video presents an example of ‘great practice’ in current LIS education as it strives to foster web 2.0 professionals.

Library and information science education 2.0 : guiding principles and models of best practice : interview with Kate Davis.

In 2005, Stephen Abram, vice president of Innovation at SirsiDynix, challenged library and information science (LIS) professionals to start becoming “librarian 2.0.” In the last few years, discussion and debate about the “core competencies” needed by librarian 2.0 have appeared in the “biblioblogosphere” (blogs written by LIS professionals). However, beyond these informal blog discussions few systematic and empirically based studies have taken place. A project funded by the Australian Learning and Teaching Council fills this gap. The project identifies the key skills, knowledge, and attributes required by “librarian 2.0.” Eighty-one members of the Australian LIS profession participated in a series of focus groups. Eight themes emerged as being critical to “librarian 2.0”: technology, communication, teamwork, user focus, business savvy, evidence based practice, learning and education, and personal traits. Guided by these findings interviews with 36 LIS educators explored the current approaches used within contemporary LIS education to prepare graduates to become “librarian 2.0”. This video presents an example of ‘great practice’ in current LIS education as it strives to foster web 2.0 professionals.

Synthesis and characterisation of metal oxyhydroxide and oxide nanomaterials

In this work, a range of nanomaterials have been synthesised based on metal oxyhydroxides MO(OH), where M=Al, Co, Cr, etc. Through a self-assembly hydrothermal route, metal oxyhydroxide nanomaterials with various morphologies were successfully synthesised: one dimensional boehmite (AlO(OH)) nanofibres, zero dimensional indium hydroxide (In(OH)3) nanocubes and chromium oxyhydroxide (CrO(OH)) nanoparticles, as well as two dimensional cobalt hydroxide and oxyhydroxide (Co(OH)2 & CoO(OH)) nanodiscs. In order to control the synthetic nanomaterial morphology and growth, several factors were investigated including cation concentration, temperature, hydrothermal treatment time, and pH. Metal ion doping is a promising technique to modify and control the properties of materials by intentionally introducing impurities or defects into the material. Chromium was successfully applied as a dopant for fabricating doped boehmite nanofibres. The thermal stability of the boehmite nanofibres was enhanced by chromium doping, and the photoluminescence property was introduced to the chromium doped alumina nanofibres. Doping proved to be an efficient method to modify and functionalize nanomaterials. The synthesised nanomaterials were fully characterised by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) combined with selected area electron diffraction (SAED), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), BET specific surface area analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA). Hot-stage Raman and infrared emission spectroscopy were applied to study the chemical reactions during dehydration and dehydroxylation. The advantage of these techniques is that the changes in molecular structure can be followed in situ and at the elevated temperatures.

Cloning and characterization of a novel human gene related to vascular endothelial growth factor

This paper describes the cloning and characterization of a new member of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) gene family, which we have designated VRF for VEGF-related-factor. Sequencing of cDNAs from a human fetal brain library and RT-PCR products from normal and tumor tissue cDNA pools indicate two alternatively spliced messages with open reading frames of 621 and 564 bp, respectively. The predicted proteins differ at their carboxyl ends resulting from a shift in the open reading frame. Both isoforms show strong homology to VEGF at their amino termini, but only the shorter isoform maintains homology to VEGF at its carboxyl terminus and conserves all 16 cysteine residues of VEGF165. Similarity comparisons of this isoform revealed overall protein identity of 48% and conservative substitution of 69% with VEGF189. VRF is predicted to contain a signal peptide, suggesting that it may be a secreted factor. The VRF gene maps to the D11S750 locus at chromosome band 11q13, and the protein coding region, spanning approximately 5 kb, is comprised of 8 exons that range in size from 36 to 431 bp. Exons 6 and 7 are contiguous and the two isoforms of VRF arise through alternate splicing of exon 6. VRF appears to be ubiquitously expressed as two transcripts of 2.0 and 5.5 kb; the level of expression is similar among normal and malignant tissues.

Stochastic models and simulation of ion channel dynamics

The behaviour of ion channels within cardiac and neuronal cells is intrinsically stochastic in nature. When the number of channels is small this stochastic noise is large and can have an impact on the dynamics of the system which is potentially an issue when modelling small neurons and drug block in cardiac cells. While exact methods correctly capture the stochastic dynamics of a system they are computationally expensive, restricting their inclusion into tissue level models and so approximations to exact methods are often used instead. The other issue in modelling ion channel dynamics is that the transition rates are voltage dependent, adding a level of complexity as the channel dynamics are coupled to the membrane potential. By assuming that such transition rates are constant over each time step, it is possible to derive a stochastic differential equation (SDE), in the same manner as for biochemical reaction networks, that describes the stochastic dynamics of ion channels. While such a model is more computationally efficient than exact methods we show that there are analytical problems with the resulting SDE as well as issues in using current numerical schemes to solve such an equation. We therefore make two contributions: develop a different model to describe the stochastic ion channel dynamics that analytically behaves in the correct manner and also discuss numerical methods that preserve the analytical properties of the model.

Application of Mesenchymal Stem Cells for repair and regeneration of cartilage and bone

Australian efforts to provide orthopaedic surgeons with living, load-bearing scaffolds suitable for current joint (knee and hip) replacement surgery, non-union fracture repair, and miniscal and growth plate cartilage regeneration are being lead by teams at the Institute for Medical and Veterinary Science and Women's and Children's Hospital in Adelaide; the Peter MacCallum and St Vincent's Medical Research Institutes in Melbourne; and the Mater Medical Research Institute and new Institute for Health and Biomedical Innovation at QUT, Brisbane. In each case multidisciplinary teams are attempting to develop autologous living tissue constructs, utilising mesenchymal stem cells (MSC), with the intention of effecting seamless repair and regeneration of skeletal trauma and defects. In this article we will briefly review current knowledge of the phenotypic properties of MSC and discuss the potential therapeutic applications of these cells as exemplified by their use in cartilage repair and tissue engineering based approaches to the treatment of skeletal defects.

Analyzing real-time video microscopy : the dynamics and geometry of vesicles and tubules in endocytosis

With the advent of live cell imaging microscopy, new types of mathematical analyses and measurements are possible. Many of the real-time movies of cellular processes are visually very compelling, but elementary analysis of changes over time of quantities such as surface area and volume often show that there is more to the data than meets the eye. This unit outlines a geometric modeling methodology and applies it to tubulation of vesicles during endocytosis. Using these principles, it has been possible to build better qualitative and quantitative understandings of the systems observed, as well as to make predictions about quantities such as ligand or solute concentration, vesicle pH, and membrane trafficked. The purpose is to outline a methodology for analyzing real-time movies that has led to a greater appreciation of the changes that are occurring during the time frame of the real-time video microscopy and how additional quantitative measurements allow for further hypotheses to be generated and tested.

Bending and bundling of metal-free vertically aligned ZnO nanowires due to electrostatic interaction

Bending and bundling was observed from vertically aligned arrays of ZnO nanowires with flat (0001) top surfaces, which were synthesized using a vapor-phase method without metal catalysts. Sufficient evidence was found to exclude electron-beam bombardment during scanning electron microscopy as a cause for bending and bundling. We attribute the bending and bundling to electrostatic interactions due to charged (0001) polar surfaces, and also discussed the threshold surface charge densities for the bending and bundling based on a simple cantilever-bending model. Some growth features were indicative of the operation of electrostatic interactions during the growth.