Fusing shrinking and expanding active contour models for robust IRIS segmentation

The performance of iris recognition systems is significantly affected by the segmentation accuracy, especially in non- ideal iris images. This paper proposes an improved method to localise non-circular iris images quickly and accurately. Shrinking and expanding active contour methods are consolidated when localising inner and outer iris boundaries. First, the pupil region is roughly estimated based on histogram thresholding and morphological operations. There- after, a shrinking active contour model is used to precisely locate the inner iris boundary. Finally, the estimated inner iris boundary is used as an initial contour for an expanding active contour scheme to find the outer iris boundary. The proposed scheme is robust in finding exact the iris boundaries of non-circular and off-angle irises. In addition, occlusions of the iris images from eyelids and eyelashes are automatically excluded from the detected iris region. Experimental results on CASIA v3.0 iris databases indicate the accuracy of proposed technique.

Towards an intelligent learning system for the natural born cyborg

We propose to design a Custom Learning System that responds to the unique needs and potentials of individual students, regardless of their location, abilities, attitudes, and circumstances. This project is intentionally provocative and future-looking but it is not unrealistic or unfeasible. We propose that by combining complex learning databases with a learner’s personal data, we could provide all students with a personal, customizable, and flexible education. This paper presents the initial research undertaken for this project of which the main challenges were to broadly map the complex web of data available, to identify what logic models are required to make the data meaningful for learning, and to translate this knowledge into simple and easy-to-use interfaces. The ultimate outcome of this research will be a series of candidate user interfaces and a broad system logic model for a new smart system for personalized learning. This project is student-centered, not techno-centric, aiming to deliver innovative solutions for learners and schools. It is deliberately future-looking, allowing us to ask questions that take us beyond the limitations of today to motivate new demands on technology.

Manufacturing management programs : are developing economies bridging the strategic gap?

Over the past decade there have been a large number of significant innovations in manufacturing which have resulted in more flexible and cost efficient methods and higher quality products, as manufacturers have set about upgrading their processes, systems and performance. This study compares the use of technologies and improvement programs between OECD and Non-OECD countries, and also between small and large firms, and examines differences in the use and outcomes across the economies and different sized firms. The empirical analysis provides an opportunity to test whether the ‘capabilities’ or strengths of a firm can be linked to these activities and examines if developing economies are using technology or management programs such as quality management and business process re-engineering to catch up to manufacturers in developed economies. The analysis utilises data from the second International Manufacturing Strategy Survey (IMSS), which encompasses 703 firms in 23 countries.

Methods and preliminary results for a data linkage project to determine long-term survival after intensive care unit admission

Aims: To describe a local data linkage project to match hospital data with the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) National Death Index (NDI) to assess longterm outcomes of intensive care unit patients. Methods: Data were obtained from hospital intensive care and cardiac surgery databases on all patients aged 18 years and over admitted to either of two intensive care units at a tertiary-referral hospital between 1 January 1994 and 31 December 2005. Date of death was obtained from the AIHW NDI by probabilistic software matching, in addition to manual checking through hospital databases and other sources. Survival was calculated from time of ICU admission, with a censoring date of 14 February 2007. Data for patients with multiple hospital admissions requiring intensive care were analysed only from the first admission. Summary and descriptive statistics were used for preliminary data analysis. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was used to analyse factors determining long-term survival. Results: During the study period, 21 415 unique patients had 22 552 hospital admissions that included an ICU admission; 19 058 surgical procedures were performed with a total of 20 092 ICU admissions. There were 4936 deaths. Median follow-up was 6.2 years, totalling 134 203 patient years. The casemix was predominantly cardiac surgery (80%), followed by cardiac medical (6%), and other medical (4%). The unadjusted survival at 1, 5 and 10 years was 97%, 84% and 70%, respectively. The 1-year survival ranged from 97% for cardiac surgery to 36% for cardiac arrest. An APACHE II score was available for 16 877 patients. In those discharged alive from hospital, the 1, 5 and 10-year survival varied with discharge location. Conclusions: ICU-based linkage projects are feasible to determine long-term outcomes of ICU patients

A genealogy of the problematic of homelessness and the homeless in Australia

The homeless have been subject to considerable scrutiny, historically and within current social, political and public discourse. The aetiology of homelessness has been the focus of a large body of economic, sociological, historical and political investigation. Importantly, efforts to conceptualise, explain and measure, the phenomenon of homelessness and homeless people has occurred largely within the context of defining “the problem of the homeless” and the generation of solutions to the ‘problem’. There has been little consideration of how and why homelessness has come to be seen, or understood, as a problem, or how this can change across time and/or place. This alternative stream of research has focused on tracing and analysing the relationship between how people experiencing homeless have become a matter of government concern and the manner in which homelessness itself has been problematised. With this in mind this study has analysed the discourses - political, social and economic rationalities and knowledges - which have provided the conditions of possibility for the identification of the homeless and homelessness as a problem needing to be governed and the means for translating these discourses into the applied domain. The aim of this thesis has been to contribute to current knowledge by developing a genealogy of the conditions and rationalities that have underpinned the problematisation of homelessness and the homeless. The outcome of this analysis has been to open up the opportunity to consider alternative governmental possibilities arising from the exposure of the way in which contemporary problematisation and responses have been influenced by the past. An understanding of this process creates an ability to appreciate the intended and unintended consequences for the future direction of public policy and contemporary research.

Evolutionary algorithms for sustainable building design

This approach to sustainable design explores the possibility of creating an architectural design process which can iteratively produce optimised and sustainable design solutions. Driven by an evolution process based on genetic algorithms, the system allows the designer to “design the building design generator” rather than to “designs the building”. The design concept is abstracted into a digital design schema, which allows transfer of the human creative vision into the rational language of a computer. The schema is then elaborated into the use of genetic algorithms to evolve innovative, performative and sustainable design solutions. The prioritisation of the project’s constraints and the subsequent design solutions synthesised during design generation are expected to resolve most of the major conflicts in the evaluation and optimisation phases. Mosques are used as the example building typology to ground the research activity. The spatial organisations of various mosque typologies are graphically represented by adjacency constraints between spaces. Each configuration is represented by a planar graph which is then translated into a non-orthogonal dual graph and fed into the genetic algorithm system with fixed constraints and expected performance criteria set to govern evolution. The resultant Hierarchical Evolutionary Algorithmic Design System is developed by linking the evaluation process with environmental assessment tools to rank the candidate designs. The proposed system generates the concept, the seed, and the schema, and has environmental performance as one of the main criteria in driving optimisation.

Kava and St. John's wort : current evidence for use in mood and anxiety disorders

Background: Mood and anxiety disorders pose significant health burdens on the community. Kava and St John’s wort (SJW) are the most commonly used herbal medicines in the treatment of anxiety and depressive disorders, respectively. Objectives: To conduct a comprehensive review of kava and SJW, to review any evidence of efficacy, mode of action, pharmacokinetics, safety and use in Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), Bipolar Disorder (BP), Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Social Phobia (SP), Panic Disorder (PD), Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Methods: A systematic review was conducted using the electronic databases MEDLINE, CINAHL, and The Cochrane Library during late 2008. The search criteria involved mood and anxiety disorder search terms in combination with kava, Piper methysticum, kavalactones, St John’s wort, Hypericum perforatum, hypericin and hyperforin. Additional search criteria for safety, pharmacodynamics , and pharmacokinetics was employed. A subsequent forward search was conducted of the papers using Web of Science cited reference search. Results: Current evidence supports the use of SJW in treating mild-moderate depression, and for kava in treatment of generalized anxiety. In respect to the other disorders, only weak preliminary evidence exists for use of SJW in SAD. Currently there is no published human trial on use of kava in affective disorders, or in OCD, PTSD, PD or SP. These disorders constitute potential applications that warrant exploration. Conclusions: Current evidence for herbal medicines in the treatment of depression and anxiety only supports the use of Hypericum perforatum for depression, and Piper methysticum for generalized anxiety.

Australia experiments with 'experimental use' exemption

Lawmakers are asking whether Australian researchers need an express 'experimental use' defense against patent infringement. The overriding policy for establishing a patent system is indisputably the promotion of innovation. According to traditional intellectual property pedagogy, the incentive to innovate flows from the reward afforded to the inventor. A balancing policy is that the patentee must fully disclose the invention to help minimize the risks of duplication and provides a basis for improvements by further research.Where there is uncertainty as to how these competing policy limbs are balanced and whether a patentee can exclude others from experimenting on a patented invention, the uncertain legal environment disadvantages both the patentee and researcher. Different jurisdictions have treated the experimental use question quite differently with varied results for the researcher. The biotechnology industry is evolving at an unprecedented pace and the law will as is always the case, lag behind in its usual cautious fashion. The Australian law may finally catch up to researchers' concerns.

An integrated information management model for ecologically sustainable development

Ecologically sustainable development has become a major feature of legal systems at the international, national and local levels throughout the world. In Australia, governments have responded to environmental crises by enacting legislation imposing obligations and restrictions over privately-owned land. Whilst these obligations and restrictions may well be necessary to achieve sustainability, the approach to management of information concerning these instruments is problematic. For example, management of information concerning obligations and restrictions in Queensland is fragmented, with some instruments registered or recorded on the land title register, some on external registers, and some information only available in the legislation itself. This approach is used in most Australian jurisdictions. This fragmented approach has led to two separate but interconnected problems. First, the Torrens system is no longer meeting its goal of providing a complete and accurate picture of title. Second, this uncoordinated approach to the management of land titles, and obligations and restrictions on land use, has created a barrier to sustainable management of natural resources. This is because compliance with environmental laws is impaired in the absence of easily accessible and accurate information. These problems demonstrate a clear need for reform in this area. To determine how information concerning these obligations and restrictions may be most effectively managed, this thesis will apply a comparative methodology and consider three case studies, which each utilise different models for management of this information. These jurisdictions will be assessed according to a set of guidelines for comparison to identify which features of their systems provide for effective management of information concerning obligations and restrictions on title and use. Based on this comparison, this thesis will devise a series of recommendations for an effective system for the management of information concerning obligations and restrictions on land title and use, taking into account any potential legal issues and barriers to implementation. This series of recommendations for reform will be supplemented by suggested draft legislative provisions.

The effect of traffic lane widths on the safety of cyclists in urban areas

This literature review examines the relationship between traffic lane widths on the safety of road users. It focuses on the impacts of lane widths on motor vehicle behaviour and cyclists’ safety. The review commenced with a search of available databases. Peer reviewed articles and road authority reports were reviewed, as well as current engineering guidelines. Research shows that traffic lane width influences drivers’ perceived difficulty of the task, risk perception and possibly speed choices. Total roadway width, and the presence of onroad cycling facilities, influence cyclists’ positioning on the road. Lateral displacement between bicycles and vehicles is smallest when a marked bicycle facility is present. Reduced motor vehicle speeds can significantly improve the safety of vulnerable road users, particularly pedestrians and cyclists. It has been shown that if road lane widths on urban roads were reduced, through various mechanisms, it could result in a safety environment for all road users.

Design of a Web interface for anatomical images

Interactive documents for use with the World Wide Web have been developed for viewing multi-dimensional radiographic and visual images of human anatomy, derived from the Visible Human Project. Emphasis has been placed on user-controlled features and selections. The purpose was to develop an interface which was independent of host operating system and browser software which would allow viewing of information by multiple users. The interfaces were implemented using HyperText Markup Language (HTML) forms, C programming language and Perl scripting language. Images were pre-processed using ANALYZE and stored on a Web server in CompuServe GIF format. Viewing options were included in the document design, such as interactive thresholding and two-dimensional slice direction. The interface is an example of what may be achieved using the World Wide Web. Key applications envisaged for such software include education, research and accessing of information through internal databases and simultaneous sharing of images by remote computers by health personnel for diagnostic purposes.

Implicit discount rates and fisheries management : is there a relationship?

Fishers are faced with multiple risks, including unpredictability of future catch rates, prices and costs. While the latter are largely beyond the control of fisheries managers, effective fisheries management should reduce uncertainty about future catches. Different management instruments are likely to have different impacts on the risk perception of fishers, and this should manifest itself in their implicit discount rate. Assuming licence and quota values represent the net present value of the flow of expected future profits, then a proxy for the implicit discount rate of vessels in a fishery can be derived by the ratio of the average level of profits to the average licence/quota value. From this, an indication of the risk perception can be derived, assuming higher discount rates reflect higher levels of systematic risk. In this paper, we apply the capital asset pricing model (CAPM) to determine the risk premium implicit in the discount rates for a range of Australian fisheries, and compare this with the set of management instruments in place. We test the assumption that rights based management instruments lower perceptions of risk in fisheries. We find little evidence to support this assumption. although the analysis was based on only limited data.

The effect of dialect mismatch on likelihood-maximising speech enhancement for noise-robust speech recognition

Traditional speech enhancement methods optimise signal-level criteria such as signal-to-noise ratio, but these approaches are sub-optimal for noise-robust speech recognition. Likelihood-maximising (LIMA) frameworks are an alternative that optimise parameters of enhancement algorithms based on state sequences generated for utterances with known transcriptions. Previous reports of LIMA frameworks have shown significant promise for improving speech recognition accuracies under additive background noise for a range of speech enhancement techniques. In this paper we discuss the drawbacks of the LIMA approach when multiple layers of acoustic mismatch are present – namely background noise and speaker accent. Experimentation using LIMA-based Mel-filterbank noise subtraction on American and Australian English in-car speech databases supports this discussion, demonstrating that inferior speech recognition performance occurs when a second layer of mismatch is seen during evaluation.

A prototype system for the digital lodgement of spatial data

This dissertation develops the model of a prototype system for the digital lodgement of spatial data sets with statutory bodies responsible for the registration and approval of land related actions under the Torrens Title system. Spatial data pertain to the location of geographical entities together with their spatial dimensions and are classified as point, line, area or surface. This dissertation deals with a sub-set of spatial data, land boundary data that result from the activities performed by surveying and mapping organisations for the development of land parcels. The prototype system has been developed, utilising an event-driven paradigm for the user-interface, to exploit the potential of digital spatial data being generated from the utilisation of electronic techniques. The system provides for the creation of a digital model of the cadastral network and dependent data sets for an area of interest from hard copy records. This initial model is calibrated on registered control and updated by field survey to produce an amended model. The field-calibrated model then is electronically validated to ensure it complies with standards of format and content. The prototype system was designed specifically to create a database of land boundary data for subsequent retrieval by land professionals for surveying, mapping and related activities. Data extracted from this database are utilised for subsequent field survey operations without the need to create an initial digital model of an area of interest. Statistical reporting of differences resulting when subsequent initial and calibrated models are compared, replaces the traditional checking operations of spatial data performed by a land registry office. Digital lodgement of survey data is fundamental to the creation of the database of accurate land boundary data. This creation of the database is fundamental also to the efficient integration of accurate spatial data about land being generated by modem technology such as global positioning systems, and remote sensing and imaging, with land boundary information and other information held in Government databases. The prototype system developed provides for the delivery of accurate, digital land boundary data for the land registration process to ensure the continued maintenance of the integrity of the cadastre. Such data should meet also the more general and encompassing requirements of, and prove to be of tangible, longer term benefit to the developing, electronic land information industry.