Performing composition : developing a computer assisted composition system through live coding performance

This thesis maps the author's journey from a music composition practice to a composition and performance practice. The work involves the development of a software library for the purpose of encapsulating compositional ideas in software, and realising these ideas in performance through a live coding computer music practice. The thesis examines what artistic practice emerges through live coding and software development, and does this permit a blurring between the activities of music composition and performance. The role that software design plays in affecting musical outcomes is considered to gain an insight into how software development contributes to artistic development. The relationship between music composition and performance is also examined to identify the means by which engaging in live coding and software development can bring these activities together. The thesis, situated within the discourse of practice led research, documents a journey which uses the experience of software development and performance as a means to guide the direction of the research. The journey serves as an experiment for the author in engaging an hitherto unfamiliar musical practice, and as a roadmap for others seeking to modify or broaden their artistic practice.

Computed tomography analysis of sagittal plane parameters in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis treated by video assisted thoracoscopic spinal fusion and instrumentation

One of the primary treatment goals of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) surgery is to achieve maximum coronal plane correction while maintaining coronal balance. However maintaining or restoring sagittal plane spinal curvature has become increasingly important in maintaining the long-term health of the spine. Patients with AIS are characterised by pre-operative thoracic hypokyphosis, and it is generally agreed that operative treatment of thoracic idiopathic scoliosis should aim to restore thoracic kyphosis to normal values while maintaining lumbar lordosis and good overall sagittal balance. The aim of this study was to evaluate CT sagittal plane parameters, with particular emphasis on thoracolumbar junctional alignment, in patients with AIS who underwent Video Assisted Thoracoscopic Spinal Fusion and Instrumentation (VATS). This study concluded that video-assisted thoracoscopic spinal fusion and instrumentation reliably increases thoracic kyphosis while preserving junctional alignment and lumbar lordosis in thoracic AIS.

Fusionless scoliosis correction using shape memory alloy staples

Severe spinal deformity in young children is a formidable challenge for optimal treatment. Standard interventions for adolescents, such as spinal deformity correction and fusion, may not be appropriate for young patients with considerable growth remaining. Alternative surgical options that provide deformity correction and protect the growth remaining in the spine are needed to treat this group of patients 1, 2. One such method is the use of shape memory alloy staples. We report our experience to date using video-assisted thoracoscopic insertion of shape memory alloy staples. A retrospective review was conducted of 13 patients with scoliosis, aged 7 to 13 years, who underwent video-assisted thoracoscopic insertion of shape memory staples. In our experience, video-assisted thoracoscopic insertion of shape memory alloy staples is a safe procedure with no complications noted. It is a reliable method of providing curve stability, however the follow up results to date indicate that the effectiveness of the procedure is greater in younger patients.

Semi-analytic method of contact modelling

An algorithm to improve the accuracy and stability of rigid-body contact force calculation is presented. The algorithm uses a combination of analytic solutions and numerical methods to solve a spring-damper differential equation typical of a contact model. The solution method employs the recently proposed patch method, which especially suits the spring-damper differential equations. The resulting semi-analytic solution reduces the stiffness of the differential equations, while performing faster than conventional alternatives.

Peer assisted study sessions

My journey with Peer Assisted Study Sessions, or Supplemental Instruction (SI), began in 1993 when I took over a 1st year, 1st semester unit in QUT's Bachelor of Engineering program. The unit had 500 enrolments with students from all 10 engineering majors at QUT. The 500 students received a 2 hour lecture and a 1 hour tutorial per week, usually run by academic staff or postgraduate students. The unit covered basic mechanics, which comprises a challenging set of topics on how forces interact with various bodies. One normally expects 1st year students to find it difficult to come to grips with the material. However, when I ran that unit in 1993, the failure rate had been usually around 50%.

Bengali handwritten character recognition using modified syntactic method

Several approaches have been proposed to recognize handwritten Bengali characters using different curve fitting algorithms and curvature analysis. In this paper, a new algorithm (Curve-fitting Algorithm) to identify various strokes of a handwritten character is developed. The curve-fitting algorithm helps recognizing various strokes of different patterns (line, quadratic curve) precisely. This reduces the error elimination burden heavily. Implementation of this Modified Syntactic Method demonstrates significant improvement in the recognition of Bengali handwritten characters.

Improved correlation-based modal strain energy method for global damage detection of truss bridge structures

The previous investigations have shown that the modal strain energy correlation method, MSEC, could successfully identify the damage of truss bridge structures. However, it has to incorporate the sensitivity matrix to estimate damage and is not reliable in certain damage detection cases. This paper presents an improved MSEC method where the prediction of modal strain energy change vector is differently obtained by running the eigensolutions on-line in optimisation iterations. The particular trail damage treatment group maximising the fitness function close to unity is identified as the detected damage location. This improvement is then compared with the original MSEC method along with other typical correlation-based methods on the finite element model of a simple truss bridge. The contributions to damage detection accuracy of each considered mode is also weighed and discussed. The iterative searching process is operated by using genetic algorithm. The results demonstrate that the improved MSEC method suffices the demand in detecting the damage of truss bridge structures, even when noised measurement is considered.

A modified quality control method for manufacturing process in mask industry

Masks are widely used in different industries, for example, traditional metal industry, hospitals or semiconductor industry. Quality is a critical issue in mask industry as it is related to public health and safety. Traditional quality practices for manufacturing process have some limitations in implementing them in mask industries. This paper aims to investigate the suitability of Six Sigma quality control method for the manufacturing process in the mask industry to provide high quality products, enhancing the process capacity, reducing the defects and the returned goods arising in a selected mask manufacturing company. This paper suggests that modifications necessary in Six Sigma method for effective implementation in mask industry.

Localization and navigation assisted by cooperating networked sensors and robots

In this paper we discuss how a network of sensors and robots can cooperate to solve important robotics problems such as localization and navigation. We use a robot to localize sensor nodes, and we then use these localized nodes to navigate robots and humans through the sensorized space. We explore these novel ideas with results from two large-scale sensor network and robot experiments involving 50 motes, two types of flying robot: an autonomous helicopter and a large indoor cable array robot, and a human-network interface. We present the distributed algorithms for localization, geographic routing, path definition and incremental navigation. We also describe how a human can be guided using a simple hand-held device that interfaces to this same environmental infrastructure.

A vibration based method to update axial shortening of load bearing elements

Axial shortening in vertical load bearing elements of reinforced concrete high-rise buildings is caused by the time dependent effects of shrinkage, creep and elastic shortening of concrete under loads. Such phenomenon has to be predicted at design stage and then updated during and after construction of the buildings in order to provide mitigation against the adverse effects of differential axial shortening among the elements. Existing measuring methods for updating previous predictions of axial shortening pose problems. With this in mind, a innovative procedure with a vibration based parameter called axial shortening index is proposed to update axial shortening of vertical elements based on variations in vibration characteristics of the buildings. This paper presents the development of the procedure and illustrates it through a numerical example of an unsymmetrical high-rise building with two outrigger and belt systems. Results indicate that the method has the capability to capture influence of different tributary areas, shear walls of outrigger and belt systems as well as the geometric complexity of the building.

A point interpolation method with locally smoothed strain field (PIM-LS2) for mechanics problems using triangular mesh

A point interpolation method with locally smoothed strain field (PIM-LS2) is developed for mechanics problems using a triangular background mesh. In the PIM-LS2, the strain within each sub-cell of a nodal domain is assumed to be the average strain over the adjacent sub-cells of the neighboring element sharing the same field node. We prove theoretically that the energy norm of the smoothed strain field in PIM-LS2 is equivalent to that of the compatible strain field, and then prove that the solution of the PIM- LS2 converges to the exact solution of the original strong form. Furthermore, the softening effects of PIM-LS2 to system and the effects of the number of sub-cells that participated in the smoothing operation on the convergence of PIM-LS2 are investigated. Intensive numerical studies verify the convergence, softening effects and bound properties of the PIM-LS2, and show that the very ‘‘tight’’ lower and upper bound solutions can be obtained using PIM-LS2.

A numerical method to quantify differential axial shortening in concrete buildings

Differential distortion comprising axial shortening and consequent rotation in concrete buildings is caused by the time dependent effects of “shrinkage”, “creep” and “elastic” deformation. Reinforcement content, variable concrete modulus, volume to surface area ratio of elements and environmental conditions influence these distortions and their detrimental effects escalate with increasing height and geometric complexity of structure and non vertical load paths. Differential distortion has a significant impact on building envelopes, building services, secondary systems and the life time serviceability and performance of a building. Existing methods for quantifying these effects are unable to capture the complexity of such time dependent effects. This paper develops a numerical procedure that can accurately quantify the differential axial shortening that contributes significantly to total distortion in concrete buildings by taking into consideration (i) construction sequence and (ii) time varying values of Young’s Modulus of reinforced concrete and creep and shrinkage. Finite element techniques are used with time history analysis to simulate the response to staged construction. This procedure is discussed herein and illustrated through an example.

A new method for improving reliability and line loss in distribution networks

In this paper, both Distributed Generators (DG) and capacitors are allocated and sized optimally for improving line loss and reliability. The objective function is composed of the investment cost of DGs and capacitors along with loss and reliability which are converted to the genuine dollar. The bus voltage and line current are considered as constraints which should be satisfied during the optimization procedure. Hybrid Particle Swarm Optimization as a heuristic based technique is used as the optimization method. The IEEE 69-bus test system is modified and employed to evaluate the proposed algorithm. The results illustrate that the lowest cost planning is found by optimizing both DGs and capacitors in distribution networks.