Developing sustainable housing through building utilities and transport innovation

Sustainability concerns every citizen. Housing affordability and sustainable solutions are being highlighted in research and practice in many parts of the world. This paper discusses the development of a Commuter Energy and Building Utilities System (CEBUS) in sustainable housing projects as a means of bridging the gap between current median house pricing and target affordable house pricing for low income earners. Similar scales of sustainable housing development cannot be achieved through independent application of current best practice methods in ecologically sustainable development strategies or transit oriented development master plans. This paper presents the initial stage of research on first capital and ongoing utilities and transport cost savings available from these sustainable design methods. It also outlines further research and development of a CEBUS Dynamic Simulation Model and Conceptual Framework for the Australian property development and construction industry.

A conditional retransmission enabled transport protocol for real-time networked control systems

Real-time networked control systems (NCSs) over data networks are being increasingly implemented on a massive scale in industrial applications. Along with this trend, wireless network technologies have been promoted for modern wireless NCSs (WNCSs). However, popular wireless network standards such as IEEE 802.11/15/16 are not designed for real-time communications. Key issues in real-time applications include limited transmission reliability and poor transmission delay performance. Considering the unique features of real-time control systems, this paper develops a conditional retransmission enabled transport protocol (CRETP) to improve the delay performance of the transmission control protocol (TCP) and also the reliability performance of the user datagram protocol (UDP) and its variants. Key features of the CRETP include a connectionless mechanism with acknowledgement (ACK), conditional retransmission and detection of ineffective data packets on the receiver side.

Evaluating the transport impacts of transit oriented developments (TODS)

Sustainable transport has become a necessity instead of an option, to address the problems of congestion and urban sprawl, whose effects include increased trip lengths and travel time. A more sustainable form of development, known as Transit Oriented Development (TOD) is presumed to offer sustainable travel choices with reduced need to travel to access daily destinations, by providing a mixture of land uses together with good quality of public transport service, infrastructure for walking and cycling. However, performance assessment of these developments with respect to travel characteristics of their inhabitants is required. This research proposes a five step methodology for evaluating the transport impacts of TODs. The steps for TOD evaluation include pre–TOD assessment, traffic and travel data collection, determination of traffic impacts, determination of travel impacts, and drawing outcomes. Typically, TODs are comprised of various land uses; hence have various types of users. Assessment of characteristics of all user groups is essential for obtaining an accurate picture of transport impacts. A case study TOD, Kelvin Grove Urban Village (KGUV), located 2km of north west of the Brisbane central business district in Australia was selected for implementing the proposed methodology and to evaluate the transport impacts of a TOD from an Australian perspective. The outcomes of this analysis indicated that KGUV generated 27 to 48 percent less traffic compared to standard published rates specified for homogeneous uses. Further, all user groups of KGUV used more sustainable modes of transport compared to regional and similarly located suburban users, with higher trip length for shopping and education trips. Although the results from this case study development support the transport claims of reduced traffic generation and sustainable travel choices by way of TODs, further investigation is required, considering different styles, scales and locations of TODs. The proposed methodology may be further refined by using results from new TODs and a framework for TOD evaluation may be developed.

Quantification of particle emission characteristics and development of an emission model for use in transport microenvironments affected by traffic emissions

Vehicle emitted particles are of significant concern based on their potential to influence local air quality and human health. Transport microenvironments usually contain higher vehicle emission concentrations compared to other environments, and people spend a substantial amount of time in these microenvironments when commuting. Currently there is limited scientific knowledge on particle concentration, passenger exposure and the distribution of vehicle emissions in transport microenvironments, partially due to the fact that the instrumentation required to conduct such measurements is not available in many research centres. Information on passenger waiting time and location in such microenvironments has also not been investigated, which makes it difficult to evaluate a passenger’s spatial-temporal exposure to vehicle emissions. Furthermore, current emission models are incapable of rapidly predicting emission distribution, given the complexity of variations in emission rates that result from changes in driving conditions, as well as the time spent in driving condition within the transport microenvironment. In order to address these scientific gaps in knowledge, this work conducted, for the first time, a comprehensive statistical analysis of experimental data, along with multi-parameter assessment, exposure evaluation and comparison, and emission model development and application, in relation to traffic interrupted transport microenvironments. The work aimed to quantify and characterise particle emissions and human exposure in the transport microenvironments, with bus stations and a pedestrian crossing identified as suitable research locations representing a typical transport microenvironment. Firstly, two bus stations in Brisbane, Australia, with different designs, were selected to conduct measurements of particle number size distributions, particle number and PM2.5 concentrations during two different seasons. Simultaneous traffic and meteorological parameters were also monitored, aiming to quantify particle characteristics and investigate the impact of bus flow rate, station design and meteorological conditions on particle characteristics at stations. The results showed higher concentrations of PN20-30 at the station situated in an open area (open station), which is likely to be attributed to the lower average daily temperature compared to the station with a canyon structure (canyon station). During precipitation events, it was found that particle number concentration in the size range 25-250 nm decreased greatly, and that the average daily reduction in PM2.5 concentration on rainy days compared to fine days was 44.2 % and 22.6 % at the open and canyon station, respectively. The effect of ambient wind speeds on particle number concentrations was also examined, and no relationship was found between particle number concentration and wind speed for the entire measurement period. In addition, 33 pairs of average half-hourly PN7-3000 concentrations were calculated and identified at the two stations, during the same time of a day, and with the same ambient wind speeds and precipitation conditions. The results of a paired t-test showed that the average half-hourly PN7-3000 concentrations at the two stations were not significantly different at the 5% confidence level (t = 0.06, p = 0.96), which indicates that the different station designs were not a crucial factor for influencing PN7-3000 concentrations. A further assessment of passenger exposure to bus emissions on a platform was evaluated at another bus station in Brisbane, Australia. The sampling was conducted over seven weekdays to investigate spatial-temporal variations in size-fractionated particle number and PM2.5 concentrations, as well as human exposure on the platform. For the whole day, the average PN13-800 concentration was 1.3 x 104 and 1.0 x 104 particle/cm3 at the centre and end of the platform, respectively, of which PN50-100 accounted for the largest proportion to the total count. Furthermore, the contribution of exposure at the bus station to the overall daily exposure was assessed using two assumed scenarios of a school student and an office worker. It was found that, although the daily time fraction (the percentage of time spend at a location in a whole day) at the station was only 0.8 %, the daily exposure fractions (the percentage of exposures at a location accounting for the daily exposure) at the station were 2.7% and 2.8 % for exposure to PN13-800 and 2.7% and 3.5% for exposure to PM2.5 for the school student and the office worker, respectively. A new parameter, “exposure intensity” (the ratio of daily exposure fraction and the daily time fraction) was also defined and calculated at the station, with values of 3.3 and 3.4 for exposure to PN13-880, and 3.3 and 4.2 for exposure to PM2.5, for the school student and the office worker, respectively. In order to quantify the enhanced emissions at critical locations and define the emission distribution in further dispersion models for traffic interrupted transport microenvironments, a composite line source emission (CLSE) model was developed to specifically quantify exposure levels and describe the spatial variability of vehicle emissions in traffic interrupted microenvironments. This model took into account the complexity of vehicle movements in the queue, as well as different emission rates relevant to various driving conditions (cruise, decelerate, idle and accelerate), and it utilised multi-representative segments to capture the accurate emission distribution for real vehicle flow. This model does not only helped to quantify the enhanced emissions at critical locations, but it also helped to define the emission source distribution of the disrupted steady flow for further dispersion modelling. The model then was applied to estimate particle number emissions at a bidirectional bus station used by diesel and compressed natural gas fuelled buses. It was found that the acceleration distance was of critical importance when estimating particle number emission, since the highest emissions occurred in sections where most of the buses were accelerating and no significant increases were observed at locations where they idled. It was also shown that emissions at the front end of the platform were 43 times greater than at the rear of the platform. The CLSE model was also applied at a signalled pedestrian crossing, in order to assess increased particle number emissions from motor vehicles when forced to stop and accelerate from rest. The CLSE model was used to calculate the total emissions produced by a specific number and mix of light petrol cars and diesel passenger buses including 1 car travelling in 1 direction (/1 direction), 14 cars / 1 direction, 1 bus / 1 direction, 28 cars / 2 directions, 24 cars and 2 buses / 2 directions, and 20 cars and 4 buses / 2 directions. It was found that the total emissions produced during stopping on a red signal were significantly higher than when the traffic moved at a steady speed. Overall, total emissions due to the interruption of the traffic increased by a factor of 13, 11, 45, 11, 41, and 43 for the above 6 cases, respectively. In summary, this PhD thesis presents the results of a comprehensive study on particle number and mass concentration, together with particle size distribution, in a bus station transport microenvironment, influenced by bus flow rates, meteorological conditions and station design. Passenger spatial-temporal exposure to bus emitted particles was also assessed according to waiting time and location along the platform, as well as the contribution of exposure at the bus station to overall daily exposure. Due to the complexity of the interrupted traffic flow within the transport microenvironments, a unique CLSE model was also developed, which is capable of quantifying emission levels at critical locations within the transport microenvironment, for the purpose of evaluating passenger exposure and conducting simulations of vehicle emission dispersion. The application of the CLSE model at a pedestrian crossing also proved its applicability and simplicity for use in a real-world transport microenvironment.

Inverse expression states of the BRN2 and MITF transcription factors in melanoma spheres and tumour xenografts regulate the NOTCH pathway

The use of adherent monolayer cultures have produced many insights into melanoma cell growth and differentiation, but often novel therapeutics demonstrated to act on these cells are not active in vivo. It is imperative that new methods of growing melanoma cells that reflect growth in vivo are investigated. To this end, a range of human melanoma cell lines passaged as adherent cultures or induced to form melanoma spheres (melanospheres) in stem cell media have been studied to compare cellular characteristics and protein expression. Melanoma spheres and tumours grown from cell lines as mouse xenografts had increased heterogeneity when compared with adherent cells and 3D-spheroids in agar (aggregates). Furthermore, cells within the melanoma spheres and mouse xenografts each displayed a high level of reciprocal BRN2 or MITF expression, which matched more closely the pattern seen in human melanoma tumours in situ, rather than the propensity for co-expression of these important melanocytic transcription factors seen in adherent cells and 3D-spheroids. Notably, when the levels of the BRN2 and MITF proteins were each independently repressed using siRNA treatment of adherent melanoma cells, members of the NOTCH pathway responded by decreasing or increasing expression, respectively. This links BRN2 as an activator, and conversely, MITF as a repressor of the NOTCH pathway in melanoma cells. Loss of the BRN2-MITF axis in antisense-ablated cell lines decreased the melanoma sphere-forming capability, cell adhesion during 3D-spheroid formation and invasion through a collagen matrix. Combined, this evidence suggests that the melanoma sphere-culture system induces subpopulations of cells that may more accurately portray the in vivo disease, than the growth as adherent melanoma cells.

Design of sustainable transport : opportunities

The need to find an alternative to our current transport situation is widely accepted. In most cities of the world, traffic congestion is commonplace and air pollution is normal. Road fatalities are a regular and almost accepted event. And (in most developed nations) as an indirect consequence of our transport choices, obesity is increasing at an alarming rate. The car is undeniably a major contributor to this situation. Additionally the very structure of our cities has evolved to the point that it can be creditably claimed that the city belongs to the car and not to humans. There are however alternatives. There is a plethora of experimental vehicles in all shapes and configurations. And yet, the car is still king. The question is, how do we pick a winner? What are the aspects of the car that make it so appealing? Are these aspects able to be translated into a more sustainable version? What do we need to incorporate in our designs of new vehicles to make them more appealing to the consumers? In this paper I explore these questions and propose a list of design criteria for more sustainable transport options.

The role of transport infrastructure in facilitating the survival and growth of micro-enterprises in developing economies

Transport and logistics are essential to effective business. Very little is currently known about the impact of improved transport on micro-enterprises in developing economies and whether improvements in this area would assist the very poor. This paper looks at the obstacles of an inefficient transport facilitation system and the high costs incurred by 22 survival micro-entrepreneurs funded by the same local NGO and operating in diverse industry sectors in a peri-urban context in Mozambique. Six case studies are selected to illustrate the most common constraints they face. The perspectives of the micro-business owners are confronted with those of government officials and community leaders for two reasons: to identify any mismatch and to discuss possible solutions. Significant discrepancies are detected between government agenda and needs of the population, while community-based entrepreneurship (CBE) is discussed as a possible collective strategy in dealing with the problem.

Opportunities of public transport experience enhancements with mobile services and urban screens

Public transportation is an environment with great potential for applying innovative ubiquitous computing services to enhance user experiences. This paper provides the underpinning rationale for research that will be looking at how real-time passenger information system deployed by transit authorities can provide a core platform to improve commuters’ user experiences during all stages of their journey. The proposal builds on this platform to inform the design and development of innovative social media, mobile computing and geospatial information applications, with the hope to create fun and meaningful experiences for passengers during their everyday travel. Furthermore, we present the findings of our pilot study that aims to offer a better understanding of passengers’ activities and social interactions during their daily commute.

Human seat modelling using inverse dynamic musculoskeletal models

In this work a biomechanical model is used for simulation of muscle forces necessary to maintain the posture in a car seat under different support conditions.

Investigation into the transport, behaviour and deposition of combustion aerosols from transport sources

The deterioration of air quality is a significant issue in large and growing cities. This work investigates particulate emissions from transport, the largest source of air pollution in cities today. Emitters such as busy roads and diesel trains are investigated, with specific reference to the evolution of particles over time and distance. Diesel trains are investigated as an alternative to road traffic in investigating evolutionary processes. Higher emissions and solitary sources mean that the emitted plume can be observed over time in a single location. These results represent the first investigation of the evolution of fine and ultrafine aerosol particles from this type of source. Aerosols near a busy road are investigated, with the result that a dependence of total number concentration on distance from the road is shown to be related to the fragmentation of nanoparticle clusters. Local meteorological conditions are also monitored and humidity is shown to vary with distance from the road in a nonmonotonic way. Particles from a busy road were also examined using a scanning electron microscope, with the intention of understanding the make up of the emitted aerosol plume. It was determined that due to significant surface behaviour post-deposition, this method of analysis could not directly classify airborne pollutants. Some interesting results were obtained however, particularly in terms of composite particles and the analysis of deposited patterns. This thesis introduces new work in terms of the analysis of diesel train particulate emissions, as well as adding further evidence towards the fragmentation process of aerosol evolution in both background concentrations and emitted aerosol plumes.

Concealed substance identification using a defocused inverse spatially offset Raman spectrometer

We report an inverse Spatially Offset Raman Spectrometer capable of non-invasively identifying packaged substances from a distance. Usual inverse SORS spectrometer has a non-contact distance that is equivalent to the focal distance of the collection system. In this work we demonstrate the defocused geometry with a modified data analysis method capable of making inverse SORS measurements from a distance greater than the focal distance of the collection lenses. With the defocused geometry we were able to detect acetaminophen, concealed inside a 2 mm thick plastic bottle, at a non-contact distance of 30 cm.