Open in art, nature and emergence

The interactive art system +-now is modelled on the openness of the natural world. Emergent shapes constitute a novel method for facilitating this openness. With the art system as an example, the relationship between openness and emergence is discussed. Lastly, artist reflections from the creation of the work are presented. These describe the nature of open systems and how they may be created.

Emergence and the art system ‘plus minus now’

Emergence is discussed in the context of a practice-based study of interactive art and a new taxonomy of emergence is proposed. The interactive art system ‘plus minus now’ is described and its relationship to emergence is discussed. ‘Plus minus now’ uses a novel method for instantiating emergent shapes. A preliminary investigation of this art system has been conducted and reveals the creation of temporal compositions by a participant. These temporal compositions and the emergent shapes are described using the taxonomy of emergence. Characteristics of emergent interactions and the implications of designing for them are discussed.

Emergence in interactive art

This thesis is concerned with creating and evaluating interactive art systems that facilitate emergent participant experiences. For the purposes of this research, interactive art is the computer based arts involving physical participation from the audience, while emergence is when a new form or concept appears that was not directly implied by the context from which it arose. This emergent ‘whole’ is more than a simple sum of its parts. The research aims to develop understanding of the nature of emergent experiences that might arise during participant interaction with interactive art systems. It also aims to understand the design issues surrounding the creation of these systems. The approach used is Practice-based, integrating practice, evaluation and theoretical research. Practice used methods from Reflection-in-action and Iterative design to create two interactive art systems: Glass Pond and +-now. Creation of +-now resulted in a novel method for instantiating emergent shapes. Both art works were also evaluated in exploratory studies. In addition, a main study with 30 participants was conducted on participant interaction with +-now. These sessions were video recorded and participants were interviewed about their experience. Recordings were transcribed and analysed using Grounded theory methods. Emergent participant experiences were identified and classified using a taxonomy of emergence in interactive art. This taxonomy draws on theoretical research. The outcomes of this Practice-based research are summarised as follows. Two interactive art systems, where the second work clearly facilitates emergent interaction, were created. Their creation involved the development of a novel method for instantiating emergent shapes and it informed aesthetic and design issues surrounding interactive art systems for emergence. A taxonomy of emergence in interactive art was also created. Other outcomes are the evaluation findings about participant experiences, including different types of emergence experienced and the coding schemes produced during data analysis.

Use of a clay modeling task to reduce chocolate craving

Elaborated Intrusion theory (EI theory; Kavanagh, Andrade, & May, 2005) posits two main cognitive components in craving: associative processes that lead to intrusive thoughts about the craved substance or activity, and elaborative processes supporting mental imagery of the substance or activity. We used a novel visuospatial task to test the hypothesis that visual imagery plays a key role in craving. Experiment 1 showed that spending 10 min constructing shapes from modeling clay (plasticine) reduced participants' craving for chocolate compared with spending 10 min 'letting your mind wander'. Increasing the load on verbal working memory using a mental arithmetic task (counting backwards by threes) did not reduce craving further. Experiment 2 compared effects on craving of a simpler verbal task (counting by ones) and clay modeling. Clay modeling reduced overall craving strength and strength of craving imagery, and reduced the frequency of thoughts about chocolate. The results are consistent with EI theory, showing that craving is reduced by loading the visuospatial sketchpad of working memory but not by loading the phonological loop. Clay modeling might be a useful self-help tool to help manage craving for chocolate, snacks and other foods.

Spatial clusters of suicide in Australia

Background: Understanding the spatial distribution of suicide can inform the planning, implementation and evaluation of suicide prevention activity. This study explored spatial clusters of suicide in Australia, and investigated likely socio-demographic determinants of these clusters. Methods: National suicide and population data at a statistical local area (SLA) level were obtained from the Australian Bureau of Statistics for the period of 1999 to 2003. Standardised mortality ratios (SMR) were calculated at the SLA level, and Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques were applied to investigate the geographical distribution of suicides and detect clusters of high risk in Australia. Results: Male suicide incidence was relatively high in the northeast of Australia, and parts of the east coast, central and southeast inland, compared with the national average. Among the total male population and males aged 15 to 34, Mornington Shire had the whole or a part of primary high risk cluster for suicide, followed by the Bathurst-Melville area, one of the secondary clusters in the north coastal area of the Northern Territory. Other secondary clusters changed with the selection of cluster radius and age group. For males aged 35 to 54 years, only one cluster in the east of the country was identified. There was only one significant female suicide cluster near Melbourne while other SLAs had very few female suicide cases and were not identified as clusters. Male suicide clusters had a higher proportion of Indigenous population and lower median socio-economic index for area (SEIFA) than the national average, but their shapes changed with selection of maximum cluster radii setting. Conclusion: This study found high suicide risk clusters at the SLA level in Australia, which appeared to be associated with lower median socio-economic status and higher proportion of Indigenous population. Future suicide prevention programs should focus on these high risk areas.

Asset health prediction using the explicit hazard model

The ability to estimate the asset reliability and the probability of failure is critical to reducing maintenance costs, operation downtime, and safety hazards. Predicting the survival time and the probability of failure in future time is an indispensable requirement in prognostics and asset health management. In traditional reliability models, the lifetime of an asset is estimated using failure event data, alone; however, statistically sufficient failure event data are often difficult to attain in real-life situations due to poor data management, effective preventive maintenance, and the small population of identical assets in use. Condition indicators and operating environment indicators are two types of covariate data that are normally obtained in addition to failure event and suspended data. These data contain significant information about the state and health of an asset. Condition indicators reflect the level of degradation of assets while operating environment indicators accelerate or decelerate the lifetime of assets. When these data are available, an alternative approach to the traditional reliability analysis is the modelling of condition indicators and operating environment indicators and their failure-generating mechanisms using a covariate-based hazard model. The literature review indicates that a number of covariate-based hazard models have been developed. All of these existing covariate-based hazard models were developed based on the principle theory of the Proportional Hazard Model (PHM). However, most of these models have not attracted much attention in the field of machinery prognostics. Moreover, due to the prominence of PHM, attempts at developing alternative models, to some extent, have been stifled, although a number of alternative models to PHM have been suggested. The existing covariate-based hazard models neglect to fully utilise three types of asset health information (including failure event data (i.e. observed and/or suspended), condition data, and operating environment data) into a model to have more effective hazard and reliability predictions. In addition, current research shows that condition indicators and operating environment indicators have different characteristics and they are non-homogeneous covariate data. Condition indicators act as response variables (or dependent variables) whereas operating environment indicators act as explanatory variables (or independent variables). However, these non-homogenous covariate data were modelled in the same way for hazard prediction in the existing covariate-based hazard models. The related and yet more imperative question is how both of these indicators should be effectively modelled and integrated into the covariate-based hazard model. This work presents a new approach for addressing the aforementioned challenges. The new covariate-based hazard model, which termed as Explicit Hazard Model (EHM), explicitly and effectively incorporates all three available asset health information into the modelling of hazard and reliability predictions and also drives the relationship between actual asset health and condition measurements as well as operating environment measurements. The theoretical development of the model and its parameter estimation method are demonstrated in this work. EHM assumes that the baseline hazard is a function of the both time and condition indicators. Condition indicators provide information about the health condition of an asset; therefore they update and reform the baseline hazard of EHM according to the health state of asset at given time t. Some examples of condition indicators are the vibration of rotating machinery, the level of metal particles in engine oil analysis, and wear in a component, to name but a few. Operating environment indicators in this model are failure accelerators and/or decelerators that are included in the covariate function of EHM and may increase or decrease the value of the hazard from the baseline hazard. These indicators caused by the environment in which an asset operates, and that have not been explicitly identified by the condition indicators (e.g. Loads, environmental stresses, and other dynamically changing environment factors). While the effects of operating environment indicators could be nought in EHM; condition indicators could emerge because these indicators are observed and measured as long as an asset is operational and survived. EHM has several advantages over the existing covariate-based hazard models. One is this model utilises three different sources of asset health data (i.e. population characteristics, condition indicators, and operating environment indicators) to effectively predict hazard and reliability. Another is that EHM explicitly investigates the relationship between condition and operating environment indicators associated with the hazard of an asset. Furthermore, the proportionality assumption, which most of the covariate-based hazard models suffer from it, does not exist in EHM. According to the sample size of failure/suspension times, EHM is extended into two forms: semi-parametric and non-parametric. The semi-parametric EHM assumes a specified lifetime distribution (i.e. Weibull distribution) in the form of the baseline hazard. However, for more industry applications, due to sparse failure event data of assets, the analysis of such data often involves complex distributional shapes about which little is known. Therefore, to avoid the restrictive assumption of the semi-parametric EHM about assuming a specified lifetime distribution for failure event histories, the non-parametric EHM, which is a distribution free model, has been developed. The development of EHM into two forms is another merit of the model. A case study was conducted using laboratory experiment data to validate the practicality of the both semi-parametric and non-parametric EHMs. The performance of the newly-developed models is appraised using the comparison amongst the estimated results of these models and the other existing covariate-based hazard models. The comparison results demonstrated that both the semi-parametric and non-parametric EHMs outperform the existing covariate-based hazard models. Future research directions regarding to the new parameter estimation method in the case of time-dependent effects of covariates and missing data, application of EHM in both repairable and non-repairable systems using field data, and a decision support model in which linked to the estimated reliability results, are also identified.

"What is contemporary art? A review of two books by Terry Smith'

What is contemporary art and what are the key components of contemporary culture? This review demonstrates where Terry Smith provides important answers to this question. The books thus help to improve understanding of how art has changed in recent decades and how a global culture now shapes its parameters. This review does not however concur that Smith provides a convincing case for a complete cultural paradigm transformation.

Shape-formed ceramic superconductors by slip-casting

In order to rigorously test emerging applications using prototypes and pilot designs, high temperature superconductor (HTS) materials must be fabricated into a variety of shapes in an economical manner. We have developed a simple, economical, ceramic slip-casting approach to form complex shaped monolithic HTS articles for which high bulk density has been achieved. The sintered articles exhibit good Meissner signal and consist of phase-pure HTSC phase. A low transport critical current density is observed and is explained on the basis of densification and grain growth. © 1995 The Metallurgical of Society of AIME.

A Material Reverie

excerpt: from soil and stone is a work consisting of fifty drawings on paper organised in a grid. Each drawing is small, only 19 by 14 centimetres, and set out in portrait format. They each reference, either explicitly or abstractly, natural phenomena. These include plant forms, pollens, seeds, pods, and leaf shapes and each is painted with a dizzying and liquid array of techniques and technical finesse. Colour is used sparingly but tellingly, and all are generously and wetly composed, with each seeming to flow into the necessary rightness of composition. Within the overall work the feel is sometimes of the archive, a personal kind where pressed flowers are stumbled upon within a book. At other times they seem to image the stellar as one confronts the immensity of some planet suspended in the void. Again, as a recurring theme in Reynolds’ oeuvre, the notion of the taxonomy is sounded. The drawings are laid out to display difference and reveal through contrast essence. It is a mapping that illuminates a generous plentitude.

The structures of COPI-coated vesicles reveal alternate coatomer conformations and interactions

Transport between compartments of eukaryotic cells is mediated by coated vesicles. The archetypal protein coats COPI, COPII, and clathrin are conserved from yeast to human. Structural studies of COPII and clathrin coats assembled in vitro without membranes suggest that coat components assemble regular cages with the same set of interactions between components. Detailed three-dimensional structures of coated membrane vesicles have not been obtained. Here, we solved the structures of individual COPI-coated membrane vesicles by cryoelectron tomography and subtomogram averaging of in vitro reconstituted budding reactions. The coat protein complex, coatomer, was observed to adopt alternative conformations to change the number of other coatomers with which it interacts and to form vesicles with variable sizes and shapes. This represents a fundamentally different basis for vesicle coat assembly.

The doctrine of command responsibility in the midst of war : legal fallacy or reflection of reality

The history of war is blighted with astonishing reminders of man’s ability to cast his sense of humanity aside and inflict unspeakable harm upon one another. The ruthless bombing of Dresden, the callousness of the Nazi concentration camps and the massacre of the Tutsis are but a few of the atrocities that have haunted our past. In response to these atrocities, society has imposed an ever-increasing number of laws and rules to regulate warfare. Amongst these is the doctrine of command responsibility. The doctrine of command responsibility states that a commander is criminally liable for the crimes of his subordinates if he knew or should have known of their crimes. This paper will examine whether the doctrine is an appropriate and realistic legal standard to hold commanders accountable to or whether the doctrine is more a reflection of social sentiment and legal rhetoric. If the doctrine, and indeed the law of war in general, is unrealistic then the law cannot fulfil its purpose - that is, the prevention of atrocities. Instead of being solely a reflection of moral authority and social sentiments the law must also be a tool that guides and shapes the decisions and actions of the military through the chaotic and brutal nature of war...

Bubble extinction in Hele-Shaw flow with surface tension and kinetic undercooling regularisation

We perform an analytic and numerical study of an inviscid contracting bubble in a two-dimensional Hele-Shaw cell, where the effects of both surface tension and kinetic undercooling on the moving bubble boundary are not neglected. In contrast to expanding bubbles, in which both boundary effects regularise the ill-posedness arising from the viscous (Saffman-Taylor) instability, we show that in contracting bubbles the two boundary effects are in competition, with surface tension stabilising the boundary, and kinetic undercooling destabilising it. This competition leads to interesting bifurcation behaviour in the asymptotic shape of the bubble in the limit it approaches extinction. In this limit, the boundary may tend to become either circular, or approach a line or "slit" of zero thickness, depending on the initial condition and the value of a nondimensional surface tension parameter. We show that over a critical range of surface tension values, both these asymptotic shapes are stable. In this regime there exists a third, unstable branch of limiting self-similar bubble shapes, with an asymptotic aspect ratio (dependent on the surface tension) between zero and one. We support our asymptotic analysis with a numerical scheme that utilises the applicability of complex variable theory to Hele-Shaw flow.

Composition and morphology of particle emissions from in-use aircraft during takeoff and landing

In order to provide realistic data for air pollution inventories and source apportionment at airports, the morphology and composition of ultrafine particles (UFP) in aircraft engine exhaust were measured and characterized. For this purpose, two independent measurement techniques were employed to collect emissions during normal takeoff and landing operations at Brisbane Airport, Australia. PM1 emissions in the airfield were collected on filters and analyzed using the particle-induced X-ray emission (PIXE) technique. Morphological and compositional analyses of individual ultrafine particles in aircraft plumes were performed on silicon nitride membrane grids using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) combined with energy-dispersive X-ray microanalysis (EDX). TEM results showed that the deposited particles were in the range of 5 to 100 nm in diameter, had semisolid spherical shapes and were dominant in the nucleation mode (18 – 20 nm). The EDX analysis showed the main elements in the nucleation particles were C, O, S and Cl. The PIXE analysis of the airfield samples was generally in agreement with the EDX in detecting S, Cl, K, Fe and Si in the particles. The results of this study provide important scientific information on the toxicity of aircraft exhaust and their impact on local air quality.

Compounding practices in Queensland : experiences and perceptions of pharmacists and pharmacy students

Background: Changes in the roles of the contemporary pharmacist has seen a decline in the number and variety of extemporaneously compounded dosage forms. Pharmacy curricula reflect this change with a reduction in the emphasis on extemporaneous compounding practice. Aim: To elicit information about extemporaneously compounded dosage forms and perceptions of compounding practice from pharmacists and pharmacy students. Method: Self-administered surveys were mailed to 1063 pharmacists and offered online to 896 pharmacy undergraduates across the 4 years of a Bachelor of Pharmacy program in Queensland. Results: 382 (36%) pharmacists and 455 (51%) students completed the survey. Most pharmacists (96%) reported compounding a product in the 12 months prior to the survey, particularly semi-solids (89%) and liquids (64%) for external use. Most pharmacies (> 96%) owned basic compounding equipment, such as a slab and spatula, mortar and pestle, and cylindrical/conical measures. Half of the pharmacies used mechanical rather than electronic balances. Students expressed greater confidence in their ability to use basic compounding equipment and to perform basic compounding tasks as they progressed through the 4-year degree course. Pharmacists’ views on students’ ability to compound basic products at the end of their degree were generally similar to the proportion of final-year students who reported they could confidently complete the task. Conclusion: Despite a decline in extemporaneously compounded products in community pharmacy, pharmacy graduates need to be competent in compounding techniques.

Confucius Institutes as innovative tools of China's cultural diplomacy

"Chapter 5 by Hartig introduces Confucius Institutes as an innovative tool of China’s cultural diplomacy. It explains the origins and implications of this new approach to promote China’s culture abroad and thus to shape China’s image globally. The chapter draws on case studies of Con- fucius Institutes in Australia and Germany. It shows how China is adapting a Western instrument of cultural diplomacy, namely an organisation like the British Council or Goethe Institute, in an innovative manner to accomplish its goals in the most effective way. In contrast to British Councils or Goethe Institutes, Confucius Institutes are typically set up as joint ventures between Chinese and international partners. By exploring the advantages and disadvantages of this project for both sides, the chapter illustrates how the outside world shapes China and, in turn, China shapes the outside world in the context of cultural exchange and cooperation. It argues that global influences, namely the general negative perception of China in the West, have forced China not only to become active in the field of cultural diplomacy, but furthermore to strive for an innovative way to be successful."