Study of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons emissions from burning of local wood species in Australia

Four kinds of Australian local wood species were burned in a domestic wood heater installed in a laboratory. The selected wood species include pine, red gum, yellow box and sugar gum, that are the most popular domestic fuel wood in Australia. Particulate matter emissions from burning of each load of wood were sampled isokinetically on filter media from the flue by standard stack emission sampling train. The particle laden filters then went for Gas Chromatography/ Mass Spectrometer (GC/MS) analysis to determine polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) concentrations. The sampling was conducted under two different burning conditions – air inlet of the combustion chamber fully open and half open. Approximately 15 types of PAHs were detected. Emission factors were derived as microgram of PAHs /kg of wood burned. Total particulate emission factors were also obtained from gravimetric measurement before and after the sampling. PAH emission profiles for four species were generated from the results. Comparisons of emission factors have been conducted among different species of wood, as well as under different burning conditions, ie. fast burning and slowing burning. According to the derived emission factors, pine displayed the highest level of PAHs among the four species, followed by red gum and yellow box, whereas sugar gum showed the lowest level of PAHs. Emission factors were compared between each type of wood under two different burning conditions, the slow burning condition, which was air inlet half open, clearly showed higher PAH levels compared to the fast burning condition. Total PAH fractions on particulate matter were calculated and compared among wood types under two burning conditions. During the fast burning condition, red gum and pine have the higher percentage of PAH to total particulate matter emission than sugar gum and yellow box. When changed to slow burning, the PAH fraction on particulate matter are all increased with sugar gum having the largest increase.

Grain refinement in titanium alloys through thermomechanical processing

Qi developed a novel thermomechanical processing route for the grain refinement of titanium alloys. This leads to a well-balanced superior mechanical property, which is vital for modern air transport. The outcomes of this project are prospective to enhance titanium application and the long-term viability of Australian resources and manufacturing industries.

Inter-hospital 'patient expect' calls of clinical handovers for expected patients transferred from rural to metropolitan hospitals: a retrospective clinical audit

Patients requiring inter-hospital air transport across large geographical spaces are at significant risk of adverse outcomes. The aims of this study were to examine the characteristics of clinical handover conducted by telephone and subsequently transcribed in medical records during the inter-hospital transfer of rural patients, and to identify any deficits of this telephone clinical handover. A retrospective audit was conducted of transcribed telephone handovers ('patient expect' calls) occurring with inter-hospital transfers from two rural hospitals to a metropolitan tertiary hospital of all rural patients (n = 127) between January and June 2012. Patient transport between various sites occurred through the Royal Flying Doctor Service. For these hospitals, patient expect calls constituted the only handover record for clinicians during the time of patient transport. Information on patient identification stickers relating to patients' age or gender did not always correspond with details collected during patient expect calls. The name of a clinician at the receiving hospital authorising the transfer was provided in 14 calls (11.1%). It was difficult to determine who made and received calls, and who accepted responsibility for patients at the receiving site. Deterioration in a patient's condition was made in three calls. Actions to be taken after patients' arrival were included in 24 (19%) calls. Planning was restricted to identifying who to contact to review instructions. Inconsistent and overuse of abbreviations was likely to have affected the ability to accurately read back patient information. Crucial information was missing from calls, which may have contributed to delayed and inappropriate delivery of care.

Modeling relevant legal information for consumer disputes

Accessing relevant legal information found in text excerpts from heterogeneous sources is essential to the decision making process in consumer disputes. The Ontology of Relevant Legal Information in Consumer Disputes (ric) is the domain-independent ontology modeling this relevant legal information comprising rights, their requisites, exceptions, constraints, enforcement procedures, legal sources. Its use is exemplified with one extension thereof, the Air Transport Passenger Incidents Ontology (ric-atpi), representing both the possible incidents triggered by a complaint in the air transport passenger domain and the related legal information that might be applicable. The Ontology models the key provisions found in the hard law, and those in soft law, comprising heterogeneous sources in a structured manner. An ontology-based system provides the knowledge embedded in the legal sources and their relation to the specific scenario.

Examination of the "all hazards" approach to disaster management as applied to field disaster management and pre-hospital care in Australia

Disasters, emergencies, incidents, and major incidents - they all come back to the same thing regardless of what they are called. The common denominator is that there is loss of life, injury to people and animals and damage and destruction of property. The management of such events relies on four phases: 1. Prevention 2. Preparation 3. Response 4. Recovery Each of these phases is managed in a different way and often by different teams. Here, concentration has been given to phases 2 and 3, with particular emphasis on phase 3, Response. The words used to describe such events are often related to legislation. The terminology is detailed later. However, whatever the description, whenever prevention is not possible, or fails, then the need is to respond. Response is always better when the responders are prepared. Training is a major part of response preparation and this book is designed to assist those in the health industry who need to be ready when something happens. One of the training packages for responders is the Major Incident Medical Management and Support (MIMMS) Course and this work was designed to supplement the manual prepared by Hodgetts and Macway-Jones(87) in the UK. Included is what the health services responder, who may be sent to an event in which the main concern is trauma, should know. Concentration is on the initial response and does not deal in any detail with hospital reaction, the public health aspects, or the mental health support that provides psychological help to victims and responders, and which are also essential parts of disaster management. People, in times of disaster, have always been quick to offer assistance. It is now well recognised however, that the 'enthusiastic amateur', whilst being a well meaning volunteer, isn't always what is needed. All too often such people have made things worse and have sometimes ended up as victims themselves. There is a place now for volunteers and there probably always will be. The big difference is that these people must be well informed, well trained and well practiced if they are to be effective. Fortunately such people and organisations do exist. Without the work of the St John Ambulance, the State Emergency Service, the Rural Fire Service the Red Cross and the Volunteer Rescue Association, to mention only a few, our response to disasters would be far less effective. There is a strong history of individuals being available to help the community in times of crisis. Mostly these people were volunteers but there has also always been the need for a core of professional support. In the recent past, professional support mechanisms have been developed from lessons learned, particularly to situations that need a rapid and well organised response. As lessons are learned from an analysis of events, philosophy and methods have changed. Our present system is not perfect and perhaps never will be. The need for an 'all-hazards approach' makes detailed planning very difficult and so there will probably always be criticisms about the way an event was handled. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, provided we learn from it. That means that this text is certainly not the 'last word' and revisions as we learn from experience will be inevitable. Because the author works primarily in New South Wales, many of the explanations and examples are specific to that state. In Australia disaster response is a State, rather than a Commonwealth, responsibility and consequently, and inevitably, there are differences in management between the states and territories within Australia. With the influence of Emergency Management Australia, these differences are being reduced. This means that across state and territory boundaries, assistance is common and interstate teams can be deployed and assimilated into the response rapidly, safely, effectively and with minimum explanation. This text sets out to increase the understanding of what is required, what is in place and how the processes of response are managed. By way of introduction and background, examples are given of those situations that have occurred, or could happen. Man Made Disasters has been divided into two distinct sections. Those which are related to structures or transport and those related directly to people. The first section, Chapter 3, includes: • Transport accidents involving land, rail, sea or air vehicles. • Collapse of buildings for reasons other than earthquakes or storms. • Industrial accidents, including the release of hazardous substances and nuclear events. A second section dealing with the consequences of the direct actions of people is separated as Chapter 4, entitled 'People Disasters'. Included are: • Crowd incidents involving sports and entertainment venues. • Terrorism From Chapter 4 on, the emphasis is on the Response phase and deals with organisation and response techniques in detail. Finally there is a section on terminology and abbreviations. An appendix details a typical disaster pack content. War, the greatest of all man made disasters is not considered in this text.

Reducing energy consumption of vehicle air conditioning system by an energy management system

This paper presents an energy management system to reduce the energy consumption of a vehicle when its air conditioning system is in use. The system controls the mass flow rate of the air by dynamically adjusting the blower speed and air-gates opening under various heat and loads circumstances. Simulations were conducted for a travelling vehicle operating the air conditioning system without and with the developed energy management system. The results show that the comfort temperature within the cabin room is achieved for reduced amount of energy consumption.

Coordinated energy management of vehicle air conditioning system

Whilst air conditioning systems increase thermal comfortableness in vehicles, they also raise the energy consumption of vehicles. Achieving thermal comfort in an energy-efficient way is a difficult task requiring good coordination between engine and the air conditioning system. This paper presents a coordinated energy management system to reduce the energy consumption of the vehicle air conditioning system while maintaining the thermal comfortableness. The system coordinates and manages the operation of evaporator, blower, and fresh air and recirculation gates to provide the desired comfort temperature and indoor air quality, under the various ambient and vehicle conditions, the energy consumption can then be optimized. Three simulations of the developed coordinated energy management system are performed to demonstrate its energy saving capacity.

A new modelling approach to simulate preferential flow and transport in water repellent media: parameter sensitivity, and effects on crop growth and solute leaching

A modified version of the popular agrohydrological model SWAP has been used to evaluate modelling of soil water flow and crop growth at field situations in which water repellency causes preferential flow. The parameter sensitivity in such situations has been studied. Three options to model soil water flow within SWAP are described and compared: uniform flow, the classical mobile-immobile concept, and a recent concept accounting for the dynamics of finger development resulting from unstable infiltration. Data collected from a severely water-repellent affected soil located in Australia were used to compare and evaluate the usefulness of the modelling options for the agricultural management of such soils.

The study shows that an assumption of uniform flow in a water-repellent soil profile leads to an underestimation of groundwater recharge and an overestimation of plant transpiration and crop production. The new concept of modelling taking finger dynamics into account provides greater flexibility and can more accurately model the observed effects of preferential flow compared with the classical mobile–immobile concept. The parameter analysis indicates that the most important factor defining the presence and extremity of preferential flow is the critical soil water content.

Comparison of the modelling results with the Australian field data showed that without the use of a preferential flow module, the effects of the clay amendments to the soil were insufficiently reproduced in the dry matter production results. This means that the physical characteristics of the soil alone are not sufficient to explain the measured increase in production on clay amended soils. However, modelling with the module accounting for finger dynamics indicated that the preferential flow in water repellent soils that had not been treated with clay caused water stress for the crops, which would explain the decrease in production.

Cost-effectiveness of active transport for primary school children - Walking School Bus Program

Background : To assess from a societal perspective the incremental cost-effectiveness of the Walking School Bus (WSB) program for Australian primary school children as an obesity prevention measure. The intervention was modelled as part of the ACE-Obesity study, which evaluated, using consistent methods, thirteen interventions targeting unhealthy weight gain in Australian children and adolescents.

Methods : A logic pathway was used to model the effects on body mass index [BMI] and disability-adjusted life years [DALYs] of the Victorian WSB program if applied throughout Australia. Cost offsets and DALY benefits were modelled until the eligible cohort reached 100 years of age or death. The reference year was 2001. Second stage filter criteria ('equity', 'strength of evidence', 'acceptability', feasibility', sustainability' and 'side-effects') were assessed to incorporate additional factors that impact on resource allocation decisions.

Results : The modelled intervention reached 7,840 children aged 5 to 7 years and cost $AUD22.8M ($16.6M;$30.9M). This resulted in an incremental saving of 30 DALYs (7:104) and a net cost per DALY saved of $AUD0.76M ($0.23M; $3.32M). The evidence base was judged as 'weak' as there are no data available documenting the increase in the number of children walking due to the intervention. The high costs of the current approach may limit sustainability.

Conclusions : Under current modelling assumptions, the WSB program is not an effective or cost-effective measure to reduce childhood obesity. The attribution of some costs to non-obesity objectives (reduced traffic congestion and air pollution etc.) is justified to emphasise the other possible benefits. The program's cost-effectiveness would be improved by more comprehensive implementation within current infrastructure arrangements. The importance of active transport to school suggests that improvements in WSB or its variants need to be developed and fully evaluated.

Corporate commitment to sustainability – is it all hot air? A review of the linkage between executive pay and sustainable performance

Across time, companies are increasingly making public commitments to sustainable development and to reducing their impacts on climate change. Management remuneration plans (MRPs) are a key mechanism to motivate managers to achieve corporate goals. We review the MRPs negotiated with key management personnel in a sample of large Australian carbon-intensive companies. Our results show that, as in past decades, the companies in our sample have MRPs in place that continue to fixate on financial performance. We argue that this provides evidence of a disconnection between the sustainability-related rhetoric of the sample companies, and their ‘real’ organisational priorities.

Wettability gradient-driven directional water transport across thin fibrous materials

Recently, novel properties have been observed when superhydrophobic and superhydrophilic surfaces are combined. For example, the Stenocara beetle, an insect in the Namib Desert, has an incredible ability to capture fresh water from air for its survival in the dry desert environment [1]. Such a feature derives from its special wing that has a hydrophilic-patterned superhydrophobic surface. Materials having a similar surface feature also exhibited a similar water-harvesting function [2]. A spider silk has been reported to show a periodic alternation of hydrophobic and hydrophilic surfaces along the fiberlength direction [3], which can quickly collect water from air. It was also observed that water droplets moved in one direction along a superhydrophobic-to-superhydrophilic gradient surface [4]. However, all these works are based on two dimension surfaces. The work on water transfer through porous media induced by a gradient wettability change has received little attention until very recently [5]. In this study, we have developed a simple, but very effective and versatile, method to produce wettability gradient across the thickness of fabrics, and demonstrated that the fabrics have the ability to spontaneously transfer water unidirectionally through the fibrous architecture. A plain weave polyester fabric was mainly used as a sample material.