Changes in computer usage in engineering education

A longitudinal analysis of computer usage by commencing students in Deakin University’s undergraduate engineering and technology programs over the period 1998 to 2001 revealed that; access to computers was at high levels; mean computer usage for off-campus students had not changed
significantly, but had risen significantly for on-campus students; while access to the Internet / WWW had not increased significantly, reported regular use of the Internet / WWW had risen significantly; while most students continued to report their source of Internet / WWW access as either Home or University, the proportion reporting Home as their source of access had risen significantly; and the reported regular use of e-mail rose significantly.

Experimental investigation and finite element analysis for the study of residual stresses in roller burnished components

Burnishing is a surface modification process, which involves plastic deformation of the material at the surface of the component due to the application a highly polished and hard roller, under pressure. This results in the improvement of the surface finish of the component and induces residual compressive stresses on the surface of the component. The present work deals with the optimization of the burnishing force for the best surface finish, at constant speed and feed, for Aluminium and Mild steel workpieces. A 3dimensional finite element model is proposed for the simulation of the burnishing process, and the analysis is carried out at the optimum force determined experimentally. The induced compressive stress in the components is determined from the finite element analysis and this value is then compared with the results obtained from X-ray diffraction technique.

Bhakti, Sank̇ir̄tana and Gaudiya Vaisnavism

The thesis investigated the socio-theological complexity of medieval Gaudiya Vaisnavism and its current development, the Hare Krishna Movement. The study was simultaneously critical and emic. It (1) uncovered medieval concepts not found in contemporary literature; and, (2) developed pathways through which religion can be sociologically and psychologically elucidated and clarified.

Mechanical characterizations of thick laminated composites before and after bonded repair

One set of composite laminates was manufactured from bi-directional carbon fibre woven cloth pre-impregnated with epoxy resin and used to establish experimental techniques. Another, similar set was used for extensive data collection. One other set of laminates, manufactured from uni-directional carbon fibre, was also subjected to extensive tests to represent a different material. The results give the pre and post characterizations of repaired composite materials; outlining at each stage the losses and gains of structural strength and stiffness and discusses the difficulties experienced.

Formulating an organizational knowledge strategy : the influence of existing IT infrastructure

This paper questions the influence of a pre-existing information technology (IT) infrastructure on the formulation of an organizational knowledge strategy. We draw on a classification of four different strategic views of IT infrastructure and explore how the historic investment in IT infrastructure enables and constrains the formulation of knowledge strategy in four case organizations. The four case organizations are representative of different scenarios of historic investments in IT infrastructure and knowledge strategy formulation. Our findings indicate that an IT infrastructure that is minimal or fragmented constrains the formulation of an explicit knowledge strategy. We further find that an extensive existing IT infrastructure enables the pursuit of an explicit knowledge strategy, but that even an elaborate IT infrastructure can introduce some constraints on IT facilitated knowledge processes in the organization.

Supporting knowledge strategy in consulting organizations : codification, personalization or both

This paper reports on results from an ongoing study of the information infrastructure support for organizational knowledge strategy. We assess the applicability and predictions of the widely cited model of Hansen, Nohria and Tierney’s on knowledge strategy and infrastructure support. We do so by means of two case studies that we conducted in the consulting sector. Our findings indicate support for the Hansen et al.’s model as each of the organizations has predominately pursued a knowledge strategy consistent with the model’s predictions. However, we also find that in so doing, organizations can incur significant opportunity costs if either a codification or a personalization knowledge strategy is allowed to predominate to such an extent that it crowds-out the alternative knowledge strategy.

Genome sequence of Ensifer sp. TW10, a Tephrosia wallichii (Biyani) microsymbiont native to the Indian Thar Desert

Ensifer sp. TW10 is novel N2-fixingbacterium isolated from a root nodule of the perennial legume Tephrosia wallichii Graham (known locally as Biyani) found in the Great Indian (or Thar) desert, a large arid regionin the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent. Strain TW10 is a Gram-negative, rod shaped,aerobic, motile, non-spore forming, species of root nodule bacteria (RNB) that promiscuously nodulates legumes in Thar Desert alkaline soil. It is fast growing, acid-producing, and tolerates up to 2% NaCl and capable of growth at 40C. In this report we describe for the first time the primary features of this Thar Desert soil saprophyte together with genome sequence informationand annotation. The 6,802,256 bp genome has a GC content of 62% and is arranged into 57 scaffolds containing 6,470 protein-coding genes, 73 RNA genes and asingle rRNA operon. This genome is one of 100 RNB genomes sequenced as part of the DOE Joint Genome Institute 2010 Genomic Encyclopedia for Bacteria and Archaea-Root Nodule Bacteria (GEBA-RNB) project.

Louise Lightfoot : in search of India

 Louise Lightfoot, a trained architect by profession and an ardent balletomane, is best known for moving away from pure Western classical Ballet to a fusion of classical technique and romantic emotion in Australia through her First Australian Ballet group and school. During late 1920s, she was impressed by the performances of Anna Pavlova and Uday Shankar and to bring more appropriateness and authenticity to her own Indian classical dance style that she was trying to experiment with, virtually unknown and unseen in Australia till then in its original form, Lightfoot took a few weeks stopover in India. This short holiday eventually stretched to months and then eight years as she travelled to Tamil Nadu and Kerala’s Kalamandalam, where she began her study of the complex traditions of Kathakali and Bharata Natyam dance. Here she also became a Stage Manager cum Artistic and Publicity director for local troupes and artistes in residence. She was so thrilled by the whole experience of learning Kathakali – involving poetry, song, acting and dance – that soon she started appealing to the British in India to not only appreciate the Indian dance but also to Indian parents to allow their sons and daughters to dance. Lightfoot, as Dance Director of Shivaram, Janaki Devi, Priyagopal Singh and Lakshman Singh, supported by an ensemble of Australian dancers including Ruth Bergner, Moya Beaver, Leona Welch, Pat Martin and Betty Russell, successfully toured and promoted a range of Indian classical dance forms, like Kathakali, Manipuri, Bharatanatyam, throughout Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji. As an early image-maker, she also paved the way for many other noted Indian dancers and troupes. In spite of decades of hard work and dedication to Indian dancing and creating awareness about India in Australia her work and life is little known! Her journey is fascinating because of the workings of race relations not just in Australia but also India – existing prejudices against “Whites.” In this paper I try to chart out through Australian and Indian newspaper reports her search for India.

Suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid radiosensitizes tumor hypoxic cells in vitro through the oxidation of nitroxyl to nitric oxide

The pharmacological effects of hydroxamic acids are partially attributed to their ability to serve as HNO and/or NO donors under oxidative stress. Previously, it was concluded that oxidation of the histone deacetylase inhibitor suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA) by the metmyoglobin/H2O2 reaction system releases NO, which was based on spin trapping of NO and accumulation of nitrite. Reinvestigation of this system demonstrates the accumulation of N2O, which is a marker of HNO formation, at similar rates under normoxia and anoxia. In addition, the yields of nitrite that accumulated in the absence and the presence of O2 did not differ, implying that the source of nitrite is other than autoxidation of NO. In this system metmyoglobin is instantaneously and continuously converted into compound II, leading to one-electron oxidation of SAHA to its respective transient nitroxide radical. Studies using pulse radiolysis show that one-electron oxidation of SAHA (pKa=9.56 ± 0.04) yields the respective nitroxide radical (pKa=9.1 ± 0.2), which under all experimental conditions decomposes bimolecularly to yield HNO. The proposed mechanism suggests that compound I oxidizes SAHA to the respective nitroxide radical, which decomposes bimolecularly in competition with its oxidation by compound II to form HNO. Compound II also oxidizes HNO to NO and NO to nitrite. Given that NO, but not HNO, is an efficient hypoxic cell radiosensitizer, we hypothesized that under an oxidizing environment SAHA might act as a NO donor and radiosensitize hypoxic cells. Preincubation of A549 and HT29 cells with 2.5 μM SAHA for 24h resulted in a sensitizer enhancement ratio at 0.01 survival levels (SER0.01) of 1.33 and 1.59, respectively. Preincubation of A549 cells with oxidized SAHA had hardly any effect and, with 2mM valproic acid, which lacks the hydroxamate group, resulted in SER0.01=1.17. Preincubation of HT29 cells with SAHA and Tempol, which readily oxidizes HNO to NO, enhanced the radiosensitizing effect of SAHA. Pretreatment with SAHA blocked A549 cells at the G1 stage of the cell cycle and upregulated γ-H2AX after irradiation. Overall, we conclude that SAHA enhances tumor radioresponse by multiple mechanisms that might also involve its ability to serve as a NO donor under oxidizing environments.

Mining information from atom probe data

Whilst atom probe tomography (APT) is a powerful technique with the capacity to gather information containing hundreds of millions of atoms from a single specimen, the ability to effectively use this information creates significant challenges. The main technological bottleneck lies in handling the extremely large amounts of data on spatial-chemical correlations, as well as developing new quantitative computational foundations for image reconstruction that target critical and transformative problems in materials science. The power to explore materials at the atomic scale with the extraordinary level of sensitivity of detection offered by atom probe tomography has not been not fully harnessed due to the challenges of dealing with missing, sparse and often noisy data. Hence there is a profound need to couple the analytical tools to deal with the data challenges with the experimental issues associated with this instrument. In this paper we provide a summary of some key issues associated with the challenges, and solutions to extract or "mine" fundamental materials science information from that data.