Computational simulation of gas flow and heat transfer near immersed object in fluidised bed

To improve the understanding of the heat transfer mechanism and find a reliable and simple heat-transfer model, the gas flow and heat transfer between fluidised beds and immersed object surfaces was numerically simulated based on a double particlelayer and porous medium model. The velocity field and temperature distribution of gas were discussed to analyse the heat transfer process.

Coming soon (to a theatre near you) : the temporality of global film distribution to Australia

This article explores the changing contexts of international film exhibition in Australia over a 20-year period (1989–2009) by examining in some empirical detail Australia’s position in the global flow of films during this time. It argues that, at the most abstract level, distributors are engaged in the management and mediation of time and space in the field of global communications. It is proposed that distributors, through the organisation of temporal differentiation, are explicitly active in the creation of both cultural and commodity value. This is particularly apparent as film distributors explore and engage new methodologies of film release, which emphasise overlapping, intersecting and contradictory temporalities in the cinema experience.

Structuring in liquid alkanes between solid surfaces : force measurements and mean-field theory

Measurements have been made of the solvation forces between mica surfaces in the even-numbered n-alkanes from hexane to hexadecane. In all cases the force law is qualitatively very similar, characterized by a decaying oscillatory function of distance, as occurs for simple isotropic liquids. The spacing between successive minima in the force does not increase with carbon number, and is comparable to the width of a linear alkane molecule rather than its length or any average diameter. This suggests that the alkanes have some tendency towards a parallel orientation near the mica surfaces. The measurements give no indication of any strong repulsive component expected from mean-field theories of higher alkanes or polymers. The results of one such theory are presented, and the reasons for its failure to match the experimental data are discussed.

A systematic scoping investigation of cross-cultural visual communication design

This research project provides a systematic and strcutured investigation into the issues associated with the emergent field of cross-cultural visual communication design. The results of the scoping research and the international cross-cultural design project offer clear guidance for designers through all stages of the communication process. 

Editorial : In Australian Journal of Communication, v.38 n.3

Edition of journal guest-edited by Martin Hirst (Deakin), Wayne Hope and Alan Cocker (AUT UNiversity). Papers collected from conference organised by Centre for Journalism, Media & Democracy (JMAD). Ten of the eleven articles here were originally presented to the Political Economy of Communication conference held at the Auckland University of Technology in September 2011. This international event was organised by Journalism, Media and Democracy (JMAD), a research centre co-founded by Martin Hirst and Wayne Hope in May 2010. The founding objectives were to foster individual research projects for members; develop opportunities for collaborative, funded research projects; and arrange interdisciplinary media conferences. In September 2010, JMAD launched an inaugural one-day conference: Media, Democracy and the Public Sphere. The success of this undertaking
encouraged the centre to plan for a second, two-day conference in 2011. The invited keynote speakers, Professors Graham Murdock, Dwayne Winseck, and Janet Wasko were, and are, distinguished scholars in the political economy of communication.
They have also given identity and purpose to their field within the annual International
Association of Communication Research (IAMCR) conference, which includes a longstanding political economy of communication section. Contributors to this section are featured in the book reviewed for this issue, Wasko, J., Murdock, G., & Sousa, H. (2011). The handbook of political economy of communications.

Preparing for the future: ageing and alternative and augmentative communication

Despite a large body of literature focusing on how the normal aging process affects quality of life, little is known about how aging influences the lives of those who use alternative and augmentative communication (AAC). This article explores issues relevant to aging and AAC, examining the responses of 78 augmented communicators aged 30 years and older who participated in a larger national survey of 270 adults with cerebral palsy. The survey sought information about health, modes of communication, and access to information. The results indicate that those involved in the AAC field must work with individuals who use augmentative communication to ensure that they maintain their health, well-being, and effective communication as they age.

Medication communication through documentation in medical wards: knowledge and power relations

Health professionals communicate with each other about medication information using different forms of documentation. This article explores knowledge and power relations surrounding medication information exchanged through documentation among nurses, doctors and pharmacists. Ethnographic fieldwork was conducted in 2010 in two medical wards of a metropolitan hospital in Australia. Data collection methods included participant observations, field interviews, video-recordings, document retrieval and video reflexive focus groups. A critical discourse analytic framework was used to guide data analysis. The written medication chart was the main means of communicating medication decisions from doctors to nurses as compared to verbal communication. Nurses positioned themselves as auditors of the medication chart and scrutinised medical prescribing to maintain the discourse of patient safety. Pharmacists utilised the discourse of scientific judgement to guide their decision-making on the necessity of verbal communication with nurses and doctors. Targeted interdisciplinary meetings involving nurses, doctors and pharmacists should be organised in ward settings to discuss the importance of having documented medication information conveyed verbally across different disciplines. Health professionals should be encouraged to proactively seek out each other to relay changes in medication regimens and treatment goals.

After Charlie: free speech and the political economy of communication

Three significant events at the start of 2015 have put freedom of speech firmly on the global agenda. The first was the carry-over from the December 2014 illegal entry to the Sony Corporation’s file servers by anonymous hackers, believed to be linked to the North Korean regime. The second was the horrible attack on journalists, editors, and cartoonists at the French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo on 7 January. The third was the election of leftwing anti-austerity party Syrzia in Greece on 25 January.While each event is different in scope and size, they are important to scholars of the political economy of communication because they all speak to ongoing debates about freedom of expression, freedom of speech and freedom of the press. I name each of these concepts separately because, despite popular confusion, they are not the same thing (Patching and Hirst, 2014) . Freedom of expression is the right to individual self-expression through any means; it is an inalienable human right. Freedom of speech refers to the right (and the physical ability) to utter political speech, to say what others wish to repress and to demand a voice with which to express a range of social and political thoughts. Freedom of the press is a very particular version of freedom of expression that is intimately bound with the political economy of speech and of the printing press. Freedom of the press is impossible without the press and, despite its theoretical availability to all of us, this principle is impossible to articulate without the material means (usually money) to actually deploy a printing press (or the electronic means of broadcasting and publishing).Freedom of expression is immutable; freedom of speech subject to legal, ethical and ideological restriction (for better, or worse) and freedom of the press is peculiar to bourgeois society in that it entails the freedom to own and operate a press, not the right to say or publish on a level playing field. Access to freedom of the press is determined in the marketplace and is subject to the unequal power relationships that such determination implies.It is fitting to start with the Charlie Hebdo massacre because the loss of 17 lives makes this the most chilling of the three events and demands that it be given prominence in any analysis. No lives have been lost yet because Sony’s computers were hacked and the election of Syriza has not (yet) led to mass deaths in Greece.

Modelling emergency response communication systems

Subsequent to the Australian 'Black Saturday' bushfires there were a number of issues arising from investigations with regard to the functional stability and resilience of communications systems and the flow of information between emergency response organisations, and their ability to provide relevant information to the general public. In some cases, the transference of information failed or was late or ineffective with regard to decisions, advice and information broadcasting during the crisis. This was particularly evident in terms of managing emergency organisational information requests and field situational advice both to and from emergency response management teams and the delivery of informative advice to the public. This paper analyses one such case study with a view of applying a systems modelling technique to determine the viability of the communication systems and information exchange structures associated with an emergency response agency.