Economic transition and commercial property cycles in China

Drawn from a recently completed study, this paper aims at a better understanding of commercial property cycles in the transitional economy of China. It examines the behaviour of the property submarket system in China and considers structural changes in the socio-economic system as a primary factor in addressing the research problem. The study suggests that the underlying social and economic structure has greatly determined market behaviour. It finds that radical changes can alter the formal structure (the designed structure) of the market system, including the property market structure, but cannot alter the informal structure (i.e. the emergent structure) at the similar rate. As the study shows, cycles in the commercial property market in the economic transition is largely a key resulting feature of the continuous structural change both at formal and informal levels in a way that is often imbalanced and not always consistently changing together. The same situation also applies to the transformation of inner-city built form, which is featured by a delayed change of physical building stock against the space demand trend that is underpinned by the socio-economic transition. Put simply, there is a supply lag, mainly in the form of changing land use and building stock replacement, against economic change (the business cycle). This affects the level of effective demand for office space and hence becomes a major force in shaping current office cycles.

Structural and material properties of a rapidly cured thermoplastic-toughened epoxy system

Thermoplastic-toughened epoxy resins are widely used as matrices in modern composite prepreg systems. Rapid curing of thermoplastic-toughened epoxy matrix composites results in different mechanical properties. To investigate the structure–property relationship, we investigated a poly(ether sulfone)-modified triglycidylaminophenol/ 4,4'-diamino diphenyl sulfone system that was cured at different heating rates. An intermediate dwell was also applied during the rapid heating of the thermoplasticmodified epoxy system. We found that a higher heating rate led to a larger domain size of the phase-separated macrostructure and also facilitated more complete phase separation. The intermediate dwell helped phase separation to proceed even further, leading to an even larger domain size of the macrostructure. A carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer matrix composite prepreg based on the poly(ether sulfone)-modified multifunctional epoxy system was cured with the same schedule. The rapidly heated composite laminates exhibited higher mode I delamination fracture toughness than the slowly heated material.

It's all a bit wishy washy : the challenge of building partnerships for effective mental health evaluation

Mental wellbeing and social connectedness is a key health priority in Victoria. Actions and interventions that may contribute to the promotion of community level mental wellbeing and social connectedness often occurs in other, non-health sectors. Including evidence from these sectors in evaluations of community based interventions around mental wellbeing and social connectedness is important to ensure comprehensive evaluation, and the development of best practice in this health priority area. However, published evaluation material of community based interventions around this health topic is limited, and rarely captures information from non-health sectors. This pilot study investigated the capacity of health promotion practitioners and other key stakeholders working in this area in Victoria to undertake evaluation of community based mental wellbeing and social connectedness interventions, issues and barriers faced in evaluation, and practitioners’ needs to be able to conduct effective and comprehensive evaluations.

Qualitative methods including semi-structure interviews and document analysis were used. Data was coded and analysed inductively, and key themes developed.

Results indicate that evaluating such interventions is challenging for practitioners due to the broad nature of the topic, and the measurement tools available. Many practitioners would like to conduct more comprehensive evaluation and include evidence from other sectors. Managerial and organizational support to develop partnerships both within the health sector and inter-sectorally was identified as a need in order to develop evaluation skills and facilitate more comprehensive evidence gathering.

This study underscores the importance of inter-sectoral partnerships for developing best evidence-based practice in community health. Partnerships are necessary for conducting comprehensive and effective evaluation to contribute to the evidence base. However, developing effective partnerships is challenging, and acts as a barrier to effective evaluation in a key health area for some community health practitioners. The findings also highlight an agenda for more action by managers to facilitate the development of relevant inter-sectoral partnerships.

Structure-property relationships of nylon 6, MXD6, their blends and nanocomposites

This research project aimed to develop an understanding of the structure-property relationships of nanocomposite materials (injection moulded and fibres) based on nylon 6, MXD6 and their blends, with a layered silicate in combination with polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane nanoparticles and SEBS rubber particles.

Developing reflexive capability for successful joint ventures between Australian and Malaysian property and construction professionals

Increasingly Malaysian property and construction firms are seeking to work internationally. Firms enter international markets through various strategies and typically property and construction professionals rely on developing various forms of cooperative and collaborative arrangements. The common modes of entry include international alliances, project joint ventures, partnerships, company joint ventures and large consortiums; which arise as a response to clients seeking expressions of interests from the international community or the firms seeking to internationalise approaching clients and/or potential host country partners. Increasingly project teams on international mega projects are composed of multiple key partners from different countries coming together to achieve a higher level of strategic flexibility. Establishing and maintaining local connections and business networks are therefore critical to ensure the success of exporting firms. This paper reports the findings of a project which explores factors affecting the performance of Malaysian property and construction professionals working internationally through effective joint ventures. The project seeks to develop a performance measurement framework to examine the extent to which Malaysian firms are developing sustainable business models internationally which adapt and respond to changing conditions. A generic framework was initially developed prior to this study through a grounded theory approach merging theory from internationalisation, design management and market knowledge literature followed by a case study empirical investigation and then further literature review based upon the themes which emerged from the case study analysis. A reflexive capability model for firms in managing both economic and non-economic capital; including social, cultural and intellectual capital was developed. This project seeks to build upon the reflexive model by adapting it to the unique contexts related to the specific geographic localities of exporting Malaysian firms. Specifically, the project explores the extent to which the performance measurement framework can be used to map capabilities Malaysian construction firms have and Which they need to develop in relation to developing and maintaining international collaborative partnerships. The preliminary results of one case study Malaysian architectural firm are discussed.

Structure-property relationships in plasticized solid polymer electrolytes

The addition of various kinds of plasticizers can enhance the conductivity of polymer electrolyte systems, in some cases by many orders of magnitude. The plasticizer may be a low molecular weight solvent, or be a low molecular weight polymer. As the plasticizer concentration increases there is an inevitable deterioration in material properties. In this work we have investigated the effect of plasticizer on the conductivity, thermal properties and matrial properties of a number of systems including urethane cross-linked polyethers and polyacrylates. In some of the systems, in particular the polyether electrolytes, the plasticizer acts to enhance conduction by acting as a cosolvent for the salt as well as increasing chain flexibility. Its efficacy is dependent on its structure and characteristics as a solvent. Although T_g is lowered in a close to linear fashion with increasing plasticizer content and thereby conductivity increased rapidly, the elastic modulus changes more slowly. This reflects the coupling of conduction to the local mobility of the molecular units of the combined solvent system and the relative decoupling of the mobility and glass transition from the material properties. In these systems the latter are a function mainly of the longer range structure of the polymer network. The changes in conductivity and materials properties are interpreted in terms of a configurational entropy model of the solution.

Characterising material and process variation effects on springback robustness for a semi-cylindrical sheet metal forming process

Variation in the incoming sheet material and fluctuations in the press setup is unavoidable in many stamping plants. The effect of these variations can have a large influence on the quality of the final stamping, in particular, unpredictable springback of the sheet when the tooling is removed. While stochastic simulation techniques have been developed to simulate this problem, there has been little research that connects the influence of the noise sources to springback. This paper characterises the effect of material and process variation on the robustness of springback for a semi-cylindrical channel forming operation, which shares a similar cross-section profile as many automotive structural components. The study was conducted using the specialised sheet metal forming package AutoForm^TM Sigma, for which a series of stochastic simulations were performed with each of the noise sources incrementally introduced. The effective stress and effective strain scatter in a critical location of the part was examined and a response window, which indicates the respective process robustness, was defined. The incremental introduction of the noise sources allows the change in size of the stressstrain response window to be tracked. The results showed that changes to process variation parameters, such as BHP and friction coefficient, directly affect the strain component of the stressstrain response window by altering the magnitude of external work applied to forming system. Material variation, on the other hand, directly affected the stress component of the response window. A relationship between the effective stressstrain response window and the variation in springback was also established.

Volume confinement induced microstructural transitions and property enhancements of supramolecular soft materials

The rheological properties of supramolecular soft functional materials are determined by the networks within the materials. This research reveals for the first time that the volume confinement during the formation of supramolecular soft functional materials will exert a significant impact on the rheological properties of the materials. A class of small molecular organogels formed by the gelation of N-lauroyl-L-glutamic acid din-butylamide (GP-1) in ethylene glycol (EG) and propylene glycol (PG) solutions were adopted as model systems for this study. It follows that within a confined space, the elasticity of the gel can be enhanced more than 15 times compared with those under un-restricted conditions. According to our optical microscopy observations and rheological measurements, this drastic enhancement is caused by the structural transition from a multi-domain network system to a single network system once the average size of the fiber network of a given material reaches the lowest dimension of the system. The understanding acquired from this work will provide a novel strategy to manipulate the network structure of soft materials, and exert a direct impact on the micro-engineering of such supramolecular materials in micro and nano scales.

Transport properties of multi-layer fabric based on electrospun nanofiber mats as a breathable barrier textile material

Layered fabric systems with an electrospun nanofiber web layered onto a sandwich of woven fabric were developed toexamine the feasibility of developing breathable barrier textile materials. Some parameters of nanofiber mats, including thetime of electrospinning and the polymer solution concentration, were designed to change and barrier properties ofspecimens were compared. Air permeability, water vapor transmission, and water repellency (Bundesmann and hydrostaticpressure tests) were assessed as indications of comfort and barrier performance of different samples. These performancesof layered nanofiber fabrics were compared with a well-known water repellent breathable multi-layered fabric(Gortex).Multi-layered electrospun nanofiber mats equipped fabric (MENMEF) showed better performance in windproof propertythan Gortex fabric. Also, water vapor permeability of MENMEF was in a range of normal woven sport and work clothing.Comparisons of barrier properties of MENMEF and the currently available PTFE coated materials showed that, thoseproperties could be achieved by layered fabric systems with electrospun nanofiber mats.

Virtual property theft detection framework

 The issue of virtual property theft in virtual worlds is a serious problem which has ramifications in both the real and virtual world. Virtual world users invest a considerable amount of time, effort and often money to collect virtual property items, only to have them stolen by thieves. Many virtual property thefts go undetected, with thieves often stealing virtual property items without resistance, leaving victims to discover the theft only after it has occurred. This paper presents the design of a detection framework that uses an algorithm for identifying virtual property theft at two key stages: account intrusion and unauthorized virtual property trades. Initial tests of this framework on a synthetic data set show an 80% detection rate with no false positives. This framework can allow virtual world developers to tailor and extend it to suit their specific virtual world software and provide an effective way of detecting virtual property theft while being a low maintenance, user friendly and cost effective.

Novel approaches to process bamboo plants into fibres and their UV-blocking property

Currently viscose production methods are primarily used to process bamboo into commercial textile fibres. However, viscose methods use large quantities of chemicals and hence the process is not considered as environmentally friendly. The process also fails to retain bamboo’s inherent unique properties such as ultraviolet (UV) screening and antibacterial functions. Hence, it is necessary to design an effective and more eco-friendly manufacturing method that would also retain the unique properties of raw bamboo plant into the fibres. In this research, bamboo was processed using new methods involving thermo mechanical treatments such as ultra-sonication, shaker milling and boiling with continuous stirring. Sodium hydroxide, hydrogen peroxide, enzyme and water were used separately in this process and their effects on fibre processing were compared. The morphology and UV shielding ability were analysed before and after processing. It was demonstrated that bamboo can be processed into fibres using only water and ball milling without the aid of any hazardous chemicals. The combination of mild acid hydrolysis and ultrasonic treatment with hydrogen peroxide was effective in the fibre separation and provided better appearance of fibres.

Size invariance of fibrous networks of supramolecular soft materials during formation under critical volume confinement

The rheological properties of a hierarchically structured supramolecular soft material are mainly determined by the structure of its network. Controlling the thermodynamic driving force of physical gels (one type of such materials) during the formation has proven effective in manipulating the network structure due to the nature of nucleation and growth of the fiber network formation in such a supramolecular soft material. Nevertheless, it is shown in this study that such a property can be dramatically influenced when the volume of the system is reduced to below a threshold value. Unlike un-confined systems, the network structure of such a soft material formed under volume confinement contains a constant network size, independent of the experimental conditions, i.e. temperature and solute concentration. This implies that the size of the fiber networks in such a material is invariable and free from the influence of external factors, once the volume is reduced to a threshold. The observations of this work are significant in the control of the formation of fibrous networks in materials of this type.

Virtual thievery : an insight into the criminal mind of virtual property thieves

Virtual worlds have become highly popular in recent years with reports of over a billion people accessing these worlds and the virtual goods market growing to near $50 US billion dollars. An undesirable outcome to this popularity and market value is thriving criminal activity in these worlds.  The most profitable transgression at the moment in virtual worlds is named Virtual Property Theft.  The aim of this study is to gain insight using an online survey, as to how thieves in these synthetic worlds conduct their criminal activities.  This survey asked questions on: thief profiling, how theft was conducted, times of criminal activity, which items are stolen and distributed, victim targeting and criminal profiteering.  This survey is the first to report an insight into the criminal mind of virtual thieves.  The results of this study will provide a pathway for designing an effective anti-theft mechanism capable of abolishing this criminal enterprise.

Mild and cost-effective synthesis of iron fluoride-graphene nanocomposites for high-rate Li-ion battery cathodes

Exploring high performance cathode materials is essential to realize the adoption of Li-ion batteries for application in electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles. FeF3, as a typical iron-based fluoride, has been attracting considerable interest due to both the high electromotive force value of 2.7 V and the high theoretical capacity of 237 mA h g_1 (1e_ transfer). In this study, we report a facile lowtemperature solution phase approach for synthesis of uniform iron fluoride nanocrystals on reduced graphene sheets stably suspended in ethanol solution. The resulting hybrid of iron fluoride nanocrystals and graphene sheets showed high specific capacity and high rate performance for iron fluoride type cathode materials. High stable specific capacity of about 210 mA h g_1 at a current density of 0.2 C was achieved, which is much higher than that of LiFePO4 cathode material. Notably, these iron fluoride/ nanocomposite cathode materials demonstrated superior rate capability, with discharge capacities of 176, 145 and 113 mA h g_1 at 1, 2 and 5 C, respectively.

Development of an inverse routine to predict residual stresses in the material based on a bending test

Bending and reverse bending are the dominant material deformations in roll forming, and hence property data derived from bend tests could be more relevant than tensile test data for numerical simulation of a roll forming process. Recent investigations have shown that residual stresses change the material behavior close to the yield in a bending test. So, residual stresses introduced during prior steel processing operations may affect the roll forming process, and therefore they need to be included in roll forming simulations to achieve improved model accuracy. Measuring the residual stress profile experimentally is time consuming and has limited accuracy while analytical models that are available require detailed information about the pre-processing conditions that is generally not available for roll forming materials. The main goal of this study is to develop an inverse routine that determines a residual stress profile through the material thickness based on experimental pure bend test data. A numerical model of the skin passing (temper rolling) process is performed to introduce a residual stress profile in DP780 steel sheet. The skin passed strips are used in a pure bending simulation to record moment-curvature data and this data is then applied in an inverse analysis to predict the residual stress profile in the material. Comparison of the residual stress profile predicted by the inverse routine with that calculated by finite element analysis (FEA) indicates an inverse approach combined with pure bend test may present an alternative to predict residual stresses in sheet metals.