Use of plastic and textile media in polishing primary treated effluent

The majority of on-site sewage management systems in Australia fail to perform to expectations. About 60% to 80% of on-site systems reportedly fail to produce acceptable effluent quality, and there is an increaed concern about the risks associated with public health and environmental pollution. In Victoria, a large proportion of septic tank installations have been reported to discharge highly polluted waste to drains and streams. Users, often considered by regulators as operators, have to bear the costs of upgrade/replacement of their old systems to meet stringent water quality guidelines. Some of the common problems include clogging of the disposal fields due to solids and organic overloading and surfacing of highly polluted effluent. Large land application area is subsequently required for irrigating the effluent and/or installation of upgraded disposal fields.
This paper investigates the effectiveness of various types of textile and plastic media, in polishing primary tank effluent, downstream from a typical two-compartment septic tank system. Results to date show that high biochemical oxygen demand removal rates are achieved from the textile and plastic media (up to 86% and 83% respectively). At these removal levels, the performance of a combined conventional septic tank system and plastic/textile filters is comparable to that of an advanced aerated wastewater treatment system. This approach, subject to further investigation, could provide a less costly upgrade.

Teaching building services to architecture and building students

Building environmental services can often be categorised as ‘one of the least desirable courses’ in the curriculum of architecture and building. Nevertheless, it is also one of the most important and confronting subjects in the procurement of real building projects. The principal message to designers is that of spatial requirements while to the builders it may become one of capital cost, installation specifications and maintenance of equipment. Getting these concepts across in a creative, yet project oriented, manner can be challenging to the students and to the lecturer. This paper presents the developments of ten years of teaching the subject, as well as the methods of delivery which have proven to be successful.

Advanced manufacturing technology adoption - the German experience

The decision process that organisations utilise when evaluating technology investment opportunities is a complex and even political process; however, the correct decision can provide the organisation with considerable operational and competitive benefits. The research presented in this paper presents the findings of a postal survey of the benefits provided by technology investments to large German manufacturers. It was found that only where middle management generated the idea for the advanced manufacturing technology (AMT) investment was success in that investment significantly more likely. Respondents who established a project team to plan the technology proposal, regardless of the department which generated the ideas for technology investment, were not significantly associated with a greater likelihood for success.

The respondents typically took between 3 and 12 months before making the final decision to invest, irrespective of the department generating the idea for the AMT, and a further 6 months to implement the AMT. Respondents who utilised a discounted cashflow analysis took significantly longer to make the final decision to invest. The greatest number of manufacturing outcomes of significantly higher importance was identified for respondents where Engineering, IT or R&D generated the AMT ideas. It was also determined that the respondents most frequently considered AMT investments in computer hardware or software and technical training for process workers to be necessary at the time of considering the investment. Middle management were found to be significantly more concerned than managers on other levels about opposition of workers to the AMT, while the process workers were significantly more concerned about interruptions to the process during installation.

Pedagogy of the flesh : artaud and pedagogical fault lines

In the form of an installation, this panel will question the problems of combining the fleshiness of our bodies and the technologies of (re-)presentation in the production of knowledge that is contemporary teaching in a material environment. Do the aesthetics and methods of the performing arts open up new, dynamic approaches towards teaching practices? Conversely, how do traditional approaches to classroom management and learning undermine the performativity of our disciplinary concerns? We wish to challenge in the strongest possible terms the appropriateness of the traditional format for academic conferences with their monologic presentation of research outcomes. We crave new and unimagined formats for conferences that rely upon the very theatrical devices that we study, master, enact, and live through. This installation will express each participant's response to these provocations and will provide an interactive environment with many dialogic elements. Participants will use video images, live performers, and other theatrical devices to create an installation that deconstructs the experience of teaching. Signalling though the flames, should our teaching be any less?

The installation will be available for perusal as five simultaneous events occur in over-lapping space. This will last approximately 45 minutes and will be followed by a round-table discussion for the remainder of our time.

Need for speed

Like me you probably read a few magazines, including PC Update, and Google your way around the Web before launching into any complex endeavour involving PC or network updates. This is particularly the case when it comes to any serious expenditure. I'll be honest; sometimes I read the reviews after the fact, just as I sometimes read the instructions after an installation goes pear-shaped. This How-To is one of those experiences.

Investigation of the effects of microcomputers on the work of professional accountants

Information technology research over the past two decades suggests that the installation and use of computers fundamentally affects the structure and function of organisations and, m particular, the workers in these organizations. Following the release of the IBM Personal Computer in 1982, microcomputers have become an integral part of most work environments. The accounting services industry, in particular, has felt the impact of this ‘microcomputer revolution’. In Big Six accounting firms, there is almost one microcomputer for each professional accountant employed, Notwithstanding this, little research has been done on the effect of microcomputers on the work outcomes of professional accountants working in these firms. This study addresses this issue. It assesses, in an organisational setting, how accountant’ perceptions of ease of use and usefulness of microcomputers act on their computer anxieties, microcomputer attitudes and use to affect their job satisfaction and job performance. The research also examines how different types of human-computer interfaces affect the relationships between accountants' beliefs about microcomputer utility and ease of use, computer anxiety, microcomputer attitudes and microcomputer use. To attain this research objective, a conceptual model was first developed, The model indicates that work outcomes (job satisfaction and job performance) of professional accountants using microcomputers are influenced by users' perceptions of ease of use and usefulness of microcomputers via paths through (a) the level of computer anxiety experienced by users, (b) the general attitude of users toward using microcomputers, and (c) the extent to which microcomputers are used by individuals. Empirically testable propositions were derived from the model to test the postulated relationships between these constructs. The study also tested whether or not users of different human-computer interfaces reacted differently to the perceptions and anxieties they hold about microcomputers and their use in the workplace. It was argued that users of graphical interfaces, because of the characteristics of those interfaces, react differently to their perceptions and anxieties about microcomputers compared with users of command-line (or textual-based) interfaces. A passive-observational study in a field setting was used to test the model and the research propositions. Data was collected from 164 professional accountants working in a Big Six accounting firm in a metropolitan city in Australia. Structural equation modelling techniques were used to test the, hypothesised causal relationships between the components comprising the general research model. Path analysis and ordinary least squares regression was used to estimate the parameters of the model and analyse the data obtained. Multisample analysis (or stacked model analysis) using EQS was used to test the fit of the model to the data of the different human-computer interface groups and to estimate the parameters for the paths in those different groups. The results show that the research model is a good description of the data. The job satisfaction of professional accountants is directly affected by their attitude toward using microcomputers and by microcomputer use itself. However, job performance appears to be only directly affected by microcomputer attitudes. Microcomputer use does not directly affect job performance. Along with perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness, computer anxiety is shown to be an important determinant of attitudes toward using microcomputers - higher levels of computer anxiety negatively affect attitudes toward using microcomputers. Conversely, higher levels of perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness heighten individuals' positive attitudes toward using microcomputers. Perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness also indirectly affect microcomputer attitudes through their effect on computer anxiety. The results show that higher levels of perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness result in lower levels of computer anxiety. A surprising result from the study is that while perceived ease of use is shown to directly affect the level of microcomputer usage, perceived usefulness and attitude toward using microcomputers does not. The results of the multisample analysis confirm that the research model fits the stacked model and that the stacked model is a significantly better fit if specific parameters are allowed to vary between the two human-computer interface user groups. In general, these results confirm that an interaction exists between the type of human-computer interface (the variable providing the grouping) and the other variables in the model The results show a clear difference between the two groups in the way in which perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness affect microcomputer attitude. In the case of users of command-line interfaces, these variables appear to affect microcomputer attitude via an intervening variable, computer anxiety, whereas in the graphical interface user group the effect occurs directly. Related to this, the results show that perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness have a significant direct effect on computer anxiety in command-line interface users, but no effect at all for graphical interface users. Of the two exogenous variables only perceived ease of use, and that in the case of the command-line interface users, has a direct significant effect on extent of use of microcomputers. In summary, the research has contributed to the development of a theory of individual adjustment to information technology in the workplace. It identifies certain perceptions, anxieties and attitudes about microcomputers and shows how they may affect work outcomes such as job satisfaction and job performance. It also shows that microcomputer-interface types have a differential effect on some of the hypothesised relationships represented in the general model. Future replication studies could sample a broader cross-section of the microcomputer user community. Finally, the results should help Big Six accounting firms to maximise the benefits of microcomputer use by making them aware of how working with microcomputers affects job satisfaction and job performance.

Modeling data processing activity to assess the internal control function

This thesis describes research that was conducted into the potential of modeling the activities of the Data Processing Department as an aid to the computer auditor. A methodology is composed to aid in the evaluation of the Internal Controls, particularly the General Controls relative to computer processing. Consisting of three major components, the methodology enables the auditor to model the presumed activities of the Data Processing Department against the actual activities, as recorded on the Operating System Log. The first component of the methodology is the construction and loading of a model of the presumed activities of the Data Processing Department from its verbal, scheduled, and reported activities. The second component is the generation of a description of the actual activities of the Data Processing Department from the information recorded on the Operating System Log. This is effected by reducing the Operating System Log to the format described by the Standard Audit File concept. Finally, the third component in the methodology is the modeling process itself. This is in fact a new analysis technique proposed for use by the EDP auditor. The modeling process is composed of software that compares the model developed and loaded in the first component, with the description of actual activity as collated by the second component. Results from this comparison are then reviewed by the auditor, who determines if they adequately depict the situation, or whether the models description as specified in the first component requires to be altered, and the modeling process re-initiated. In conducting the research, information and data from a production installation was used. Use of the ‘real-world’ input proved both the feasibility of developing a model of the reported activities of the Data Processing Department, and the adequacy of the operating system log as a source of information to report the departments actual activities. Additionally, it enabled the involvement and comment of practicing auditors. The research involved analysis of the effect of EDP on the audit process, structure of the EDP audit process, data reduction, data structures, model formalization, and model processing software. Additionally, the Standard Audit File concept was verified through its use by practising auditors, and expanded by the development of an indexed data structure, which enabled its analysis to be conducted interactively. Results from the trial implementation of the research software and methodology at a production installation confirmed the research hypothesis that the activities of the Data Processing Department could be modelled, and that there are substantial benefits from the EDP auditor in analysing this process. The research in fact provides a new source of information, and develops a new analysis technique for the EDP auditor. It demonstrates the utilization of computer technology to monitor itself for the audit function, and reasserts auditor independence by providing access to technical detail describing the processing activities of the computer.

Material thinking : the theory and practice of creative research

This intimate account of how ideas get turned into artwork—including dance performance, film, sound installation, sculpture, and painting—looks at how the material thinking that art embodies produces new understandings about individuals, their histories, and the cultures they inhabit. Discussing the philosophy of signs (images, text, and their interaction), the psychology of visual perception, and the overarching notion of mythopoeic place-making, this intellectually wide-ranging and anecdotally narrated primer provides a fresh perspective to the concept of inventing. All active practitioners in the fields of performance, media, film, museum, painting, sculpture, and cultural studies will benefit from this look at how artists participate in the conceptual invention of their world.

Glacial matters, detail

A cascading glacier of refuse, from ceiling to floor, greets the viewers as they step into Bozo Ink’s latest installation. Amongst other abjections fridges capture glaciated moments with perspex protrusions, and projected figures that move, wriggle and incubate inside of them. Fridge becomes womb, fridge as technological hubris, fridge is a stillborn archive. Includes the film : 'Yeti Caught in the Headlights'

Mnemonia country

Wood, DVD player and screen, spy-hole, 500 watt interrogation light, ergonomic interrogation chair, windscreen wiper motor and car battery 2x3x1.6m. Includes the film rendition.

UFO architecture

Acetate photographic prints. Photo installation.

Heteroskin

Latext skins, with lunar gravity

Just like home : suburban realities and the art of Lisa Hilli

This article profiles the work of Australian-based Tolai artist Lisa Hilli and her photographic, video, installation and performance-based arts practice. Hilli's work deals with contemporary Pacific diasporic identity in Australia.