Investigating housing supply and monetary policy under global economic turbulence

This research has contributed to literature by identifying the impacts of monetary policy and global economic turbulence on the supply side of the housing sector under a vector error correction model. The research outcomes provided policy makers with an insight to change Australia's housing shortage and declining housing affordability.

Automatically learning structural units in educational videos with the hierarchical hidden Markov models

In this paper we present a coherent approach using the hierarchical HMM with shared structures to extract the structural units that form the building blocks of an education/training video. Rather than using hand-crafted approaches to define the structural units, we use the data from nine training videos to learn the parameters of the HHMM, and thus naturally extract the hierarchy. We then study this hierarchy and examine the nature of the structure at different levels of abstraction. Since the observable is continuous, we also show how to extend the parameter learning in the HHMM to deal with continuous observations.

Pressure-induced structural transitions in MOO3·xH2O (x = 1/2, 2) molybdenum trioxide hydrates : a raman study

The high-pressure behaviors of M_OO₃·1/2H₂O and M_OO₃·2H₂O have been investigated by Raman spectroscopy in a diamond anvil cell up to 31.3 and 30.3 GPa, respectively. In the pressure range up to around 30 GPa, both M_OO₃·1/2H₂O and M_OO₃·2H₂O undergo two reversible structural phase transitions. We observed a subtle structural transition due to O−H···O hydrogen bond in M_OO₃·1/2H₂O at 3.3 GPa. We found a soft mode phase transition in M_OO₃·2H₂O at 6.6 GPa. At higher pressures, a frequency discontinuity shift and appearance of new peaks occurred in both M_OO₃·1/2H₂O and M_OO₃·2H₂O, indicating that the second phase transition is a first-order transition. The frequency redshift of the O−H stretching bands of M_OO₃·1/2H₂O and M_OO₃·2H₂O are believed to be related to the enhancement of the O−H···O weak hydrogen bonds under high pressures.

Deliberative educational planning : including educators’ deliberations in educational policy making.

The objective of this chapter is to argue a case for the need to include teachers and professional educators in the policy making and implementation processes of the World Bank's Education Sector Strategy 2020. By drawing on evidence from the Consultation Plan, the chapter investigates how communicative practices about teachers are embedded in the discourse of the plan and how these influence the rationalisation of the policy. In doing so, the chapter will examine the relationships between social actions, systems rationalisation and life world rationalisation. Much like commercial and entrepreneurial organisations focus on the voice of the customer (VOC), that is on satisfying the stakeholders and end users in their processes, in this chapter, the voice of the teacher (VOT) is highlighted. The skills and knowledge of key stakeholders need to be leveraged and engaged in order to ensure that the policy achieves its desired aims. In order to frame this argument, notions of Habermas’ communicative action theory is used to show how policy engages in systems steering. Rather than understanding education strategy and reform as a process of engaging only government and policy makers, this chapter suggests that by engaging the practitioners and listening to the practical discourse around reform, teachers can be leaders of reforms rather than obfuscated agents.

Glass/carbon fibre hybrid composite laminates for structural applications in automotive vehicles

Light-weight structure is one of the keys to improve the fuel efficiency and reduce the environmental buden of transport vehicles (automotive and rail). While fibreglass composites have been increasingly used to replace steel in automotive industry, the adoption rate for carbon fibre composites which are much lighter, stronger and stiffere than glass fibre composites, remains low. The main reason is the high cost of carbon fibres. To further reduce vehicle weight without excessive cost increase, one technique is to incorporate carbon fibre reinforcement into glass fibre composites and innovative design by selectively reinforcing along the main load path. Glass/carbon woven fabrics with epoxy resin matrix were utilised for preparing hybrid composite laminates. The in-plane mechanical properties such as tensile and three-point-bending flexural properties were investigated for laminates with different carbon fibre volume and lay-up scheme. It is shown that hybrid composite laminates with 50% carbon fibre reinforcement provide the best flexural properties when the carbon layers are at the exterior, while the alternating carbon/glass lay-up provides the highest compressive strength.

Emotions in education policy : a social contract analysis of asymmetrical dyads and emotion

Like other academic fields, educational policy is being reviewed for the affective component. Analysis is occurring in two forms: (a) the affects of education policy on education, school leaders, teachers and student learning outcomes and (b) text analysis of specific education policies. This chapter explores the representation of emotions in education policy texts, drawing on a theory of social contracts (Rawolle & Vadeboncoeur, 2003; Yeatman, 1996) as a way to explore what is being conveyed to administrators and teachers. This chapter considers the way in which emotions are represented in education policy, through social contract analysis. Social contracts are underpinned by three underlying conditions: consent to be a part of a contract, points of renegotiation through the duration of the contract and mutual accountability to those involved.

Construction cost performance of structural frames in Australia

This research is concerned with the comparative cost of building structural frames in Australia. The research has been undertaken to evaluate the cost performance of a number of technologies that are typically used in medium-rise commercial buildings of ten storeys. The research methodology is based on pricing a number of standard building frame designs in five Australian cities. The results represent the cost of producing the same building using different building construction designs. By utilising a standard model, project variables like building quality, ground conditions and access were eradicated, thereby facilitating an unbiased comparison of cost performance. The second stage of the research invoiced a focus group of industry experts who were asked to validate the results of the cost study. In addition, participants of the focus group were asked to comment on the preferred construction practice for each of the typical building designs. Results suggest that post-tensioned in situ concrete frames have the best cost performance for most buildings. However, other designs can have good cost performance under some circumstances. Findings suggest that the Australian construction industry has long cultural preference for the use of in situ concrete in structural frames.