Direct versus search engine traffic : an innovative approach to demand analysis in the property market

Purpose – The application of “Google” econometrics (Geco) has evolved rapidly in recent years and can be applied in various fields of research. Based on accepted theories in existing economic literature, this paper seeks to contribute to the innovative use of research on Google search query data to provide a new innovative to property research.

Design/methodology/approach – In this study, existing data from Google Insights for Search (GI4S) is extended into a new potential source of consumer sentiment data based on visits to a commonly-used UK online real-estate agent platform (Rightmove.co.uk). In order to contribute to knowledge about the use of Geco's black box, namely the unknown sampling population and the specific search queries influencing the variables, the GI4S series are compared to direct web navigation.

Findings – The main finding from this study is that GI4S data produce immediate real-time results with a high level of reliability in explaining the future volume of transactions and house prices in comparison to the direct website data. Furthermore, the results reveal that the number of visits to Rightmove.co.uk is driven by GI4S data and vice versa, and indeed without a contemporaneous relationship.

Originality/value – This study contributes to the new emerging and innovative field of research involving search engine data. It also contributes to the knowledge base about the increasing use of online consumer data in economic research in property markets.

Individual dispersion of carbon nanotubes in epoxy via a novel dispersion-curing approach using ionic liquids

The effective dispersion of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in a thermoset was achieved using ionic liquid as the dispersion-curing agent. We preferentially dispersed multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) down to individual tube levels in epoxy resin. Here the dispersion is ruled by the depletion of physical bundles within the MWCNT networks, for which molecular ordering of ionic liquids is considered responsible. The quantitative analyses using ultra small angle X-ray scattering (USAXS) confirmed the dispersion of individual MWCNTs in the matrix. The distance between the dispersed nanotubes was calculated at different nanotube loadings using the power law fitting of the USAXS data. The fine dispersion and subsequent curing, both controlled by ionic liquid, lead to composites with substantially enhanced fracture mechanical and thermomechanical properties with no reduction in thermal properties. Merging processing techniques of nanocomposites with ionic liquid for efficient dispersion of nanotubes and preferential curing of thermosets facilitates the development of new, high performance materials.

Mitomycin C: a promising agent for the treatment of canine corneal scarring

Objective  To evaluate the safety and efficacy of mitomycin C (MMC) in prevention of canine corneal scarring.

Methods  With an in vitro approach using healthy canine corneas, cultures of primary canine corneal fibroblasts or myofibroblasts were generated. Primary canine corneal fibroblasts were obtained by growing corneal buttons in minimal essential medium supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum. Canine corneal myofibroblasts were produced by growing cultures in serum-free medium containing transforming growth factor β1 (1 ng/mL). Trypan blue assay and phase-contrast microscopy were used to evaluate the toxicity of three doses of MMC (0.002%, 0.02% and 0.04%). Real-time PCR, immunoblot, and immunocytochemistry techniques were used to determine MMC efficacy to inhibit markers of canine corneal scarring.

Results  A single 2-min treatment of 0.02% or less MMC did not alter canine corneal fibroblast or keratocyte phenotype, viability, or growth. The 0.02% dose substantially reduced myofibroblast formation (up to 67%; P < 0.001), as measured by the change in RNA and protein expression of fibrosis biomarkers (α-smooth muscle actin and F-actin).

Conclusion  This in vitro study suggests that a single 2-min 0.02% MMC treatment to the canine corneal keratocytes is safe and may be useful in decreasing canine corneal fibrous metaplasia. In vivo studies are warranted.

Project-oriented design-based learning: aligning students’ views with industry needs

This paper focuses on the alignment of students' views on project-oriented design-based learning (PODBL) with today's industrial needs. A Collaborative relationship between academic institutions and industrial expectations is a significant process towards analytical thinking (linking the theory and practice). Improving students' knowledge as well as the students' transition into industry, requires efficient joint ventures by both learning institutions and industry partners. Project-based learning (PBL) is well developed and implemented in most engineering schools and departments around the world. What requires closer attention is the focus on design within this project-based learning framework. Today design projects have been used to motivate and teach science in elementary, middle, and high school classrooms. They are also used to assist students with possible science and engineering careers. For these reasons, design-based learning (DBL) is intended to be an effective approach to learning that is centered on a design problem-solving structure adopted for a problem-oriented project-based education. Based on an industry design forum, which the authors conducted in Melbourne, Australia in 2012, a research study was performed to investigate the industry and academic requirements for students focusing on achieving design skills. To transform the present situation in the academic teaching and learning environment and to fulfill industry needs, this research study also investigated the students' views on design skills.

Common variants of the resistance mechanism in the Smith Machine: analysis of mechanical loading characteristics and application to strength-oriented and hypertrophy-oriented training

The Smith machine is a pervasive weight-training apparatus, used extensively by a wide population of weight trainers, from novices to high-level athletes. The advantages of using a Smith machine over free-weight resistance are disputed, with conflicting findings reported in the literature. In this study, we are interested in practical differences between 3 types of loading mechanisms found in modern Smith machines. In addition to the basic design comprising a constrained weighted barbell, alterations with a counterweight and a viscous resistance component are examined. The approach taken is that of employing a recently proposed representation of force characteristics that may be exhibited by a trainee and a predictive model of thus effected adaptation. A computer simulation is used to predict the effects of the 3 linear Smith machine designs in the framework of different exercise protocols. Our results demonstrate that each resistance component, vertically constrained load, counterweight, and viscous, can be matched with a particular training context, in which it should be preferred. Thus, a number of practical guidelines for weight-training practitioners are recommended. In summary, (a) at low intensities (55–75% of 1 repetition maximum [1RM]) used in strength-endurance training, a viscous resistance containing the Smith machine was found to offer advantages over both a constrained load only and counterweighted designs; (b) at medium intensities (75–85% of 1RM) typically employed in hypertrophy-specific training, the counterweighted Smith machine design was found to offer the best choice in terms of high-force development and total external work performed; finally, (c) at high training intensity (90–100% of 1RM), the optimal prescription was found to be more dependent on the specific athlete’s weaknesses, highlighting the need for continual monitoring of the athlete’s force production capabilities. To ensure that appropriate adjustments are made to the athlete’s training regimen, the practitioner should consider the full set of findings of this article and the accompanying discussion.

Emergent effects in massive agent swarms in real-time game environments

 Computational efficiency and hence the scale of agent-based swarm simulations is bound by the nearest neighbour computation for each agent. This article proposes the use of GPU texture memory to implement lookup tables for a spatial partitioning based k-Nearest Neighbours algorithm. These improvements allow simulation of swarms of 220 agents at higher rates than the current best alternative algorithms. This approach is incorporated into an existing framework for simulating steering behaviours allowing for a complete implementation of massive agent swarm simulations, with per agent behaviour preferences, on a Graphics Processing Unit. These simulations have enabled an investigation of the emergent dynamics that occur when massive swarms interact with a choke point in their environment. Various modes of sustained dynamics with temporal and spatial coherence are identified when a critical mass of agents is simulated and some elementary properties are presented. The algorithms presented in this article enable researchers and content designers in games and movies to implement truly massive agent swarms in real time and thus provide a basis for further identification and analysis of the emergent dynamics in these swarms. This will improve not only the scale of swarms used in commercial games and movies but will also improve the reliability of swarm behaviour with respect to content design goals.

Students' intercultural development through language learning in Vietnamese tertiary education: a case study on the use of film as an innovative approach

Vietnam's open-door policy, its socialist-oriented market economy, recent growth in cross-border education and skills mobility, regionalisation and globalisation have created an increasing demand for Vietnamese graduates to develop not only their English language but also their intercultural competence. This paper discusses the issue of student intercultural learning and development in the Vietnamese English as a foreign language (EFL) class. Especially, it addresses the use of film as an innovative approach to engage Vietnamese students in intercultural learning and development in the EFL classroom. The study reported in this paper draws on rich sources of data which include in-depth interviews with students, student reflective journals and video-recorded class observations at a university in central Vietnam. Overall, five key themes relating to student intercultural learning through film have been identified in this study. These include enhancing knowledge about cultural differences, engaging in cross-cultural comparison, breaking cultural stereotypes, immersing students in authentic learning and living in the world of ‘other’ culture and the integrated mode of intercultural language learning. The study is a significant contribution to scholarly research on the use of media objects to enhance student intercultural learning in language classrooms in developing countries.

Project oriented design based learning – staff perspectives

The focus of this paper is to get staff perception on design based learning in their respective disciplines and how they could be aligned to the newly proposed model, in project oriented design based learning (PODBL). In academia, students and staff are supposed to work together in order to achieve a balanced learning and teaching process. By using different teaching and learning approaches, teachers are aware of escalating the student knowledge to fulfill current technology needs. This paper is part of a continuing process of a research project, which analyses better teaching and learning approaches in engineering. As part of this research, face-to-face interviews with staff members of the school of engineering in Deakin University who are teaching engineering design were conducted. The interview questions are based on
qualitative analysis. The questions covered here are designed to determine the staff level of experience from teaching engineering using design based learning approach as an educational model. From the analysed results, this research encourages the school to practice a unique pedagogy that will accomplish the students learning outcomes.

Integration of cloud based learning in project oriented design based learning

The School of Engineering at Deakin University has been practicing design based learning as one of its engineering learning principles for further development in the learning and teaching process. It has been exploring the student and industry perspectives in this regards and has embarked in the development of a new framework for a project oriented design based learning approach for the development of the engineering curriculum. Along with this change in the engineering curriculum Deakin University also has been going through a major change in the delivery of education. The policy shift has been initiated through Live the Future: Agenda 2020 which focusses on Cloud and Located Learning. This change in policy has had an impact on delivery framework for the project oriented design based learning model which has been incorporated through the use of lecture videos, a learning management system called Cloud Deakin and online tutorials through the eLive system.

Object oriented regular expressions

Regular expressions are used to parse textual data to match patterns and extract variables. They have been implemented in a vast number of programming languages with a significant quantity of research devoted to improving their operational efficiency. However, regular expressions are limited to finding linear matches. Little research has been done in the field of object-oriented results which would allow textual or binary data to be converted to multi-layered objects. This is significantly relevant as many of todaypsilas data formats are object-based. This paper extends our previous work by detailing an algorithmic approach to perform object-oriented parsing, and provides an initial study of benchmarks of the algorithms of our contribution

Distorted representations of the‘capability approach’ in Australian school education

Recently, curriculum developments in Australia have seen the incorporation of functionalist ‘general capabilities’ as essential markers of schooling, meaning that any pedagogical expression of classroom-based practice, including subsequent instruction, should entail the identification and development of operational general capabilities. The paper questions and critiques recent curriculum developments in Australia that characterises capabilities purely in functionalist terms, something that the broader capabilities literature eschews. The analysis is informed by aspects of the theoretical frameworks of Martin Heidegger and Pierre Bourdieu. It examines the notion of ‘general capabilities’ in the Australian Curriculum. The paper argues that there is an inherent contradiction in Australian education policy, namely a vocationally oriented national school curriculum with implied functionings that cannot fulfil designated purposes. The paper finds that the curriculum's connection to increased individual and national economic prosperity, one championing ‘jobs and careers of the twenty-first century’, is evident, although current populous forms and categories of employment seem to suggest otherwise.

Formations of robotic swarm: an artificial force based approach

Cooperative control of multiple mobile robots is an attractive and challenging problem which has drawn considerable attention in the recent past. This paper introduces a scalable decentralized control algorithm to navigate a group of mobile robots (swarm) into a predefined shape in 2D space. The proposed architecture uses artificial forces to control mobile agents into the shape and spread them inside the shape while avoiding intermember collisions. The theoretical analysis of the swarm behavior describes the motion of the complete swarm and individual members in relevant situations. We use computer simulated case studies to verify the theoretical assertions and to demonstrate the robustness of the swarm under external disturbances such as death of agents, change of shape etc. Also the performance of the proposed distributed swarm control architecture was investigated in the presence of realistic implementation issues such as localization errors, communication range limitations, boundedness of forces etc.

A multilevel trust management framework for service oriented environment

In service-oriented computing applications, trust management systems are emerging as a promising technology to improve the e-commerce consumers and provider's relationship. Both consumers and providers need to evaluate the trust levels of potential partners before engaging in interactions. The accuracy of trust evaluation greatly affects the success rate of the interaction. This paper addresses the threats and challenges that can compromise the reliability of the current trust management system. This paper studies and examines the importance of the trust factors of the trust management framework, specifically in dealing with malicious feedback ratings from e-commerce users. To improve the reliability of the trust management systems, an approach that addresses feedback-related vulnerabilities is paramount. A multilevel trust management system computes trust by combining different types of information. Using this combination, we introduce a multilevel framework for a new interactive trust management to improve the correctness in estimate of trust information.

Distributed agent-based control scheme for single-phase parallel inverters in microgrids with photovoltaic systems

In this paper, an agent-based distributed control scheme is presented to control single-phase parallel inverters in solar photovoltaic (PV) systems connected to microgrids. A communication assisted multi-agent framework is developed within microgrids where agents perform their tasks in a distributed manner with an aim of stabilizing load voltage and current under normal and faulted conditions through the asymptotic tracking of the reference current signal. The distributed agent-based control scheme requires information from the neighboring agents through communication network to decide control actions. The proposed control scheme utilizes Ziegler-Nichols (Z-N) tuning approach to design proportional integral (PI) controllers for controlling inverters within the multi-agent system (MAS). A microgrid with parallel inverter-connected solar PV systems is considered for simulations under normal and faulted conditions where results show the excellency of the proposed agent-based scheme in comparison to the conventional scheme without MAS.

Improving student-industry engagement through project oriented curriculum

Industry expects a creative and innovative academic practice that provides students with valuable practical knowledge focused on graduate ready skills for future careers. The learning environment in engineering is inadequate for students to become a skillful graduate. The practical role of engineering is gained through working on real world problems in an industry collaborative environment through projects. Industry academia collaboration seems to be actively increasing in the development of engineering education in various parts of the globe. The close relationship between industry and academia is a vital component of the engineering pedagogy to improve student engagement in industry through projects. By engaging students with industry, students will acquire global perspective about the core attributes expected in future engineering jobs. In today’s large-scale industrial market, companies tend to prefer graduates with design skills attained through the project approach. Thus, universities should open their doors and accept the challenges of interacting with students with industrial experiences and expectations. This paper is focused on improving student industry engagement through project/design oriented curriculum. Through quantitative and qualitative research, the paper shows the industry perspectives and students views on university and industry collaboration. The research results show that students and industry can possibly maintain their engagement by providing regular feedback, reviewing goals and objectives, improving communication, keeping focused, and sharing a similar vision.