Combining image regions and human activity for indirect object recognition in indoor wide-angle views

Traditional methods of object recognition are reliant on shape and so are very difficult to apply in cluttered, wideangle and low-detail views such as surveillance scenes. To address this, a method of indirect object recognition is proposed, where human activity is used to infer both the location and identity of objects. No shape analysis is necessary. The concept is dubbed 'interaction signatures', since the premise is that a human will interact with objects in ways characteristic of the function of that object - for example, a person sits in a chair and drinks from a cup. The human-centred approach means that recognition is possible in low-detail views and is largely invariant to the shape of objects within the same functional class. This paper implements a Bayesian network for classifying region patches with object labels, building upon our previous work in automatically segmenting and recognising a human's interactions with the objects. Experiments show that interaction signatures can successfully find and label objects in low-detail views and are equally effective at recognising test objects that differ markedly in appearance from the training objects.

Electromagnetic field and other physical methods influencing cell growth in mammal cell culture systems

The growth rate of cultured mammalian cells can be influenced by chemical and physical methods such as electromagnetic fields (EMF), light, temperature and plasma. These physical methods have a number of well documented effects on mammalian cells including modification of gene expression, cell cycle, invasion, motility, cell viability, proliferation, apoptosis and mammosphere numbers. A study of the existing literature confirms that the impact of physical method on mammalian cells depends on the cell type, culture environment, exposure time, frequency, wave shape, and amount of dose. The modification of cell proliferation and apoptosis is necessary for cells products, tissue engineering, and therapy. In this article, we reviewed the impact of four physical methods on the growth rate and viability of cells. Plasma is the best method among fours because we can get desired result ranging from increasing cell proliferation to inducing apoptosis depending on the dose.

Brief report : maltreatment in childhood and body concerns in adulthood

Objective: We examined the relationship between maltreatment in childhood and body concerns in adulthood.

Method: A community sample of 156 women and 143 men completed measures of maltreatment – frequency of sexual abuse, physical abuse, physical neglect, emotional abuse and emotional neglect – in childhood. They also reported current dissatisfaction with body weight and shape and drive for thinness and drive for muscle.

Results and conclusions: Childhood maltreatment was associated with drive for muscle in women and body dissatisfaction and drive for thinness in men. The results provide some evidence that adverse conditions in childhood can be associated with gender-atypical body concerns in adulthood.

Preparation of nanoparticles by crosslinking folate conjugated chitosan with vanillin and its characterization

Functionalized chitosan (CS) were widely used as drug delivery system in the chemotherapy of various disease. In this work, folate (FA) was conjugated into chitosan molecular as targeting ligand based on Schiff reaction between –NH₂ group of CS and –COOH group of FA. And nanoparticles were made by emulsion method with vanillin novel cross-linking agent. The FA modified CS and its nanoparticles were characterized by Fourier transform spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Zeta potential. SEM results confirmed the nanoparticles made from FA-CS conjugate were spherical in shape and were about 100 nm in size. Zeta potential analysis revealed that the nanoparticles were negatively charged with charge density of -7.73mV.

The impact of divergent historical and cultural factors on convergence in global communication practice

Communication practice is increasingly converging around globally consistent approaches and techniques shaped by both globalisation and globalising communications technologies. However, this paper argues, national and regional practice histories and cultural characteristics have shaped, and continue to shape, practice in individual markets. The paper analyses the extent of that these divergent histories and cultures have shaped the structure and practices of the public relations industry in Australia and other countries. The paper challenges the common assumptions about public relations development and industry practice having developed from a predominantly US-based model progressively disseminated globally. It traces the history of public relations in Australia, counter-pointing its distinctive origins, to the US-origin thesis. It also examines the impact of demography and diverse national culture on industry shape and practice, comparing the Australian industry to that of other industries around the world. It uses mini-case studies of campaigns in specific countries to assess the extent to which they are culturally-bound by historical and cultural differences and the extent to which they are capable of being transferred or adapted to individual markets. For instance, assumptions about globally-consistent brand identities are contradicted by McDonalds’ branding practices in markets such as Canada and Japan. The paper also discusses how emerging market PR industries are being shaped by distinctive and divergent cultures and development paths and may create new structural and practice models as the emerging economies becoming dominant internationally. The authors suggest that history and cultural diversity continue, and will continue to, shape national and regional practices.

Ecological determinism in Australia : tracing the legacy of McHarg downunder and its key precedents

Ecological planning, as advocated by Ian McHarg, filtered extensively through North America following the publication of Design with Nature (1965). The integrated design and planning approach was also advanced by numerous graduates of McHarg's studios at the University of Pennsylvania where this approach was extensively trialled and proven. While a clear synthesis and theoretical framework was articulated and reinforced through a plethora of projects, monographs, and articles, the majority of these perspectives were North American, lacked clarity about the translation of the approach into legal strategic and statutory planning instruments, nor shed light upon what transpired in Australia. This paper reviews the development of the Conservation Plan created for the southern Mornington peninsula in Victoria, Australia, as well as its intent, structure and internal workings as a successful model of ecological statutory planning, in the context of the wider WPRPA activities that draws directly from the McHarg theory. Known as the Conservation Plan for the southern Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, a revolutionary planning structure devised in the early 1970s by several Australian proponents. The Conservation Plan continues in operation today curating a high scenic valued landscape protecting it from intrusion from the growing metropolitan city of Melbourne thus fulfilling its objectives of landscape quality conservation whilst still permitting sympathetic building and land use growth. Contextually, the Conservation Plan appears to be only statutory equivalent translation of the approach internationally other than the Pinelands Commission planning processes in New Jersey.

Intelligent control and look-ahead energy management of hybrid electric vehicles

A review of the state of knowledge in the field of control and energy management in HEVs is carried out. The key innovation of the project is the development of a model of a PHEV using the real road data with an intelligent look-ahead online controller. Another novelty of this work is the method of route planning. It combines the information of vehicle sensors such as accelerometer and speedometer with the data of a GPS to create a road grade map for use within the look-ahead energy management strategy in the vehicle. For the PHEV, an adaptive cruise controller is modelled and an optimisation method is applied to obtain the best speed profile during a trajectory. Finally, the nonlinear model of the vehicle is applied with the sliding mode controller. The effect of using this controller is compared with the universal cruise controller. The stability of the system is studied and proved.

Mapping the ill disciplined? Spatial analyses and historical change in the post-war film industry

As part of a broad disciplinary shift, from a focus on measuring the value and meaning of cultural artefacts to understanding the import of cultural flows, humanities researchers are increasingly turning to other disciplines and disciplinary practices to inform their research. For film scholars, rather than providing a reading of specific media texts and their qualities there is an increasing focus on the contextual events that shape and formulate cinema practice. This chapter is an example of how cross-disciplinary relationships, for example between Cinema Studies, Geospatial Science, Statistics and the Creative Arts can uncover new research questions and test methodologies across uncharted disciplinary terrain. It also offers an opportunity to reflect on some of the key assumptions around collaborative research, through its reorganization of academic spaces and “sites” of knowledge.

The impact of divergent historical and cultural factors on convergence in global communication practice

Communication practice is increasingly converging around globally consistent approaches and techniques shaped by both globalisation and globalising communications technologies. However, this paper argues, national and regional practice histories and cultural characteristics have shaped, and continue to shape, practice in individual markets. The paper analyses the extent of that these divergent histories and cultures have shaped the structure and practices of the public relations industry in Australia and other countries. The paper challenges the common assumptions about public relations development and industry practice having developed from a predominantly US-based model progressively disseminated globally. It traces the history of public relations in Australia, counterpointing its distinctive origins, to the US-origin thesis. It also examines the impact of demography and diverse national culture on industry shape and practice, comparing the Australian industry to that of other industries around the world. It uses mini-case studies of campaigns in specific countries to assess the extent to which they are culturally bound by historical and cultural differences and the extent to which they are capable of being transferred or adapted to individual markets. For instance, assumptions about globally consistent brand identities are contradicted by McDonald’s’ branding practices in markets such as Canada and Japan. The paper also discusses how emerging market PR industries are being shaped by distinctive and divergent cultures and development paths and may create new structural and practice models as the emerging economies becoming dominant internationally. The authors suggest that history and cultural diversity continue, and will continue to, shape national and regional practices.

A novel bio-kinematic encoder for human exercise representation and decomposition - Part 1 : Indexing and modelling

Current bio-kinematic encoders use velocity, acceleration and angular information to encode human exercises. However, in exercise physiology there is a need to distinguish between the shape of the trajectory and its execution dynamics. In this paper we propose such a two-component model and explore how best to compute these components of an action. In particular, we show how a new spatial indexing scheme, derived directly from the underlying differential geometry of curves, provides robust estimates of the shape and dynamics compared to standard temporal indexing schemes.

Exploring connections between the in-field and on-campus components of a preservice teacher education program : a student perspective

This paper discusses the preservice teacher education practicum experience from the perspective of preservice teachers at a regional Australian university. It locates the practicum in the broader context of work integrated learning and associated principles of good practice. The paper argues that there are some perceived disconnections between the in-field and on–campus components of the teacher education program as well as an endorsement of some aspects of the practicum experience in closing the theory-practice gap. Our research adds to international debate about the balance between theory and practice and contributes a much needed student perspective on these issues. The paper concludes with suggestions on ways to improve the quality of the practicum experience.

Synthesis and application of self-assembled amphiphiles towards novel drug delivery

A library of novel amphiphiles were designed and synthesised, towards self-assembly based drug delivery for the treatment of breast cancer. The amphiphiles were formulated into liposomes of varying size and shape, and showed promising potential for drug delivery. Active targeting of breast cancer tumours was also explored with promising results.

Development and evaluation of a raman flow cell for monitoring continuous flow reactions

We show how in-line Raman spectroscopy can be used to monitor both reactant and product concentrations for a heterogeneously catalysed Suzuki cross reaction operating in continuous flow. The flow system consisted of an HPLC pump to drive a homogeneous mixture of the reactants (4-bromobenzonitrile, phenylboronic acid, and potassium carbonate) through an oven heated (80°C) palladium catalyst immobilised on a silica monolith. A custom built PTFE in-line flow cell with a quartz window enabled the coupling of an Ocean Optics Raman spectrometer probe to monitor both the reactants and product (4-cyanobiphenyl). Calibration was based on obtaining multivariate spectral data in the range 1530 cm–1 and 1640 cm–1 and using partial least-squares regression (PLSR) to obtain a calibration model which was validated using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GCMS) analysis. In-line Raman monitoring of the reactant and product concentrations enable (i) determination of reaction kinetic information such as the empirical rate law and associated rate constant and (ii) optimisation of either the product conversion (61 % at 0.02 mL min–1 generating 17 g h–1) or product yield (14 % at 0.24 mL min–1 generating 53 g h–1).

Exploring connections between the in-field and on-campus components of a preservice teacher education program : a student perspective

This paper discusses the preservice teacher education practicum experience from the perspective of preservice teachers at a regional Australian university. It locates the practicum in the broader context of work integrated learning and associated principles of good practice. The paper argues that there are some perceived disconnections between the in-field and on–campus components of the teacher education program as well as an endorsement of some aspects of the practicum experience in closing the theory-practice gap. Our research adds to international debate about the balance between theory and practice and contributes a much needed student perspective on these issues. The paper concludes with suggestions on ways to improve
the quality of the practicum.

Fostering resilience later in life: a narrative approach involving people facing disabling circumstances, carers and members of minority groups

Over the last two decades, the concept of resilience has become the focus of a growing body of gerontological research. However, there is a dearth of qualitative research that explores how socio-economic and socio-cultural factors shape older people's resilience. This study addresses this gap and explores the concept of resilience through the lens of 25 Australians from a variety of backgrounds, investigating the resilience strategies they employed in the face of different challenging life events. A qualitative narrative methodology involving one focus group and semi-structured interviews was employed. A stratified convenience sample of 34 people aged 60 and over participated in semi-structured interviews between 2009 and 2011. The study describes the meaning participants assigned to the term resilience, and focuses on the range of resilience responses and strategies they employed, bringing to light some key commonalities and differences. The study's findings suggest that access to economic and cultural resources and the nature of the adversity older people face can shape and limit their resilience strategies. The article outlines how the concept of resilience could be incorporated into aged care practice and argues that resilience-focused interventions that potentially broaden the resilience repertoire of older people should be explored within an aged care context.