A 'Mobile' technology and waiting for the broadband 'horse trade'

Webcasting in Australia is currently the domain of national broadcasters, independent and community radio stations and the two leading football codes. This paper reports on the findings of a content analysis of 20 leading webcasters as to the content and genres they provide. In examining the factors affecting the 'slow' adoption of webcasting in Australia such as the absence ofa high speed broadband infrastructure, the paper analyses and how its various discourses were framed by the parties concerned, and how the clash of conflicting agendas shaped the negotiations between the main stakeholders, taking on the characteristics of a 'horse trade '. Thereafter, the paper critically examines how other technologies such as mobile phones and Pay TV has begun to take on webcasting, instead of waitingfor the major commercial broadcasters to do so or a new broadband network and a national broadband strategy to be implemented.

Broadband : benefits and problems

The striving of nations to build a broadband-based information society is paralleled by individuals striving to improve their personal lot and by organisations seeking a competitive advantage—all supposedly to be achieved via broadband. However, the social and economic impact of broadband may be surrounded in controversies. This paper argues that these controversies need to be identified and addressed if public policy decisions about broadband are to be made with confidence. While literature on broadband abounds, it is rarely directed at the impact of broadband on social and personal issues. Rather, that literature typically focuses on broadband's economic aspects, but with poor benefit identification and measure difficulties, the findings tend to be steeped in rhetoric. Largely, what we are left with is literature on the impact of narrowband Internet. While research on the Internet abounds, its findings are typically indeterminate and often disputed. The paper works with literature on broadband and extrapolates from the literature on narrowband with its disputed impacts to identify possible impacts of broadband. In so doing it identifies a core set of controversies regarding broadband at the national, individual and organisational levels. It then calls for diversity of analysis of possible broadband outcomes. Only with such analysis will it be possible to place the likely broadband future in the context of broader national, individual and organisational aspirations.

Performance of smart antennas with receive diversity in wireless sensor networks

In this paper we propose a Geometrically Based Single Bounce Elliptical Model (GBSBEM) for multipath components involving randomly placed scatterers in the scattering region with sensors deployed on a field. The system model assumes a cluster based wireless sensor network (WSN) which collects information from the sensors, filters and modulates the data and transmit it through a wireless channel to be collected at the receiver. We first develop a GBSBE model and based on this model we develop our channel model. Use of Smart antenna system at the receiver end, which exploits various receive diversity combining techniques like Maximal Ratio Combining (MRC), Equal Gain Combining (EGC), and Selection Combining (SC), adds novelty to this system. The performance of these techniques have been proved through matlab simulations and further ahead based on different number of antenna elements present at the receiver array, we calculate the performance of our system in terms of bit-error-rate (BER). Based on the transmission power we quantify for the energy efficiency of our communication model.

Broadband dielectric response of the ionic liquid N-methyl-N-ethylpyrrolidinium dicyanamide

Dielectric relaxation measurements as a function of temperature, and of concentration in a non-coordinating solvent, the first reported for an ionic liquid, indicate a crossover in the relaxation mechanism due to varying levels of ion aggregation and the interplay of formation kinetics and relaxation dynamics of associates.

The CDM-Net project : the development, implementation and evaluation of a broadband-based network for managing chronic disease

Background. In Australia most chronic disease management is funded by Medicare Australia through General Practitioner Management Plans (GPMPs) and Team Care Arrangements (TCAs). Identified barriers may be reduced effectively using a broadband-based network known as the Chronic Disease Management Service (CDMS).

Aims. To measure the uptake and adherence to CDMS, test CDMS, and assess the adherence of health providers and patients to GPMPs and TCAs generated through CDMS.

Methods. A single cohort before and after study.

Results. GPMPs and TCAs increased. There was no change to prescribed medicines or psychological quality of life. Attendance at allied health professionals increased, but decreased at pharmacies. Overall satisfaction with CDMS was high among GPs, allied health professionals, and patients.

Conclusion. This study demonstrates proof of concept, but replication or continuation of the study is desirable to enable the impact of CDMS on diabetes outcomes to be determined.

Multi-input-multi-output antennas for radio frequency identification systems

In this chapter the authors discuss the physical insight of the role of wireless communication in RFID systems. In this respect, this chapter gives a brief introduction on the wireless communication model followed by various communication schemes. The chapter also discusses various channel impairments and the statistical modeling of fading channels based on the environment in which the RFID tag and reader may be present. The chapter deals with the fact that the signal attenuations can be dealt with up to some level by using multiple antennas at the reader transmitter and receiver to improve the performance. Thus, this chapter discusses the use of transmit diversity at the reader transmitter to transmit multiple copies of the signal. Following the above, the use of receiver combining techniques are discussed, which shows how the multiple copies of the signal arriving at the reader receiver from the tag are combined to reduce the effects of fading. The chapter then discusses various modulation techniques required to modulate the signal before transmitting over the channel. It then presents a few channel estimation algorithms, according to which, by estimating the channel state information of the channel paths through which transmission takes place, performance of the wireless system can be further increased. Finally, the Antenna selection techniques are presented, which further helps in improving the system performance.

Glutamine repeat variants in human RUNX2 associated with decreased femoral neck BMD, broadband ultrasound attenuation and target gene transactivation

RUNX2 is an essential transcription factor required for skeletal development and cartilage formation. Haploinsufficiency of RUNX2 leads to cleidocranial displaysia (CCD) a skeletal disorder characterised by gross dysgenesis of bones particularly those derived from intramembranous bone formation. A notable feature of the RUNX2 protein is the polyglutamine and polyalanine (23Q/17A) domain coded by a repeat sequence. Since none of the known mutations causing CCD characterised to date map in the glutamine repeat region, we hypothesised that Q-repeat mutations may be related to a more subtle bone phenotype. We screened subjects derived from four normal populations for Q-repeat variants. A total of 22 subjects were identified who were heterozygous for a wild type allele and a Q-repeat variant allele: (15Q, 16Q, 18Q and 30Q). Although not every subject had data for all measures, Q-repeat variants had a significant deficit in BMD with an average decrease of 0.7SD measured over 12 BMD-related parameters (p = 0.005). Femoral neck BMD was measured in all subjects (−0.6SD, p = 0.0007). The transactivation function of RUNX2 was determined for 16Q and 30Q alleles using a reporter gene assay. 16Q and 30Q alleles displayed significantly lower transactivation function compared to wild type (23Q). Our analysis has identified novel Q-repeat mutations that occur at a collective frequency of about 0.4%. These mutations significantly alter BMD and display impaired transactivation function, introducing a new class of functionally relevant RUNX2 mutants.

Broadband technologies, techno-optimism and the "hopeful" citizen

Using the internet to promote or facilitate learning has a relatively long history. As early as the mid-1980s, at a time when the internet itself was relatively experimental, a few early pioneers such as Hiltz were exploring the possibilities that networked computer communications technology could provide for education. Not only were universities the birthplace of the internet as a research network, they also had both staff with interests in using technology for learning as well as the critical infrastructure which might permit early development and adoption. But, with the widespread public uptake of the internet from 1994 onwards, online learning has become much more widespread-through traditional institutions of learning (schools, colleges, and universities), and also through the auto-didactic qualities of both the internet itself and many who use it; and finally through the opportunities which commercial “providers” of education and training imagine might be embedded in this new technology to deinstitutionalize learning.

Broadband futures : content, connectivity and control

This introduction to the Broadband Futures: Content, Connectivity and Control special issue begins with the claim that we are at the start of a new period of debate and analysis about network infrastructure and use that declares government failure and reinvigorates the drive to a free-market solution in Australia and New Zealand. But questions remain about the effectiveness and social value of network developments, regardless of the degree of government investment and regulation. As canvassed in this introduction, and the articles that make up the special issue, we can only move forward, both in research and practical implementation, if we accept the intricate weaving together of past, present and future interactions between governments, service providers and their consumers in broadband development

Rapid detection of arsenic minerals using portable broadband NQR

The remote real-time detection of specific arsenic species would significantly benefit in minerals processing to mitigate the release of arsenic into aquatic environments and aid in selective mining. At present, there are no technologies available to detect arsenic minerals in bulk volumes outside of laboratories. Here we report on the first room-temperature broadband 75As nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) detection of common and abundant arsenic ores in the Earth crust using a large sample (0.78 L) volume prototype sensor. Broadband excitation aids in detection of natural minerals with low crystallinity. We briefly discuss how the proposed NQR detector could be employed in mining operations. Key Points Transformation of chemical analysis method to geophysical detection technologyFirst NQR ore characterization of selected arsenic minerals in bulk volumesBroadband NQR sensor to detect arsenic minerals with low crystallinity

On the multicast lifetime of WANETs with multibeam antennas : Formulation, algorithms, and analysis

We explore the multicast lifetime capacity of energy-limited wireless ad hoc networks using directional multibeam antennas by formulating and solving the corresponding optimization problem. In such networks, each node is equipped with a practical smart antenna array that can be configured to support multiple beams with adjustable orientation and beamwidth. The special case of this optimization problem in networks with single beams have been extensively studied and shown to be NP-hard. In this paper, we provide a globally optimal solution to this problem by developing a general MILP formulation that can apply to various configurable antenna models, many of which are not supported by the existing formulations. In order to study the multicast lifetime capacity of large-scale networks, we also propose an efficient heuristic algorithm with guaranteed theoretical performance. In particular, we provide a sufficient condition to determine if its performance reaches optimum based on the analysis of its approximation ratio. These results are validated by experiments as well. The multicast lifetime capacity is then quantitatively studied by evaluating the proposed exact and heuristic algorithms using simulations. The experimental results also show that using two-beam antennas can exploit most lifetime capacity of the networks for multicast communications. © 2013 IEEE.

Practical asynchronous neighbor discovery in ad hoc networks with directional antennas

Neighbor discovery is a crucial step in the initialization of wireless ad hoc networks. When directional antennas are used, this process becomes more challenging since two neighboring nodes must be in transmit and receive states, respectively, pointing their antennas to each other simultaneously. Most of the proposed neighbor discovery algorithms only consider the synchronous system and cannot work efficiently in the asynchronous environment. However, asynchronous neighbor discovery algorithms are more practical and offer many potential advantages. In this paper, we first analyze a one-way handshake-based asynchronous neighbor discovery algorithm by introducing a mathematical model named 'Problem of Coloring Balls.' Then, we extend it to a hybrid asynchronous algorithm that leads to a 24.4% decrease in the expected time of neighbor discovery. Compared with the synchronous algorithms, the asynchronous algorithms require approximately twice the time to complete the neighbor discovery process. Our proposed hybrid asynchronous algorithm performs better than both the two-way synchronous algorithm and the two-way asynchronous algorithm. We validate the practicality of our proposed asynchronous algorithms by OPNET simulations.