Woolgrowers, brokers and the debate over the sale of the Australian wool clip, 1920-1925

Prior to the First World War, the selling of the Australian wool clip rested firmly in the hands of the large woolbroking firms. An agreement between the British and Australian governments during the war saw many of the wool-selling functions of broking firms taken over by the Central Wool Committee. At the conclusion of hostilities, brokers moved to regain their role in the market. However, market conditions had changed. On an international level, traditional trading relationships had broken down, leaving commodity markets unstable and prices unpredictable. On a local level, woolgrowers had benefited from the wartime orderly marketing scheme and the high price guaranteed by the British government for their wool clip. As a result, they had begun to demand a greater role in the selling arrangements of their clip. This paper investigates the debates over the sale of the wool clip in the 1920s and how woolbrokers and growers eventually arrived at an understanding as to the manner in which the market should operate.

A risk analysis approach to critical information infrastructure protection

Critical Information Infrastructure (CII) has become a priority for all levels of management, It is one of the key components of efficient business and business continuity plans. There is a need for a new security methodology to deal with the new and unique attack threats and vulnerabilities associated with the new information technology security paradigm. Critical Information Infrastructure Protection - Risk Analysis Methodology
(ClIP-RAM), is a new security risk analysis method which copes with the shift from computer/information security to critical information infrastructure protection. This type of methodology is the next step toward handling information technology security risk at all levels from upper management information security down to firewall configurations. The paper will present the methodology of the new techniques and their application to critical information infrastructure protection. The associated advantages of this methodology will also be discussed.

Convergence analysis of multi-stage PIC detectors

This paper analyses the convergence behaviour of the parallel interference cancellation (PIC) detector in code division multiple access (CDMA) systems. Using the results from previous stability analysis of an iterated-map neural network, the paper derives a general condition from which the sufficient condition for convergence of the PIC detector with tentative decision functions that are monotonically increasing at a sublinear rate can be calculated. As examples, the paper derives the sufficient conditions for convergence of the PIC detector with the clip decision and the hyperbolic tangent decision functions. The paper also examines the convergence behaviour of the PIC detector with hyperbolic tangent decision function via computer simulation and compares it with the analytical results.

Modelling of laser beam spot-weld using 2-D hybrid crack finite elements

Laser beam spot-welding is widely applied to join sheet metals for automotive components especially for thinsheet components in automotive industries. The spot welds in such metallic structures contribute a lot to the integrated strength and fatigue life for the whole structures and they are responsible for their damage or collapse in some loading cases. In this paper, the 2-D hybrid special finite elements each containing an edge crack are employed to study the fracture behaviors of laser beam spot-welds. Hence the calculation accuracy in the vicinity of crack tips is ensured, and a better description of stress singularity with only one hybrid element surrounding one crack is provided. The numerical modeling for laser beam spot-welds subjected to three typical modes ofloadings including tension-lap, shear-lap and angle-clip can be greatly simplified with the applications of such elements. Three specimens under lap-shear, lap-tension and angle clip are devised and analyzed respectively, and main fracture parameters such as stress intensity factors and the initial direction of crack growth are obtained through tinite element analyses. The computed results ti'om numerical examples demonstrate the validity and versatility of the proposed modeling.

Solospun : the long staple weavable singles yarn

Solospun^TM is a spinning technology which provides the means to produce a singles yarn that can be successfully woven as either warp or weft. The technology is a versatile and cost effective alternative to two-folding, Sirospun or sizing. It offers significant benefits in terms of efficiency and productivity. Solospun^TM is a simple, inexpensive, clip-on attachment for the spinning of long staple, weavable singles yarns. The technology is the result of a joint development between CSIRO Textile and Fibre Technology, The Woolmark Company and WRONZ and was commercially released in 1998. It is now successfully operating in worsted mills worldwide. The Solospun^TM hardware consists of a pair of rollers held in a bracket, which is clipped onto the front of the pendulum-drafting arm. Each roller is positioned immediately below, and parallel to, each top front draft roller where it interacts with the emerging drafted fibre strand before twist insertion. The roller-fibre interaction subtly changes the structure of the yarn, which dramatically increases its abrasion resistance. This allows Solospun yarns to be woven without twofolding or sizing, providing significant cost savings. Depending on fabric structure, weaving performance is equivalent to that of conventional two-fold yarns. Fabrics woven from Solospun^TM yarns are of good quality and appearance. Some aspects, including preferred hand and FAST results, are equal or superior to two-fold yarn fabrics. As with compact and condensed spinning, Solospun^TM offers significant reductions in yarn
hairiness. However, Solospun can be simply implemented on existing spinning frames and goes much further by making the singles yarns weavable.

Fracture analysis of spot-welds with edge cracks using 2-D hybrid special finite element

This paper employed a systematic analysis using a 2-D hybrid special finite element containing an edge crack in order to describe the fracture behavior of spot-welds in automotive structures. The 2-D hybrid special finite element is derived form a mixed formulation with a complex potential function with the description of the singularity of a stress field. The hybrid special finite element containing an edge crack can give a better description of its singularity with only one hybrid element surrounding one crack. The advantage of this special element is that it can greatly simplify the numerical modeling of the spot welds. Some numerical examples demonstrate the validity and versatility of the present analysis method. The lap-shear, lap-tension and angle-clip specimens are analyzed and some useful fracture parameters such as the stress intensity factor and the initial direction of crack growth are obtained simultaneously.

Game situation information in video-based perceptual decision making : the influence of criticality of decisions

This study examined the effects of game situation information, manipulated in terms of time and score, on decisions made in a video-based perceptual test in basketball. The participants were undergraduate university students (n=159) who viewed 21 offensive basketball plays, under two test conditions (low decision criticality; high decision criticality). To manipulate the conditions, prior to each clip, the
participants were presented with a description of the remaining time and score differential. High decision criticality situations were characterised by a remaining time of 60 seconds or less and score differentials of 2 points or less. Low decision criticality situations were characterised by remaining time of 5 minutes or more and score differentials of 5 points or more. The participants indicated their decision (pass, shoot, dribble) after the visual display had been occluded for each clip. The results indicated that decision profiles differed under the low and high decision criticality conditions. More pass decisions were made under high decision criticality situations and more shoot decisions under low decision criticality situations. These variations differed according to the type of main sport played but not for the basketball competition level. It was concluded that game situation information does influence decision making and should be considered in video-based testing and training.

PAPR reduction technique for LTE OFDMA systems

Long term evolution (LTE) is the final step toward the 4th generation (4G) of radio technologies designed to increase the capacity and speed of mobile networks. LTE uses orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) for the downlink transmission and single carrier-frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) for uplink. OFDMA meets the 4G requirement for spectrum flexibility and enables cost-efficient solutions for very wide carriers with high peak rates. However, the potentially large peak-to-average power ratio (PAPR) of the transmitting signals has limited its application. This high PAPR causes interference when the OFDM signals are passed through an amplifier which does not have enough linear range. In this article, we investigate a clipping based PAPR reduction method for LTE OFDMA systems. Simulation results show that the clipping method is reduced PAPR significantly which decreases as the number of clip and filtering level is increased. As a results, increase the mean transmit power, and improve the power amplifier efficiency. This comes at the outlay of complexity, efficiency as well as cost.

Automatic genre identification for content-based video categorization

This paper presents a set of computational features originating from our study of editing effects, motion, and color used in videos, for the task of automatic video categorization. These features besides representing human understanding of typical attributes of different video genres, are also inspired by the techniques and rules used by many directors to endow specific characteristics to a genre-program which lead to certain emotional impact on viewers. We propose new features whilst also employing traditionally used ones for classification. This research, goes beyond the existing work with a systematic analysis of trends exhibited by each of our features in genres such as cartoons, commercials, music, news, and sports, and it enables an understanding of the similarities, dissimilarities, and also likely confusion between genres. Classification results from our experiments on several hours of video establish the usefulness of this feature set. We also explore the issue of video clip duration required to achieve reliable genre identification and demonstrate its impact on classification accuracy.

Video genre categorization using audio wavelet coefficients

In this paper, we investigate the use of a wavelet transform-based analysis of audio tracks accompanying videos for the problem of automatic program genre detection. We compare the classification performance based on wavelet-based audio features to that using conventional features derived from Fourier and time analysis for the task of discriminating TV programs such as news, commercials, music shows, concerts, motor racing games, and animated cartoons. Three different classifiers namely the Decision Trees, SVMs, and k-Nearest Neighbours are studied to analyse the reliability of the performance of our wavelet features based approach. Further, we investigate the issue of an appropriate duration of an audio clip to be analyzed for this automatic genre determination. Our experimental results show that features derived from the wavelet transform of the audio signal can very well separate the six video genres studied. It is also found that there is no significant difference in performance with varying audio clip durations across the classifiers.

Improving gambling survey research using dual-frame sampling of landline and mobile phone numbers

Gambling prevalence studies are typically conducted within a single (landline) telephone sampling frame. This practice continues, despite emerging evidence that significant differences exist between landline and mobile (cell) phone only households. This study utilised a dual-frame (landline and mobile) telephone sampling methodology to cast light on the extent of differences across groups of respondents in respect to demographic, health, and gambling characteristics.

A total of 2,014 participants from across Australian states and territories ranging in age from 18 to 96 years participated. Interviews were conducted using computer assisted telephone interviewing technology where 1,012 respondents from the landline sampling frame and 1,002 from the mobile phone sampling frame completed a questionnaire about gambling and other health behaviours. Responses across the landline sampling frame, the mobile phone sampling frame, and the subset of the mobile phone sampling frame that possessed a mobile phone only (MPO) were contrasted.

The findings revealed that although respondents in the landline sample (62.7 %) did not significantly differ from respondents in the mobile phone sample (59.2 %) in gambling participation in the previous 12 months, they were significantly more likely to have gambled in the previous 12 months than the MPO sample (56.4 %). There were no significant differences in internet gambling participation over the previous 12 months in the landline sample (4.7 %), mobile phone sample (4.7 %) and the MPO sample (5.0 %). However, endorsement of lifetime problem gambling on the NODS-CLiP was significantly higher within the mobile sample (10.7 %) and the MPO sample (14.8 %) than the landline sample (6.6 %).

Our research supports previous findings that reliance on a traditional landline telephone sampling approach effectively excludes distinct subgroups of the population from being represented inresearch findings. Consequently, we suggest that research best practice necessitates the use of a dual- rame sampling methodology. Despite inherent logistical and cost issues, this approach  needs to become the norm in gambling survey research.

Reconfigurable multipurpose haptic interface

This paper presents a low-cost haptic interface providing four different kinematic configurations. The different configurations are achieved using two Phantom Omni haptic devices combined with a series of clip-on attachments. Aside from the flexibility to easily reconfigure the interface, three of the four configurations provide functionality which is either not readily available or is cost prohibitive for many applications.