A novel operation and control strategy for a standalone hybrid renewable power system

This paper proposes a novel operation and control strategy for a renewable hybrid power system for a standalone operation. The proposed hybrid system consists of a wind turbine, a fuel cell, an electrolyzer, a battery storage unit, and a set of loads. The overall control strategy is based on a two-level structure. The top level is the energy management and power regulation system. Depending on wind and load conditions, this system generates reference dynamic operating points to low level individual subsystems. The energy management and power regulation system also controls the load scheduling operation during unfavorable wind conditions under inadequate energy storage in order to avoid a system blackout. Based on the reference dynamic operating points of the individual subsystems, the local controllers control the wind turbine, fuel cell, electrolyzer, and battery storage units. The proposed control system is implemented in MATLAB Simpower software and tested for various wind and load conditions. Results are presented and discussed.

Air pressure and wind velocity - modelling ember attack within the urban-rural interface

As population change places pressure on expanding regional and metropolitan urban boundaries, so the threat of bushfire at the rural/urban interface increases. This paper presents a range of 2D and 3D 1:40 and full scale modelling investigations. Various relationships are explored between the urban and rural interface with respect to: air pressure; changes in wind pattern; vectorial velocity; and the deposition of hot ash and firebrand deposits around single story building forms, both as standalone and within an orthogonal array and cul-de-sac relationships.

Function-based single and dual point haptic interaction in Cyberworlds

Polygon and point based models dominate virtual reality. These models also affect haptic rendering algorithms, which are often based on collision with polygons. With application to dual point haptic devices for operations like grasping, complex polygon and point based models will make the collision detection procedure slow. This results in the system not able to achieve interactivity for force rendering. To solve this issue, we use mathematical functions to define and implement geometry (curves, surfaces and solid objects), visual appearance (3D colours and geometric textures) and various tangible physical properties (elasticity, friction, viscosity, and force fields). The function definitions are given as analytical formulas (explicit, implicit and parametric), function scripts and procedures. We proposed an algorithm for haptic rendering of virtual scenes including mutually penetrating objects with different sizes and arbitrary location of the observer without a prior knowledge of the scene to be rendered. The algorithm is based on casting multiple haptic rendering rays from the Haptic Interaction Point (HIP), and it builds a stack to keep track on all colliding objects with the HIP. The algorithm uses collision detection based on implicit function representation of the object surfaces. The proposed approach allows us to be flexible when choosing the actual rendering platform, while it can also be easily adopted for dual point haptic collision detection as well as force and torque rendering. The function-defined objects and parts constituting them can be used together with other common definitions of virtual objects such as polygon meshes, point sets, voxel volumes, etc. We implemented an extension of X3D and VRML as well as several standalone application examples to validate the proposed methodology. Experiments show that our concern about fast, accurate rendering as well as compact representation could be fulfilled in various application scenarios and on both single and dual point haptic devices.

A framework for evaluating the impact of obesity prevention strategies on socioeconomic inequalities in weight.

We developed a theoretical framework to organize obesity prevention interventions by their likely impact on the socioeconomic gradient of weight. The degree to which an intervention involves individual agency versus structural change influences socioeconomic inequalities in weight. Agentic interventions, such as standalone social marketing, increase socioeconomic inequalities. Structural interventions, such as food procurement policies and restrictions on unhealthy foods in schools, show equal or greater benefit for lower socioeconomic groups. Many obesity prevention interventions belong to the agento-structural types of interventions, and account for the environment in which health behaviors occur, but they require a level of individual agency for behavioral change, including workplace design to encourage exercise and fiscal regulation of unhealthy foods or beverages. Obesity prevention interventions differ in their effectiveness across socioeconomic groups. Limiting further increases in socioeconomic inequalities in obesity requires implementation of structural interventions. Further empirical evaluation, especially of agento-structural type interventions, remains crucial.

What is good practice in the development, assessment and evaluation of digital literacy for graduate employability?

This report seeks to identify the features of good practice in the development, assessment and evaluation of digital literacy for graduate employability.

The report forms Stage 2 of a two-stage literature review. The results of the first stage of the review are reported in: Towards an understanding of ‘Digital Literacy(ies)’. The current report draws on some of the same literature to that of the Stage 1 report and covers the same time period – up to the end of 2012. In addition, the current report covers literature that provides discussion and accounts of good practice in digital literacy – particularly practice that is embedded in course curricula.

The literature provides numerous examples of standalone digital literacy practices. While such practices may be effective for some purposes, they may be less effective than course-integrated practices in contributing to graduate employability. However, there are few accounts of course-integrated practices in the literature and fewer still that provide a compelling case for their positive contribution to graduate outcomes. Accordingly, the report identifies eight criteria of good practice in digital literacy for the assurance of graduate learning outcomes. It then identifies types of broad teaching and learning practices that appear to best encompass these criteria and which provide meaningful contexts in which to develop the digital literacy competencies of students.

Cyber security and protection of ICS systems: An australian example

Many aspects of our modern society now have either a direct or implicit dependence upon information technology. As such, a compromise of the availability or integrity in relation to these systems (which may encompass such diverse domains as banking, government, health care, and law enforcement) could have dramatic consequences from a societal perspective. These key systems are often referred to as critical infrastructure. Critical infrastructure can consist of corporate information systems or systems that control key industrial processes; these specific systems are referred to as ICS (Industry Control Systems) systems. ICS systems have devolved since the 1960s from standalone systems to networked architectures that communicate across large distances, utilise wireless network and can be controlled via the Internet. ICS systems form part of many countries’ key critical infrastructure, including Australia. They are used to remotely monitor and control the delivery of essential services and products, such as electricity, gas, water, waste treatment and transport systems. The need for security measures within these systems was not anticipated in the early development stages as they were designed to be closed systems and not open systems to be accessible via the Internet. We are also seeing these ICS and their supporting systems being integrated into organisational corporate systems.

Key stakeholder perspectives of drink restrictions in Newcastle, Australia

Background: The problems associated with alcohol consumption in or around licensed premises in the nighttime economy are extensive. One intervention designed to address these problems is drink restrictions. The aim of the current study is to gain different key stakeholder perspectives on drink restriction interventions, including their ability to reduce alcohol-related harms. Method: This study involves an analysis of key stakeholder perspectives on the introduction of drink restrictions. Interviews were conducted with 23 key stakeholders, including venue licencees, security, and police from Newcastle, Australia. Drink restrictions, including limits on shots and umber of drinks, were part of a mandatory set of interventions, which were implemented as a result of legislative change in New South Wales. As such, key stakeholders were able to provide insight into the implementation and practicality of the restrictions. All interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis.Results: Overall, key stakeholders were mixed in their support for drink restrictions, particularly because of the issues associated with customer preloading and practicality of enforcement. Stakeholders remained unconvinced of the impact of the restrictions on reducing harm. Conclusions: Key stakeholders believe that drink restrictions would almost certainly be more likely to reduce alcohol-related harm in the nighttime economy as part of a larger intervention. However, it is unclear how much impact they have as a standalone harm reduction measure.