A quay crane scheduling methodology for multimodal container terminals

This thesis develops an operational decision support tool for container terminal managements. The tool generates efficient schedules for shore cranes handling containers carried by mega container vessels.

Enriching community engaged learning through interdisciplinary collaboration

Twenty first century society presents critical challenges for higher education (Brew 2013, 2). The challenges facing modern communities require graduates to have skills that respond to issues at the boundaries of, and intersections between, disciplines. Mounting evidence suggests that interdisciplinary curriculum and pedagogies help students to develop boundary-crossing skills and a deeper awareness of the student’s domain-specific knowledge (Spelt et al. 2009; Strober 2011). Spelt et al. (2009) describe boundary-crossing skills as the ability to engage with different discourses, take account of multiple perspectives, synthesise knowledge of different disciplines, and cope with complexity. In this chapter we investigate emerging conditions, practical processes, and pedagogical strategies that are enabling the Lab stakeholders, the community, the university, and students to participate in interdisciplinary community-engaged learning. Aspects of the Lab that are considered in this chapter include building trust, sharing values, establishing learning goals that are reflected in learning experiences and assessment, and employing strategies that define and attend to relationships and roles. The case study, “The Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples in the Australian Constitution”, a QUT collaborative project with the Social Justice Research Unit Anglicare Southern Queensland, describes the collaborators, processes, outcomes, and the lessons learned through one Lab project over three semesters. The issues illustrated in the case study are then further explored in a critical discussion of the strategies supporting interdisciplinarity in community-engaged learning across university/community collaboration, within and across the university, and for student participants

A dynamic real time scheduling methodology for the emergency department

This project constructs a scheduling solution for the Emergency Department. The schedules are generated in real-time to adapt to new patient arrivals and changing conditions. An integrated scheduling formulation assigns patients to beds and treatment tasks to resources. The schedule efficiency is assessed using waiting time and total care time experienced by patients. The solution algorithm incorporates dispatch rules, meta-heuristics and a new extended disjunctive graph formulation which provide high quality solutions in a fast time-frame for real time decision support. This algorithm can be implemented in an electronic patient management system to improve patient flow in the Emergency Department.

A methodology for extracting legal norms from regulatory documents

We present a methodology to extract legal norms from regulatory documents for their formalisation and later compliance checking. The need for the methodology is motivated from the shortcomings of existing approaches where the rule type and process aspects relevant to the rules are largely overlook. The methodology incorporates the well–known IF. . . THEN structure extended with the process aspect and rule type, and guides how to properly extract the conditions and logical structure of the legal rules for reasoning and modelling of obligations for compliance checking.

Radon-222 activity flux measurement using activated charcoal canisters: Revisiting the methodology

The measurement of radon ((222)Rn) activity flux using activated charcoal canisters was examined to investigate the distribution of the adsorbed (222)Rn in the charcoal bed and the relationship between (222)Rn activity flux and exposure time. The activity flux of (222)Rn from five sources of varying strengths was measured for exposure times of one, two, three, five, seven, 10, and 14 days. The distribution of the adsorbed (222)Rn in the charcoal bed was obtained by dividing the bed into six layers and counting each layer separately after the exposure. (222)Rn activity decreased in the layers that were away from the exposed surface. Nevertheless, the results demonstrated that only a small correction might be required in the actual application of charcoal canisters for activity flux measurement, where calibration standards were often prepared by the uniform mixing of radium ((226)Ra) in the matrix. This was because the diffusion of (222)Rn in the charcoal bed and the detection efficiency as a function of the charcoal depth tended to counterbalance each other. The influence of exposure time on the measured (222)Rn activity flux was observed in two situations of the canister exposure layout: (a) canister sealed to an open bed of the material and (b) canister sealed over a jar containing the material. The measured (222)Rn activity flux decreased as the exposure time increased. The change in the former situation was significant with an exponential decrease as the exposure time increased. In the latter case, lesser reduction was noticed in the observed activity flux with respect to exposure time. This reduction might have been related to certain factors, such as absorption site saturation or the back diffusion of (222)Rn gas occurring at the canister-soil interface.

Rethinking Culture and Diversity in Early Childhood Preservice Teacher Education: Looking at Teaching and Learning Through an Interdisciplinary Lens

Early Childhood Education (ECE) has a long history of building foundations for children to achieve their full potential, enabling parents to participate in the economy while children are cared for, addressing poverty and disadvantage, and building individual, community and societal resources. In so doing, ECE has developed a set of cultural practices and ways of knowing that shape the field and the people who work within it. ECE, consequently, is frequently described as unique and special (Moss, 2006; Penn, 2011). This works to define and distinguish the field while, simultaneously, insulating it from other contexts, professions, and ideas. Recognising this dualism illuminates some of the risks and challenges of operating in an insular and isolated fashion. In the 21st century, there are new challenges for children, families and societies to which ECE must respond if it is to continue to be relevant. One major issue is how ECE contributes to transition towards more sustainable ways of living. Addressing this contemporary social problem is one from which Early Childhood teacher education has been largely absent (Davis & Elliott, 2014), despite the well recognised but often ignored role of education in contributing to sustainability. Because of its complexity, sustainability is sometimes referred to as a ‘wicked problem’ (Rittel & Webber, 1973; Australian Public Service Commission, 2007) requiring alternatives to ‘business as usual’ problem solving approaches. In this chapter, we propose that addressing such problems alongside disciplines other than Education enables the Early Childhood profession to have its eyes opened to new ways of thinking about our work, potentially liberating us from the limitations of our “unique” and idiosyncratic professional cultures. In our chapter, we focus on understandings of culture and diversity, looking to broaden these by exploring the different ‘cultures’ of the specialist fields of ECE and Design (in this project, we worked with students studying Architecture, Industrial Design, Landscape Architecture and Interior Design). We define culture not as it is typically represented, i.e. in relation to ideas and customs of particular ethnic and language groups, but to the ideas and practices of people working in different disciplines and professions. We assert that different specialisms have their own ‘cultural’ practices. Further, we propose that this kind of theoretical work helps us to reconsider ways in which ECE might be reframed and broadened to meet new challenges such as sustainability and as yet unknown future challenges and possibilities. We explore these matters by turning to preservice Early Childhood teacher education (in Australia) as a context in which traditional views of culture and diversity might be reconstructed. We are looking to push our specialist knowledge boundaries and to extend both preservice teachers and academics beyond their comfort zones by engaging in innovative interdisciplinary learning and teaching. We describe a case study of preservice Early Childhood teachers and designers working in collaborative teams, intersecting with a ‘real-world’ business partner. The joint learning task was the design of an early learning centre based on sustainable design principles and in which early Education for Sustainability (EfS) would be embedded Data were collected via focus group and individual interviews with students in ECE and Design. Our findings suggest that interdisciplinary teaching and learning holds considerable potential in dismantling taken-for-granted cultural practices, such that professional roles and identities might be reimagined and reconfigured. We conclude the chapter with provocations challenging the ways in which culture and diversity in the field of ECE might be reconsidered within teacher education.

Stakeholder analysis of a retirement village development in Australia : Insights from an interdisciplinary workshop

In Australia, the retirement village is regarded as a viable accommodation option for the fast-growing population of older people. Given that diverse stakeholders are involved in the village development process, a comprehensive stakeholder analysis, especially understanding stakeholders' concerns and expectations, is of critical importance to project success. This paper describes a stakeholder analysis based on a typical retirement village. The main methods utilized in this research were case study and an interdisciplinary workshop comprising intensive work sessions and cross-functional review. The participants of this 2014 Brisbane workshop included four village managers from an Australian retirement village developer and eight academics from diverse disciplines from a large university. Through this workshop, 24 village stakeholders and their specific concerns and expectations were identified. Results suggest that both concerns and expectations of these stakeholders are multidimensional and vary considerably, and the concerns and expectations of different stakeholders have complex relationships. Implications for a retirement village development are also proposed. The findings of the study serve as a valuable reference for developers' understanding of stakeholder concerns and expectations, and for taking corresponding actions in the final stages of the retirement village development.

Modeling of a pressure modulated desalination system using bond graph methodology

A desalination system is a complex multi energy domain system comprising power/energy flow across several domains such as electrical, thermal, and hydraulic. The dynamic modeling of a desalination system that comprehensively addresses all these multi energy domains is not adequately addressed in the literature. This paper proposes to address the issue of modeling the various energy domains for the case of a single stage flash evaporation desalination system. This paper presents a detailed bond graph modeling of a desalination unit with seamless integration of the power flow across electrical, thermal, and hydraulic domains. The paper further proposes a performance index function that leads to the tracking of the optimal chamber pressure giving the optimal flow rate for a given unit of energy expended. The model has been validated in steady state conditions by simulation and experimentation.

Questions to Artificial Nature: A Philosophical Study of Interdisciplinary Models and their Functions in Scientific Practice

This thesis presents an interdisciplinary analysis of how models and simulations function in the production of scientific knowledge. The work is informed by three scholarly traditions: studies on models and simulations in philosophy of science, so-called micro-sociological laboratory studies within science and technology studies, and cultural-historical activity theory. Methodologically, I adopt a naturalist epistemology and combine philosophical analysis with a qualitative, empirical case study of infectious-disease modelling. This study has a dual perspective throughout the analysis: it specifies the modelling practices and examines the models as objects of research. The research questions addressed in this study are: 1) How are models constructed and what functions do they have in the production of scientific knowledge? 2) What is interdisciplinarity in model construction? 3) How do models become a general research tool and why is this process problematic? The core argument is that the mediating models as investigative instruments (cf. Morgan and Morrison 1999) take questions as a starting point, and hence their construction is intentionally guided. This argument applies the interrogative model of inquiry (e.g., Sintonen 2005; Hintikka 1981), which conceives of all knowledge acquisition as process of seeking answers to questions. The first question addresses simulation models as Artificial Nature, which is manipulated in order to answer questions that initiated the model building. This account develops further the "epistemology of simulation" (cf. Winsberg 2003) by showing the interrelatedness of researchers and their objects in the process of modelling. The second question clarifies why interdisciplinary research collaboration is demanding and difficult to maintain. The nature of the impediments to disciplinary interaction are examined by introducing the idea of object-oriented interdisciplinarity, which provides an analytical framework to study the changes in the degree of interdisciplinarity, the tools and research practices developed to support the collaboration, and the mode of collaboration in relation to the historically mutable object of research. As my interest is in the models as interdisciplinary objects, the third research problem seeks to answer my question of how we might characterise these objects, what is typical for them, and what kind of changes happen in the process of modelling. Here I examine the tension between specified, question-oriented models and more general models, and suggest that the specified models form a group of their own. I call these Tailor-made models, in opposition to the process of building a simulation platform that aims at generalisability and utility for health-policy. This tension also underlines the challenge of applying research results (or methods and tools) to discuss and solve problems in decision-making processes.

Irish Folklore Commission 1935-1970 : history, ideology, methodology

Between 1935 and 1970 the state-funded Irish Folklore Commission (Coimisiún Béaloideasa Éireann) assembled one of the great folklore collections of the world under the direction of Séamus Ó Duilearga (James Hamilton Delargy). The aim of this study is to recount and assess the work and achievement of this commission. The cultural, linguistic, political and ideological factors that had a bearing on the establishment and making permanent of the Commission and that impinged on many aspects of its work are here elucidated. The genesis of the Commission is traced and the vision and mission of Séamus Ó Duilearga are outlined. The negotiations that preceded the setting up of the Commission in 1935 as well as protracted efforts from 1940 to 1970 to place it on a permanent foundation are recounted and examined at length. All the various collecting programmes and other activities of the Commission are described in detail and many aspects of its work are assessed. This study also deals with the working methods and conditions of employment of the Commission s field and Head Office staff as well as with Séamus Ó Duilearga s direction of the Commission. In executing this work extensive use has been made of primary sources in archives and libraries in Ireland, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, and North America. This is the first major study of this world-famous institute, which has been praised in passing in numerous publications, but here for the first time its work and achievement are detailed comprehensively and subjected to scholarly scrutiny. This study should be of interest not only to students of Irish oral tradition but to folklorists everywhere. The history of the Irish Folklore Commission is a part of a wider history, that of the history of folkloristics in Europe and North America in particular. Moreover, this work has relevance for many areas of the developing world today, where conditions are not dissimilar to those that pertained in Ireland in the 1930's when this great salvage operation was funded by the young, independent Irish state. It is also hoped that this work will be of practical assistance to scholars and the general public when utilising these collections, and that furthermore it will stimulate research into the assembling of other national collections of folklore as well as into the history of folkloristics in other countries, subjects which in recent years are beginning to attract more and more scholarly attention.

Kognitiva system i namngivningen av finländska handelsfartyg 1838-1938

This dissertation is an onomastic study of Finland s stock of ship names (nautonomasticon) recorded over the period 1838 1938. The primary material investigated consists of 2 066 examples of ship names from the fleets of coastal towns, distributed over five sample years. The material is supplemented with two bodies of comparative data; one that consists of 2 535 examples of boat names from the archipelago area at the corresponding time, and another that comprises 482 examples of eighteenth century Finnish ship names. This study clarifies the categories of names that appear the frequency of the names, formation, morphology, linguistic origin, functions, and semantic qualities. By comparing the material with boat names from previous centuries, and from other countries, the characteristics of Finnish vessel names are further highlighted. Additional clarification is brought to the chronological, regional, and social variations, and to the emergence of various forms of systematic naming. This dissertation builds on older research from other countries, and uses traditional onomastic methods alongside a more modern methodology. The approach is interdisciplinary, meaning that the names are explored using facts not only from nautical history, but also from a range of other historical disciplines such as economics, culture, art, and literature. In addition, the approach is socio-onomastic, i.e. that the variations in names are studied in a societal context. Using a synchronised perspective, cognitive linguistic theories have provided the tools for this exploration into the metaphorical and the prototypical meaning of the names, and the semantic domains that the names create. The quantitative analysis has revealed the overall picture of Finnish boat names. Personal names, names from mythology, and place names, emerge as significant categories, alongside nonproprial names in Swedish and Finnish. The interdisciplinary perspective has made it possible to explain certain trends in the stock of boat names, for example, the predisposition towards names from classical mythology, the breakthrough of names taken from the national epos Kalevala, names in the Finnish language from around the middle of the nineteenth century, and the continuing rise of place names during the latter part of the period 1838 1938. The socio-onomastic perspective has also identified clear differences between those ship names used in towns, and those ship names used in the archipelago, and it has clarified how naming conventions tend to spread from town centres to peripheral areas. The cognitive linguistic methods have revealed that the greater part of the vessel names can be interpreted as metaphors, in particular personifications, and that many names are related in their content and also form semantic networks and cognitive systems. The results indicate that there is a mental nautonomasticon that consists of a standard set of traditional ship names, but they also reveal the existence of conscious or unconscious cognitive systems (rules and conventions) that guide the naming of boats.

A computerized methodology for structural synthesis of kinematic chains: Part 1- Formulation

In an effort to develop a fully computerized approach for structural synthesis of kinematic chains the steps involved in the method of structural synthesis based on transformation of binary chains [38] have been recast in a format suitable for implementation on a digital computer. The methodology thus evolved has been combined with the algebraic procedures for structural analysis [44] to develop a unified computer program for structural synthesis and analysis of simple jointed kinematic chains with a degree of freedom 0. Applications of this program are presented in the succeeding parts of the paper.

A computerized methodology for structural synthesis of kinematic chains: Part 2 - Application to several fully or partially known cases

The reliability of the computer program for structural synthesis and analysis of simple-jointed kinematic chains developed in Part 1 has been established by applying it to several cases for whuch solutions are either fully or partially available in the literature, such as 7-link, zero-freedom chains; 8- and 10-link, single-freedom chains; 12-link, single-freedom binary chains; and 9-link, two-freedom chains. In the process some discrepancies in the results reported in previous literature have been brought to light.

A computerized methodology for structural synthesis of kinematic chains: Part 3 - application to the new case of 10-link, three- freedom chains

The unified computer program for structural synthesis and analysis developed in Part 1 has been employed to derive the new and complete collection of 97 10-link, three-freedom simple-jointed kinematic chains. The program shows that of these chains, 3 have total freedom, 70 have partial freedom and the remaining 24 have fractionated freedom and that the 97 chains yield a total of 676 distinct mechanisms.