Group dynamics and software engineering

This paper reports on an experiment that was conducted to determine the extent to which group dynamics impacts on the effectiveness of software development teams. The experiment was conducted on software engineering project students at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT).

Evaluation of the luminous environment in open-plan offices with skylights

High Dynamic Range (HDR) imaging was used to collect luminance information at workstations in 2 open-plan office buildings in Queensland, Australia: one lit by skylights, vertical windows and electric light, and another by skylights and electric light. This paper compares illuminance and luminance data collected in these offices with occupant feedback to evaluate these open-plan environments based on available and emerging metrics for visual comfort and glare. This study highlights issues of daylighting quality and measurement specific to open plan spaces. The results demonstrate that overhead glare is a serious threat to user acceptance of skylights, and that electric and daylight integration and controls have a major impact on the perception of daylighting quality. With regards to measurement of visual comfort it was found that the Daylight Glare Probability (DGP) gave poor agreement with occupant reports of discomfort glare in open-plan spaces with skylights, and the CIE Glare Index (CGI) gave the best agreement. Horizontal and vertical illuminances gave no indication of visual comfort in these spaces.

An assessment tool for selection of appropriate daylighting solutions for buildings in tropical and subtropical regions : Validation using radiance simulation

A new decision-making tool that will assist designers in the selection of appropriate daylighting solutions for buildings in tropical locations has been previously proposed by the authors. Through an evaluation matrix that prioritizes the parameters that best respond to the needs of tropical climates (e.g. reducing solar gain and protection from glare) the tool determines the most appropriate devices for specific climate and building inputs. The tool is effective in demonstrating the broad benefits and limitations of the different daylight strategies for buildings in the tropics. However for thorough analysis and calibration of the tool, validation is necessary. This paper presents a first step in the validation process. RADIANCE simulations were conducted to compare simulation performance with the performance predicted by the tool. To this end, an office building case study in subtropical Brisbane, Australia, and five different daylighting devices including openings, light guiding systems and light transport systems were simulated. Illuminance, light uniformity, daylight penetration and glare analysis were assessed for each device. The results indicate the tool can appropriately rank and recommend daylighting strategies based on specific building inputs for tropical and subtropical regions, making it a useful resource for designers.

Provisionality and the impossible task of painting

This thesis explores Raphael Rubinstein���s notion of provisionality as detailed in his influential article from 2009, Provisional Painting and his subsequent exhibition of the same name from 2011. Rubenstein���s writing is discussed in relation to modern art���s rhetoric around the many ���deaths��� or ���ends��� of painting as a contemporary art���making medium, particularly in reference to Yve���Alain Bois��� 1986 article, Painting: the task of mourning. While Rubenstein predominantly views the provisional via an abstract lens, it is through the work of Sigmar Polke and then Luc Tuymans, Peter Doig and Daniel Richter, that I build an argument to include the work of contemporary representational painters within his notion of provisionality. These new ideas of provisionality are then examined in the context of my recent paintings, which are viewed as contemporary examples of provisionality extended into the representational.

Reorganizing a technical services division using collaborative evidence based information practice at Auraria Library

The article focuses on the evidence-based information practice (EBIP) applied at the Auraria Library in Denver, Colorado during the reorganization of its technical services division. Collaboration processes were established for the technical services division through the reorganization and redefinition of workflows. There are several factors that form part of the redefinition of roles including personal interests, department needs, and library needs. A collaborative EBIP environment was created in the division by addressing issues of workplace hierarchies, by the distribution of problem solving, and by the encouragement of reflective dialogue.

'Information in context' : co-designing workplace structures and systems for organizational learning

With the aim of advancing professional practice through better understanding how to create workplace contexts that cultivate individual and collective learning through situated 'information in context' experiences, this paper presents insights gained from three North American collaborative design (co-design) implementations. In the current project at the Auraria Library in Denver, Colorado, USA, participants use collaborative information practices to redesign face-to-face and technology-enabled communication, decision making, and planning systems. Design processes are described and results-to-date described, within an appreciative framework which values information sharing and enables knowledge creation through shared leadership.

An investigation into painting's transformation and regeneration through post-photographic intervention in the digital archive

This PhD practice-led research inquiry sets out to examine and describe how the fluid interactions between memory and time can be rendered via the remediation of my painting and the construction of a digital image archive. My abstract digital art and handcrafted practice is informed by Deleuze and Guattari���s rhizomics of becoming. I aim to show that the technological mobility of my creative strategies produce new conditions of artistic possibility through the mobile principles of rhizomic interconnection, multiplicity and diversity. Subsequently through the ongoing modification of past painting I map how emergent forms and ideas open up new and incisive engagements with the experience of a ���continual present���. The deployment of new media and cross media processes in my art also deterritorialises the modernist notion of painting as a static and two dimensional spatial object. Instead, it shows painting in a postmodern field of dynamic and transformative intermediality through digital formats of still and moving images that re-imagines the relationship between memory, time and creative practice.

The effect of olive leaf extract on platelet function

Background Epidemiological studies have shown a reduced incidence of cardiovascular disease in the Mediterranean population attributed to the consumption of dietary olive oil rich in antioxidants. This has lead to increased interest in the antioxidant properties of other phenolic compounds of olive tree products. It has been suggested that olive leaf extract may also have health benefits due to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. Antioxidants can prevent the effects of oxidative metabolism by scavenging free radicals and decreasing the hyperactivity of platelets associated with the development of occlusive thrombosis. No studies to date have investigated the effects of olive leaf extract on platelet function to our knowledge. Improved understanding of the antioxidant properties of olive leaf extract and its effect on platelet function could lead to improved cardiovascular health. Objective The current study used an olive leaf extract prepared from the Olea europaea L. tree. The aim was to determine if polyphenols in olive leaf extract would reduce platelet activity and, to establish an optimal dose in vitro that would reduce platelet aggregation and ATP release. Design Eleven subjects with normal platelet counts (150���400 x 109/L) were recruited for the current in vitro study. Olive leaf extract was added to citrated whole blood to obtain five concentrations ranging from 5.4 ug/mL to 54.0 ug/mL for a dose response curve. Baseline samples, without olive leaf extract were used as a negative control for each subject. After 2 hours incubation with olive leaf extract samples were analyzed for platelet aggregation and ATP release from platelets stimulated by the addition of collagen. Results Whole blood analysis (n=11) showed a clear dose-dependant reduction in platelet aggregation with the increasing olive leaf extract concentrations (p<0.0001). There was also a similar decrease in ATP release from collagen stimulated platelets (p=0.02). Conclusion In the current study the olive leaf extract obtained from Olea europaea L. inhibited platelet aggregation and ATP release from collagen stimulated platelets in vitro. This study suggests olive leaf extract may prevent occlusive thrombosis by reducing platelet hyperactivity.

Cumulative and comparative social media analytics for crisis communication

This paper draws on comparative analyses of Twitter data sets ��� over time and across different kinds of natural disasters and different national contexts ��� to demonstrate the value of shared, cumulative approaches to social media analytics in the context of crisis communication.

Abstraction : on ambiguity and semiosis in abstract painting

Drawing on the fields of philosophy, phenomenology, art history and theory as well as the candidate's own painting practice, this PhD explores the nature of ambiguity and semiosis in contemporary abstract painting. The thesis demonstrates how the aesthetic qualities of pause and rupture, transition and slippage work emergently to break established clich��s, habits and intentions in the experiencing of abstract painting and artistic practice.

Oscar Pistorius and the death of Reeva Steenkamp : mapping public opinions on Twitter using frame analysis and data mining

This paper uses innovative content analysis techniques to map how the death of Oscar Pistorius' girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, was framed on Twitter conversations. Around 1.5 million posts from a two-week timeframe are analyzed with a combination of syntactic and semantic methods. This analysis is grounded in the frame analysis perspective and is different than sentiment analysis. Instead of looking for explicit evaluations, such as ���he is guilty��� or ���he is innocent���, we showcase through the results how opinions can be identified by complex articulations of more implicit symbolic devices such as examples and metaphors repeatedly mentioned. Different frames are adopted by users as more information about the case is revealed: from a more episodic one, highly used in the very beginning, to more systemic approaches, highlighting the association of the event with urban violence, gun control issues, and violence against women. A detailed timeline of the discussions is provided.

Painting anatase (TiO2) nanocrystals on long nanofibers to prepare photocatalysts with large active surface for dye degradation and organic synthesis

Anatase TiO2 nanocrystals were painted on H-titanate nanofibers by using an aqueous solution of titanyl sulfate. The anatase nanocrystals were bonded solidly onto the titanate fibers through formation of coherent interfaces at which the oxygen atoms were shared by the nanocrystals and the fiber. This approach allowed us to create large anatase surfaces on the nanofibers, which are active in photocatalytic reactions. This method was also applied successfully to coat anatase nanocrystals on surfaces of fly ash and layered clay. The painted nanofibers exhibited a much higher catalytic activity for the photocatalytic degradation of sulforhodamine B and the selective oxidation of benzylamine to the corresponding imine (with a product selectivity >99%) under UV irradiation than both the parent H-titanate nanofibers and a commercial TiO2 powder, P25. We found that gold nanoparticles supported on H-titanate nanofibers showed no catalytic activity for the reduction of nitrobenzene to azoxybenzene, whereas the gold nanoparticles supported on the painted nanofibers and P25 could efficiently reduce nitrobenzene to azoxybenzene as the sole product under visible light irradiation. These results were different from those from the reduction on the gold nanoparticles photocatalyst on ZrO2, in which the azoxybenzene was the intermediate and converted to azobenzene quickly. Evidently, the support materials significantly affect the product selectivity of the nitrobenzene reduction. Finally, the new photocatalysts could be easily dispersed into and separated from a liquid because of their fibril morphology, which is an important advantage for practical applications.

Design and evaluation of decision and control strategies for autonomous vision-based see and avoid systems

This paper details the design and performance assessment of a unique collision avoidance decision and control strategy for autonomous vision-based See and Avoid systems. The general approach revolves around re-positioning a collision object in the image using image-based visual servoing, without estimating range or time to collision. The decision strategy thus involves determining where to move the collision object, to induce a safe avoidance manuever, and when to cease the avoidance behaviour. These tasks are accomplished by exploiting human navigation models, spiral motion properties, expected image feature uncertainty and the rules of the air. The result is a simple threshold based system that can be tuned and statistically evaluated by extending performance assessment techniques derived for alerting systems. Our results demonstrate how autonomous vision-only See and Avoid systems may be designed under realistic problem constraints, and then evaluated in a manner consistent to aviation expectations.

A comparative study of two design charrettes: Implications for codesign and participatory action research

The purpose of this paper is to explore how participatory prototyping, through the use of design charrettes, can advance participatory action research (PAR) approaches and contribute to codesign practices in organisational settings. This will be achieved through the comparison of two varying design charrette experiences from a PAR initiative to redesign spaces in the Auraria Library in Denver, Colorado. Each design charrette followed a three-stage sequence of information sharing, idea generation and prototyping, and prioritisation with each stage building upon the former, both in terms of design concepts and in building up elements of ���making���. While both charrette structures were similar, leadership and execution varied considerably. Lessons learned from the two design charrette experiences are presented, including the value of participatory prototyping within PAR to support ���research through design��� activities. In addition, it highlights the value of authentic design participation of ���designing with��� rather than ���designing for��� to encourage optimal design outcomes.

Telling tales and painting pictures: A narrative inquiry into the professional learning of Northern Territory primary teachers

This thesis narrates the professional learning experiences of seven Northern Territory teachers. It outlines the evolution from traditional professional development in schools to an active, responsive professional learning agenda. With increasing demands on teachers, standardisation and the quest for improved student outcomes, key themes in the re-storied narrative emerge about the definition and role of professional learning in complex conditions, effective teaching, quality programmes, and teacher agency. This thesis contributes to knowledge about the characteristics that teachers value in their professional learning experiences. An Ongoing Professional Enhancement Model (OPE) is proposed, highlighting directions in this field for key stakeholders.