Dancing doctorates down-under? Defining and assessing ‘doctorateness’ when embodiment enters the thesis

Assessment frames the focus of this paper, which emerges from our collaborative research, Dancing Between Diversity and Consistency: Refining Assessment in Postgraduate Degrees in Dance, funded by the Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC). We examine the attributes of danced ‘doctorateness’, giving special attention to those factors in the Australian environment, which may endow resilience to concepts of excellence, independent thinking and originality when kinaesthetic knowledge becomes pivotal to research. Have the small pool of examiners and relationships between academia and the professional artistic environment shaped these doctorates in a particular way? Can these perspectives illuminate and forge parameters by which to legitimate danced insight? These and related issues are interrogated giving voice to supervisors, research deans, candidates and industry professionals across Australia who participated in this research project.

Improved detection and tracking of objects in surveillance video

Surveillance networks are typically monitored by a few people, viewing several monitors displaying the camera feeds. It is then very difficult for a human operator to effectively detect events as they happen. Recently, computer vision research has begun to address ways to automatically process some of this data, to assist human operators. Object tracking, event recognition, crowd analysis and human identification at a distance are being pursued as a means to aid human operators and improve the security of areas such as transport hubs. The task of object tracking is key to the effective use of more advanced technologies. To recognize an event people and objects must be tracked. Tracking also enhances the performance of tasks such as crowd analysis or human identification. Before an object can be tracked, it must be detected. Motion segmentation techniques, widely employed in tracking systems, produce a binary image in which objects can be located. However, these techniques are prone to errors caused by shadows and lighting changes. Detection routines often fail, either due to erroneous motion caused by noise and lighting effects, or due to the detection routines being unable to split occluded regions into their component objects. Particle filters can be used as a self contained tracking system, and make it unnecessary for the task of detection to be carried out separately except for an initial (often manual) detection to initialise the filter. Particle filters use one or more extracted features to evaluate the likelihood of an object existing at a given point each frame. Such systems however do not easily allow for multiple objects to be tracked robustly, and do not explicitly maintain the identity of tracked objects. This dissertation investigates improvements to the performance of object tracking algorithms through improved motion segmentation and the use of a particle filter. A novel hybrid motion segmentation / optical flow algorithm, capable of simultaneously extracting multiple layers of foreground and optical flow in surveillance video frames is proposed. The algorithm is shown to perform well in the presence of adverse lighting conditions, and the optical flow is capable of extracting a moving object. The proposed algorithm is integrated within a tracking system and evaluated using the ETISEO (Evaluation du Traitement et de lInterpretation de Sequences vidEO - Evaluation for video understanding) database, and significant improvement in detection and tracking performance is demonstrated when compared to a baseline system. A Scalable Condensation Filter (SCF), a particle filter designed to work within an existing tracking system, is also developed. The creation and deletion of modes and maintenance of identity is handled by the underlying tracking system; and the tracking system is able to benefit from the improved performance in uncertain conditions arising from occlusion and noise provided by a particle filter. The system is evaluated using the ETISEO database. The dissertation then investigates fusion schemes for multi-spectral tracking systems. Four fusion schemes for combining a thermal and visual colour modality are evaluated using the OTCBVS (Object Tracking and Classification in and Beyond the Visible Spectrum) database. It is shown that a middle fusion scheme yields the best results and demonstrates a significant improvement in performance when compared to a system using either mode individually. Findings from the thesis contribute to improve the performance of semi-automated video processing and therefore improve security in areas under surveillance.

Seismic performance of brick infilled RC frame structures in low and medium rise buildings in Bhutan

The construction of reinforced concrete buildings with unreinforced infill is common practice even in seismically active country such as Bhutan, which is located in high seismic region of Eastern Himalaya. All buildings constructed prior 1998 were constructed without seismic provisions while those constructed after this period adopted seismic codes of neighbouring country, India. However, the codes have limited information on the design of infilled structures besides having differences in architectural requirements which may compound the structural problems. Although the influence of infill on the reinforced concrete framed structures is known, the present seismic codes do not consider it due to the lack of sufficient information. Time history analyses were performed to study the influence of infill on the performance of concrete framed structures. Important parameters were considered and the results presented in a manner that can be used by practitioners. The results show that the influence of infill on the structural performance is significant. The structural responses such as fundamental period, roof displacement, inter-storey drift ratio, stresses in infill wall and structural member forces of beams and column generally reduce, with incorporation of infill wall. The structures designed and constructed with or without seismic provision perform in a similar manner if the infills of high strength are used.

Measuring Visual Consistency in 3D Rendering Systems

One of the major challenges facing a present day game development company is the removal of bugs from such complex virtual environments. This work presents an approach for measuring the correctness of synthetic scenes generated by a rendering system of a 3D application, such as a computer game. Our approach builds a database of labelled point clouds representing the spatiotemporal colour distribution for the objects present in a sequence of bug-free frames. This is done by converting the position that the pixels take over time into the 3D equivalent points with associated colours. Once the space of labelled points is built, each new image produced from the same game by any rendering system can be analysed by measuring its visual inconsistency in terms of distance from the database. Objects within the scene can be relocated (manually or by the application engine); yet the algorithm is able to perform the image analysis in terms of the 3D structure and colour distribution of samples on the surface of the object. We applied our framework to the publicly available game RacingGame developed for Microsoft(R) Xna(R). Preliminary results show how this approach can be used to detect a variety of visual artifacts generated by the rendering system in a professional quality game engine.

Damage assessment of 3D reinforced concrete frame under external explosion loading

Multi-storey buildings are highly vulnerable to terrorist bombing attacks in various parts of the world. Large numbers of casualties and extensive property damage result not only from blast overpressure, but also from the failing of structural components. Understanding the blast response and damage consequences of reinforced concrete (RC) building frames is therefore important when assessing multi-storey buildings designed to resist normal gravity loads. However, limited research has been conducted to identify the blast response and damage of RC frames in order to assess the vulnerability of entire buildings. This paper discusses the blast response and evaluation of damage of three-dimension (3D) RC rigid frame under potential blast loads scenarios. The explicit finite element modelling and analysis under time history blast pressure loads were carried out by LS DYNA code. Complete 3D RC frame was developed with relevant reinforcement details and material models with strain rate effect. Idealised triangular blast pressures calculated from standard manuals are applied on the front face of the model in the present investigation. The analysis results show the blast response, as displacements and material yielding of the structural elements in the RC frame. The level of damage is evaluated and classified according to the selected load case scenarios. Residual load carrying capacities are evaluated and level of damage was presented by the defined damage indices. This information is necessary to determine the vulnerability of existing multi-storey buildings with RC frames and to identify the level of damage under typical external explosion environments. It also provides basic guidance to the design of new buildings to resist blast loads.

Tear film surface quality with soft contact lenses using dynamic-area high-speed videokeratoscopy

Objectives. To evaluate the performance of the dynamic-area high-speed videokeratoscopy technique in the assessment of tear film surface quality with and without the presence of soft contact lenses on eye. Methods. Retrospective data from a tear film study using basic high-speed videokeratoscopy, captured at 25 frames per second, (Kopf et al., 2008, J Optom) were used. Eleven subjects had tear film analysis conducted in the morning, midday and evening on the first and seventh day of one week of no lens wear. Five of the eleven subjects then completed an extra week of hydrogel lens wear followed by a week of silicone hydrogel lens wear. Analysis was performed on a 6 second period of the inter-blink recording. The dynamic-area high-speed videokeratoscopy technique uses the maximum available area of Placido ring pattern reflected from the tear interface and eliminates regions of disturbance due to shadows from the eyelashes. A value of tear film surface quality was derived using image rocessing techniques, based on the quality of the reflected ring pattern orientation. Results. The group mean tear film surface quality and the standard deviations for each of the conditions (bare eye, hydrogel lens, and silicone hydrogel lens) showed a much lower coefficient of variation than previous methods (average reduction of about 92%). Bare eye measurements from the right and left eyes of eleven individuals showed high correlation values (Pearson’s correlation r = 0.73, p < 0.05). Repeated measures ANOVA across the 6 second period of measurement in the normal inter-blink period for the bare eye condition showed no statistically significant changes. However, across the 6 second inter-blink period with both contact lenses, statistically significant changes were observed (p < 0.001) for both types of contact lens material. Overall, wearing hydrogel and silicone hydrogel lenses caused the tear film surface quality to worsen compared with the bare eye condition (repeated measures ANOVA, p < 0.0001 for both hydrogel and silicone hydrogel). Conclusions. The results suggest that the dynamic-area method of high-speed videokeratoscopy was able to distinguish and quantify the subtle, but systematic worsening of tear film surface quality in the inter-blink interval in contact lens wear. It was also able to clearly show a difference between bare eye and contact lens wearing conditions.

Realism and control : problem-based learning programs as a data source for work-related research

Problem-based learning (PBL) is a pedagogical methodology that presents the learner with a problem to be solved to stimulate and situate learning. This paper presents key characteristics of a problem-based learning environment that determines its suitability as a data source for workrelated research studies. To date, little has been written about the availability and validity of PBL environments as a data source and its suitability for work-related research. We describe problembased learning and use a research project case study to illustrate the challenges associated with industry work samples. We then describe the PBL course used in our research case study and use this example to illustrate the key attributes of problem-based learning environments and show how the chosen PBL environment met the work-related research requirements of the research case study. We propose that the more realistic the PBL work context and work group composition, the better the PBL environment as a data source for a work-related research. The work context is more realistic when relevant and complex project-based problems are tackled in industry-like work conditions over longer time frames. Work group composition is more realistic when participants with industry-level education and experience enact specialized roles in different disciplines within a professional community.

Simulated cataracts and their effect on speech intelligibility

Purpose: The classic study of Sumby and Pollack (1954, JASA, 26(2), 212-215) demonstrated that visual information aided speech intelligibility under noisy auditory conditions. Their work showed that visual information is especially useful under low signal-to-noise conditions where the auditory signal leaves greater margins for improvement. We investigated whether simulated cataracts interfered with the ability of participants to use visual cues to help disambiguate the auditory signal in the presence of auditory noise. Methods: Participants in the study were screened to ensure normal visual acuity (mean of 20/20) and normal hearing (auditory threshold ≤ 20 dB HL). Speech intelligibility was tested under an auditory only condition and two visual conditions: normal vision and simulated cataracts. The light scattering effects of cataracts were imitated using cataract-simulating filters. Participants wore blacked-out glasses in the auditory only condition and lens-free frames in the normal auditory-visual condition. Individual sentences were spoken by a live speaker in the presence of prerecorded four-person background babble set to a speech-to-noise ratio (SNR) of -16 dB. The SNR was determined in a preliminary experiment to support 50% correct identification of sentence under the auditory only conditions. The speaker was trained to match the rate, intensity and inflections of a prerecorded audio track of everyday speech sentences. The speaker was blind to the visual conditions of the participant to control for bias.Participants’ speech intelligibility was measured by comparing the accuracy of their written account of what they believed the speaker to have said to the actual spoken sentence. Results: Relative to the normal vision condition, speech intelligibility was significantly poorer when participants wore simulated catarcts. Conclusions: The results suggest that cataracts may interfere with the acquisition of visual cues to speech perception.

Structural and fire behaviour of a new light gauge steel wall system

Fire design is an essential element of the overall design procedure of structural steel members and systems. Conventionally the fire rating of load-bearing stud wall systems made of light gauge steel frames (LSF) is based on approximate prescriptive methods developed on the basis of limited fire tests. This design is limited to standard wall configurations used by the industry. Increased fire rating is provided simply by adding more plasterboards to the stud walls. This is not an acceptable situation as it not only inhibits innovation and structural and cost efficiencies but also casts doubt over the fire safety of these light gauge steel stud wall systems. Hence a detailed fire research study into the performance and effectiveness of a recently developed innovative composite panel wall system was undertaken at Queensland University of Technology using both full scale fire tests and numerical studies. Experimental results of LSF walls using the new composite panels under axial compression load have shown the improvement in fire performance and fire resistance rating. Numerical analyses are currently being undertaken using the finite element program ABAQUS. Measured temperature profiles of the studs are used in the numerical models and the results are used to calibrate against full scale test results. The validated model will be used in a detailed parametric study with an aim to develop suitable design rules within the current cold-formed steel structures and fire design standards. This paper will present the results of experimental and numerical investigations into the structural and fire behaviour of light gauge steel stud walls protected by the new composite panel. It will demonstrate the improvements provided by the new composite panel system in comparison to traditional wall systems.

Automatic tracking, super-resolution and recognition of human faces from surveillance video

Identifying an individual from surveillance video is a difficult, time consuming and labour intensive process. The proposed system aims to streamline this process by filtering out unwanted scenes and enhancing an individual's face through super-resolution. An automatic face recognition system is then used to identify the subject or present the human operator with likely matches from a database. A person tracker is used to speed up the subject detection and super-resolution process by tracking moving subjects and cropping a region of interest around the subject's face to reduce the number and size of the image frames to be super-resolved respectively. In this paper, experiments have been conducted to demonstrate how the optical flow super-resolution method used improves surveillance imagery for visual inspection as well as automatic face recognition on an Eigenface and Elastic Bunch Graph Matching system. The optical flow based method has also been benchmarked against the ``hallucination'' algorithm, interpolation methods and the original low-resolution images. Results show that both super-resolution algorithms improved recognition rates significantly. Although the hallucination method resulted in slightly higher recognition rates, the optical flow method produced less artifacts and more visually correct images suitable for human consumption.

Do derivatives have a role in the risk-shifting behaviour of fund managers?

In this paper we examine the extent to which derivatives are used to affect the risk-shifting behaviour of Australian equity fund managers. We find, after periods of good and poor performance, the risk-shifting behaviour of fund managers is different between derivative users and non-users. Our results support the gaming and active competition hypotheses but there is little support for the cash flow hypothesis. The study also allows for a complex reporting environment by analysing data across three alternate time periods: the calendar year, financial year and quarterly frames. Given that our results are not consistent across time periods for users and non-users of derivatives, some caution in interpretation is required.

The strategic mindset of Australian manufacturing managers : some missing links

Manufacturing managers have a measurable mindset (or frame) that structures their response to the manufacturing environment. Most importantly, this frame represents a set of assumptions about the relative prominence of concepts in the manufacturing domains, about the nature of people, and about the sensemaking processes required to understand the nature of the manufacturing environment as seen through the eyes of manufacturing managers. This paper uses work in the area of text analysis and extends the scope of a methodology that has been approached from two different directions by Carley ( Journal of Organizational Behavior , 18 (51), 533-558, 1997) and Gephart ( Journal of Organizational Behavior , 18 (51), 583-622, 1997). This methodology is termed collocate analysis. Based on the analysis of transcripts of interviews of Australian manufacturing managers mind maps of the concepts used by these managers have been constructed. From an analysis of these mind maps it is argued that strategy plays a minor role in their thinking second only to the improvement domain, whereas design and related concepts play a dominant role in their day-to-day thinking.

The key lessons learnt from producing the ABC programme Talking Heads a talk show/documentary hybrid in a fast turnaround environment

The following exegesis will detail the key advantages and disadvantages of combining a traditional talk show genre with a linear documentary format using a small production team and a limited budget in a fast turnaround weekly environment. It will deal with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation series Talking Heads, broadcast weekly in the early evening schedule for the network at 18.30 with the presenter Peter Thompson. As Executive Producer for the programme at its inception I was responsible for setting it up for the ABC in Brisbane, a role that included selecting most of the team to work on the series and commissioning the music, titles and all other aspects required to bring the show to the screen. What emerged when producing this generic hybrid will be examined at length, including: „h The talk show/documentary hybrid format needs longer than 26¡¦30¡¨ to be entirely successful. „h The type of presenter ideally suited to the talk show/documentary format requires someone who is genuinely interested in their guests and flexible enough to maintain the format against tangential odds. „h The use of illustrative footage shot in a documentary style narrative improves the talk show format. iv „h The fast turnaround of the talk show/documentary hybrid puts tremendous pressure on the time frames for archive research and copyright clearance and therefore needs to be well-resourced. „h In a fast turnaround talk show/documentary format the field components are advantageous but require very low shooting ratios to be sustainable. „h An intimate set works best for a talk show hybrid like this. Also submitted are two DVDs of recordings of programmes I produced and directed from the first and third series. These are for consideration in the practical component of this project and reflect the changes that I made to the series.

Faith's knowledge : papers exploring the theory and application of theological epistemology

This thesis locates the origins of modern secular knowledge in late medieval theology. Problems with modern and postmodern knowledge which arise from these theological origins are then tackled theologically, and the manner in which secular ways of understanding knowledge are embedded in specific university, political and hospital contexts are then described and evaluated from a post-secular theological standpoint. The theoretical component of this thesis looks at knowledge itself and finds that without faith there can be no knowledge. The applied component of this thesis does two things. Firstly it explores how our conception of knowledge shapes the assumptions, operational norms, belief frames and tacit values of some characteristically modern and secular institutions. Secondly the applied component evaluates those contexts from the theologically premised conception of knowledge which was argued for in the theoretical component of this thesis.

Leadership for creating cultures of sustainability

This chapter discusses the vital role of leadership in creating change for sustainability in an early childhood education and care setting. The author's experiences and perspectives as the past Director of Campus Kindergarten, a long day care centre that has had a Sustainable Planet Project for over a decade, are drawn upon as she explores the theoretical underpinnings that helped to shape her work as an innovative leader and a leader of innovation. Four frames of leadership, organisational culture, professional development and organisational change, and their contributions to creating and shaping the Sustainable Planet Project, are outlined. The style of educational and organisational leadership is highlighted as essential in creating a culture of sustainability. There is an emphasis on 'whole settings' approaches to change and the creating of 'learning communities' for sustainable living. Importantly, the recognition of children as leaders and change agents for sustainability is explored.