(FAB05_058) The cathedral precinct: ideal and contingency

Henry-Russell Hitchcock, in his review of High Victorian Gothic architecture in Australia, writes that the Anglican Cathedral in Brisbane is perhaps the finest. John Loughborough and Frank Loughborough Pearson's designs for Brisbane embody the full ideal of the nineteenth-century English cathedral. While the ideal represented in the cathedral church itself might be readily appreciated, the more encompassing ideal for housing an entire Anglican cathedral establishment may be less well known and less apparent on the site. Although it is only partly built, St John's is probably the only Anglican cathedral in Australia with a comprehensive nineteenth-century precinct plan.

Review of 'Interpreting the Renaissance' by Manfredo Tafuri, translated by Daniel Sherer

Review of the English edition of Manfredo Tafuri's Ricerca del rinascimento (1992), translated by Daniel Sherer and published in 2006 as Interpreting the Renaissance.

The Conditional Autonomy of Tafuri's Historian / De Provisorische Autonomie van de Historicus bij Tafuri

This article considers the conditions placed on the autonomous architectural history discipline often understood at stake in Manfredo Tafuri's 1968 book Teorie e storia dell'architettura.

Evaluating Flexible Transport Solutions

Flexible transport services (FTS) have been of increasing interest in developed countries as a bridge between the use of personal car travel and fixed route transit services. This paper reports on findings from a recent study in Queensland Australia, which identified lessons from an international review and implications for Australia. Potential strategic directions, including a vision, mission, key result areas, strategies, and identified means of measuring performance are described. Evaluation criteria for assessing flexible transport proposals were developed, and approaches to identifying and assessing needs and demands outlined. The use of emerging technologies is also a key element of successful flexible transport services.

(FAB11_2_003) Authentic Japanese architecture after Bruno Taut: the problem of eclecticism

This paper will examine attitudes to eclectic stylistic borrowing in Japan in the twentieth century in light of the concept of authenticity. I am particularly interested in how an earlier claim correlating European modernist and traditional Japanese architecture continues to colour conceptions about what is an 'authentic' response for Japanese architects to make to contemporary conditions. Non-Western and vernacular architectures generally have been the repository for touristic desires for regional authenticity and difference. Yet Japan's unique role in the development of modernist architecture has given a peculiar intensity to the demand for its architecture to resist a perceived postmodern decadence.

(FAB12_1_002) 'Would you know the new, you must search the old': William Lethaby's 'Architecture, Mysticism and Myth' (1891) and the 'Hypnerotomachia Poliphili' (1499)

Published in the final months of 1891, Architecture, Mysticism and Myth was the first architectural treatise written by the late nineteenth-century English architect and theorist William Richard Lethaby (1857-1931).' Documenting the characteristic attributes of the architectural myth of the "temple idea", and its presence amongst architectures of multiple ancient cultures, the text was endowed with a distinctly historical tone. In examining the motives behind myth, which Lethaby defined as the interaction and reaction between the natural universe and the built environment, Lethaby also injected a series of theoretical considerations into the text. It is clear that Lethaby's interest in the temple idea was not limited to its curious, prolific presence in past architectures, hut also embraced a consideration of what lessons the temple idea may contribute to the struggle of the late nineteenth-century English architect to define an "art of the future".

The myth of the nation: Historiography of New Zealand architecture since 1907

This paper considers the relationship between the recent historiography (of the last quarter century) of “New Zealand architecture” and the historical notion of “New Zealand-ness” invoked in contemporary architecture. It argues that a more recent programmatic uptake of post-War discussions on national identity and regional specificity has fed the tendencies of practicing architects to defer to history in rhetorical defences of their work: the beach-side mansion as a contemporary expression of the 1950s bach; a formal modernism divorced from the social discourse adherent to the historical moment that it “restates”; and so on. The paper will consider instances in the historiography of New Zealand architecture where historians have compounded, consciously or accidentally, a problem that is systemic to the uses made by architects of historical knowledge (in the most general examples), identifying the difficulties of relying upon the tentative conclusions of an under-studied field in developing principles of contemporary architectural practice under the banners of New Zealand-ness, regionalism, or localism, or with reference to icons of New Zealand architectural history. At the heart of this paper is a reflection on historiographical responsibility in presenting knowledge of a national past to an audience that is eager to transform that knowledge into principles of contemporary production. What, the paper asks, is the historical basis for speaking of a New Zealand architecture? Can we speak of a national history of architecture distinct from a regional history, or from an international history of architecture?

Freeform fabrication of functional aluminium prototypes using powder metallurgy

Freeform fabrication methods allow the direct formation of parts built layer by layer, under the control of a CAD drawing. Most of these methods form parts in thermoplastic or thermoset polymers, but there would be many applications for freeform fabrication of fully functional metal or ceramic parts. We describe here the freeforming of sinterable aluminium alloys. In addition, the building approach allows different materials to be positioned within a monolithic part for an optimal combination of properties. This is illustrated here with the formation of an aluminium gear with a metal-matrix composite wear surface. (C) 1999 Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Soil carbon determination by high temperature combustion - A comparison with dichromate oxidation procedures and the influence of charcoal and carbonate carbon on the measured value

The measurement of organic carbon in soils has traditionally used dichromate oxidation procedures including the Wakley and Black and the Heanes methods. The measurement of carbon in soils by high temperature combustion is now widely used providing a rapid automated procedure without the use of toxic chemicals. This procedure however measures total carbon thus requiring some means of correction for soil samples containing carbonate and charcoal forms of carbon. This paper examines the effects of known additions of charcoal to a range of soil types on the results obtained by the Walkley and Black, Heanes and combustion methods. The results show, that while the charcoal carbon does not react under Walkley and Black conditions, some proportion does so with the Heanes method. A comparison of six Australian Soil and Plant Analysis Council reference soil samples by the three methods showed good agreement between the Heanes method, the combustion method and only slightly lower recoveries by the Walkley and Black procedure. Carbonate carbon will cause an overestimation of soil organic carbon by the combustion method thus requiring a separate determination of carbonate carbon to be applied as a correction. This work shows that a suitable acid pre-treatment of alkaline soils in the sample boats followed by a drying step eliminates the carbonate carbon prior to combustion and the need for an additional measurement. The measurement of carbon in soils by high temperature combustion in an oxygen atmosphere has been shown to be a rapid and reliable method capable of producing results in good agreement with one of the established dichromate oxidation procedures.

Developing a framework for assessment of the environmental determinants of walking and cycling

The focus for interventions and research on physical activity has moved away from vigorous activity to moderate-intensity activities, such as walking. In addition, a social ecological approach to physical activity research and practice is recommended. This approach considers the influence of the environment and policies on physical activity. Although there is limited empirical published evidence related to the features of the physical environment that influence physical activity, urban planning and transport agencies have developed policies and strategies that have the potential to influence whether people walk or cycle in their neighbourhood. This paper presents the development of a framework of the potential environmental influences on walking and cycling based on published evidence and policy literature, interviews with experts and a Delphi study. The framework includes four features: functional, safety, aesthetic and destination; as well as the hypothesised factors that contribute to each of these features of the environment. In addition, the Delphi experts determined the perceived relative importance of these factors. Based on these factors, a data collection tool will be developed and the frameworks will be tested through the collection of environmental information on neighbourhoods, where data on the walking and cycling patterns have been collected previously. Identifying the environmental factors that influence walking and cycling will allow the inclusion of a public health perspective as well as those of urban planning and transport in the design of built environments. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd., All rights reserved.

Assessing the ex ante economic impacts of transportation infrastructure policies in Brazil

This paper uses a fully operational inter-regional computable general equilibrium (CGE) model implemented for the Brazilian economy, based on previous work by Haddad and Hewings, in order to assess the likely economic effects of road transportation policy changes in Brazil. Among the features embedded in this framework, modelling of external scale economies and transportation costs provides an innovative way of dealing explicitly with theoretical issues related to integrated regional systems. The model is calibrated for 109 regions. The explicit modelling of transportation costs built into the inter-regional CGE model, based on origin-destination flows, which takes into account the spatial structure of the Brazilian economy, creates the capability of integrating the inter-regional CGE model with a geo-coded transportation network model enhancing the potential of the framework in understanding the role of infrastructure on regional development. The transportation model used is the so-called Highway Development and Management, developed by the World Bank, implemented using the software TransCAD. Further extensions of the current model specification for integrating other features of transport planning in a continental industrialising country like Brazil are discussed, with the goal of building a bridge between conventional transport planning practices and the innovative use of CGE models. In order to illustrate the analytical power of the integrated system, the authors present a set of simulations, which evaluate the ex ante economic impacts of physical/qualitative changes in the Brazilian road network (for example, a highway improvement), in accordance with recent policy developments in Brazil. Rather than providing a critical evaluation of this debate, they intend to emphasise the likely structural impacts of such policies. They expect that the results will reinforce the need to better specifying spatial interactions in inter-regional CGE models.

How does a colony of Apoica flavissima (Hymenoptera: Vespidae, Epiponini) maintain a constant temperature?

The thermal characteristics of a colony of Apoica flavissima, an epiponine wasp, were examined. The nest, with a diameter of slightly less than 30 cm, was built on a twig of an orange tree. The temperature of the roof surface fluctuated greatly, ranging between 19.1 and 41.5 degrees C. However, the temperature in the central cell was kept constant at around 27 degrees C throughout a day. Although heavy rain pelted the nest roof in the morning, the central cell maintained temperatures higher than 25 degrees C. On the contrary, after all immature and adult wasps were removed the temperature in the nest fluctuated considerably. The presence of immature individuals and adult wasps densely covering the under surface of the comb seemed to function as an effective insulator. The smaller temperature fluctuation in the central cell than on the roof surface, when the nest was in the empty state, suggests that the thick spongy tissue of the roof made from curled plant leaf hairs serves as an insulator to prevent the conduction of solar heat into the cells and the outward flow of heat generated in cells, especially at night.

Determination of mechanical properties of PECVD silicon nitride thin films for tunable MEMS Fabry-Pérot optical filters

This paper reports an investigation on techniques for determining elastic modulus and intrinsic stress gradient in plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) silicon nitride thin films. The elastic property of the silicon nitride thin films was determined using the nanoindentation method on silicon nitride/silicon bilayer systems. A simple empirical formula was developed to deconvolute the film elastic modulus. The intrinsic stress gradient in the films was determined by using micrometric cantilever beams, cross-membrane structures and mechanical simulation. The deflections of the silicon nitride thin film cantilever beams and cross-membranes caused by in-thickness stress gradients were measured using optical interference microscopy. Finite-element beam models were built to compute the deflection induced by the stress gradient. Matching the deflection computed under a given gradient with that measured experimentally on fabricated samples allows the stress gradient of the PECVD silicon nitride thin films introduced from the fabrication process to be evaluated.

Brood production increases when artificial heating is provided to colonies of stingless bees

Although stingless bees are capable of maintaining their nest temperature within certain limits, brood production of several species declines or even completely stops during periods of low ambient temperature. In the present study, we investigated whether the brood production of the meliponine species Nannotrigona testaceicornis can be artificially increased through heating the colonies during the cold season. For this, we monitored the rate of brood cell production of seven hives in intervals of 24 hours under two different experimental conditions: 1. without; and 2. with heating. Each treatment (first with and subsequently without heating) lasted for nine consecutive days. The ambient temperature (TA) during both experimental periods was very similar (TA(WITH) = 16.1 degrees C; TA(WITHOUT) = 16.3 degrees C). On average, the colonies built 3.6 brood cells per day without and 15.8 brood cells per day with artificial heating (Wilcoxon Rank Sum test: T = 10, Z = 4, P < 0.001). In both treatments, the rate of brood cell production increased with increasing environmental temperature (Spearman Rank Correlation: R(WITH) = 0.71, P = 0.02; R(WITHOUT) = 0.66, P = 0.05). We concluded that artificial heating during cold periods increased the brood cell production in N. testaceicornis Our results indicate that the use of heaters for stingless bee hives during periods of low ambient temperature may be helpful for stingless beekeeping.

Unitary R-matrices for topological quantum computing

The main problem with current approaches to quantum computing is the difficulty of establishing and maintaining entanglement. A Topological Quantum Computer (TQC) aims to overcome this by using different physical processes that are topological in nature and which are less susceptible to disturbance by the environment. In a (2+1)-dimensional system, pseudoparticles called anyons have statistics that fall somewhere between bosons and fermions. The exchange of two anyons, an effect called braiding from knot theory, can occur in two different ways. The quantum states corresponding to the two elementary braids constitute a two-state system allowing the definition of a computational basis. Quantum gates can be built up from patterns of braids and for quantum computing it is essential that the operator describing the braiding-the R-matrix-be described by a unitary operator. The physics of anyonic systems is governed by quantum groups, in particular the quasi-triangular Hopf algebras obtained from finite groups by the application of the Drinfeld quantum double construction. Their representation theory has been described in detail by Gould and Tsohantjis, and in this review article we relate the work of Gould to TQC schemes, particularly that of Kauffman.