Purity evaluation and influence of carbon nanotube on carbon nanotube/graphite thermal stability

High resolution thermogravimetry has been used to evaluate the carbonaceous content in a commercial sample of single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT). The content of SWNTs in the sample was found to be at least 77mass% which was supported by images obtained with scanning and transmission electron microscopies (SEM and TEM). Furthermore, the influence of SWNT addition on the thermal stability of graphite in mixtures of SWNT/graphite at different proportions was investigated. The graphite stability decreased with the increased of SWNT content in the overall range of composition. This behavior could be due to the close contact between these carbonaceous species as determined by SEM analysis.

Alcohol and other drugs in the Australian construction industry : A national evaluation and the best way forward

Anecdotal evidence highlights issues of alcohol and other drugs (AODs) and its association with safety risk on construction sites. Information is limited however regarding the prevalence of AODs in the workplace and there is limited evidential guidance regarding how to effectively address it. This research aimed to scientifically evaluate the use of AODs within the Australian construction industry in order to reduce the potential resulting safety and performance impacts and engender a cultural change in the workforce. A national qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the use of AODs was conducted with approximately 500 employees. Results indicate that as in the general population, a proportion of those sampled in the construction sector may be at risk of hazardous alcohol consumption and support the need for evidence-based, tailored responses. This is the first known study to scientifically evaluate the use of AODs and potential workplace safety impacts in the construction sector.

“Filling out the forms was a nightmare” : project evaluation and the reflective practitioner in community theatre in contemporary Northern Ireland

Since the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, large sums have been invested in community theatre projects in Northern Ireland, in the interests of conflict transformation and peace building. While this injection of funds has resulted in an unprecedented level of applied theatre activity, opportunities to maximise learning from this activity are being missed. It is generally assumed that project evaluation is undertaken at least partly to assess the degree of success of projects against important social objectives, with a view to learning what works, what does not, and what might work in the future. However, three ethnographic case studies of organisations delivering applied theatre projects in Northern Ireland indicate that current processes used to evaluate such projects are both flawed and inadequate for this purpose. Practitioners report that the administrative work involved in applying for and justifying funding is onerous, burdensome, and occurs at the expense of artistic activity. This is a very real concern when the time and effort devoted to ‘filling out the forms’ does not ultimately result in useful evaluative information. There are strong disincentives for organisations to report honestly on their experiences of difficulties, or undesirable impacts of projects, and this problem is not transcended by the use of external evaluators. Current evaluation processes provide little opportunity to capture unexpected benefits of projects, and small but significant successes which occur in the context of over-ambitious objectives. Little or no attempt is made to assess long-term impacts of projects on communities. Finally, official evaluation mechanisms fail to capture the reflective practice and dialogic analysis of practitioners, which would richly inform future projects. The authors argue that there is a need for clearer lines of communication, and more opportunities for mutual learning, among stakeholders involved in community development. In particular, greater involvement of the higher education sector in partnership with government and non-government agencies could yield significant benefits in terms of optimizing learning from applied theatre project evaluations.

Soil carbon saturation : evaluation and corroboration by long-term incubations

Although current assessments of agricultural management practices on soil organic C (SOC) dynamics are usually conducted without any explicit consideration of limits to soil C storage, it has been hypothesized that the SOC pool has an upper, or saturation limit with respect to C input levels at steady state. Agricultural management practices that increase C input levels over time produce a new equilibrium soil C content. However, multiple C input level treatments that produce no increase in SOC stocks at equilibrium show that soils have become saturated with respect to C inputs. SOC storage of added C input is a function of how far a soil is from saturation level (saturation deficit) as well as C input level. We tested experimentally if C saturation deficit and varying C input levels influenced soil C stabilization of added C-13 in soils varying in SOC content and physiochemical characteristics. We incubated for 2.5 years soil samples from seven agricultural sites that were closer to (i.e., A-horizon) or further from (i.e., C-horizon) their C saturation limit. At the initiation of the incubations, samples received low or high C input levels of 13 C-labeled wheat straw. We also tested the effect of Ca addition and residue quality on a subset of these soils. We hypothesized that the proportion of C stabilized would be greater in samples with larger C Saturation deficits (i.e., the C- versus A-horizon samples) and that the relative stabilization efficiency (i.e., Delta SCC/Delta C input) would decrease as C input level increased. We found that C saturation deficit influenced the stabilization of added residue at six out of the seven sites and C addition level affected the stabilization of added residue in four sites, corroborating both hypotheses. Increasing Ca availability or decreasing residue quality had no effect on the stabilization of added residue. The amount of new C stabilized was significantly related to C saturation deficit, supporting the hypothesis that C saturation influenced C stabilization at all our sites. Our results suggest that soils with low C contents and degraded lands may have the greatest potential and efficiency to store added C because they are further from their saturation level. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Retrospective evaluation and prospective value-add : a review of R&D investment in Australia

This paper describes a lead project currently underway through Australia’s Sustainable Built Environment National Research Centre evaluating diffusion mechanisms and impacts of R&D investment in the Australian built environment. Through a retrospective analysis of R&D investment trends and industry outcomes, and a prospective assessment of industry futures using strategic foresighting, a future-focussed industry R&D roadmap and pursuant policy guidelines will be developed. This research aims to build new understandings and knowledge relevant to R&D funding strategies, research team formation and management, dissemination of outcomes and industry uptake. Each of these issues are critical due to: the disaggregated nature of the built environment industry; intense competition; limited R&D investment; and new challenges (e.g. IT, increased environmental expectations). This paper details the context within which this project is being undertaken and the research design. Findings of the retrospective analysis of past R&D investment in Australia will be presented at this conference.

Victoria's “Day in Prison Program” : an evaluation and critique

The use of “Day in Prison” programs to deter young adult offenders is a concept which originated in the United States and was replicated in Australia during the late 1970s. After almost a decade of uncertainty this model of ‘crime prevention’ re-emerged in Victoria with the introduction of a pilot “Day in Prison” program. This article traces the development and operation of the Victorian experience and provides evaluation research findings which conclude that coercive, intimidatory and degrading aversion techniques should not be utilised by the criminal justice system for the purposes of individual deterrence.

Robust facial feature extraction and matching

Automated feature extraction and correspondence determination is an extremely important problem in the face recognition community as it often forms the foundation of the normalisation and database construction phases of many recognition and verification systems. This paper presents a completely automatic feature extraction system based upon a modified volume descriptor. These features form a stable descriptor for faces and are utilised in a reversible jump Markov chain Monte Carlo correspondence algorithm to automatically determine correspondences which exist between faces. The developed system is invariant to changes in pose and occlusion and results indicate that it is also robust to minor face deformations which may be present with variations in expression.

A critical evaluation and comparison of two formative measures of system quality using criterion variables

Evaluating the validity of formative variables has presented ongoing challenges for researchers. In this paper we use global criterion measures to compare and critically evaluate two alternative formative measures of System Quality. One model is based on the ISO-9126 software quality standard, and the other is based on a leading information systems research model. We find that despite both models having a strong provenance, many of the items appear to be non-significant in our study. We examine the implications of this by evaluating the quality of the criterion variables we used, and the performance of PLS when evaluating formative models with a large number of items. We find that our respondents had difficulty distinguishing between global criterion variables measuring different aspects of overall System Quality. Also, because formative indicators “compete with one another” in PLS, it may be difficult to develop a set of measures which are all significant for a complex formative construct with a broad scope and a large number of items. Overall, we suggest that there is cautious evidence that both sets of measures are valid and largely equivalent, although questions still remain about the measures, the use of criterion variables, and the use of PLS for this type of model evaluation.

The moderating effect of knowledge sharing on the relationship between manufacturing activities and business performance

This paper investigates the critical role of knowledge sharing (KS) in leveraging manufacturing activities, namely integrated supplier management (ISM) and new product development (NPD) to improve business performance (BP) within the context of Taiwanese electronic manufacturing companies. The research adopted a sequential mixed method research design, which provided both quantitative empirical evidence as well as qualitative insights, into the moderating effect of KS on the relationships between these two core manufacturing activities and BP. First, a questionnaire survey was administered, which resulted in a sample of 170 managerial and technical professionals providing their opinions on KS, NPD and ISM activities and the BP level within their respective companies. On the basis of the collected data, factor analysis was used to verify the measurement model, followed by correlation analysis to explore factor interrelationships, and finally moderated regression analyses to extract the moderating effects of KS on the relationships of NPD and ISM with BP. Following the quantitative study, six semi-structured interviews were conducted to provide qualitative in-depth insights into the value added from KS practices to the targeted manufacturing activities and the extent of its leveraging power. Results from quantitative statistical analysis indicated that KS, NPD and ISM all have a significant positive impact on BP. Specifically, IT infrastructure and open communication were identified as the two types of KS practices that could facilitate enriched supplier evaluation and selection, empower active employee involvement in the design process, and provide support for product simplification and the modular design process, thereby improving manufacturing performance and strengthening company competitiveness. The interviews authenticated many of the empirical findings, suggesting that in the contemporary manufacturing context KS has become an integral part of many ISM and NPD activities and when embedded properly can lead to an improvement in BP. The paper also highlights a number of useful implications for manufacturing companies seeking to leverage their BP through innovative and sustained KS practices.