Numerical approximation of a fractional-in-space diffusion equation (II) - with nonhomogeneous boundary conditions

In this paper, a space fractional di®usion equation (SFDE) with non- homogeneous boundary conditions on a bounded domain is considered. A new matrix transfer technique (MTT) for solving the SFDE is proposed. The method is based on a matrix representation of the fractional-in-space operator and the novelty of this approach is that a standard discretisation of the operator leads to a system of linear ODEs with the matrix raised to the same fractional power. Analytic solutions of the SFDE are derived. Finally, some numerical results are given to demonstrate that the MTT is a computationally e±cient and accurate method for solving SFDE.

Biotribological assessment for artificial synovial joints : the role of boundary lubrication

Biotribology, the study of lubrication, wear and friction within the body, has become a topic of high importance in recent times as we continue to encounter debilitating diseases and trauma that destroy function of the joints. A highly successful surgical procedure to replace the joint with an artificial equivalent alleviates dysfunction and pain. However, the wear of the bearing surfaces in prosthetic joints is a significant clinical problem and more patients are surviving longer than the life expectancy of the joint replacement. Revision surgery is associated with increased morbidity and mortality and has a far less successful outcome than primary joint replacement. As such, it is essential to ensure that everything possible is done to limit the rate of revision surgery. Past experience indicates that the survival rate of the implant will be influenced by many parameters, of primary importance, the material properties of the implant, the composition of the synovial fluid and the method of lubrication. In prosthetic joints, effective boundary lubrication is known to take place. The interaction of the boundary lubricant and the bearing material is of utmost importance. The identity of the vital active ingredient within synovial fluid (SF) to which we owe the near frictionless performance of our articulating joints has been the quest of researchers for many years. Once identified, tribo tests can determine what materials and more importantly what surfaces this fraction of SF can function most optimally with. Surface-Active Phospholipids (SAPL) have been implicated as the body’s natural load bearing lubricant. Studies in this thesis are the first to fully characterise the adsorbed SAPL detected on the surface of retrieved prostheses and the first to verify the presence of SAPL on knee prostheses. Rinsings from the bearing surfaces of both hip and knee prostheses removed from revision operations were analysed using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) to determine the presence and profile of SAPL. Several common prosthetic materials along with a novel biomaterial were investigated to determine their tribological interaction with various SAPLs. A pin-on-flat tribometer was used to make comparative friction measurements between the various tribo-pairs. A novel material, Pyrolytic Carbon (PyC) was screened as a potential candidate as a load bearing prosthetic material. Friction measurements were also performed on explanted prostheses. SAPL was detected on all retrieved implant bearing surfaces. As a result of the study eight different species of phosphatidylcholines were identified. The relative concentrations of each species were also determined indicating that the unsaturated species are dominant. Initial tribo tests employed a saturated phosphatidylcholine (SPC) and the subsequent tests adopted the addition of the newly identified major constituents of SAPL, unsaturated phosphatidylcholine (USPC), as the test lubricant. All tribo tests showed a dramatic reduction in friction when synthetic SAPL was used as the lubricant under boundary lubrication conditions. Some tribopairs showed more of an affinity to SAPL than others. PyC performed superior to the other prosthetic materials. Friction measurements with explanted prostheses verified the presence and performance of SAPL. SAPL, in particular phosphatidylcholine, plays an essential role in the lubrication of prosthetic joints. Of particular interest was the ability of SAPLs to reduce friction and ultimately wear of the bearing materials. The identification and knowledge of the lubricating constituents of SF is invaluable for not only the future development of artificial joints but also in developing effective cures for several disease processes where lubrication may play a role. The tribological interaction of the various tribo-pairs and SAPL is extremely favourable in the context of reducing friction at the bearing interface. PyC is highly recommended as a future candidate material for use in load bearing prosthetic joints considering its impressive tribological performance.

Nanoparticle melting as a Stefan moving boundary problem

The melting of spherical nanoparticles is considered from the perspective of heat flow in a pure material and as a moving boundary (Stefan) problem. The dependence of the melting temperature on both the size of the particle and the interfacial tension is described by the Gibbs-Thomson effect, and the resulting two-phase model is solved numerically using a front-fixing method. Results show that interfacial tension increases the speed of the melting process, and furthermore, the temperature distribution within the solid core of the particle exhibits behaviour that is qualitatively different to that predicted by the classical models without interfacial tension.

The moderating role of self-efficacy on the relationship between emotional exhaustion and job strain for boundary-spanning service employees

Appropriate behaviours toward customers often requires employees to suppress some genuine emotions and/or express other emotions; genuine or contrived. Managing one's emotions in this way gives rise to emotional exhaustion. This can have consequences for psychological ill health, in the form of work place strain, and ultimately employee's desire to leave. This student examines the relationships between emotional management, emotional exhaustion and turnover intentions amongst diversional therapy professionals. We find that some forms of emotional management have a significant impact on emotional exhaustion and that this predicts workplace strain. Furthermore, the deleterious effects of emotional exhaustion are mitigated somewhat for employees who have strong beliefs in their ability to provide good service, compared to employees with lower self efficacy beliefs.

Study of industrially relevant boundary layer and axisymmetric flows, including swirl and turbulence

Micropolar and RNG-based modelling of industrially relevant boundary layer and recirculating swirling flows is described. Both models contain a number of adjustable parameters and auxiliary conditions that must be either modelled or experimentally determined, and the effects of varying these on the resulting flow solutions is quantified. To these ends, the behaviour of the micropolar model for self-similar flow over a surface that is both stretching and transpiring is explored in depth. The simplified governing equations permit both analytic and numerical approaches to be adopted, and a number of closed form solutions (both exact and approximate) are obtained using perturbation and order of magnitude analyses. Results are compared with the corresponding Newtonian flow solution in order to highlight the differences between the micropolar and classical models, and significant new insights into the behaviour of the micropolar model are revealed for this flow. The behaviour of the RNG-bas based models for swirling flow with vortex breakdown zones is explored in depth via computational modelling of two experimental data sets and an idealised breakdown flow configuration. Meticulous modeling of upstream auxillary conditions is required to correctly assess the behavior of the models studied in this work. The novel concept of using the results to infer the role of turbulence in the onset and topology of the breakdown zone is employed.

Hospital beds : A primer for counting and comparing

There is considerable public, political and professional debate about the need for additional hospital beds in Australia. However, there is no clarity in regard to the definition, meaning and significance of hospital bed counts. Relative to population, there has been a total decline in bed availability in Australia over the past 15 years of 14.6% (22.9% for public hospital beds). This decline is partly offset by reductions in length of stay and changes to models of care; however, the net effect is increased bed occupancy which has in turn resulted in system-wide congestion. Future bed capability needs to be better planned to meet growing demands while at the same time continuing trends for more efficient use. Future planning should be based in part on weighted bed capability matched to need.

Of ivory towers and boundary spanners

We all live in a yellow submarine… When I go to work in the morning, in the office building that hosts our BPM research group, on the way up to our level I come by this big breakout room that hosts a number of computer scientists, working away at the next generation software algorithms and iPad applications (I assume). I have never actually been in that room, but every now and then the door is left ajar for a while and I can spot couches, lots (I mean, lots!) of monitors, the odd scientist, a number of Lara Croft posters, and the usual room equipment you’d probably expect from computer scientists (and, no, it’s not like that evil Dennis guy from the Jurassic Park movie, buried in chips, coke, and flickering code screens… It’s also not like the command room from the Nebuchadnezzar, Neo’s hovercraft in the Matrix movies, although I still strongly believe these green lines of code make a good screensaver).

Stability boundary analysis of the dynamic voltage restorer in weak systems with dynamic loads

In this contribution, a stability analysis for a dynamic voltage restorer (DVR) connected to a weak ac system containing a dynamic load is presented using continuation techniques and bifurcation theory. The system dynamics are explored through the continuation of periodic solutions of the associated dynamic equations. The switching process in the DVR converter is taken into account to trace the stability regions through a suitable mathematical representation of the DVR converter. The stability regions in the Thevenin equivalent plane are computed. In addition, the stability regions in the control gains space, as well as the contour lines for different Floquet multipliers, are computed. Besides, the DVR converter model employed in this contribution avoids the necessity of developing very complicated iterative map approaches as in the conventional bifurcation analysis of converters. The continuation method and the DVR model can take into account dynamics and nonlinear loads and any network topology since the analysis is carried out directly from the state space equations. The bifurcation approach is shown to be both computationally efficient and robust, since it eliminates the need for numerically critical and long-lasting transient simulations.