Developing a transdisciplinary approach to improve urban traffic congestion based on Product Ecosystem theory

Product Ecosystem theory is an emerging theory that shows that disruptive “game changing” innovation is only possible when the entire ecosystem is considered. When environmental variables change faster than products or services can adapt, disruptive innovation is required to keep pace. This has many parallels with natural ecosystems where species that cannot keep up with changes to the environment will struggle or become extinct. In this case the environment is the city, the environmental pressures are pollution and congestion, the product is the car and the product ecosystem is comprised of roads, bridges, traffic lights, legislation, refuelling facilities etc. Each one of these components is the responsibility of a different organisation and so any change that affects the whole ecosystem requires a transdisciplinary approach. As a simple example, cars that communicate wirelessly with traffic lights are only of value if wireless-enabled traffic lights exist and vice versa. Cars that drive themselves are technically possible but legislation in most places doesn’t allow their use. According to innovation theory, incremental innovation tends to chase ever diminishing returns and becomes increasingly unable to tackle the “big issues.” Eventually “game changing” disruptive innovation comes along and solves the “big issues” and/or provides new opportunities. Seen through this lens, the environmental pressures of urban traffic congestion and pollution are the “big issues.” It can be argued that the design of cars and the other components of the product ecosystem follow an incremental innovation approach. That is why the “big issues” remain unresolved. This paper explores the problems of pollution and congestion in urban environments from a Product Ecosystem perspective. From this a strategy will be proposed for a transdisciplinary approach to develop and implement solutions.

Score-level multibiometric fusion based on Dempster-Shafer theory incorporating uncertainty factors

While existing multi-biometic Dempster-Shafer the- ory fusion approaches have demonstrated promising perfor- mance, they do not model the uncertainty appropriately, sug- gesting that further improvement can be achieved. This research seeks to develop a unified framework for multimodal biometric fusion to take advantage of the uncertainty concept of Dempster- Shafer theory, improving the performance of multi-biometric authentication systems. Modeling uncertainty as a function of uncertainty factors affecting the recognition performance of the biometric systems helps to address the uncertainty of the data and the confidence of the fusion outcome. A weighted combination of quality measures and classifiers performance (Equal Error Rate) are proposed to encode the uncertainty concept to improve the fusion. We also found that quality measures contribute unequally to the recognition performance, thus selecting only significant factors and fusing them with a Dempster-Shafer approach to generate an overall quality score play an important role in the success of uncertainty modeling. The proposed approach achieved a competitive performance (approximate 1% EER) in comparison with other Dempster-Shafer based approaches and other conventional fusion approaches.

Force-deformation properties of the human heel pad during barefoot walking

Introduction: The plantar heel pad is a specialized fibroadipose tissue that attenuates and, in part, dissipates the impact energy associated with heel strike. Although near maximal deformation of the heel pad has been shown during running, in vivo measurement of the deformation and structural properties of the heel pad during walking remains largely unexplored. This study employed a fluoroscope, synchronized with a pressure platform, to obtain force–deformation data for the heel pad during walking. Methods: Dynamic lateral foot radiographs were acquired from 6 male and 10 female adults (age, 45 ± 10 yrs; height, 1.66 ± 0.10 m; and weight, 80.7 ± 10.8 kg), while walking barefoot at preferred speeds. The inferior aspect of the calcaneus was digitized and the sagittal thickness and deformation of the heel pad relative to the support surface calculated. Simultaneous measurement of the peak force beneath the heel was used to estimate the principal structural properties of the heel pad. Results: Transient loading profiles associated with walking induced rapidly changing deformation rates in the heel pad and resulted in irregular load–deformation curves. The initial stiffness (32 ± 11 N.mm-1) of the heel pad was an order of magnitude lower than its final stiffness (212 ± 125 N.mm-1) and on average, only 1.0 J of energy was dissipated by the heel pad with each step during walking. Peak deformation (10.3 mm) approached that predicted for the limit of pain tolerance (10.7 mm). Conclusion: These findings suggest the heel pad operates close to its pain threshold even at speeds encountered during barefoot walking and provides insight as to why barefoot runners may adopt ‘forefoot’ strike patterns that minimize heel loading.

A novel manoeuvering model based on low-aspect-ratio lift theory and Lagrangian mechanics

This paper proposes a physically motivated reappraisal of manoeuvring models for ships and presents a new model developed from first principles by application of low aspect-ratio aerodynamic theory and Lagrangian mechanics. The coefficients of the model are shown to be related to physical processes, and validation is presented using the results from a planar motion mechanism dataset.

Do good things and talk about them : a theory of academics usage of enterprise social networks for impression management tactics

Enterprise social networks provide benefits especially for knowledge-intensive work as they enable communication, collaboration and knowledge exchange. These platforms should therefore lead to increased adoption and use by knowledge-intensive workers such as consultants or indeed researchers. Our interest is in ascertaining whether scientific researchers use enterprise social networks as part of their work practices. This focus is motivated by an apparent schism between a need for researchers to exchange knowledge and profile themselves, and the aversion to sharing breakthrough ideas and joining in an ever-increasing publishing and marketing game. We draw on research on academic work practices and impression management to develop a model of academics’ ESN usage for impression management tactics. We describe important constructs of our model, offer strategies for their operationalization and give an outlook to our ongoing empirical study of the use of an ESN platform by 20 schools across six faculties at an Australian university.

Towards a theory of individual-level discontinuance of information systems use

I develop a model of individuals’ intentions to discontinue information system use. Understanding these intentions is important because they give insights into users’ willingness to carry out system tasks, and provide a basis for maintenance decisions as well as possible replacement decisions. I offer a first conceptualization of factors determining users’ discontinuance intentions on basis of existing literature on technology use, status quo bias and dual factor concepts. The model is grounded in rational choice theory to distinguish determinants of a conscious decision between continuing or discontinuing IS use. I provide details on the empirical test of the model through a field study of IS users in a retail organization. The work will have implications for theory on information systems continuance and dual-factor logic in information system use. The empirical findings will provide suggestions for managers dealing with cessation of information systems and work routine changes in organizations.

Mind the insolvency gap : lessons to be learned from audit expectations gap theory

There is a general perception that public confidence in the insolvency profession is low as the result of the recent unethical practices of a few high profile liquidators. As a result, the effectiveness of the current regulatory mechanisms has been questioned, leading to a review of the performance of insolvency practitioners and subsequent regulation proposals. The challenge for the insolvency profession is balancing the expectations of the general public whilst ensuring that the obligations and duties imposed upon them are performed to acceptable and realistic standards. It is difficult (if not impossible) for the profession to meet this challenge in the absence of a cohesive framework which identifies those issues that require further regulation as opposed to those that relate to general education on the insolvency process. This paper will examine the audit expectations gap theory in the context of insolvency practitioners and suggests that a model based on this theory provides an effective framework for evaluating the regulation of the insolvency industry.

Theory and practice of automotive modal lock-in – an Indonesian case

This thesis examines the question why the automotive mode and the large technological system it creates, continues to dominate urban transport systems despite the availability of more cost-efficient alternatives. A number of theoretical insights are developed into the way these losses evolve from path dependent growth, and lead to market failure and lock-in. The important role of asymmetries of influence is highlighted. A survey of commuters in Jakarta Indonesia is used to provide a measure of transport modal lock-in (TML) in a developing country conurbation. A discrete choice experiment is used to provide evidence for the thesis central hypothesis that in such conurbations there is a high level of commuter awareness of the negative externalities generated by TML which can produce a strong level of support for its reversal. Why TML nevertheless remains a strong and durable feature of the transport system is examined with reference to the role of asymmetries of influence.

Taking up the discourse : theory or praxis

This article responds to the invitation extended by Carney to engage in a dialogue on the topic of graduate legal research units. In his paper, Carney stated the approach of the Sydney course as being to teach theory rather than skills, to "pursue academic goals over skill competencies... ". The Faculty of Law at Queensland University of Technology introduced a postgraduate legal research unit in 1993 with different perspectives and purposes to the Sydney course, and given this experience, the opportunity for a discussion on aspects of such units including the theoretical versus practical approach to teaching cannot be ignored.

Examining the predictive value of combining the theory of planned behaviour and the volunteer functions inventory

The functions of the volunteer functions inventory were combined with the constructs of the theory of planned behaviour (i.e., attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control) to establish whether a stronger, single explanatory model prevailed. Undertaken in the context of episodic, skilled volunteering by individuals who were retired or approaching retirement (N = 186), the research advances on prior studies which either examined the predictive capacity of each model independently or compared their explanatory value. Using hierarchical regression analysis, the functions of the volunteer functions inventory (when controlling for demographic variables) explained an additional 7.0% of variability in individuals’ willingness to volunteer over and above that accounted for by the theory of planned behaviour. Significant predictors in the final model included attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control from the theory of planned behaviour and the understanding function from the volunteer functions inventory. It is proposed that the items comprising the understanding function may represent a deeper psychological construct (e.g., self-actualisation) not accounted for by the theory of planned behaviour. The findings highlight the potential benefit of combining these two prominent models in terms of improving understanding of volunteerism and providing a single parsimonious model for raising rates of this important behaviour.

Mechanical bending properties of sodium titanate (Na2Ti3O7) nanowires

We report on the mechanical properties of sodium titanate nanowires (Na2Ti3O7 NW) through a combination of bending experiments and theoretical analysis. Na2Ti3O7 NWs with lateral dimensions ranging from 20–700 nm were synthesized by a hydrothermal approach. A focused ion beam (FIB) was used to manipulate the selected Na2Ti3O7 NW over a hole drilled in an indium tin oxide substrate. After welding the nanowire, a series of bending tests was performed. It was observed that the Na2Ti3O7 NW exhibits a brittle behavior, and a nonlinear elastic deformation was observed before failure. By using the modified Euler–Bernoulli beam theory, such nonlinear elastic deformation is found to originate from a combination of surface effects and axial elongation (arising from the bending deformation). The effective Young's modulus of the Na2Ti3O7 NW was found to be independent of the wire length, and ranges from 21.4 GPa to 45.5 GPa, with an average value of 33 ± 7 GPa. The yield strength of the Na2Ti3O7 NW is measured at 2.7 ± 0.7 GPa.

Modelling the intention to adopt cloud computing services : a transaction cost theory perspective

This paper uses transaction cost theory to study cloud computing adoption. A model is developed and tested with data from an Australian survey. According to the results, perceived vendor opportunism and perceived legislative uncertainty around cloud computing were significantly associated with perceived cloud computing security risk. There was also a significant negative relationship between perceived cloud computing security risk and the intention to adopt cloud services. This study also reports on adoption rates of cloud computing in terms of applications, as well as the types of services used.

Navigating theory, negotiating difference and beating the system : a critical how-to of media assistance evaluation

The wave of democratisation across Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America in the early 1990s triggered an increase in donor funding to media assistance initiatives, primarily within good governance policy frameworks. However, few media assistance projects have managed to effectively evaluate the impacts of their work. This thesis explores how the impacts of Australian media assistance on social change and governance can be most effectively evaluated and understood. The findings of this research suggest the importance of early investment in participatory planning of evaluation designs, which are then periodically revisited. These evaluation designs should be based on a theoretically sound link between models of change, evaluative questions and methods.

Dialogicality in Focus : Challenges to Theory, Method and Application

The phenomenon which dialogism addresses is human interaction. It enables us to conceptualise human interaction as intersubjective, symbolic, cultural, transformative and conflictual, in short, as complex. The complexity of human interaction is evident in all domains of human life, for example, in therapy, education, health intervention, communication, and coordination at all levels. A dialogical approach starts by acknowledging that the social world is perspectival, that people and groups inhabit different social realities. This book stands apart from the proliferation of recent books on dialogism, because rather than applying dialogism to this or that domain, the present volume focuses on dialogicality itself to interrogate the concepts and methods which are taken for granted in the burgeoning literature.

Numerical investigation of deformation and failure mechanisms of osteopontin-hydroxyapatite interfaces and mineralized collagen fibril arrays

This thesis is a comprehensive study of deformation and failure mechanisms in bone at nano- and micro-scale levels. It explores the mechanical behaviour of osteopontin-hydroxyapatite interfaces and mineralized collagen fibril arrays, through atomistic molecular dynamics and finite element simulations. This thesis shows some main factors contributing to the excellent material properties of bone and provides some guidelines for development of new artificial biological materials and medical implants.