A subtropical urban community. Investigating medium to high density residential typologies. Recommendations from the design charrette

In June 2009 the Centre for Subtropical Design at the Queensland University of Technology conducted a design charrette to research design concepts for liveable subtropical neighbourhoods characterised by higher-density, mixed-use, family orientated housing. Subsequent analysis of the proposed designs evaluated how well these typologies support economic, environmental and social sustainability. The study was led by Ms Rosemary Kennedy, Director of the Centre for Subtropical Design and QUT School of Design Adjunct Professor Peter Richards, Chair of the Centre for Subtropical Design Board and director of Deicke Richards Architects and Urban Designers.

Report : Case study 2 : a subtropical urban community : investigating medium to high density residential typologies by design charrette

The case study site is physically disconnected from its surrounding community by the rail corridor and future bus lanes and is unlikely to be able to sustain its own commercial retail centre. As a result, it may also be socially disconnected from surrounding suburbs. However, it does offer proximity and access to an extensive „natural‟ area, and this is seen as key opportunity for the proposed development to develop a strong relationship with surrounding suburbs...

The influence of platform walking on BRT station bus dwell time estimation

The common approach to estimate bus dwell time at a BRT station platform is to apply the traditional dwell time methodology derived for suburban bus stops. Current dwell time models are sensitive towards bus type, fare collection policy along with the number of boarding and alighting passengers. However, they fall short in accounting for the effects of passenger/s walking on a relatively longer BRT station platform. Analysis presented in this paper shows that the average walking time of a passenger at BRT platform is 10 times more than that of bus stop. The requirement of walking to the bus entry door at the BRT station platform may lead to the bus experiencing a higher dwell time. This paper presents a theory for a BRT network which explains the loss of station capacity during peak period operation. It also highlights shortcomings of present available bus dwell time models suggested for the analysis of BRT operation.

Removing barriers to protection at the exported border : visas, carrier sanctions, and international obligation

Asylum is being gradually denuded of the national institutional mechanisms (judicial, legislative and administrative) that provide the framework for a fair and effective asylum hearing. In this sense, there is an ongoing ‘denationalization’ or ‘deformalization’ of the asylum process. This chapter critically examines one of the linchpins of this trend: the erection of pre-entry measures at ports of embarkation in order to prevent asylum seekers from physically accessing the territory of the state. Pre-entry measures comprise the core requirement that foreigners possess an entry visa granting permission to enter the state of destination. Visa requirements are increasingly implemented by immigration officials posted abroad or by officials of transit countries pursuant to bilateral agreements (so-called ‘juxtaposed’ immigration controls). Private carriers, which are subject to sanctions if they bring persons to a country who do not have permission to enter, also engage in a form of de facto immigration control on behalf of states. These measures constitute a type of ‘externalized’ or ‘exported’ border that pushes the immigration boundaries of the state as far from its physical boundaries as possible. Pre-entry measures have a crippling impact on the ability of asylum seekers to access the territory of states to claim asylum. In effect, states have ‘externalized’ asylum by replacing the legal obligation on states to protect refugees arriving at ports of entry with what are perceived to be no more than moral obligations towards asylum seekers arriving at the external border of the state.

Optimal control of distributed generators and capacitors by hybrid DPSO

In this paper, a comprehensive planning methodology is proposed that can minimize the line loss, maximize the reliability and improve the voltage profile in a distribution network. The injected active and reactive power of Distributed Generators (DG) and the installed capacitor sizes at different buses and for different load levels are optimally controlled. The tap setting of HV/MV transformer along with the line and transformer upgrading is also included in the objective function. A hybrid optimization method, called Hybrid Discrete Particle Swarm Optimization (HDPSO), is introduced to solve this nonlinear and discrete optimization problem. The proposed HDPSO approach is a developed version of DPSO in which the diversity of the optimizing variables is increased using the genetic algorithm operators to avoid trapping in local minima. The objective function is composed of the investment cost of DGs, capacitors, distribution lines and HV/MV transformer, the line loss, and the reliability. All of these elements are converted into genuine dollars. Given this, a single-objective optimization method is sufficient. The bus voltage and the line current as constraints are satisfied during the optimization procedure. The IEEE 18-bus test system is modified and employed to evaluate the proposed algorithm. The results illustrate the unavoidable need for optimal control on the DG active and reactive power and capacitors in distribution networks.

Shanghai: city of other people’s dreams

Shanghai as a place where other people's dreams inform the imaginary landscape. How does this relate to the new possibilities available to the current citizens of the city?

Multicast traffic filtering for sampled value process bus networks

Ethernet is a key component of the standards used for digital process buses in transmission substations, namely IEC 61850 and IEEE Std 1588-2008 (PTPv2). These standards use multicast Ethernet frames that can be processed by more than one device. This presents some significant engineering challenges when implementing a sampled value process bus due to the large amount of network traffic. A system of network traffic segregation using a combination of Virtual LAN (VLAN) and multicast address filtering using managed Ethernet switches is presented. This includes VLAN prioritisation of traffic classes such as the IEC 61850 protocols GOOSE, MMS and sampled values (SV), and other protocols like PTPv2. Multicast address filtering is used to limit SV/GOOSE traffic to defined subsets of subscribers. A method to map substation plant reference designations to multicast address ranges is proposed that enables engineers to determine the type of traffic and location of the source by inspecting the destination address. This method and the proposed filtering strategy simplifies future changes to the prioritisation of network traffic, and is applicable to both process bus and station bus applications.

Performance of square and inclined insulated rail joints based on field strain measurements

Insulated rail joints (IRJs) possess lower bending stiffness across the gap containing insulating endpost and hence are subjected to wheel impact. IRJs are either square cut or inclined cut to the longitudinal axis of the rails in a vertical plane. It is generally claimed that the inclined cut IRJs outperformed the square cut IRJs; however, there is a paucity of literature with regard to the relative structural merits of these two designs. This article presents comparative studies of the structural response of these two IRJs to the passage of wheels based on continuously acquired field data from joints strain-gauged closer to the source of impact. Strain signatures are presented in time, frequency, and avelet domains and the peak vertical and shear strains are systematically employed to examine the relative structural merits of the two IRJs subjected to similar real-life loading. It is shown that the inclined IRJs resist the wheel load with higher peak shear strains and lower peak vertical strains than that of the square IRJs.

(Re)focusing the Lens to Make Diversity and Difference Visible : Teaching for Quality and Equity

Despite the evidence that Australia’s children are learning literacy, there is also significant evidence that the poorest and most disadvantaged children are being left behind. To date our understanding of the place of transitions in this has been limited, although there has been work on the fourth grade slump (Gee, 2000, 2008), the transition from primary years to secondary years (e.g. Bahr & Pendergast, 2007; Pendergast & Bahr, 2005, 2010), and transitions when changing schools (Henderson, 2008). In this chapter, we consider the notion of transitioning, as we unpack issues related to recognising and valuing student diversity and difference. We want to highlight ways of providing high quality and high equity literacy pedagogy and literacy outcomes for middle years students. We will also discuss the importance of recognising that students transit to schools and school learning from other significant contexts, each with their own combinations of literacy practices, rituals and values.

Population genetic structure and patterns of dispersal in the Giant Long-Armed Prawn, Macrobrachium lar (Fabricius, 1798) (Decapoda : Palaemonidae)

The Giant Long-Armed Prawn, Macrobrachium lar is a freshwater species native to the Indo-Pacific. M. lar has a long-lived, passive, pelagic marine larval stage where larvae need to colonise freshwater within three months to complete their development. Dispersal is likely to be influenced by the extensive distances larvae must transit between small oceanic islands to find suitable freshwater habitat, and by prevailing east to west wind and ocean currents in the southern Pacific Ocean. Thus, both intrinsic and extrinsic factors are likely to influence wild population structure in this species. The present study sought to define the contemporary broad and fine-scale population genetic structure of Macrobrachium lar in the south-western Pacific Ocean. Three polymorphic microsatellite loci were used to assess patterns of genetic variation within and among 19 wild adult sample sites. Statistical procedures that partition variation implied that at both spatial scales, essentially all variation was present within sample sites and differentiation among sites was low. Any differentiation observed also was not correlated with geographical distance. Statistical approaches that measure genetic distance, at the broad-scale, showed that all south-western Pacific Islands were essentially homogeneous, with the exception of a well supported divergent Cook Islands group. These findings are likely the result of some combination of factors that may include the potential for allelic homoplasy, through to the effects of sampling regime. Based on the findings, there is most likely a divergent M. lar Cook Islands clade in the south-western Pacific Ocean, resulting from prevailing ocean currents. Confirmation of this pattern will require a more detailed analysis of nDNA variation using a larger number of loci and, where possible, use of larger population sizes.

Developing sustainable housing through building utilities and transport innovation

Sustainability concerns every citizen. Housing affordability and sustainable solutions are being highlighted in research and practice in many parts of the world. This paper discusses the development of a Commuter Energy and Building Utilities System (CEBUS) in sustainable housing projects as a means of bridging the gap between current median house pricing and target affordable house pricing for low income earners. Similar scales of sustainable housing development cannot be achieved through independent application of current best practice methods in ecologically sustainable development strategies or transit oriented development master plans. This paper presents the initial stage of research on first capital and ongoing utilities and transport cost savings available from these sustainable design methods. It also outlines further research and development of a CEBUS Dynamic Simulation Model and Conceptual Framework for the Australian property development and construction industry.

High speed rail and regional competitiveness

The presence of High Speed Rail (HSR) systems influences market shares of road and air transport, and the development of cities and regions they serve. With the deployment of HSR infrastructure, changes in accessibility have occurred. These changes have lead researchers to investigate effects on the economic and spatial derived variables. Contention exists when managing the trade off between efficiency, and access points which are usually in the range of hundreds of kilometres apart. In short, it is argued that intermediate cities, bypassed by HSR services, suffer a decline in their accessibility and developmental opportunities. The present Chapter will analyse possible impacts derived from the presence of HSR infrastructure. In particular, it will consider small and medium agglomerations in the vicinity of HSR corridors, not always served by HSR stations. Thus, a methodology is developed to quantify accessibility benefits and their distribution. These benefits will be investigated in relation to different rail transit strategies integrating HSR infrastructure where a HSR station cannot be positioned. These strategies are selected principally for the type of service offered: (i) cadenced, (ii) express, (iii) frequent or (iv) non-stopping. Furthermore, to ground the theoretical approach linking accessibility and competitiveness, a case study in the North-Eastern Italian regions will be used for the application of the accessibility distributive patterns between the HSR infrastructure and the selected strategies. Results indicate that benefits derive from well informed decisions on HSR station positioning and the appropriate blend of complementary services in the whole region to interface HSR infrastructure. The results are significant for all countries in Europe and worldwide, not only for investing in HSR infrastructure, but mostly in terms of building territorial cohesion, while seeking international recognition for developing successful new technology and systems.

Quantification of particle emission characteristics and development of an emission model for use in transport microenvironments affected by traffic emissions

Vehicle emitted particles are of significant concern based on their potential to influence local air quality and human health. Transport microenvironments usually contain higher vehicle emission concentrations compared to other environments, and people spend a substantial amount of time in these microenvironments when commuting. Currently there is limited scientific knowledge on particle concentration, passenger exposure and the distribution of vehicle emissions in transport microenvironments, partially due to the fact that the instrumentation required to conduct such measurements is not available in many research centres. Information on passenger waiting time and location in such microenvironments has also not been investigated, which makes it difficult to evaluate a passenger’s spatial-temporal exposure to vehicle emissions. Furthermore, current emission models are incapable of rapidly predicting emission distribution, given the complexity of variations in emission rates that result from changes in driving conditions, as well as the time spent in driving condition within the transport microenvironment. In order to address these scientific gaps in knowledge, this work conducted, for the first time, a comprehensive statistical analysis of experimental data, along with multi-parameter assessment, exposure evaluation and comparison, and emission model development and application, in relation to traffic interrupted transport microenvironments. The work aimed to quantify and characterise particle emissions and human exposure in the transport microenvironments, with bus stations and a pedestrian crossing identified as suitable research locations representing a typical transport microenvironment. Firstly, two bus stations in Brisbane, Australia, with different designs, were selected to conduct measurements of particle number size distributions, particle number and PM2.5 concentrations during two different seasons. Simultaneous traffic and meteorological parameters were also monitored, aiming to quantify particle characteristics and investigate the impact of bus flow rate, station design and meteorological conditions on particle characteristics at stations. The results showed higher concentrations of PN20-30 at the station situated in an open area (open station), which is likely to be attributed to the lower average daily temperature compared to the station with a canyon structure (canyon station). During precipitation events, it was found that particle number concentration in the size range 25-250 nm decreased greatly, and that the average daily reduction in PM2.5 concentration on rainy days compared to fine days was 44.2 % and 22.6 % at the open and canyon station, respectively. The effect of ambient wind speeds on particle number concentrations was also examined, and no relationship was found between particle number concentration and wind speed for the entire measurement period. In addition, 33 pairs of average half-hourly PN7-3000 concentrations were calculated and identified at the two stations, during the same time of a day, and with the same ambient wind speeds and precipitation conditions. The results of a paired t-test showed that the average half-hourly PN7-3000 concentrations at the two stations were not significantly different at the 5% confidence level (t = 0.06, p = 0.96), which indicates that the different station designs were not a crucial factor for influencing PN7-3000 concentrations. A further assessment of passenger exposure to bus emissions on a platform was evaluated at another bus station in Brisbane, Australia. The sampling was conducted over seven weekdays to investigate spatial-temporal variations in size-fractionated particle number and PM2.5 concentrations, as well as human exposure on the platform. For the whole day, the average PN13-800 concentration was 1.3 x 104 and 1.0 x 104 particle/cm3 at the centre and end of the platform, respectively, of which PN50-100 accounted for the largest proportion to the total count. Furthermore, the contribution of exposure at the bus station to the overall daily exposure was assessed using two assumed scenarios of a school student and an office worker. It was found that, although the daily time fraction (the percentage of time spend at a location in a whole day) at the station was only 0.8 %, the daily exposure fractions (the percentage of exposures at a location accounting for the daily exposure) at the station were 2.7% and 2.8 % for exposure to PN13-800 and 2.7% and 3.5% for exposure to PM2.5 for the school student and the office worker, respectively. A new parameter, “exposure intensity” (the ratio of daily exposure fraction and the daily time fraction) was also defined and calculated at the station, with values of 3.3 and 3.4 for exposure to PN13-880, and 3.3 and 4.2 for exposure to PM2.5, for the school student and the office worker, respectively. In order to quantify the enhanced emissions at critical locations and define the emission distribution in further dispersion models for traffic interrupted transport microenvironments, a composite line source emission (CLSE) model was developed to specifically quantify exposure levels and describe the spatial variability of vehicle emissions in traffic interrupted microenvironments. This model took into account the complexity of vehicle movements in the queue, as well as different emission rates relevant to various driving conditions (cruise, decelerate, idle and accelerate), and it utilised multi-representative segments to capture the accurate emission distribution for real vehicle flow. This model does not only helped to quantify the enhanced emissions at critical locations, but it also helped to define the emission source distribution of the disrupted steady flow for further dispersion modelling. The model then was applied to estimate particle number emissions at a bidirectional bus station used by diesel and compressed natural gas fuelled buses. It was found that the acceleration distance was of critical importance when estimating particle number emission, since the highest emissions occurred in sections where most of the buses were accelerating and no significant increases were observed at locations where they idled. It was also shown that emissions at the front end of the platform were 43 times greater than at the rear of the platform. The CLSE model was also applied at a signalled pedestrian crossing, in order to assess increased particle number emissions from motor vehicles when forced to stop and accelerate from rest. The CLSE model was used to calculate the total emissions produced by a specific number and mix of light petrol cars and diesel passenger buses including 1 car travelling in 1 direction (/1 direction), 14 cars / 1 direction, 1 bus / 1 direction, 28 cars / 2 directions, 24 cars and 2 buses / 2 directions, and 20 cars and 4 buses / 2 directions. It was found that the total emissions produced during stopping on a red signal were significantly higher than when the traffic moved at a steady speed. Overall, total emissions due to the interruption of the traffic increased by a factor of 13, 11, 45, 11, 41, and 43 for the above 6 cases, respectively. In summary, this PhD thesis presents the results of a comprehensive study on particle number and mass concentration, together with particle size distribution, in a bus station transport microenvironment, influenced by bus flow rates, meteorological conditions and station design. Passenger spatial-temporal exposure to bus emitted particles was also assessed according to waiting time and location along the platform, as well as the contribution of exposure at the bus station to overall daily exposure. Due to the complexity of the interrupted traffic flow within the transport microenvironments, a unique CLSE model was also developed, which is capable of quantifying emission levels at critical locations within the transport microenvironment, for the purpose of evaluating passenger exposure and conducting simulations of vehicle emission dispersion. The application of the CLSE model at a pedestrian crossing also proved its applicability and simplicity for use in a real-world transport microenvironment.

An architecture for enhanced assurance in e-health systems

Notwithstanding the obvious potential advantages of information and communications technology (ICT) in the enhanced provision of healthcare services, there are some concerns associated with integration of and access to electronic health records. A security violation in health records, such as an unauthorised disclosure or unauthorised alteration of an individual's health information, can significantly undermine both healthcare providers' and consumers' confidence and trust in e-health systems. A crisis in confidence in any national level e-health system could seriously degrade the realisation of the system's potential benefits. In response to the privacy and security requirements for the protection of health information, this research project investigated national and international e-health development activities to identify the necessary requirements for the creation of a trusted health information system architecture consistent with legislative and regulatory requirements and relevant health informatics standards. The research examined the appropriateness and sustainability of the current approaches for the protection of health information. It then proposed an architecture to facilitate the viable and sustainable enforcement of privacy and security in health information systems under the project title "Open and Trusted Health Information Systems (OTHIS)". OTHIS addresses necessary security controls to protect sensitive health information when such data is at rest, during processing and in transit with three separate and achievable security function-based concepts and modules: a) Health Informatics Application Security (HIAS); b) Health Informatics Access Control (HIAC); and c) Health Informatics Network Security (HINS). The outcome of this research is a roadmap for a viable and sustainable architecture for providing robust protection and security of health information including elucidations of three achievable security control subsystem requirements within the proposed architecture. The successful completion of two proof-of-concept prototypes demonstrated the comprehensibility, feasibility and practicality of the HIAC and HIAS models for the development and assessment of trusted health systems. Meanwhile, the OTHIS architecture has provided guidance for technical and security design appropriate to the development and implementation of trusted health information systems whilst simultaneously offering guidance for ongoing research projects. The socio-economic implications of this research can be summarised in the fact that this research embraces the need for low cost security strategies against economic realities by using open-source technologies for overall test implementation. This allows the proposed architecture to be publicly accessible, providing a platform for interoperability to meet real-world application security demands. On the whole, the OTHIS architecture sets a high level of security standard for the establishment and maintenance of both current and future health information systems. This thereby increases healthcare providers‘ and consumers‘ trust in the adoption of electronic health records to realise the associated benefits.