ACE research vignette 018 : experiments in the MBA classroom : the case of time frames in project teams

This series of research vignettes is aimed at sharing current and interesting research findings from our team of international Entrepeneurship researchers. In this vignette, Dr Rene Bakker considers project team dynamics and how executive education can be enriched by studying them in the classroom.

Scenes, quarters and clusters : new experiments in the formation and governance of creative places in China

This thesis examines the formation and governance patterns of the social and spatial concentration of creative people and creative business in cities. It develops a typology for creative places, adding the terms 'scene' and 'quarter' to 'clusters', to fill in the literature gap of partial emphasis on the 'creative clusters' model as an organising mechanism for regional and urban policy. In this framework, a cluster is the gathering of firms with a core focus on economic benefits; a quarter is the urban milieu usually driven by a growth coalition consisting of local government, real estate agents and residential communities; and a scene is the spontaneous assembly of artists, performers and fans with distinct cultural forms. The framework is applied to China, specifically to Hangzhou – a second-tier city in central eastern China that is ambitious to become a 'national cultural and creative industries centre'. The thesis selects three cases – Ideal & Silian 166 Creative Industries Park, White-horse Lake Eco-creative City and LOFT49 Creative Industries Park – to represent scene, quarter and cluster respectively. Drawing on in-depth interviews with initiators, managers and creative professionals of these places, together with extensive documentary analysis, the thesis investigates the composition of actors, characteristics of the locality and the diversity of activities. The findings illustrate that, in China, planning and government intervention is the key to the governance of creative space; spontaneous development processes exist, but these need a more tolerant environment, a greater diversity of cultural forms and more time to develop. Moreover, the main business development model is still real estate based: this model needs to incorporate more mature business models and an enhanced IP protection system. The thesis makes a contribution to literature on economic and cultural geography, urban planning and creative industries theory. It advocates greater attention to self-management, collaborative governance mechanisms and business strategies for scenes, quarters and clusters. As intersections exist in the terms discussed, a mixed toolkit of the three models is required to advance the creative city discourse in China.

Physically sound vehicle-driver model for realistic microscopic simulation

In microscopic traffic simulators, the interaction between vehicles is considered. The dynamics of the system then becomes an emergent property of the interaction between its components. Such interactions include lane-changing, car-following behaviours and intersection management. Although, in some cases, such simulators produce realistic prediction, they do not allow for an important aspect of the dynamics, that is, the driver-vehicle interaction. This paper introduces a physically sound vehicle-driver model for realistic microscopic simulation. By building a nanoscopic traffic simulation model that uses steering angle and throttle position as parameters, the model aims to overcome unrealistic acceleration and deceleration values, as found in various microscopic simulation tools. A physics engine calculates the driving force of the vehicle, and the preliminary results presented here, show that, through a realistic driver-vehicle-environment simulator, it becomes possible to model realistic driver and vehicle behaviours in a traffic simulation.

Simulation-based comparison of pull-push system in motorcycle assembly line

To investigate the effects of adopting a pull system in assembly lines in contrast to a push system, simulation software called “ARENA” is used as a tool in order to present numerical results from both systems. Simulation scenarios are created to evaluate the effects of attributes changing in assembly systems, with influential factors including the change of manufacturing system (push system to pull system) and variation of demand. Moreover, pull system manufacturing consists of the addition attribute, which is the number of buffer storage. This paper will provide an analysis based on a previous case study, hence process time and workflow refer to the journal name “Optimising and simulating the assembly line balancing problem in a motorcycle manufacturing company: a case study” [2]. The implementation of the pull system mechanism is to produce a system improvement in terms of the number of Work-In-Process (WIP), total time of products in the system, and the number of finished product inventory, while retaining the same throughput.

A variable-stepsize Jacobian-free exponential integrator for simulating transport in heterogeneous porous media : application to wood drying

A Jacobian-free variable-stepsize method is developed for the numerical integration of the large, stiff systems of differential equations encountered when simulating transport in heterogeneous porous media. Our method utilises the exponential Rosenbrock-Euler method, which is explicit in nature and requires a matrix-vector product involving the exponential of the Jacobian matrix at each step of the integration process. These products can be approximated using Krylov subspace methods, which permit a large integration stepsize to be utilised without having to precondition the iterations. This means that our method is truly "Jacobian-free" - the Jacobian need never be formed or factored during the simulation. We assess the performance of the new algorithm for simulating the drying of softwood. Numerical experiments conducted for both low and high temperature drying demonstrates that the new approach outperforms (in terms of accuracy and efficiency) existing simulation codes that utilise the backward Euler method via a preconditioned Newton-Krylov strategy.

An assessment tool for selection of appropriate daylighting solutions for buildings in tropical and subtropical regions : Validation using radiance simulation

A new decision-making tool that will assist designers in the selection of appropriate daylighting solutions for buildings in tropical locations has been previously proposed by the authors. Through an evaluation matrix that prioritizes the parameters that best respond to the needs of tropical climates (e.g. reducing solar gain and protection from glare) the tool determines the most appropriate devices for specific climate and building inputs. The tool is effective in demonstrating the broad benefits and limitations of the different daylight strategies for buildings in the tropics. However for thorough analysis and calibration of the tool, validation is necessary. This paper presents a first step in the validation process. RADIANCE simulations were conducted to compare simulation performance with the performance predicted by the tool. To this end, an office building case study in subtropical Brisbane, Australia, and five different daylighting devices including openings, light guiding systems and light transport systems were simulated. Illuminance, light uniformity, daylight penetration and glare analysis were assessed for each device. The results indicate the tool can appropriately rank and recommend daylighting strategies based on specific building inputs for tropical and subtropical regions, making it a useful resource for designers.

A micro-simulation of airport passengers with advanced traits

An approach for modeling passenger flows in airport terminals by a set of devised advanced traits of passengers is proposed. Advanced traits take into account a passenger’s cognitive preferences which would be the underlying motivations of route-choice decisions. Basic traits are the status of passengers such as travel class. Although the activities of passengers are normally regarded as stochastic and sometimes unpredictable, we advise that real scenarios of passenger flows are basically feasible to be compared with virtual simulations in terms of tactical route-choice decision-making by individual personals. Inside airport terminals, passengers are goal-directed and not only use standard processing check points but also behave discretionary activities during the course. In this paper, we integrated discretionary activities in the study to fulfill full-range of passenger flows. In the model passengers are built as intelligent agents who possess a bunch of initial basic traits and then can be categorized into ten distinguish groups in terms of route-choice preferences by inferring the results of advanced traits. An experiment is executed to demonstrate the capability to facilitate predicting passenger flows.

Is simulation training effective in increasing podiatrists' confidence in foot ulcer management?

Background: Foot ulcers are a frequent reason for diabetes-related hospitalisation. Clinical training is known to have a beneficial impact on foot ulcer outcomes. Clinical training using simulation techniques has rarely been used in the management of diabetes-related foot complications or chronic wounds. Simulation can be defined as a device or environment that attempts to replicate the real world. The few non-web-based foot-related simulation courses have focused solely on training for a single skill or “part task” (for example, practicing ingrown toenail procedures on models). This pilot study aimed to primarily investigate the effect of a training program using multiple methods of simulation on participants’ clinical confidence in the management of foot ulcers. Methods: Sixteen podiatrists participated in a two-day Foot Ulcer Simulation Training (FUST) course. The course included pre-requisite web-based learning modules, practicing individual foot ulcer management part tasks (for example, debriding a model foot ulcer), and participating in replicated clinical consultation scenarios (for example, treating a standardised patient (actor) with a model foot ulcer). The primary outcome measure of the course was participants’ pre- and post completion of confidence surveys, using a five-point Likert scale (1 = Unacceptable-5 = Proficient). Participants’ knowledge, satisfaction and their perception of the relevance and fidelity (realism) of a range of course elements were also investigated. Parametric statistics were used to analyse the data. Pearson’s r was used for correlation, ANOVA for testing the differences between groups, and a paired-sample t-test to determine the significance between pre- and post-workshop scores. A minimum significance level of p < 0.05 was used. Results: An overall 42% improvement in clinical confidence was observed following completion of FUST (mean scores 3.10 compared to 4.40, p < 0.05). The lack of an overall significant change in knowledge scores reflected the participant populations’ high baseline knowledge and pre-requisite completion of web-based modules. Satisfaction, relevance and fidelity of all course elements were rated highly. Conclusions: This pilot study suggests simulation training programs can improve participants’ clinical confidence in the management of foot ulcers. The approach has the potential to enhance clinical training in diabetes-related foot complications and chronic wounds in general.

Comparison and modification of car following models toward a more accurate microscopic simulation parameters reproduction

Traffic safety studies demand more than what current micro-simulation models can provide as they presume that all drivers of motor vehicles exhibit safe behaviours. Several car-following models are used in various micro-simulation models. This research compares the mainstream car following models’ capabilities of emulating precise driver behaviour parameters such as headways and Time to Collisions. The comparison firstly illustrates which model is more robust in the metric reproduction. Secondly, the study conducted a series of sensitivity tests to further explore the behaviour of each model. Based on the outcome of these two steps exploration of the models, a modified structure and parameters adjustment for each car-following model is proposed to simulate more realistic vehicle movements, particularly headways and Time to Collision, below a certain critical threshold. NGSIM vehicle trajectory data is used to evaluate the modified models performance to assess critical safety events within traffic flow. The simulation tests outcomes indicate that the proposed modified models produce better frequency of critical Time to Collision than the generic models, while the improvement on the headway is not significant. The outcome of this paper facilitates traffic safety assessment using microscopic simulation.

Radiotherapy Monte Carlo simulation using cloud computing technology

Cloud computing allows for vast computational resources to be leveraged quickly and easily in bursts as and when required. Here we describe a technique that allows for Monte Carlo radiotherapy dose calculations to be performed using GEANT4 and executed in the cloud, with relative simulation cost and completion time evaluated as a function of machine count. As expected, simulation completion time decreases as 1=n for n parallel machines, and relative simulation cost is found to be optimal where n is a factor of the total simulation time in hours. Using the technique, we demonstrate the potential usefulness of cloud computing as a solution for rapid Monte Carlo simulation for radiotherapy dose calculation without the need for dedicated local computer hardware as a proof of principal. Funding source Cancer Australia (Department of Health and Ageing) Research Grant 614217

Power-law viscous materials for analogue experiments: New data on the rheology of highly-filled silicone polymers

The selection of appropriate analogue materials is a central consideration in the design of realistic physical models. We investigate the rheology of highly-filled silicone polymers in order to find materials with a power-law strain-rate softening rheology suitable for modelling rock deformation by dislocation creep and report the rheological properties of the materials as functions of the filler content. The mixtures exhibit strain-rate softening behaviour but with increasing amounts of filler become strain-dependent. For the strain-independent viscous materials, flow laws are presented while for strain-dependent materials the relative importance of strain and strain rate softening/hardening is reported. If the stress or strain rate is above a threshold value some highly-filled silicone polymers may be considered linear visco-elastic (strain independent) and power-law strain-rate softening. The power-law exponent can be raised from 1 to ~3 by using mixtures of high-viscosity silicone and plasticine. However, the need for high shear strain rates to obtain the power-law rheology imposes some restrictions on the usage of such materials for geodynamic modelling. Two simple shear experiments are presented that use Newtonian and power-law strain-rate softening materials. The results demonstrate how materials with power-law rheology result in better strain localization in analogue experiments.

The causes of sinuous crustal-scale deformation patterns in hot orogens: Evidence from scaled analogue experiments and the southern Central Andes

The cause of upper-crustal segmentation into rhomb-shaped, shear zone-bound domains associated with contractional sedimentary basins in hot, wide orogens is not well understood. Here we use scaled multilayered analogue experiments to investigate the role of an orogen-parallel crustal-strength gradient on the formation of such structures. We show that the aspect ratio and size of domains, the sinuous character and abundance of transpressional shear zones vary with the integrated mechanical strength of crust. Upper-crustal deformation patterns and the degree of strain localization in the experiments are controlled by the ratio between the brittle and ductile strength in the model crust as well as gradients in tectonic and buoyancy forces. The experimental results match the first-order kinematic and structural characteristics of the southern Central Andes and provide insight on the dynamics of underlying deformation patterns in hot, wide orogens.

A simulation-based training system for surgical wound debridement

A simulation-based training system for surgical wound debridement was developed and comprises a multimedia introduction, a surgical simulator (tutorial component), and an assessment component. The simulator includes two PCs, a haptic device, and mirrored display. Debridement is performed on a virtual leg model with a shallow laceration wound superimposed. Trainees are instructed to remove debris with forceps, scrub with a brush, and rinse with saline solution to maintain sterility. Research and development issues currently under investigation include tissue deformation models using mass-spring system and finite element methods; tissue cutting using a high-resolution volumetric mesh and dynamic topology; and accurate collision detection, cutting, and soft-body haptic rendering for two devices within the same haptic space.

A hybrid simulation framework to assess the impact of renewable generators on a distribution network

With an increasing number of small-scale renewable generator installations, distribution network planners are faced with new technical challenges (intermittent load flows, network imbalances…). Then again, these decentralized generators (DGs) present opportunities regarding savings on network infrastructure if installed at strategic locations. How can we consider both of these aspects when building decision tools for planning future distribution networks? This paper presents a simulation framework which combines two modeling techniques: agent-based modeling (ABM) and particle swarm optimization (PSO). ABM is used to represent the different system units of the network accurately and dynamically, simulating over short time-periods. PSO is then used to find the most economical configuration of DGs over longer periods of time. The infrastructure of the framework is introduced, presenting the two modeling techniques and their integration. A case study of Townsville, Australia, is then used to illustrate the platform implementation and the outputs of a simulation.

The other side of the threshold : Strindberg's experiments in creative dissection

A 1500-word review of Strindberg: A Life by Sue Prideaux (Yale UP, 2012). One way of classifying biographies is to divide them into those that apply their own interpretative framework – be it psychoanalytic, gender-based, socio-historical, and so on – to a given subject and those that aim to meet the subject, on their own terms, or at least in terms that the subject would recognise...