Thin bed masonry system: review and future prospects

Masonry is one of the most ancient construction materials in the World. When compared to other civil engineering practices, masonry construction is highly labour intensive, which can affect the quality and productivity adversely. With a view to improving quality and in light of the limited skilled labour in the recent times several innovative masonry construction methods such as the dry stack and the thin bed masonry have been developed. This paper focuses on the thin bed masonry system, which is used in many parts of Europe. Thin bed masonry system utilises thin layer of polymer modified mortars connecting the accurately dimensioned and/or interlockable units. This assembly process has the potential for automated panelised construction system in the industry setting or being adopted in the site using less skilled labour, without sacrificing the quality. This is because unlike the conventional masonry construction, the thin bed technology uses thinner mortar (or glue) layer which can be controlled easily through some novel methods described in this paper. Structurally, reduction in the thickness of the mortar joint has beneficial effects; for example it increases the compressive strength of masonry; in addition polymer added glue mortar enhances lateral load capacity relative to conventional masonry. This paper reviews the details of the recent research outcomes on the structural characteristics and construction practices of thin bed masonry. Finally the suitability of thin bed masonry in developing countries where masonry remains as the most common material for residential building construction is discussed.

Developing a transition pedagogy : intentional curriculum design in first and final year law programs

This chapter will first consider the rationale for a transition pedagogy for first and final year law students. It then discusses the elements of a transition pedagogy for both years, noting the synergies and differences between programs designed to assist transition into and out of a law degree. In doing so, the authors attempt to explore the extent to which the first year curriculum principles identified by Sally Kift under an Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) Senior Fellowship may also be applied to the final year university experience. During the course of the discussion, examples are drawn from universities and Law Schools in Australia and internationally which seek to address these imperatives...

Making space for place-making pedagogies : stretching normative mandated literacy curriculum

In an era of normative standardised literacy curriculum continuing to make space for culturally responsive literacy pedagogy is on ongoing challenge for early childhood educators. Collaborative participatory research and ethnographic studies of teachers who accomplish innovative and inclusive early childhood education in culturally diverse high poverty communities is urgent for the profession. Such pedagogies involve complex understandings of the cultural and political histories, and the dynamic potential, of the places in which school communities are located. By incorporating the study of local histories and biographies and researching neighbourhood changes teachers adapt mandated curriculum to maintain community knowledges and allow for positive identity work at the same time as they meet the authorised systems objectives. When teachers work with children as co-researchers through the study of people's lives in particular places and times, the community and its complex histories become a rich resource for young people's literacy repertoires.

Teacher educators mediating curricular reform : anticipating the Australian curriculum

Many education systems are experiencing a re-scaling and consolidation of governance through rolling national agendas of standardisation and centralisation. This paper considers the case of Australia as it moves towards implementing its first national curriculum, to explore how teacher educators plan to retain pedagogical space for debate, diversity and contestation of such systemic curricular reform. This paper reports on an interview study conducted with nine teacher educators across the four curriculum areas included in the first wave of the Australian Curriculum: English, Science, Mathematics and History. The analysis reveals how teacher educators reported professional dilemmas around curricular design, and planned to resolve such dilemmas between the anticipated changes and their preferences for what might have been. While different curricular areas displayed different patterns of professional dilemma, the teacher educators are shown to construe their role as one of active curriculum mediators, who, in recontextualising curricular reforms, will use the opportunity to reinsert both residualised and emergent alternatives in their students’ professional value sets. The study also identifies a new set of dilemmas emerging around the politicisation and standardisation of curriculum, and its impact on the teaching profession and teacher educators.

Review of the design-build market in the People’s Republic of China

Design-build (DB) system has been demonstrated as an effective delivery method and been widely used overseas. However it does not receive the same popularity in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). This paper first conducts a literature review on advantages and disadvantages of DB in general; then it gives an overview of the PRC construction industry. There are ample evidences that the DB system will theoretically bring benefits to the PRC construction industry. After a thorough investigation of the current DB market, it can be concluded that the development of the DB system is still at its infancy stage. The barriers to entry have been finally identified, which relate to the legal restraints, negative owner attitude, and high requirement of DB projects. These barriers constitute obstacles to the development of DB system in the PRC. However, with rapid growth of construction industry, new requirements in modern construction projects, and strong promotion from governments, it is believed that the domestic DB market will have great potential in the near future.

Operations research for mining : a classification and literature review

In this paper, we describe the main processes and operations in mining industries and present a comprehensive survey of operations research methodologies that have been applied over the last several decades. The literature review is classified into four main categories: mine design; mine production; mine transportation; and mine evaluation. Mining design models are further separated according to two main mining methods: open-pit and underground. Moreover, mine production models are subcategorised into two groups: ore mining and coal mining. Mine transportation models are further partitioned in accordance with fleet management, truck haulage and train scheduling. Mine evaluation models are further subdivided into four clusters in terms of mining method selection, quality control, financial risks and environmental protection. The main characteristics of four Australian commercial mining software are addressed and compared. This paper bridges the gaps in the literature and motivates researchers to develop more applicable, realistic and comprehensive operations research models and solution techniques that are directly linked with mining industries.

Risk and school science education

In this paper I consider a role for risk understanding in school science education. Grounds for this are described in terms of current sociological analyses of the contemporary world as a ‘risk society’ and recent public understanding of science studies where science and risk are concerns commonly linked within the wider community. These concerns connect with support amongst many science educators for the goal of science education for citizenship. From this perspective scientific literacy for decision making on contemporary socioscientific issues is central. I argue that in such decision making risk understanding has an important role to play. I examine some of the challenges its inclusion in school science presents to science teachers, review previous writing about risk in the science education literature and consider how knowledge about risk might be addressed in school science. I also outline the varying conceptions of risk and suggest some future research directions which would support the inclusion of risk in classroom discussions of socioscientific issues.

Re-thinking physics teaching with web-based learning

There is extensive uptake of ICT in the teaching of science but more evidence is needed on how ICT impacts on the learning practice and the learning outcomes at the classroom level. In this study, a physics website (Getsmart) was developed using the cognitive apprenticeship framework for students at a high school in Australia. This website was designed to enhance students’ knowledge of concepts in physics. Reflexive pedagogies were used in the delivery learning materials in a blended learning environment. The students in the treatment group accessed the website over a 10 week period. Pre and post-test results of the treatment (N= 48) and comparison group (N=32) were compared. The MANCOVA analysis showed that the web-based learning experience benefited the students in the treatment group. It not only impacted on the learning outcomes, but qualitative data from the students suggested that it had a positive impact on their attitudes towards studying physics in a blended environment.

Book review : "Carbon Capture and Storage Emerging Legal and Regulatory Issues" edited by Ian Havercroft, Richard Macrory, Richard B Stewart, Oxford, Hart Publishing, 2011

As the international community struggles to find a cost-effective solution to mitigate climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, carbon capture and storage (CCS) has emerged as a project mechanism with the potential to assist in transitioning society towards its low carbon future. Being a politically attractive option, legal regimes to promote and approve CCS have proceeded at an accelerated pace in multiple jurisdictions including the European Union and Australia. This acceleration and emphasis on the swift commercial deployment of CCS projects has left the legal community in the undesirable position of having to advise on the strengths and weaknesses of the key features of these regimes once they have been passed and become operational. This is an area where environmental law principles are tested to their very limit. On the one hand, implementation of this new technology should proceed in a precautionary manner to avoid adverse impacts on the atmosphere, local community and broader environment. On the other hand, excessive regulatory restrictions will stifle innovation and act as a barrier to the swift deployment of CCS projects around the world. Finding the balance between precaution and innovation is no easy feat. This is an area where lawyers, academics, regulators and industry representatives can benefit from the sharing of collective experiences, both positive and negative, across the jurisdictions. This exemplary book appears to have been collated with this philosophy in mind and provides an insightful addition to the global dialogue on establishing effective national and international regimes for the implementation of CCS projects...

Helping undergraduate students across disciplines and cultures actively engage and collaborate as equal members of a community of scholars : peer review within an e-learning environment

At the international level, the higher education sector is currently being subjected to increased calls for public accountability and the current move by the OECD to rank universities based on the quality of their teaching and learning outcomes. At the national level, Australian universities and their teaching staff face numerous challenges including financial restrictions, increasing student numbers and the reality of an increasingly diverse student population. The Australian higher education response to these competing policy and accreditation demands focuses on precise explicit systems and procedures which are inflexible and conservative and which ignore the fact that assessment is the single biggest influence on how students approach their learning. By seriously neglecting the quality of student learning outcomes, assessment tasks are often failing to engage students or reflect the tasks students will face in the world of practice. Innovative assessment design, which includes new paradigms of student engagement and learning and pedagogically based technologies have the capacity to provide some measure of relief from these internal and external tensions by significantly enhancing the learning experience for an increasingly time-poor population of students. That is, the assessment process has the ability to deliver program objectives and active learning through a knowledge transfer process which increases student participation and engagement. This social constructivist view highlights the importance of peer review in assisting students to participate and collaborate as equal members of a community of scholars with both their peers and academic staff members. As a result of increasing the student’s desire to learn, peer review leads to more confident, independent and reflective learners who also become more skilled at making independent judgements of their own and others' work. Within this context, in Case Study One of this project, a summative, peer-assessed, weekly, assessment task was introduced in the first “serious” accounting subject offered as part of an undergraduate degree. The positive outcomes achieved included: student failure rates declined 15%; tutorial participation increased fourfold; tutorial engagement increased six-fold; and there was a 100% student-based approval rating for the retention of the assessment task. However, in stark contrast to the positive student response, staff issues related to the loss of research time associated with the administration of the peer-review process threatened its survival. This paper contributes to the core conference topics of new trends and experiences in undergraduate assessment education and in terms of innovative, on-line, learning and teaching practices, by elaborating the Case Study Two “solution” generated to this dilemma. At the heart of the resolution is an e-Learning, peer-review process conducted in conjunction with the University of Melbourne which seeks to both create a virtual sense of belonging and to efficiently and effectively meet academic learning objectives with minimum staff involvement. In outlining the significant level of success achieved, student-based qualitative and quantitative data will be highlighted along with staff views in a comparative analysis of the advantages and disadvantages to both students and staff of the staff-led, peer review process versus its on-line counterpart.

Defining standards for modelling the biomechanics of the foot and ankle : a systematic review

The complex interaction of the bones of the foot has been explored in detail in recent years, which has led to the acknowledgement in the biomechanics community that the foot can no longer be considered as a single rigid segment. With the advance of motion analysis technology it has become possible to quantify the biomechanics of simplified units or segments that make up the foot. Advances in technology coupled with reducing hardware prices has resulted in the uptake of more advanced tools available for clinical gait analysis. The increased use of these techniques in clinical practice requires defined standards for modelling and reporting of foot and ankle kinematics. This systematic review aims to provide a critical appraisal of commonly used foot and ankle marker sets designed to assess kinematics and thus provide a theoretical background for the development of modelling standards.

A comprehensive literature review of the pelvis and the lower extremity digital human models under quasi-static conditions

Finite Element Modeling (FEM) has become a vital tool in the automotive design and development processes. FEM of the human body is a technique capable of estimating parameters that are difficult to measure in experimental studies with the human body segments being modeled as complex and dynamic entities. Several studies have been dedicated to attain close-to-real FEMs of the human body (Pankoke and Siefert 2007; Amann, Huschenbeth et al. 2009; ESI 2010). The aim of this paper is to identify and appraise the state of-the art models of the human body which incorporate detailed pelvis and/or lower extremity models. Six databases and search engines were used to obtain literature, and the search was limited to studies published in English since 2000. The initial search results identified 636 pelvis-related papers, 834 buttocks-related papers, 505 thigh-related papers, 927 femur-related papers, 2039 knee-related papers, 655 shank-related papers, 292 tibia-related papers, 110 fibula-related papers, 644 ankle related papers, and 5660 foot-related papers. A refined search returned 100 pelvis-related papers, 45 buttocks related papers, 65 thigh-related papers, 162 femur-related papers, 195 kneerelated papers, 37 shank-related papers, 80 tibia-related papers, 30 fibula-related papers and 102 ankle-related papers and 246 foot-related papers. The refined literature list was further restricted by appraisal against a modified LOW appraisal criteria. Studies with unclear methodologies, with a focus on populations with pathology or with sport related dynamic motion modeling were excluded. The final literature list included fifteen models and each was assessed against the percentile the model represents, the gender the model was based on, the human body segment/segments included in the model, the sample size used to develop the model, the source of geometric/anthropometric values used to develop the model, the posture the model represents and the finite element solver used for the model. The results of this literature review provide indication of bias in the available models towards 50th percentile male modeling with a notable concentration on the pelvis, femur and buttocks segments.

A Systematic Review of kinematic models used in foot & ankle biomechanics

Over the past decade our understanding of foot function has increased significantly[1,2]. Our understanding of foot and ankle biomechanics appears to be directly correlated to advances in models used to assess and quantify kinematic parameters in gait. These advances in models in turn lead to greater detail in the data. However, we must consider that the level of complexity is determined by the question or task being analysed. This systematic review aims to provide a critical appraisal of commonly used marker sets and foot models to assess foot and ankle kinematics in a wide variety of clinical and research purposes.

Defining standards for modelling the biomechanics of the foot and ankle: A systematic review

The complex interaction of the bones of the foot has been explored in detail in recent years, which has led to the acknowledgement in the biomechanics community that the foot can no longer be considered as a single rigid segment. With the advance of motion analysis technology it has become possible to quantify the biomechanics of simplified units or segments that make up the foot. Advances in technology coupled with reducing hardware prices has resulted in the uptake of more advanced tools available for clinical gait analysis. The increased use of these techniques in clinical practice requires defined standards for modelling and reporting of foot and ankle kinematics. This systematic review aims to provide a critical appraisal of commonly used foot and ankle marker sets designed to assess kinematics and thus provide a theoretical background for the development of modelling standards.

Text mining and probabilistic language modeling for online review spam detecting

In the era of Web 2.0, huge volumes of consumer reviews are posted to the Internet every day. Manual approaches to detecting and analyzing fake reviews (i.e., spam) are not practical due to the problem of information overload. However, the design and development of automated methods of detecting fake reviews is a challenging research problem. The main reason is that fake reviews are specifically composed to mislead readers, so they may appear the same as legitimate reviews (i.e., ham). As a result, discriminatory features that would enable individual reviews to be classified as spam or ham may not be available. Guided by the design science research methodology, the main contribution of this study is the design and instantiation of novel computational models for detecting fake reviews. In particular, a novel text mining model is developed and integrated into a semantic language model for the detection of untruthful reviews. The models are then evaluated based on a real-world dataset collected from amazon.com. The results of our experiments confirm that the proposed models outperform other well-known baseline models in detecting fake reviews. To the best of our knowledge, the work discussed in this article represents the first successful attempt to apply text mining methods and semantic language models to the detection of fake consumer reviews. A managerial implication of our research is that firms can apply our design artifacts to monitor online consumer reviews to develop effective marketing or product design strategies based on genuine consumer feedback posted to the Internet.