Examining the influence of participant performance factors on contractor satisfaction : a structural equation model

Participant performance is critical to the success of projects. At the same time, enhancing the satisfaction of participants not only helps in problem solving but also improves their motivation and cooperation. However, previous research related to participant satisfaction is primarily concerned with clients and customers and relatively little attention has been paid to contractors. This paper investigates how the performance of project participants affects contractor project satisfaction in terms of the client's clarity of objectives (OC) and promptness of payments (PP), designer carefulness (DC), construction risk management (RM), the effectiveness their contribution (EW) and mutual respect and trust (RT). With 125 valid responses from contractors in Malaysia, a contractor satisfaction model is developed based on structural equation modelling. The results demonstrate the necessity for dividing abstract satisfaction into two dimensions, comprising economic-related satisfaction (ES) and production-related satisfaction (PS), with DC, OC, PP and RM having significant effects on ES, while DC, OC, EW and RM influence PS. In addition, the model tests the indirect effects of these performance variables on ES and PS. In particular, OC indirectly affects ES and PS through mediation of RM and DC respectively. The results also provide opportunities for improving contractor satisfaction and supplementing the contractor selection criteria for clients.

Review of current fire design rules for cold-formed steel wall systems

Light gauge steel frame wall systems are commonly used in industrial and commercial buildings, and there is a need for simple fire design rules to predict their load capacities and fire resistance ratings. During fire events, the light gauge steel frame wall studs are subjected to non-uniform temperature distributions that cause thermal bowing, neutral axis shift and magnification effects and thus resulting in a combined axial compression and bending action on the studs. In this research, a series of full-scale fire tests was conducted first to evaluate the performance of light gauge steel frame wall systems with eight different wall configurations under standard fire conditions. Finite element models of light gauge steel frame walls were then developed, analysed under transient and steady-state conditions and validated using full-scale fire tests. Using the results from fire tests and finite element analyses, a detailed investigation was undertaken into the prediction of axial compression strength and failure times of light gauge steel frame wall studs in standard fires using the available fire design rules based on Australian, American and European standards. The results from both fire tests and finite element analyses were used to investigate the ability of these fire design rules to include the complex effects of non-uniform temperature distributions and their accuracy in predicting the axial compression strength of wall studs and the failure times. Suitable modifications were then proposed to the fire design rules. This article presents the details of this investigation on the fire design rules of light gauge steel frame walls and the results.

Regulating the coal industry : striking a balance between commercial and public interests - a Queensland case study

The coal industry in Queensland operates in a very complex regulatory environment with a matrix of Federal and State laws covering the environment, health and safety, taxation and royalties, tenure, and development approvals. The Queensland Government in 2012 recognised the validity of certain industry concerns and passed two Acts being the Environmental Protection (Greentape Reduction) Amendment Act 2012 (the Greentape Act) and the Mines Legislation (Streamlining) Amendment Act 2012 (the Streamlining Act). Other changes are foreshadowed in relation to overlapping tenure and in the development of common resources legislation. Accordingly there is a great level of activity and change that has occurred or which is on the horizon. This article focuses upon these regulatory changes and foreshadows other areas requiring consideration. It commences with a consideration of the changes that have already occurred, examines those regulatory amendments that are on the drawing board and concludes with suggestions as to further interventions and amendments that have the potential to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the legislative framework in which coal mining is conducted.

Action for change? Embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives in early childhood education curricula

This thesis focuses on non-Indigenous educators’ work around embedding Indigenous perspectives in early childhood education curricula. In place of reporting examples of ‘good’ educational practice, the study questions how whiteness and racism continue to operate in diversity work that is seen to be productive and inclusive. The thesis argues for a more comprehensive framework for embedding Indigenous perspectives in before-school contexts to support educators’ efforts. New strategies for professional development are also suggested to support changes in disciplinary knowledge and pedagogy.

Creep and shrinkage of ultra lightweight cement composite

Creep and shrinkage behaviour of an ultra lightweight cement composite (ULCC) up to 450 days was evaluated in comparison with those of a normal weight aggregate concrete (NWAC) and a lightweight aggregate concrete (LWAC) with similar 28-day compressive strength. The ULCC is characterized by low density < 1500 kg/m3 and high compressive strength about 60 MPa. Autogenous shrinkage increased rapidly in the ULCC at early-age and almost 95% occurred prior to the start of creep test at 28 days. Hence, majority of shrinkage of the ULCC during creep test was drying shrinkage. Total shrinkage of the ULCC during the 450-day creep test was the lowest compared to the NWAC and LWAC. However, corresponding total creep in the ULCC was the highest with high proportion attributed to basic creep (≥ ~90%) and limited drying creep. The high creep of the ULCC is likely due to its low E-modulus. Specific creep of the ULCC was similar to that of the NWAC, but more than 80% higher than the LWAC. Creep coefficient of the ULCC was about 47% lower than that of the NWAC but about 18% higher than that of the LWAC. Among five creep models evaluated which tend to over-estimate the creep coefficient of the ULCC, EC2 model gives acceptable prediction within +25% deviations.

Damage diagnosis for complex steel truss bridges using multi-layer genetic algorithm

Considerate amount of research has proposed optimization-based approaches employing various vibration parameters for structural damage diagnosis. The damage detection by these methods is in fact a result of updating the analytical structural model in line with the current physical model. The feasibility of these approaches has been proven. But most of the verification has been done on simple structures, such as beams or plates. In the application on a complex structure, like steel truss bridges, a traditional optimization process will cost massive computational resources and lengthy convergence. This study presents a multi-layer genetic algorithm (ML-GA) to overcome the problem. Unlike the tedious convergence process in a conventional damage optimization process, in each layer, the proposed algorithm divides the GA’s population into groups with a less number of damage candidates; then, the converged population in each group evolves as an initial population of the next layer, where the groups merge to larger groups. In a damage detection process featuring ML-GA, as parallel computation can be implemented, the optimization performance and computational efficiency can be enhanced. In order to assess the proposed algorithm, the modal strain energy correlation (MSEC) has been considered as the objective function. Several damage scenarios of a complex steel truss bridge’s finite element model have been employed to evaluate the effectiveness and performance of ML-GA, against a conventional GA. In both single- and multiple damage scenarios, the analytical and experimental study shows that the MSEC index has achieved excellent damage indication and efficiency using the proposed ML-GA, whereas the conventional GA only converges at a local solution.

Children as change agents for sustainability : an action research case study in a kindergarten

At a time when global consumption and production levels are 25 percent higher than the Earth’s sustainable carrying capacity, there are worldwide calls to find ways to sustain the Earth for this and future generations. A central premise of this study is that education systems have an obligation to participate in this move towards sustainability and can respond by embedding education for sustainability into curricula. This study took early childhood education as its focus due to the teacherresearcher’s own concerns about the state of the planet, coupled with early childhood education’s established traditions of nature-based and child-centred pedagogy. The study explored the experiences of a class of kindergarten children as they undertook a Project Approach to learning about environmental sustainability. The Project Approach is an adaptation of Chard’s work which is situated within a constructivist theoretical framework (Chard, 2011). The Project Approach involves in-depth investigations around an identified topic of interest. It has three phases: introductory, synthesising and culminating phase. The study also investigated the learning journey of the classroom teacher/researcher who broadened her long-held co-constructivist teaching approaches to include transformative practices in order to facilitate curriculum which embedded education for sustainability. While coconstructivist approaches focus on the co-construction of knowledge, transformative practices are concerned with creating change. An action research case study was conducted. This involved twenty-two children who attended an Australian kindergarten. Data were collected and analysed over a seven week period. The study found that young children can be change agents for sustainability when a Project Approach is broadened to include transformative practices. The study also found that the child participants were able to think critically about environmental and sustainability issues, were able to create change in their local contexts, and took on the role of educators to influence others’ environmental behaviours. Another finding was that the teacher-researcher’s participation in the study caused a transformation of both her teaching philosophy and the culture at the kindergarten. An important outcome of the study was the development of a new curriculum model that integrates and has applicability for curriculum development and teacher practice.

From evidence to action: a shared leadership approach

This paper proposes an organisational effectiveness model that applies the theoretical frameworks of shared leadership, appreciative inquiry, and knowledge creation. Similar to many libraries worldwide, Auraria Library technical services department struggled to establish efficient and effective workflow for electronic resources management. The library purchased an Electronic Resource Management System, as the literature suggests; however, this technology-enabled system did not resolve workflow issues. The Auraria Library case study demonstrates that a technical services division can successfully reorganize personnel, reassign responsibilities, and measure outcomes within an evidencebased shared leadership culture, which invites and enables participants to identify problems and create solutions amidst a dynamically changing electronic resources environment.

Alternative structural design strategies for bridge decks in low traffic volume roads

This research is part of a major project with a stimulus that rose from the need to manage a large number of ageing bridges in low traffic volume roads (LTVR) in Australia. The project investigated, designed and consequently constructed, involved replacing an ageing super-structure of a 10m span bridge with a disused Flat-bed Rail Wagon (FRW). This research, therefore, is developed on the premises that the FRW can be adopted as the main structural system for the bridges in LTVR network. The main focus of this research is to present two alternate deck wearing systems (DWS) as part of the design of the FRW as road bridge deck conforming to AS5100 (2004). The bare FRW structural components were first examined for their adequacy (ultimate and serviceability) in resisting the critical loads specified in AS5100(2004). Two options of DWSs were evaluated and their effects on the FRW examined. The first option involved usage of timber DWS; the idea of this option was to use all the primary and secondary members of the FRW in load sharing and to provide additional members where weaknesses in the original members arose. The second option involved usage of reinforced concrete DWS with only the primary members of the FRW sharing the AS5100 (2004) loading. This option inherently minimised the risk associated with any uncertainty of the secondary members to their structural adequacy. This thesis reports the design phases of both options with conclusions of the selection of the ideal option for better structural performance, ease of construction and cost. The comparison carried out here focuses on the distribution of the traffic load by the FRW as a superstructure. Advantages and disadvantages highlighting cost comparisons and ease of constructability of the two systems are also included.

Automatic query expansion : a structural linguistic perspective

A user’s query is considered to be an imprecise description of their information need. Automatic query expansion is the process of reformulating the original query with the goal of improving retrieval effectiveness. Many successful query expansion techniques ignore information about the dependencies that exist between words in natural language. However, more recent approaches have demonstrated that by explicitly modeling associations between terms significant improvements in retrieval effectiveness can be achieved over those that ignore these dependencies. State-of-the-art dependency-based approaches have been shown to primarily model syntagmatic associations. Syntagmatic associations infer a likelihood that two terms co-occur more often than by chance. However, structural linguistics relies on both syntagmatic and paradigmatic associations to deduce the meaning of a word. Given the success of dependency-based approaches and the reliance on word meanings in the query formulation process, we argue that modeling both syntagmatic and paradigmatic information in the query expansion process will improve retrieval effectiveness. This article develops and evaluates a new query expansion technique that is based on a formal, corpus-based model of word meaning that models syntagmatic and paradigmatic associations. We demonstrate that when sufficient statistical information exists, as in the case of longer queries, including paradigmatic information alone provides significant improvements in retrieval effectiveness across a wide variety of data sets. More generally, when our new query expansion approach is applied to large-scale web retrieval it demonstrates significant improvements in retrieval effectiveness over a strong baseline system, based on a commercial search engine.

Future Information Communication Technology and Applications : ICFICE 2013

Focuses on the various aspects of advances in future information communication technology and its applications Presents the latest issues and progress in the area of future information communication technology Applicable to both researchers and professionals These proceedings are based on the 2013 International Conference on Future Information & Communication Engineering (ICFICE 2013), which will be held at Shenyang in China from June 24-26, 2013. The conference is open to all over the world, and participation from Asia-Pacific region is particularly encouraged. The focus of this conference is on all technical aspects of electronics, information, and communications ICFICE-13 will provide an opportunity for academic and industry professionals to discuss the latest issues and progress in the area of FICE. In addition, the conference will publish high quality papers which are closely related to the various theories and practical applications in FICE. Furthermore, we expect that the conference and its publications will be a trigger for further related research and technology improvements in this important subject. "This work was supported by the NIPA (National IT Industry Promotion Agency) of Korea Grant funded by the Korean Government (Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning)."

Structural and electronic properties of diazonium functionalized (4, 4) single walled carbon nanotube : an ab initio study

In this work, ab initio density functional theory (DFT) calculations are performed to study the structural and electronic properties of diazonium reagent functionalized (4, 4) single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT). We find the aryl group covalently bonds with SWCNT and prefers to be perpendicular to the side wall of nanotube. It has a rotational barrier of 0.35 eV around the formed aryl-tube bond axis and should be thermodynamically stable at room temperature. Additionally, new peaks appeared around the Fermi energy in the density of state (DOS) due to the weak band dispersion. Increasing of the coverage of the functional group will result in significant upshift of the Fermi level.

Molecular dynamics simulation of structural characteristics in metal cluster deposition on surfaces

The deposition of small metal clusters (Cu, Au and Al) on f.c.c. metals (Cu, Au and Ni) has been studied by molecular dynamics simulation using Finnis–Sinclair (FS) potential. The impact energy varied from 0.01 to 10 eV/atom. First, the deposition of single cluster was simulated. We observed that, even at much lower energy, a small cluster with (Ih) icosahedral symmetry was reconstructed to match the substrate structure (f.c.c.) after deposition. Next, clusters were modeled to drop, one after the other, on the surface. The nanostructure was found by soft landing of Au clusters on Cu with increasing coverage, where interfacial energy dominates. While at relatively higher deposition energy (a few eV), the ordered f.c.c.-like structure was observed in the first adlayer of the film formed by Al clusters depositing on Ni substrate. This characteristic is mainly attributive to the ballistic collision. Our results indicate that the surface morphology synthesized by cluster deposition could be controlled by experimental parameters, which will be helpful for controlled design of nanostructure.

The Convergence Review and the principle of Australians' access to and opportunities for participation

The recent Australian Convergence Review’s second principle states: “Australians should have access to and opportunities for participation in a diverse mix of services, voices, views and information”. However, in failing to define its own use and understanding of the terms ‘access’ and ‘participation’ the Convergence Review exposes itself to criticism. These terms would no doubt be made unambiguously clear should the Review’s recommendations move towards policy, and this paper contributes to this discussion by framing access and participation, from the perspective of the ‘produser’ (Bruns, 2008), around three separate but related issues: the failure to frame the discussion that will be undertaken by the Australian Law Reform Commission’s 2012 2013 Copyright Inquiry; the prioritising of the market over and above media accountability and the health of the public sphere; and the missed opportunity to develop a national framework for digital literacy and advanced digital citizenry.