Machine recognition of hand-drawn circuit diagrams

An application of image processing techniques to recognition of hand-drawn circuit diagrams is presented. The scanned image of a diagram is pre-processed to remove noise and converted to bilevel. Morphological operations are applied to obtain a clean, connected representation using thinned lines. The diagram comprises of nodes, connections and components. Nodes and components are segmented using appropriate thresholds on a spatially varying object pixel density. Connection paths are traced using a pixel-stack. Nodes are classified using syntactic analysis. Components are classified using a combination of invariant moments, scalar pixel-distribution features, and vector relationships between straight lines in polygonal representations. A node recognition accuracy of 82% and a component recognition accuracy of 86% was achieved on a database comprising 107 nodes and 449 components. This recogniser can be used for layout “beautification” or to generate input code for circuit analysis and simulation packages

Data preprocessing for anomaly based network intrusion detection : a review

Data preprocessing is widely recognized as an important stage in anomaly detection. This paper reviews the data preprocessing techniques used by anomaly-based network intrusion detection systems (NIDS), concentrating on which aspects of the network traffic are analyzed, and what feature construction and selection methods have been used. Motivation for the paper comes from the large impact data preprocessing has on the accuracy and capability of anomaly-based NIDS. The review finds that many NIDS limit their view of network traffic to the TCP/IP packet headers. Time-based statistics can be derived from these headers to detect network scans, network worm behavior, and denial of service attacks. A number of other NIDS perform deeper inspection of request packets to detect attacks against network services and network applications. More recent approaches analyze full service responses to detect attacks targeting clients. The review covers a wide range of NIDS, highlighting which classes of attack are detectable by each of these approaches. Data preprocessing is found to predominantly rely on expert domain knowledge for identifying the most relevant parts of network traffic and for constructing the initial candidate set of traffic features. On the other hand, automated methods have been widely used for feature extraction to reduce data dimensionality, and feature selection to find the most relevant subset of features from this candidate set. The review shows a trend toward deeper packet inspection to construct more relevant features through targeted content parsing. These context sensitive features are required to detect current attacks.

Designing university, government and industry community engagement to build informed and effective interventions in the area of road safety

Individuals, community organisations and industry have always been involved to varying degrees in efforts to address the Queensland road toll. Traditionally, road crash prevention efforts have been led by state and local government organisations. While community and industry groups have sometimes become involved (e.g. Driver Reviver campaign), their efforts have largely been uncoordinated and under-resourced. A common strength of these initiatives lies in the energy, enthusiasm and persistence of community-based efforts. Conversely, a weakness has sometimes been the lack of knowledge, awareness or prioritisation of evidence-based interventions or their capacity to build on collaborative efforts. In 2000, the Queensland University of Technology’s Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety – Queensland (CARRS-Q) identified this issue as an opportunity to bridge practice and research and began acknowledging a selection of these initiatives, in partnership with the RACQ, through the Queensland Road Safety Awards program. After nine years it became apparent there was need to strengthen this connection, with the Centre establishing a Community Engagement Workshop in 2009 as part of the overall Awards program. With an aim of providing community participants opportunities to see, hear and discuss the experiences of others, this event was further developed in 2010, and with the collaboration of the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads, the RACQ, Queensland Police Service and Leighton Contractors Pty Ltd, a stand-alone Queensland Road Safety Awards Community Engagement Workshop was held in 2010. Each collaborating organisation recognised a need to mobilise the community through effective information and knowledge sharing, and recognised that learning and discussion can influence lasting behaviour change and action in this often emotive, yet not always evidence-based, area. This free event featured a number of speakers representing successful projects from around Australia and overseas. Attendees were encouraged to interact with the speakers, to ask questions, and most importantly, build connections with other attendees to build a ‘community road safety army’ all working throughout Australia on projects underpinned by evaluated research. The workshop facilitated the integration of research, policy and grass-roots action enhancing the success of community road safety initiatives. For collaboration partners, the event enabled them to transfer their knowledge in an engaged approach, working within a more personal communication process. An analysis of the success factors for this event identified openness to community groups and individuals, relevance of content to local initiatives, generous support with the provision of online materials and ongoing communication with key staff members as critical and supports the view that the university can directly provide both the leadership and the research needed for effective and credible community-based initiatives to address injury and death on the roads.

The current context of Queensland primary teacher engagement with professional learning through professional associations

Engaging Queensland primary teachers in professional associations can be a challenge, particularly for subject-specific associations. Professional associations are recognised providers of professional learning. By not being involved in professional associations primary teachers are missing potential quality professional learning opportunities that can impact the results of their students. The purpose of the research is twofold: Firstly, to provide a thorough understanding of the current context in order to assist professional associations who wish to change from their current level of primary teacher engagement; and secondly, to contribute to the literature in the area of professional learning for primary teachers within professional associations. Using a three part research design, interviews of primary teachers and focus groups of professional association participants and executives were conducted and themed to examine the current context of engagement. Force field analysis was used to provide the framework to identify the driving and restraining forces for primary teacher engagement in professional learning through professional associations. Communities of practice and professional learning communities were specifically examined as potential models for professional associations to consider. The outcome is a diagrammatic framework outlining the current context of primary teacher engagement, specifically the driving and restraining forces of primary teacher engagement with professional associations. This research also identifies considerations for professional associations wishing to change their level of primary teacher engagement. The results of this research show that there are key themes that provide maximum impact if wishing to increase engagement of primary teachers in professional associations. However the implications of this lies with professional associations and their alignment between intent and practice dedicated to this change.

Accelerated leap methods for simulating discrete stochastic chemical kinetics

Biologists are increasingly conscious of the critical role that noise plays in cellular functions such as genetic regulation, often in connection with fluctuations in small numbers of key regulatory molecules. This has inspired the development of models that capture this fundamentally discrete and stochastic nature of cellular biology - most notably the Gillespie stochastic simulation algorithm (SSA). The SSA simulates a temporally homogeneous, discrete-state, continuous-time Markov process, and of course the corresponding probabilities and numbers of each molecular species must all remain positive. While accurately serving this purpose, the SSA can be computationally inefficient due to very small time stepping so faster approximations such as the Poisson and Binomial τ-leap methods have been suggested. This work places these leap methods in the context of numerical methods for the solution of stochastic differential equations (SDEs) driven by Poisson noise. This allows analogues of Euler-Maruyuma, Milstein and even higher order methods to be developed through the Itô-Taylor expansions as well as similar derivative-free Runge-Kutta approaches. Numerical results demonstrate that these novel methods compare favourably with existing techniques for simulating biochemical reactions by more accurately capturing crucial properties such as the mean and variance than existing methods.

Preparation and characterisation of tri-calcium phosphate scaffolds with tunnel-like macro-pores for bone tissue engineering

Calcium Phosphate ceramics have been widely used in tissue engineering due to their excellent biocompatibility and biodegradability. In the physiological environment, they are able to gradually degrade, absorbed and promote bone growth. Ultimately, they are capable of replacing damaged bone with new tissue. However, their low mechanical properties limit calcium phosphate ceramics in load-bearing applications. To obtain sufficient mechanical properties as well as high biocompatibility is one of the main focuses in biomaterials research. Therefore, the current project focuses on the preparation and characterization of porous tri-calcium phosphate (TCP) ceramic scaffolds. Hydroxapatite (HA) was used as the raw material, and normal calcium phosphate bioglass was added to adjust the ratio between calcium and phosphate. It was found that when 20% bioglass was added to HA and sintered at 1400oC for 3 hours, the TCP scaffold was obtained and this was confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. Test results have shown that by applying this method, TCP scaffolds have significantly higher compressive strength (9.98MPa) than those made via TCP powder (<3MPa). Moreover, in order to further increase the compressive strength of TCP scaffolds, the samples were then coated with bioglass. For normal bioglass coated TCP scaffold, compressive strength was 16.69±0.5MPa; the compressive strength for single layer mesoporous bioglass coated scaffolds was 15.03±0.63MPa. In addition, this project has also concentrated on sizes and shapes effects; it was found that the cylinder scaffolds have more mechanical property than the club ones. In addition, this project performed cell culture within scaffold to assess biocompatibility. The cells were well distributed in the scaffold, and the cytotoxicity test was performed by 3-(4,5)-dimethylthiahiazo(-z-y1)-3,5-di- phenytetrazoliumromide (MTT) assay. The Alkaline Phosphatase (Alp) activity of human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell system (hBMSCs) seeded on scaffold expressed higher in vitro than that in the positive control groups in osteogenic medium, which indicated that the scaffolds were both osteoconductive and osteoinductive, showing potential value in bone tissue engineering.

A conditional retransmission enabled transport protocol for real-time networked control systems

Real-time networked control systems (NCSs) over data networks are being increasingly implemented on a massive scale in industrial applications. Along with this trend, wireless network technologies have been promoted for modern wireless NCSs (WNCSs). However, popular wireless network standards such as IEEE 802.11/15/16 are not designed for real-time communications. Key issues in real-time applications include limited transmission reliability and poor transmission delay performance. Considering the unique features of real-time control systems, this paper develops a conditional retransmission enabled transport protocol (CRETP) to improve the delay performance of the transmission control protocol (TCP) and also the reliability performance of the user datagram protocol (UDP) and its variants. Key features of the CRETP include a connectionless mechanism with acknowledgement (ACK), conditional retransmission and detection of ineffective data packets on the receiver side.

Awakening the spirit : telling the stories

Stephen Page talking with Cheryl Stock Stephen Page is one of the most significant dance artists working in Australia today, unique in his ability to forge and sustain a company of Indigenous artists through his seminal leadership of Bangarra Dance Theatre, which celebrated its 20 year anniversary in 2009. Together with the many artists who have contributed to the Bangarra vision, Stephen has created a distinctive contemporary Indigenous dance style and approach, celebrated for the stories it tells of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander experience. Fusing the traditional with the contemporary through a connection to the spirit of the land and its people, Stephen has inspired and influenced a generation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander dance and theatre artists as a choreographer, director and mentor. His down to earth humour, his passion and his sensitivity draw us as audience, Indigenous and non-Indigenous alike, to his theatrical stories of place and spirit – both ancient and modern – in ways that simultaneously transcend and reaffirm the particular cultural experience which informs them. This conversation covers the early years of growing up with his 'urban clan', discovering dance and politics and his spiritual awakening at Yirrkala. Stephen then describes moving in and out of different realities as a member of Sydney Dance Company whilst simultaneously exploring his Indigenous dance voice, the transition from dancer to choreographer, creating the Bangarra identity and the intercultural experiment of 'Rites' with the Australian Ballet. The last section looks at his various roles as an artistic director and nurturing the next generation of Indigenous artists.

Planning of distribution networks for medium voltage and low voltage

Determination of the placement and rating of transformers and feeders are the main objective of the basic distribution network planning. The bus voltage and the feeder current are two constraints which should be maintained within their standard range. The distribution network planning is hardened when the planning area is located far from the sources of power generation and the infrastructure. This is mainly as a consequence of the voltage drop, line loss and system reliability. Long distance to supply loads causes a significant amount of voltage drop across the distribution lines. Capacitors and Voltage Regulators (VRs) can be installed to decrease the voltage drop. This long distance also increases the probability of occurrence of a failure. This high probability leads the network reliability to be low. Cross-Connections (CC) and Distributed Generators (DGs) are devices which can be employed for improving system reliability. Another main factor which should be considered in planning of distribution networks (in both rural and urban areas) is load growth. For supporting this factor, transformers and feeders are conventionally upgraded which applies a large cost. Installation of DGs and capacitors in a distribution network can alleviate this issue while the other benefits are gained. In this research, a comprehensive planning is presented for the distribution networks. Since the distribution network is composed of low and medium voltage networks, both are included in this procedure. However, the main focus of this research is on the medium voltage network planning. The main objective is to minimize the investment cost, the line loss, and the reliability indices for a study timeframe and to support load growth. The investment cost is related to the distribution network elements such as the transformers, feeders, capacitors, VRs, CCs, and DGs. The voltage drop and the feeder current as the constraints are maintained within their standard range. In addition to minimizing the reliability and line loss costs, the planned network should support a continual growth of loads, which is an essential concern in planning distribution networks. In this thesis, a novel segmentation-based strategy is proposed for including this factor. Using this strategy, the computation time is significantly reduced compared with the exhaustive search method as the accuracy is still acceptable. In addition to being applicable for considering the load growth, this strategy is appropriate for inclusion of practical load characteristic (dynamic), as demonstrated in this thesis. The allocation and sizing problem has a discrete nature with several local minima. This highlights the importance of selecting a proper optimization method. Modified discrete particle swarm optimization as a heuristic method is introduced in this research to solve this complex planning problem. Discrete nonlinear programming and genetic algorithm as an analytical and a heuristic method respectively are also applied to this problem to evaluate the proposed optimization method.

Corporate governance mechanisms and earnings management in transitional countries – evidence from Chinese listed firms

The objective of this thesis is to investigate whether the corporate governance practices adopted by Chinese listed firms are associated with the quality of earnings information. Based on a review of agency and institutional theory, this study develops hypotheses that predict the monitoring effectiveness of the board and the audit committee. Using a combination of univariate and multivariate analyses, the association between corporate governance mechanisms and earnings management are tested from 2004 to 2008. Through analysing the empirical results, a number of findings are summarised as below. First, board independence is weakened by the introduction of government officials as independent directors on the boards. Government officials acting as independent directors, claim that they meet the definition of independent director set by the regulation. However, they have some connection with the State, which is the controlling shareholder in listed SOEs affiliated companies. Consequently, the effect of the independent director’s expertise in constraining earnings management is mitigated as demonstrated by an insignificant association between board expertise and earnings management. An alternative explanation for the inefficiency of board independence may point to the pre-selection of independent directors by the powerful CEO. It is argued that a CEO can manipulate the board composition and choose the "desirable" independent directors to monitor themselves. Second, a number of internal mechanisms, such as board size, board activities, and the separation of the roles of the CEO and chair are found to be significantly associated with discretionary accruals. This result suggests that there are advantages in having a large and active board in the Chinese setting. This can offset the disadvantages associated with large boards, such as increased bureaucracy, and hence, increase the constraining effects of a large and resourceful board. Third, factor analysis identifies two factors: CEO power and board power. CEO power is the factor which consists of CEO duality and turnover, and board power is composed of board size and board activity. The results of CEO power show that if a Chinese listed company has CEO duality and turnover at the same time, it is more likely to have a high level of earnings management. The significant and negative relationship between board power and accruals indicate that large boards with frequent meetings can be associated with low level of earnings management. Overall, the factor analysis suggests that certain governance mechanisms complement each other to become more efficient monitors of opportunistic earnings management. A combination of board characteristics can increase the negative association with earnings management. Fourth, the insignificant results between audit committees and earnings management in Chinese listed firms suggests that the Chinese regulator should strengthen the audit committee functions. This thesis calls for listed firms to disclose more information on audit committee composition and activities, which can facilitate future research on the Chinese audit committee’s monitoring role. Fifth, the interactive results between State ownership and board characteristics show that dominant State ownership has a moderating effect on board monitoring power as the State totally controls 42% of the issued shares. The high percentage of State ownership makes it difficult for the non-controlling institutional shareholders to challenge the State’s dominant status. As a result, the association between non-controlling institutional ownership and earnings management is insignificant in most situations. Lastly, firms audited by the international Big4 have lower abnormal accruals than firms audited by domestic Chinese audit firms. In addition, the inverse U-shape relationship between audit tenure and earnings quality demonstrates the changing effects of audit quality after a certain period of appointment. Furthermore, this thesis finds that listing in Hong Kong Stock Exchanges can be an alternative governance mechanism to discipline Chinese firms to follow strict Hong Kong listing requirements. Management of Hong Kong listed companies are exposed to the scrutiny of international investors and Hong Kong regulators. This in turn reduces their chances of conducting self-interested earnings manipulation. This study is designed to fill the gap in governance literature in China that is related to earnings management. Previous research on corporate governance mechanisms and earnings management in China is not conclusive. The current research builds on previous literature and provides some meaningful implications for practitioners, regulators, academic, and international investors who have investment interests in a transitional country. The findings of this study contribute to corporate governance and earnings management literature in the context of the transitional economy of China. The use of alternative measures for earnings management yields similar results compared with the accruals models and produces additional findings.

Performance load testing and structural adequacy evaluation of road bridge decks

Many ageing road bridges, particularly timber bridges, require urgent improvement due to the demand imposed by the recent version of the Australian bridge loading code, AS 5100. As traffic volume plays a key role in the decision of budget allocations for bridge refurbishment/ replacement, many bridges in low volume traffic network remain in poor condition with axle load and/ or speed restrictions, thus disadvantaging many rural communities. This thesis examines an economical and environmentally sensible option of incorporating disused flat rail wagons (FRW) in the construction of bridges in low volume, high axle load road network. The constructability, economy and structural adequacy of the FRW road bridge is reported in the thesis with particular focus of a demonstration bridge commissioned in regional Queensland. The demonstration bridge comprises of a reinforced concrete slab (RCS) pavement resting on two FRWs with custom designed connection brackets at regular intervals along the span of the bridge. The FRW-RC bridge deck assembly is supported on elastomeric rubber pads resting on the abutment. As this type of bridge replacement technology is new and its structural design is not covered in the design standards, the in-service structural performance of the FRW bridge subjected to the high axle loadings prescribed in AS 5100 is examined through performance load testing. Both the static and the moving load tests are carried out using a fully laden commonly available three-axle tandem truck. The bridge deck is extensively strain gauged and displacement at several key locations is measured using linear variable displacement transducers (LVDTs). A high speed camera is used in the performance test and the digital image data are analysed using proprietary software to capture the locations of the wheel positions on the bridge span accurately. The wheel location is thus synchronised with the displacement and strain time series to infer the structural response of the FRW bridge. Field test data are used to calibrate a grillage model, developed for further analysis of the FRW bridge to various sets of high axle loads stipulated in the bridge design standard. Bridge behaviour predicted by the grillage model has exemplified that the live load stresses of the FRW bridge is significantly lower than the yield strength of steel and the deflections are well below the serviceability limit state set out in AS 5100. Based on the results reported in this thesis, it is concluded that the disused FRWs are competent to resist high axle loading prescribed in AS 5100 and are a viable alternative structural solution of bridge deck in the context of the low volume road networks.

The role of property law in environmental management

Market-based environmental regulation is becoming increasingly common within international and national frameworks. In order for market-based regimes to attract sufficient levels of stakeholder engagement, participants within such schemes require an incentive to participate and furthermore need to feel a sense of security about investing in such processes. A sense of security is associated with property-based interests. This article explores the property-related issues connected with the operation of environmental markets. Relevant property-related considerations include examining the significant role that market-based regulation is playing in connection with the environment; examining the links between property rights and markets; exploring the legal definition of property; analysing the rights and powers associated with environmental interests in land; advancing theory on the need for landholder responsibilities in relation to land and examining the legal mechanisms used to recognise environmental property rights, including the registration thereof.

My Victorian Waterway : Personal Connections with Rivers, Estuaries and Wetlands in Victoria. Report Commissioned by the Department of Sustainability and Environment

Victorians feel a strong connection to their local waterways and most have a good grasp of river health issues. The My Victorian Waterway report analyses how Victorians interact with their local waterways including rivers, lakes and estuaries. The report is based on the results of a survey completed by more than 7,000 Victorians who answered questions about how they use and care for their local waterways as well as their knowledge of river health issues and aspirations for the future of our waterways.

Biomaterial scaffolds in cartilage-subchondral bone defects influencing the repair of autologous articular cartilage transplants

The repair of articular cartilage typically involves the repair of cartilage-subchondral bone tissue defects. Although various bioactive materials have been used to repair bone defects, how these bioactive materials in subchondral bone defects influence the repair of autologous cartilage transplant remains unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of different subchondral biomaterial scaffolds on the repair of autologous cartilage transplant in a sheep model. Cylindrical cartilage-subchondral bone defects were created in the right femoral knee joint of each sheep. The subchondral bone defects were implanted with hydroxyapatite-β-tricalcium phosphate (HA-TCP), poly lactic-glycolic acid (PLGA)-HA-TCP dual-layered composite scaffolds (PLGA/HA-TCP scaffolds), or autologous bone chips. The autologous cartilage layer was placed on top of the subchondral materials. After three months, the effect of different subchondral scaffolds on the repair of autologous cartilage transplant was systematically studied by investigating the mechanical strength, structural integration and histological responses. The results showed that the transplanted cartilage layer supported by HA-TCP scaffolds had better structural integration and higher mechanical strength than that supported by PLGA/HA-TCP scaffolds. Furthermore, HA-TCP supported cartilage showed higher expression of acid mucosubstances and glycol-amino-glycan (GAG) contents than that supported by PLGA/HA-TCP scaffolds. Our results suggested that the physicochemical properties, including the inherent mechanical strength and material chemistry of the scaffolds, play important roles in influencing the repair of autologous cartilage transplants. The study may provide useful information for the design and selection of proper subchondral biomaterials to support the repair of both subchondral bone and cartilage defects.

How design of the physical environment impacts early learning : educators and parents perspectives

This research explores the quality and importance of the physical environment of two early learning centres on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, utilising qualitative interviews with parents (n=4) and educators (n=4) to understand how design might impact on children’s development and a quantitative rating (the Early Childhood Physical Environment Rating Scale; ECPERS) to assess the quality of the physical built environment and infrastructure. With an average ECPERS quality rating, thematic analysis of the interviews revealed that educators and parents viewed the physical environment as important to a child’s development, although the quality of staff was predominant. Early learning centres should be ‘homely’, inviting, bright and linked to the outdoors, with participants describing how space “welcomes the child, makes them feel safe and encourages learning”. Four key themes characterised views: Emotional Connection (quality of staff and physical environment), Experiencing Design (impact of design on child development), Hub for Community Integration (relationships and resources) and Future Vision (ideal physical environment, technology and ratings). With participants often struggling to clearly articulate their thoughts on design issues, a collaborative and jargon-free approach to designing space is required. These findings will help facilitate discussion about the role and design of the physical environment in early childhood centres, with the tangible examples of ‘ideal space’ enhancing communication between architects and educators about how best to design and reconfigure space to enhance learning outcomes.