An evaluation of alternative media for pebble matrix filtration using clay balls and recycled crushed glass

Protecting slow sand filters (SSFs) from high-turbidity waters by pretreatment using pebble matrix filtration (PMF) has previously been studied in the laboratory at University College London, followed by pilot field trials in Papua New Guinea and Serbia. The first full-scale PMF plant was completed at a water-treatment plant in Sri Lanka in 2008, and during its construction, problems were encountered in sourcing the required size of pebbles and sand as filter media. Because sourcing of uniform-sized pebbles may be problematic in many countries, the performance of alternative media has been investigated for the sustainability of the PMF system. Hand-formed clay balls made at a 100-yearold brick factory in the United Kingdom appear to have satisfied the role of pebbles, and a laboratory filter column was operated by using these clay balls together with recycled crushed glass as an alternative to sand media in the PMF. Results showed that in countries where uniform-sized pebbles are difficult to obtain, clay balls are an effective and feasible alternative to natural pebbles. Also, recycled crushed glass performed as well as or better than silica sand as an alternative fine media in the clarification process, although cleaning by drainage was more effective with sand media. In the tested filtration velocity range of ð0:72–1:33Þ m=h and inlet turbidity range of (78–589) NTU, both sand and glass produced above 95% removal efficiencies. The head loss development during clogging was about 30% higher in sand than in glass media.

Human resource characteristics of international new ventures : the role of immigrant entrepreneurs

Immigrant Entrepreneurs (IE) are often portrayed as pushed into self-employment due to employment barriers in their adopted countries. But IE have human resources, like international experience, which can help them form international new ventures (INV). We question the role of IE in INV. We use randomly selected data from 561 young firms from the Comprehensive Australian Study of Entrepreneurial Emergence (CAUSEE) project. We find that IE are over-represented in INV and have many characteristics known to facilitate INV success including more founders, university degree, international connections and technical capability. These findings are relevant to policy makers, and nascent IE.

Illegal street racing and associated (hooning) behaviours

In an Australian context, the term hooning refers to risky driving behaviours such as illegal street racing and speed trials, as well as behaviours that involve unnecessary noise and smoke, which include burn outs, donuts, fish tails, drifting and other skids. Hooning receives considerable negative media attention in Australia, and since the 1990s all Australian jurisdictions have implemented vehicle impoundment programs to deal with the problem. However, there is limited objective evidence of the road safety risk associated with hooning behaviours. Attempts to estimate the risk associated with hooning are limited by official data collection and storage practices, and the willingness of drivers to admit to their illegal behaviour in the event of a crash. International evidence suggests that illegal street racing is associated with only a small proportion of fatal crashes; however, hooning in an Australian context encompasses a broader group of driving behaviours than illegal street racing alone, and it is possible that the road safety risks will differ with these behaviours. There is evidence from North American jurisdictions that vehicle impoundment programs are effective for managing drink driving offenders, and drivers who continue to drive while disqualified or suspended both during and post-impoundment. However, these programs used impoundment periods of 30 – 180 days (depending on the number of previous offences). In Queensland the penalty for a first hooning offence is 48 hours, while the vehicle can be impounded for up to 3 months for a second offence, or permanently for a third or subsequent offence within three years. Thus, it remains unclear whether similar effects will be seen for hooning offenders in Australia, as no evaluations of vehicle impoundment programs for hooning have been published. To address these research needs, this program of research consisted of three complementary studies designed to: (1) investigate the road safety implications of hooning behaviours in terms of the risks associated with the specific behaviours, and the drivers who engage in these behaviours; and (2) assess the effectiveness of current approaches to dealing with the problem; in order to (3) inform policy and practice in the area of hooning behaviour. Study 1 involved qualitative (N = 22) and quantitative (N = 290) research with drivers who admitted engaging in hooning behaviours on Queensland roads. Study 2 involved a systematic profile of a large sample of drivers (N = 834) detected and punished for a hooning offence in Queensland, and a comparison of their driving and crash histories with a randomly sampled group of Queensland drivers with the same gender and age distribution. Study 3 examined the post-impoundment driving behaviour of hooning offenders (N = 610) to examine the effects of vehicle impoundment on driving behaviour. The theoretical framework used to guide the research incorporated expanded deterrence theory, social learning theory, and driver thrill-seeking perspectives. This framework was used to explore factors contributing to hooning behaviours, and interpret the results of the aspects of the research designed to explore the effectiveness of vehicle impoundment as a countermeasure for hooning. Variables from each of the perspectives were related to hooning measures, highlighting the complexity of the behaviour. This research found that the road safety risk of hooning behaviours appears low, as only a small proportion of the hooning offences in Study 2 resulted in a crash. However, Study 1 found that hooning-related crashes are less likely to be reported than general crashes, particularly when they do not involve an injury, and that higher frequencies of hooning behaviours are associated with hooning-related crash involvement. Further, approximately one fifth of drivers in Study 1 reported being involved in a hooning-related crash in the previous three years, which is comparable to general crash involvement among the general population of drivers in Queensland. Given that hooning-related crashes represented only a sub-set of crash involvement for this sample, this suggests that there are risks associated with hooning behaviour that are not apparent in official data sources. Further, the main evidence of risk associated with the behaviour appears to relate to the hooning driver, as Study 2 found that these drivers are likely to engage in other risky driving behaviours (particularly speeding and driving vehicles with defects or illegal modifications), and have significantly more traffic infringements, licence sanctions and crashes than drivers of a similar (i.e., young) age. Self-report data from the Study 1 samples indicated that Queensland’s vehicle impoundment and forfeiture laws are perceived as severe, and that many drivers have reduced their hooning behaviour to avoid detection. However, it appears that it is more common for drivers to have simply changed the location of their hooning behaviour to avoid detection. When the post-impoundment driving behaviour of the sample of hooning offenders was compared to their pre-impoundment behaviour to examine the effectiveness of vehicle impoundment in Study 3, it was found that there was a small but significant reduction in hooning offences, and also for other traffic infringements generally. As Study 3 was observational, it was not possible to control for extraneous variables, and is, therefore, possible that some of this reduction was due to other factors, such as a reduction in driving exposure, the effects of changes to Queensland’s Graduated Driver Licensing scheme that were implemented during the study period and affected many drivers in the offender sample due to their age, or the extension of vehicle impoundment to other types of offences in Queensland during the post-impoundment period. However, there was a protective effect observed, in that hooning offenders did not show the increase in traffic infringements in the post period that occurred within the comparison sample. This suggests that there may be some effect of vehicle impoundment on the driving behaviour of hooning offenders, and that this effect is not limited to their hooning driving behaviour. To be more confident in these results, it is necessary to measure driving exposure during the post periods to control for issues such as offenders being denied access to vehicles. While it was not the primary aim of this program of research to compare the utility of different theoretical perspectives, the findings of the research have a number of theoretical implications. For example, it was found that only some of the deterrence variables were related to hooning behaviours, and sometimes in the opposite direction to predictions. Further, social learning theory variables had stronger associations with hooning. These results suggest that a purely legal approach to understanding hooning behaviours, and designing and implementing countermeasures designed to reduce these behaviours, are unlikely to be successful. This research also had implications for policy and practice, and a number of recommendations were made throughout the thesis to improve the quality of relevant data collection practices. Some of these changes have already occurred since the expansion of the application of vehicle impoundment programs to other offences in Queensland. It was also recommended that the operational and resource costs of these laws should be compared to the road safety benefits in ongoing evaluations of effectiveness to ensure that finite traffic policing resources are allocated in a way that produces maximum road safety benefits. However, as the evidence of risk associated with the hooning driver is more compelling than that associated with hooning behaviour, it was argued that the hooning driver may represent the better target for intervention. Suggestions for future research include ongoing evaluations of the effectiveness of vehicle impoundment programs for hooning and other high-risk driving behaviours, and the exploration of additional potential targets for intervention to reduce hooning behaviour. As the body of knowledge regarding the factors contributing to hooning increases, along with the identification of potential barriers to the effectiveness of current countermeasures, recommendations for changes in policy and practice for hooning behaviours can be made.

Indigenous Australians, vulnerability and the news media

This short article explores the ways in which the news media's reporting about Indigenous Australians can be improved. The article looks at how journalists predominantly portray Indigenous people in vulnerable circumstances. Journalists also often misrepresent Indigenous Australians in ways that can potentially harm individuals and communities. In forums about the media, it is common to hear Indigenous people say that they ignore non-Indigenous news services due to such problems, and they rely on community media instead. Even so, the non-Indigenous media has a huge impact on public understanding and government policies, which directly influence the living conditions of Indigenous people. Thus it remains important to consider how the performance of non-Indigenous media can be improved, and the article discusses the steps that are needed if this is to happen.

From deep North to global governance exemplar : Fitzgerald's impact on the International Anti-corruption Movement

In pre-Fitzgerald Queensland, the existence of corruption was widely known but its extent and modes of operation were not fully evident. The Fitzgerald Report identified the need for reform of the structure, procedures and efficiency in public administration in Queensland. What was most striking in the Queensland reform process was that a new model for combating corruption had been developed. Rather than rely upon a single law and a single institution, existing institutions were strengthened and new institutions were instituted to create a set of mutually supporting and mutually checking institutions, agencies and laws that jointly sought to improve governmental standards and combat corruption. Some of the reforms were either unique to Queensland or very rare. One of the strengths of this approach was that it avoided creating a single overarching institution to fight corruption. There are many powerful opponents of reform. Influential institutions and individuals resist any interference with their privileges. In order to cause a mass exodus from an entrenched corruption system, a seminal event or defining process is needed to alter expectations and incentives that are sufficient to encourage significant numbers of individuals to desert the corruption system and assist the integrity system in exposing and destroying it. The Fitzgerald Inquiry was such an event. The article also briefly addresses methods for destroying national corruption system where they emerge and exist.

Professions without borders : global ethics and the international rule of law

The emergence of strong sovereign states after the Treaty of Westphalia turned two of the most cosmopolitan professions (law and arms) into two of the least cosmopolitan. Sovereign states determined the content of the law within their borders – including which, if any, ecclesiastical law was to be applied; what form of economic regulation was adopted; and what, if any, international law applied. Similarly, states sought to ensure that all military force was at their disposal in national armies. The erosion of sovereignty in a post-Westphalian world may significantly reverse these processes. The erosion of sovereignty is likely to have profound consequences for the legal profession and the ethics of how, and for what ends, it is practised. Lawyers have played a major role in the civilization of sovereign states through the articulation and institutionalisation of key governance values – starting with the rule of law. An increasingly global profession must take on similar tasks. The same could be said of the military. This essay will review the concept of an international rule of law and its relationship to domestic conceptions and outline the task of building the international rule of law and the role that lawyers can and should play in it.

Combating computer crime : an international perspective

Given the serious nature of computer crime, and its global nature and implications, it is clear that there is a crucial need for a common understanding of such criminal activity internationally in order to deal with it effectively. Research into the extent to which legislation, international initiatives, and policy and procedures to combat and investigate computer crime are consistent globally is therefore of enormous importance. The challenge is to study, analyse, and compare the policies and practices of combating computer crime under different jurisdictions in order to identify the extent to which they are consistent with each other and with international guidelines; and the extent of their successes and limitations. The purpose ultimately is to identify areas where improvements are needed and what those improvements should be. This thesis examines approaches used for combating computer crime, including money laundering, in Australia, the UAE, the UK and the USA, four countries which represent a spectrum of economic development and culture. It does so in the context of the guidelines of international organizations such as the Council of Europe (CoE) and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). In the case of the UAE, we examine also the cultural influences which differentiate it from the other three countries and which has necessarily been a factor in shaping its approaches for countering money laundering in particular. The thesis concludes that because of the transnational nature of computer crime there is a need internationally for further harmonisation of approaches for combating computer crime. The specific contributions of the thesis are as follows: „h Developing a new unified comprehensive taxonomy of computer crime based upon the dual characteristics of the role of the computer and the contextual nature of the crime „h Revealing differences in computer crime legislation in Australia, the UAE, the UK and the USA, and how they correspond to the CoE Convention on Cybercrime and identifying a new framework to develop harmonised computer crime or cybercrime legislation globally „h Identifying some important issues that continue to create problems for law enforcement agencies such as insufficient resources, coping internationally with computer crime legislation that differs between countries, having comprehensive documented procedures and guidelines for combating computer crime, and reporting and recording of computer crime offences as distinct from other forms of crime „h Completing the most comprehensive study currently available regarding the extent of money laundered in four such developed or fast developing countries „h Identifying that the UK and the USA are the most advanced with regard to anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) systems among the four countries based on compliance with the FATF recommendations. In addition, the thesis has identified that local factors have affected how the UAE has implemented its financial and AML/CFT systems and reveals that such local and cultural factors should be taken into account when implementing or evaluating any country¡¦s AML/CFT system.

A mass-conservative control volume-finite element method for solving Richards’ equation in heterogeneous porous media

We present a mass-conservative vertex-centred finite volume method for efficiently solving the mixed form of Richards’ equation in heterogeneous porous media. The spatial discretisation is particularly well-suited to heterogeneous media because it produces consistent flux approximations at quadrature points where material properties are continuous. Combined with the method of lines, the spatial discretisation gives a set of differential algebraic equations amenable to solution using higher-order implicit solvers. We investigate the solution of the mixed form using a Jacobian-free inexact Newton solver, which requires the solution of an extra variable for each node in the mesh compared to the pressure-head form. By exploiting the structure of the Jacobian for the mixed form, the size of the preconditioner is reduced to that for the pressure-head form, and there is minimal computational overhead for solving the mixed form. The proposed formulation is tested on two challenging test problems. The solutions from the new formulation offer conservation of mass at least one order of magnitude more accurate than a pressure head formulation, and the higher-order temporal integration significantly improves both the mass balance and computational efficiency of the solution.

The sun gives without ever receiving

YEAR: 2010 ROLE: Artist FORMAT: Miniature 3D Sculpture produced in resin using 3D printing technologies. WITH: International Touring Show ‘Inside Out’ WHAT: A miniature sculpture that contributes towards my ongoing explorations into how our collective ability to sustain (the future) is as much a cultural problematic as it is an economic or technological one. OVERVIEW: The curatorial brief was for each curated artist was to design a piece in CAD suitable for 3D resin printing - The object should be entirely generated through 3D visualisation and modelling tools and should be machined and shipped within the dimensions of 6cm x 6cm x 6cm. My design for this brief was influenced by recent research I had conducted in Mildura in the Sunraysia irrigated region of NW Victoria. Each name set within the work is an Australian soldier/settler – who, on returning from the ‘Great War’ was duly awarded a ‘block’ in Australia’s new inland irrigated settlements - with the explicit task of clearing it to plant and reap. Through their concerted and well-intentioned efforts, these workers began to profoundly re-shape Australia’s marginal country - inadvertently presaging the bleak future faced today by many of Australia’s inland lands and river systems. Furthermore, through that time's predominant colonial conception of ‘terra nullius’ (this land is unoccupied and therefore free to be claimed) they each played a small but formative part in building the profound cultural divide between land and peoples that still haunts Australia today. THE EXHIBITION: Inside Out is a compelling international touring exhibition featuring forty-six miniature sculptures produced in resin using 3D printing technologies. Developments in virtual computer visualisation and integrated digital technologies are giving contemporary makers new insight and opportunities to create objects and forms which were previously impossible to produce or difficult to envisage. The exhibition is the result of collaboration between the Art Technology Coalition, the University of Technology Sydney and RMIT University in Australia along with De Montfort University, Manchester Metropolitan University and Dartington College of Arts at University College Falmouth in the United Kingdom.

Re-imagining static Utopias : unraveling the bat/human problem

The making of the modern world has long been fuelled by utopian images that are blind to ecological reality. Botanical gardens are but one example – who typically portray themselves as miniature, isolated 'edens on earth'. Whilst respected, heritage-laden institutions such as the Royal Botanical Gardens in Sydney, Australia promote such an idealised image they are now self-evidently also the vital ‘lungs’ of a crowded city as well as a critical habitats for threatened biodiversity (in this case notably flying foxes). In 2010 the 'Remnant Emergency Artlab' set out to alleviate this utopian hangover through a creative provocation called the 'Botanical Gardens ‘X-Tension’ - an imagined city-wide, distributed, network of 'ecological gardens' - in order to ask, what now needs to be better understood, connected and therefore ultimately conserved?