Optimized strategy for integrated traffic and transit signal control

This paper proposes a unique and innovative approach to integrate transit signal priority control into a traffic adaptive signal control strategy. The proposed strategy was named OSTRAC (Optimized Strategy for integrated TRAffic and TRAnsit signal Control). The cornerstones of OSTRAC include an online microscopic traffic f low prediction model and a Genetic Algorithm (GA) based traffic signal timing module. A sensitivity analysis was conducted to determine the critical GA parameters. The developed traffic f low model demonstrated reliable prediction results through a test. OSTRAC was evaluated by comparing its performance to three other signal control strategies. The evaluation results revealed that OSTRAC efficiently and effectively reduced delay time of general traffic and also transit vehicles.

QoS differentiation in IEEE 802.11 wireless local area networks for real-time control

IEEE 802.11 based wireless local area networks (WLANs) are being increasingly deployed for soft real-time control applications. However, they do not provide quality-ofservice (QoS) differentiation to meet the requirements of periodic real-time traffic flows, a unique feature of real-time control systems. This problem becomes evident particularly when the network is under congested conditions. Addressing this problem, a media access control (MAC) scheme, QoS-dif, is proposed in this paper to enable QoS differentiation in IEEE 802.11 networks for different types of periodic real-time traffic flows. It extends the IEEE 802.11e Enhanced Distributed Channel Access (EDCA) by introducing a QoS differentiation method to deal with different types of periodic traffic that have different QoS requirements for real-time control applications. The effectiveness of the proposed QoS-dif scheme is demonstrated through comparisons with the IEEE 802.11e EDCA mechanism.

Safety culture in supply chains : 'Customer is king'

Despite the presence of many regulations governing the operation of heavy vehicles and supply chains in Australia, the truck driving sector continues to have the highest incidence of fatal injuries compared to all other industries. The working environment has been the focus of attention by safety researchers during the past few decades, with particular consideration been given to the concept ‘safety culture’ and how to maintain, modify and advance responses to occupational risk. One important aspect of the heavy industry which sets it apart is the existence of cultural or sub-cultural influences at an industry wide and occupation-specific level rather than organisational level. This paper reports on the findings of stakeholder’s perceptions of the influences of power and control, and culture on industry safety. In-depth structured interviews were conducted during 2011 with Australian industry stakeholders (n=31). The questioning surrounded decision-making processes with regards to identifying risks, self-monitoring and reducing risky activities; as well as how power-affected relationships may influence the operational performance of supply chains and impacts on driver safety. One of the most significant findings from these interviews relates to the notion of power. The perception that the ‘Customer is King’ was widely viewed, with the majority of stakeholders believing that there exists a ‘master slave mentality’ in the industry. There appears to be great frustration in the industry as to the apparent immunity of customers (particularly retail supply chains) to their responsibilities. There was also a strong perception that the customer holds the balance of power by covertly employing remuneration-related incentives and pressures. Smaller trucking companies are perceived as being more vulnerable to the pressure of customer expectations.

Cell death control : the interplay of apoptosis and autophagy in the pathogenicity of sclerotinia sclerotiorum

Programmed cell death is characterized by a cascade of tightly controlled events that culminate in the orchestrated death of the cell. In multicellular organisms autophagy and apoptosis are recognized as two principal means by which these genetically determined cell deaths occur. During plant-microbe interactions cell death programs can mediate both resistant and susceptible events. Via oxalic acid (OA), the necrotrophic phytopathogen Sclerotinia sclerotiorum hijacks host pathways and induces cell death in host plant tissue resulting in hallmark apoptotic features in a time and dose dependent manner. OA-deficient mutants are non-pathogenic and trigger a restricted cell death phenotype in the host that unexpectedly exhibits markers associated with the plant hypersensitive response including callose deposition and a pronounced oxidative burst, suggesting the plant can recognize and in this case respond, defensively. The details of this plant directed restrictive cell death associated with OA deficient mutants is the focus of this work. Using a combination of electron and fluorescence microscopy, chemical effectors and reverse genetics, we show that this restricted cell death is autophagic. Inhibition of autophagy rescued the non-pathogenic mutant phenotype. These findings indicate that autophagy is a defense response in this necrotrophic fungus/plant interaction and suggest a novel function associated with OA; namely, the suppression of autophagy. These data suggest that not all cell deaths are equivalent, and though programmed cell death occurs in both situations, the outcome is predicated on who is in control of the cell death machinery. Based on our data, we suggest that it is not cell death per se that dictates the outcome of certain plant-microbe interactions, but the manner by which cell death occurs that is crucial.

Returning to the roots of culture : a review and re-conceptualisation of safety culture

Despite significant research, there is still little agreement over how to define safety culture or of what it is comprised. Due to this lack of agreement, much of the safety culture research has little more than safety management strategies in common. There is, however, a degree of acceptance of the close relationship between safety culture and organisational culture. Organisational culture can be described using traditional views of culture drawn from the anthropology and cultural psychology literature. However, the safety culture literature rarely ventures beyond organisational culture into discussions of these more traditional concepts of culture. There is a need to discuss how these concepts of culture can be applied to safety culture to provide greater understanding of safety culture and additional means by which to approach safety in the workplace. This review explores how three traditional conceptualisations of culture; the normative, anthropological and pragmatist conceptualisations, can and have been be applied to safety culture. Finally the review proposes a synthesised conceptualisation of safety culture which can be used to provide greater depth and practical applicability of safety culture, by increasing our understanding of the interactions between cultural and contextual variables in a given workplace and the effect they have on safety.

A variable step-size FxLMS algorithm for feedforward active noise control systems based on a new online secondary path modelling technique

Several approaches have been introduced in literature for active noise control (ANC) systems. Since FxLMS algorithm appears to be the best choice as a controller filter, researchers tend to improve performance of ANC systems by enhancing and modifying this algorithm. This paper proposes a new version of FxLMS algorithm. In many ANC applications an online secondary path modelling method using a white noise as a training signal is required to ensure convergence of the system. This paper also proposes a new approach for online secondary path modelling in feedfoward ANC systems. The proposed algorithm stops injection of the white noise at the optimum point and reactivate the injection during the operation, if needed, to maintain performance of the system. Benefiting new version of FxLMS algorithm and not continually injection of white noise makes the system more desirable and improves the noise attenuation performance. Comparative simulation results indicate effectiveness of the proposed approach.

A new online secondary path modelling method for feedforward active noise control systems

An online secondary path modelling method using a white noise as a training signal is required in many applications of active noise control (ANC) to ensure convergence of the system. Not continually injection of white noise during system operation makes the system more desirable. The purposes of the proposed method are two folds: controlling white noise by preventing continually injection, and benefiting white noise with a larger variance. The modelling accuracy and the convergence rate increase when a white noise with larger variance is used, however larger the variance increases the residual noise, which decreases performance of the system. This paper proposes a new approach for online secondary path modelling in feedfoward ANC systems. The proposed algorithm uses the advantages of the white noise with larger variance to model the secondary path, but the injection is stopped at the optimum point to increase performance of the system. Comparative simulation results shown in this paper indicate effectiveness of the proposed approach in controlling active noise.

Which cultural values matter to business process management? Results from a global Delphi study

Purpose – Business process management (BPM) requires a holistic perspective that includes managing the culture of an organization to achieve objectives of efficient and effective business processes. Still, the specifics of a BPM-supportive organizational culture have not been examined so far. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to identify the characteristics of a cultural setting supportive of BPM objectives. Design/methodology/approach – The paper examines the constituent values of a BPM-supportive cultural setting through a global Delphi study with BPM experts from academia and practice and explore these values in a cultural value framework. Findings – The paper empirically identifies and defines four key cultural values supporting BPM, viz., customer orientation, excellence, responsibility, and teamwork. The paper discusses the relationships between these values and identifies a particular challenge in managing these seemingly competing values. Research limitations/implications – The identification and definition of these values represents a first step towards the operationalization (and empirical analysis) of what has been identified as the concept of BPM culture, i.e. a culture supportive of achieving BPM objectives. Practical implications – Identifying these cultural values provides the basis for developing an instrument that can measure how far an existing cultural context is supportive of BPM. This, in turn, is fundamental for identifying measures towards achieving a BPM culture as a necessary, yet not sufficient means to obtain BPM success. Originality/value – The paper examines which cultural values create an environment receptive for BPM and, thus, specifies the important theoretical construct BPM culture. In addition, the paper raises awareness for realizing these values in a BPM context.

Risky driving behavior among university students and staff in the Sultanate of Oman

Background: There is a well developed literature on research investigating the relationship between various driving behaviours and road crash involvement. However, this research has predominantly been conducted in developed economies dominated by western types of cultural environments. To date no research has been published that has empirically investigated this relationship within the context of the emerging economies such as Oman. Objective: The present study aims to investigate driving behaviour as indexed in the Driving Behaviour Questionnaire (DBQ) among a group of Omani university students and staff. Methods: A convenience non-probability self- selection sampling approach was utilized with Omani university students and staff. Results: A total of 1003 Omani students (n= 632) and staff (n=371) participated in the survey. Factor analysis of the BDQ revealed four main factors that were errors, speeding violation, lapses and aggressive violation. In the multivariate logistic backward regression analysis, the following factors were identified as significant predictors of being involved in causing at least one crash: driving experience, history of offences and two DBQ components i.e. errors and aggressive violation. Conclusion: This study indicates that errors and aggressive violation of the traffic regulations as well as history of having traffic offences are major risk factors for road traffic crashes among the sample. While previous international research has demonstrated that speeding is a primary cause of crashing, in the current context, the results indicate that an array of factors is associated with crashes. Further research using more rigorous methodology is warranted to inform the development of road safety countermeasures in Oman that improves overall traffic safety culture.

Reconnection : a contemporary development in cultural landscape theory contributing to rehabilitation strategies for Australian open-cut coal mining landscapes

A value-shift began to influence global political thinking in the late 20th century, characterised by recognition of the need for environmentally, socially and culturally sustainable resource development. This shift entailed a move away from thinking of ‘nature’ and ‘culture’ as separate entities – the former existing to serve the latter – toward the possibility of embracing the intrinsic worth of the nonhuman world. Cultural landscape theory recognises ‘nature’ as at once both ‘natural’, and a ‘cultural’ construct. As such, it may offer a framework through which to progress in the quest for ‘sustainable development’. This study makes a contribution to this quest by asking whether contemporary developments in cultural landscape theory can contribute to rehabilitation strategies for Australian open-cut coal mining landscapes. The answer is ‘yes’. To answer the research question, a flexible, ‘emergent’ methodological approach has been used, resulting in the following outcomes. A thematic historical overview of landscape values and resource development in Australia post-1788, and a review of cultural landscape theory literature, contribute to the formation of a new theoretical framework: Reconnecting the Interrupted Landscape. This framework establishes a positive answer to the research question. It also suggests a method of application within the Australian open-cut coal mining landscape, a highly visible exemplar of the resource development landscape. This method is speculatively tested against the rehabilitation strategy of an operating open-cut coal mine, concluding with positive recommendations to the industry, and to government.

Confucius Institutes as innovative tools of China's cultural diplomacy

"Chapter 5 by Hartig introduces Confucius Institutes as an innovative tool of China’s cultural diplomacy. It explains the origins and implications of this new approach to promote China’s culture abroad and thus to shape China’s image globally. The chapter draws on case studies of Con- fucius Institutes in Australia and Germany. It shows how China is adapting a Western instrument of cultural diplomacy, namely an organisation like the British Council or Goethe Institute, in an innovative manner to accomplish its goals in the most effective way. In contrast to British Councils or Goethe Institutes, Confucius Institutes are typically set up as joint ventures between Chinese and international partners. By exploring the advantages and disadvantages of this project for both sides, the chapter illustrates how the outside world shapes China and, in turn, China shapes the outside world in the context of cultural exchange and cooperation. It argues that global influences, namely the general negative perception of China in the West, have forced China not only to become active in the field of cultural diplomacy, but furthermore to strive for an innovative way to be successful."

Benefiting white noise in developing feedforward active noise control systems

In many applications of active noise control (ANC), an online secondary path modelling method using a white noise as a training signal is required to ensure convergence of the system. The modelling accuracy and the convergence rate increase when a white noise with larger variance is used, however larger the variance increases the residual noise, which decreases performance of the system. The proposed algorithm uses the advantages of the white noise with larger variance to model the secondary path, but the injection is stopped at the optimum point to increase performance of the system. In this approach, instead of continuous injection of the white noise, a sudden change in secondary path during the operation makes the algorithm to reactivate injection of the white noise to adjust the secondary path estimation. Comparative simulation results shown in this paper indicate effectiveness of the proposed method.

Re-framing fashion : from original and copy to adaptation

Partington notes that clothing produced by individual consumers through adaptation of patterns is contextualised as a watered down version of original couture. In its most reductive form, this notion characterises fashion as commercial and exploitative. Descriptors such as appropriation, imitation, copy and so forth have restricted the opportunity to understand fashion as a major global cultural form and institution. Therefore exploring and understanding the concept of adaptation will shift the attention from a superficial assessment of original versus imitation or copy to adaptation as a practice that provides a better framework for the understanding of designers’ and couturiers’ innovative practices and creativity, describing also the active engagement of consumers with fashion at the micro level. Adaptation can also provide a way to understand different historical shifts in the fashion system, from individual creative agency with home dressmaking and re-making to the explosion of the mass market and the consequent abandonment of such practices. Home dressmaking has been replaced by fashion remix of mass produced garments, a practice that thrives in our environment of globalised fast fashion. Thus this chapter suggests the need for a contextual requalification of concepts such as original, copy, imitation and copyright, and argues that these categories have been played against each other, but they are in fact interdependent. Today, big labels and conglomerates try to control knowledge and innovation through copyright, but, fashion escapes copyright because, in fashion, creativity is contextual. The institutionalisation of couture from 1868 served as a way to control knowledge about production processes in fashion; on the other hand, adaptation practices, often subversive, have been fundamental to the democratisation of fashion.

Image based visual servo control for fixed wing UAVs tracking linear infrastructure in wind

This paper presents an Image Based Visual Servo control design for Fixed Wing Unmanned Aerial Vehicles tracking locally linear infrastructure in the presence of wind using a body fixed imaging sensor. Visual servoing offers improved data collection by posing the tracking task as one of controlling a feature as viewed by the inspection sensor, although is complicated by the introduction of wind as aircraft heading and course angle no longer align. In this work it is shown that the effects of wind alter the desired line angle required for continuous tracking to equal the wind correction angle as would be calculated to set a desired course. A control solution is then sort by linearizing the interaction matrix about the new feature pose such that kinematics of the feature can be augmented with the lateral dynamics of the aircraft, from which a state feedback control design is developed. Simulation results are presented comparing no compensation, integral control and the proposed controller using the wind correction angle, followed by an assessment of response to atmospheric disturbances in the form of turbulence and wind gusts