Design, modelling and measurement of hybrid powerplant for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)

The success or effectiveness for any aircraft design is a function of many trade-offs. Over the last 100 years of aircraft design these trade-offs have been optimized and dominant aircraft design philosophies have emerged. Pilotless aircraft (or uninhabited airborne systems, UAS) present new challenges in the optimization of their configuration. Recent developments in battery and motor technology have seen an upsurge in the utility and performance of electric powered aircraft. Thus, the opportunity to explore hybrid-electric aircraft powerplant configurations is compelling. This thesis considers the design of such a configuration from an overall propulsive, and energy efficiency perspective. A prototype system was constructed using a representative small UAS internal combustion engine (10cc methanol two-stroke) and a 600W brushless Direct current (BLDC) motor. These components were chosen to be representative of those that would be found on typical small UAS. The system was tested on a dynamometer in a wind-tunnel and the results show an improvement in overall propulsive efficiency of 17% when compared to a non-hybrid powerplant. In this case, the improvement results from the utilization of a larger propeller that the hybrid solution allows, which shows that general efficiency improvements are possible using hybrid configurations for aircraft propulsion. Additionally this approach provides new improvements in operational and mission flexibility (such as the provision of self-starting) which are outlined in the thesis. Specifically, the opportunity to use the windmilling propeller for energy regeneration was explored. It was found (in the prototype configuration) that significant power (60W) is recoverable in a steep dive, and although the efficiency of regeneration is low, the capability can allow several options for improved mission viability. The thesis concludes with the general statement that a hybrid powerplant improves the overall mission effectiveness and propulsive efficiency of small UAS.

Nursing research : the Australian College of Nursing position statement

Background Nursing perspectives play an important role in addressing the health priorities of today’s society. The Australian College of Nursing (ACN) acknowledges the significant contribution that nursing research has made since the first nurse researcher, Florence Nightingale, documented the factors that affected the morbidity and mortality of soldiers wounded in the Crimean war in the 1800s. The nursing profession continues to celebrate the significant contribution nursing research made to improving nursing practice and health outcomes. These significant contributions over recent years include, but are not limited to: 1. Health services research that has demonstrated the importance of nursing services and how such services are designed/organised to ensure safety and quality of care (Duffield, et al., 2011; Fernandez, et al., 2012; Middleton, et al., 2011); 2. Clinical research that has demonstrated the value of specific nursing interventions to improved health outcomes, including enhanced survival, reduced morbidity, and improved quality of life and consumer engagement (Cancer Australia and Cancer Voices Australia, 2011; Kitson, et al., 2013; Middleton, et al., 2012; Rickard, et al., 2012; Zeitz, et al., 2011); 3. Basic science research that has advanced discoveries in terms of understanding the biological mechanisms underpinning nursing interventions (Illi, et al., 2012; Kim, et al., 2012; Miaskowski, et al., 2010; Simonova, et al., 2012); 4. Epidemiological research that has advanced understanding about how individuals and populations respond to health problems (Carrington, et al., 2012); 5. Qualitative research that has advanced understanding about experiences of and responses to health and illness and the processes of care that are important to optimal outcomes (Schulman-Green, et al., 2012; Scott, et al., 2011).

Real-time image classification for adaptive mission planning using an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle

Real-time image analysis and classification onboard robotic marine vehicles, such as AUVs, is a key step in the realisation of adaptive mission planning for large-scale habitat mapping in previously unexplored environments. This paper describes a novel technique to train, process, and classify images collected onboard an AUV used in relatively shallow waters with poor visibility and non-uniform lighting. The approach utilises Förstner feature detectors and Laws texture energy masks for image characterisation, and a bag of words approach for feature recognition. To improve classification performance we propose a usefulness gain to learn the importance of each histogram component for each class. Experimental results illustrate the performance of the system in characterisation of a variety of marine habitats and its ability to operate onboard an AUV's main processor suitable for real-time mission planning.

Sports dietitians Australia position statement : sports nutrition for the adolescent athlete

It is the position of Sports Dietitians Australia (SDA) that adolescent athletes have unique nutritional requirements as a consequence of undertaking daily training and competition in addition to the demands of growth and development. As such, SDA established an expert multidisciplinary panel to undertake an independent review of the relevant scientific evidence and consulted with its professional members to develop sports nutrition recommendations for active and competitive adolescent athletes. The position of SDA is that dietary education and recommendations for these adolescent athletes should reinforce eating for long term health. More specifically, the adolescent athlete should be encouraged to moderate eating patterns to reflect daily exercise demands and provide a regular spread of high quality carbohydrate and protein sources over the day, especially in the period immediately after training. SDA recommends that consideration also be given to the dietary calcium, Vitamin D and iron intake of adolescent athletes due to the elevated risk of deficiency of these nutrients. In order to maintain optimal hydration, adolescent athletes should have access to fluids that are clean, cool and supplied in sufficient quantities before, during and after participation in sport. Finally, it is the position of SDA that use of nutrient needs should be met by core foods rather than supplements, as the recommendation of dietary supplements to developing athletes over-emphasises their ability to manipulate performance in comparison to other training and dietary strategies.

Mission path planning of aerial survey tasks using hybrid game evolutionary algorithm

The work presented in this report is aimed to implement a cost-effective offline mission path planner for aerial inspection tasks of large linear infrastructures. Like most real-world optimisation problems, mission path planning involves a number of objectives which ideally should be minimised simultaneously. Understandably, the objectives of a practical optimisation problem are conflicting each other and the minimisation of one of them necessarily implies the impossibility to minimise the other ones. This leads to the need to find a set of optimal solutions for the problem; once such a set of available options is produced, the mission planning problem is reduced to a decision making problem for the mission specialists, who will choose the solution which best fit the requirements of the mission. The goal of this work is then to develop a Multi-Objective optimisation tool able to provide the mission specialists a set of optimal solutions for the inspection task amongst which the final trajectory will be chosen, given the environment data, the mission requirements and the definition of the objectives to minimise. All the possible optimal solutions of a Multi-Objective optimisation problem are said to form the Pareto-optimal front of the problem. For any of the Pareto-optimal solutions, it is impossible to improve one objective without worsening at least another one. Amongst a set of Pareto-optimal solutions, no solution is absolutely better than another and the final choice must be a trade-off of the objectives of the problem. Multi-Objective Evolutionary Algorithms (MOEAs) are recognised to be a convenient method for exploring the Pareto-optimal front of Multi-Objective optimization problems. Their efficiency is due to their parallelism architecture which allows to find several optimal solutions at each time

What Costs Accountability? Financial Accountability, Mission and Fundraising in Nonprofits

Although greater calls for accountability have been articulated by academics, policy makers and donors in the recent years, a stream of thought has been questioning where the giving of an account should stop. In conveying the limits to the giving of an account (Messner, 2009) and associated transparency (Roberts, 2009), critical accounting scholars have also pointed to as yet unresolved contradictions intrinsic to accountability (McKernan, 2012), especially when it comes to be operationalised (Joannides, 2012). The impact of accountability's discharging on nonprofits' strategy or operations has to date been underexplored (Dhanni & Connelly, 2012; Tucker & Parker, 2013). Accordingly, this chapter seeks to contribute to this body of literature on the consequences of accountability on fundraising strategies in nonprofits, questioning whether accountability practice may hamper the effectiveness of the nonprofit sector by restraining the fundraising profession. Our chapter seeks to fill a dual theoretical gap. Firstly, only a number of publications have investigated the interplay between accountability and the making of organisational strategy (Parker, 2002, 2003b, 2011, 2012, 2013; Tucker & Parker, 2013). Therefore, we seek to fill a theoretical gap as to the impact of accountability on the conduct of straegic operations. By questioning whether accountability hampers fundraising strategy in non-profits we are also contributing to the literature balancing accountability and the mission. In this literature, it appears that money and the mission are often conflictual, financial managers being often seen by mission advocates as guardians shielding organisational resources (Chiapello, 1993, 1998; Lightbody, 2000, 2003). Another approach shows that making nonprofits accountable to capital and multiple stakeholders (donors, public authorities) leaders to changes in organisational culture (O'Dwyer & Unerman, 2007; Unerman & Bennett, 2004; Underman & O'Dwyer, 2006a, 2006b, 2008). By examining a small number of cases we show how accountability practices result in fundraising adapting and adjusting under such external pressures and constraints. We also show accountability systems may have a direct impact on the conduct of strategic operations, which might hamper mission conduct.

Deep geothermal: The ‘Moon Landing’ mission in the unconventional energy and minerals space

Deep geothermal from the hot crystalline basement has remained an unsolved frontier for the geothermal industry for the past 30 years. This poses the challenge for developing a new unconventional geomechanics approach to stimulate such reservoirs. While a number of new unconventional brittle techniques are still available to improve stimulation on short time scales, the astonishing richness of failure modes of longer time scales in hot rocks has so far been overlooked. These failure modes represent a series of microscopic processes: brittle microfracturing prevails at low temperatures and fairly high deviatoric stresses, while upon increasing temperature and decreasing applied stress or longer time scales, the failure modes switch to transgranular and intergranular creep fractures. Accordingly, fluids play an active role and create their own pathways through facilitating shear localization by a process of time-dependent dissolution and precipitation creep, rather than being a passive constituent by simply following brittle fractures that are generated inside a shear zone caused by other localization mechanisms. We lay out a new theoretical approach for the design of new strategies to utilize, enhance and maintain the natural permeability in the deeper and hotter domain of geothermal reservoirs. The advantage of the approach is that, rather than engineering an entirely new EGS reservoir, we acknowledge a suite of creep-assisted geological processes that are driven by the current tectonic stress field. Such processes are particularly supported by higher temperatures potentially allowing in the future to target commercially viable combinations of temperatures and flow rates.

Consensus statement on the investigation and management of non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (nr-axSpA)

Aim Non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (nr-axSpA) is axial inflammatory arthritis where plain radiographic damage is not evident. An unknown proportion of these patients will progress to ankylosing spondylitis (AS). The increasing recognition of nr-axSpA has been greatly assisted by the widespread use of magnetic resonance imaging. The aim of this article was to construct a set of consensus statements based on a literature review to guide investigation and promote best management of nr-axSpA. Methods A literature review using Medline was conducted covering the major investigation modalities and treatment options available. A group of rheumatologists and a radiologist with expertise in investigation and management of SpA reviewed the literature and formulated a set of consensus statements. The Grade system encompassing the level of evidence and strength of recommendation was used. The opinion of a patient with nr-axSpA and a nurse experienced in the care of SpA patients was also sought and included. Results The literature review found few studies specifically addressing nr-axSpA, or if these patients were included, their results were often not separately reported. Fourteen consensus statements covering investigation and management of nr-axSpA were formulated. The level of agreement was high and ranged from 8.1 to 9.8. Treatment recommendations vary little with established AS, but this is primarily due to the lack of available evidence on the specific treatment of nr-axSpA. Conclusion The consensus statements aim to improve the diagnosis and management of nr-axSpA. We aim to raise awareness of this condition by the public and doctors and promote appropriate investigation and management.

Phased-Mission Analysis for Evaluating the Effectiveness of Aerospace Computing-Systems

Effectiveness evaluation of aerospace fault-tolerant computing systems used in a phased-mission environment is rather tricky and difficult because of the interaction of its several degraded performance levels with the multiple objectives of the mission and the use environment. Part I uses an approach based on multiobjective phased-mission analysis to evaluate the effectiveness of a distributed avionics architecture used in a transport aircraft. Part II views the computing system as a multistate s-coherent structure. Lower bounds on the probabilities of accomplishing various levels of performance are evaluated.

Statement of the Funds of K.K.S.I.

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Financial statement, Hebra Hased Ve-Amet

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Report on statement made to mayor regarding congregation's property and revenue

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Consensus statement on the role of Accredited Exercise Physiologists within the treatment of mental disorders: A guide for mental health professionals

- Objective The aim is to identify the role and scope of Accredited Exercise Physiologist (AEP) services in the mental health sector and to provide insight as to how AEPs can contribute to the multidisciplinary mental health team. - Methods A modified Delphi approach was utilised. Thirteen AEPs with experience in mental health contributed to the iterative development of a national consensus statement. Six mental health professionals with expertise in psychiatry, mental health nursing, general practice and mental health research participated in the review process. Reviewers were provided with a template to systematically provide feedback on the language, content, structure and relevance to their professional group. - Results This consensus statement outlines how AEPs can contribute to the multidisciplinary mental health team, the aims and scope of AEP-led interventions in mental health services and examples of such interventions, the range of physical and mental health outcomes possible through AEP-led interventions and common referral pathways to community AEP services. - Outcome AEPs can play a key role in the treatment of individuals experiencing mental illness. The diversity of AEP interventions allows for a holistic approach to care, enhancing both physical and mental health outcomes.

Displaying and celebrating the "other": A study of the mission, scope, and roles of ethnic museums in Los Angeles

In the last thirty years, ethnic museums have mushroomed in American cities. Although this is certainly a national phenomenon, it has been particularly evident in Los Angeles. In this paper we examine the genesis and evolution of these emerging institutions. We survey the mission, scope, and role of ethnic museums in Los Angeles, and we contrast them with the stated mission and scope of “mainstream” museums in the city. We further present case studies of three Los Angeles ethnic museums. The museums vary considerably in the ways they perceive their role in the community, the city, and the nation and in the preservation and display of ethnic culture. At their best, ethnic museums serve to make new art and histories more accessible and visible and provide a forum in which to debate contemporary issues of politics and identity. The paper highlights some of the tensions faced by ethnic museums as they seek to define their audience and role(s) in multi-ethnic, twenty-first century Los Angeles.