Ratchetting of railhead in the vicinity of the gap of the insulated rail joints

Insulated Rail Joints (IRJs) are designed to electrically isolate two rails in rail tracks to control the signalling system for safer train operations. Unfortunately the gapped section of the IRJs is structurally weak and often fails prematurely especially in heavy haul tracks, which adversely affects service reliability and efficiency. The IRJs suffer from a number of failure modes; the railhead ratchetting at the gap is, however, regarded as the root cause and attended to in this thesis. Ratchetting increases with the increase in wheel loads; in the absence of a life prediction model, effective management of the IRJs for increased wagon wheel loads has become very challenging. Therefore, the main aim of this thesis is to determine method to predict IRJs' service life. The distinct discontinuity of the railhead at the gap makes the Hertzian theory and the rolling contact shakedown map, commonly used in the continuously welded rails, not applicable to examine the metal ratchetting of the IRJs. Finite Element (FE) technique is, therefore, used to explore the railhead metal ratchetting characteristics in this thesis, the boundary conditions of which has been determined from a full scale study of the IRJ specimens under rolling contact of the loaded wheels. A special purpose test set up containing full-scale wagon wheel was used to apply rolling wheel loads on the railhead edges of the test specimens. The state of the rail end face strains was determined using a non-contact digital imaging technique and used for calibrating the FE model. The basic material parameters for this FE model were obtained through independent uniaxial, monotonic tensile tests on specimens cut from the head hardened virgin rails. The monotonic tensile test data have been used to establish a cyclic load simulation model of the railhead steel specimen; the simulated cyclic load test has provided the necessary data for the three decomposed kinematic hardening plastic strain accumulation model of Chaboche. A performance based service life prediction algorithm for the IRJs was established using the plastic strain accumulation obtained from the Chaboche model. The predicted service lives of IRJs using this algorithm have agreed well with the published data. The finite element model has been used to carry out a sensitivity study on the effects of wheel diameter to the railhead metal plasticity. This study revealed that the depth of the plastic zone at the railhead edges is independent of the wheel diameter; however, large wheel diameter is shown to increase the IRJs' service life.

Writing the oriental woman : an examination of the representation of Japanese women in contemporary Australian crime fiction

This study considers the challenges in representing women from other cultures in the crime fiction genre. The study is presented in two parts; an exegesis and a creative practice component consisting of a full length crime fiction novel, Batafurai. The exegesis examines the historical period of a section of the novel—post-war Japan—and how the area of research known as Occupation Studies provides an insight into the conditions of women during this period. The exegesis also examines selected postcolonial theory and its exposition of representations of the 'other' as a western construct designed to serve Eurocentric ends. The genre of crime fiction is reviewed, also, to determine how characters purportedly representing Oriental cultures are constricted by established stereotypes. Two case studies are examined to investigate whether these stereotypes are still apparent in contemporary Australian crime fiction. Finally, I discuss my own novel, Batafurai, to review how I represented people of Asian background, and whether my attempts to resist stereotype were successful. My conclusion illustrates how novels written in the crime fiction genre are reliant on strategies that are action-focused, rather than character-based, and thus often use easily recognizable types to quickly establish frameworks for their stories. As a sub-set of popular fiction, crime fiction has a tendency to replicate rather than challenge established stereotypes. Where it does challenge stereotypes, it reflects a territory that popular culture has already visited, such as the 'female', 'black' or 'gay' detective. Crime fiction also has, as one of its central concerns, an interest in examining and reinforcing the notion of societal order. It repeatedly demonstrates that crime either does not pay or should not pay. One of the ways it does this is to contrast what is 'good', known and understood with what is 'bad', unknown, foreign or beyond our normal comprehension. In western culture, the east has traditionally been employed as the site of difference, and has been constantly used as a setting of contrast, excitement or fear. Crime fiction conforms to this pattern, using the east to add a richness and depth to what otherwise might become a 'dry' tale. However, when used in such a way, what is variously eastern, 'other' or Oriental can never be paramount, always falling to secondary side of the binary opposites (good/evil, known/unknown, redeemed/doomed) at work. In an age of globalisation, the challenge for contemporary writers of popular fiction is to be responsive to an audience that demands respect for all cultures. Writers must demonstrate that they are sensitive to such concerns and can skillfully manage the tensions caused by the need to deliver work that operates within the parameters of the genre, and the desire to avoid offence to any cultural or ethnic group. In my work, my strategy to manage these tensions has been to create a back-story for my characters of Asian background, developing them above mere genre types, and to situate them with credibility in time and place through appropriate historical research.

The construction of social identity in new nuclear operators : a longitudinal study

Countless studies have stressed the importance of social identity, particularly its role in various organizational outcomes, yet questions remain as to how identities initially develop, shift and change based on the configuration of multiple, pluralistic relationships grounded in an organizational setting. The interactive model of social identity formation has been proposed recently to explain the internalization of shared norms and values – critical in identity formation – has not received empirical examination. We analyzed multiple sources of data from nine nuclear professionals over three years to understand the construction of social identity in new entrants entering an organization. Informed by our data analyses, we found support for the interactive model and that age and level of experience influenced whether they undertook an inductive or deductive route of the group norm and value internalization. This study represents an important contribution to the study of social identity and the process by which identities are formed, particularly under conditions of duress or significant organizational disruption.

A novel method for quantifying the criticality and vulnerability of the components of railway bridges

Conditions of bridges deteriorate with age, due to different critical factors including, changes in loading, fatigue, environmental effects and natural events. In order to rate a network of bridges, based on their structural condition, the condition of the components of a bridge and their effects on behaviour of the bridge should be reliably estimated. In this paper, a new method for quantifying the criticality and vulnerability of the components of the railway bridges in a network will be introduced. The type of structural analyses for identifying the criticality of the components for carrying train loads will be determined. In addition to that, the analytical methods for identifying the vulnerability of the components to natural events whose probability of occurrence is important, such as, flood, wind, earthquake and collision will be determined. In order to maintain the practicality of this method to be applied to a network of thousands of railway bridges, the simplicity of structural analysis has been taken into account. Demand by capacity ratios of the components at both safety and serviceability condition states as well as weighting factors used in current bridge management systems (BMS) are taken into consideration. It will be explained what types of information related to the structural condition of a bridge is required to be obtained, recorded and analysed. The authors of this paper will use this method in a new rating system introduced previously. Enhancing accuracy and reliability of evaluating and predicting the vulnerability of railway bridges to environmental effects and natural events will be the significant achievement of this research.

What’s Oprah Winfrey got to do with it? The rise and rise of restorative justice

In recent years, restorative justice has become an immensely popular criminal justice option in contemporary western societies. Restorative practices have emerged in diverse parts of the world often in total isolation from one another – that is, they have emerged without knowledge of other, similar practices. This quandary prompts us to question how it is that restorative processes have come about, and what it is that has allowed restorative justice to become such a widely acceptable way of thinking about crime and criminal justice. The research project from which this pa-per stems takes this as its central problem, and aims to explore the many dis-courses which inform the field of restorative justice, or more specifically, the “conditions of emergence” of this field. This paper focuses on one of these discourses – the discourse of the therapeutic/recovery/self-help movement, famously championed by talk-show host Oprah Winfrey. It aims to investigate the ways in which the taken-for-granted nature of this discourse has permitted restorative justice to be-come an approved way of “doing justice”.

The impact of blur, illumination and distracters on tests related to driving performance

This thesis investigated a range of factors underlying the impact of uncorrected refractive errors on laboratory-based tests related to driving. Results showed that refractive blur had a pronounced effect on recognition of briefly presented targets, particularly under low light conditions. Blur, in combination with audio distracters, also slowed a participant's reactions to road hazards in video presentations. This suggests that recognition of suddenly appearing road hazards might be slowed in the presence of refractive blur, particularly under conditions of distraction. These findings highlight the importance of correcting even small refractive errors for driving, particularly at night.

A survey of user modelling in social media websites

With the widespread of social media websites in the internet, and the huge number of users participating and generating infinite number of contents in these websites, the need for personalisation increases dramatically to become a necessity. One of the major issues in personalisation is building users’ profiles, which depend on many elements; such as the used data, the application domain they aim to serve, the representation method and the construction methodology. Recently, this area of research has been a focus for many researchers, and hence, the proposed methods are increasing very quickly. This survey aims to discuss the available user modelling techniques for social media websites, and to highlight the weakness and strength of these methods and to provide a vision for future work in user modelling in social media websites.

The potential role of lycopene for the prevention and therapy of prostate cancer : from molecular mechanisms to clinical evidence

Lycopene is a phytochemical that belongs to a group of pigments known as carotenoids. It is red, lipophilic and naturally occurring in many fruits and vegetables, with tomatoes and tomato-based products containing the highest concentrations of bioavailable lycopene. Several epidemiological studies have linked increased lycopene consumption with decreased prostate cancer risk. These findings are supported by in vitro and in vivo experiments showing that lycopene not only enhances the antioxidant response of prostate cells, but that it is even able to inhibit proliferation, induce apoptosis and decrease the metastatic capacity of prostate cancer cells. However, there is still no clearly proven clinical evidence supporting the use of lycopene in the prevention or treatment of prostate cancer, due to the only limited number of published randomized clinical trials and the varying quality of existing studies. The scope of this article is to discuss the potential impact of lycopene on prostate cancer by giving an overview about its molecular mechanisms and clinical effects. © 2013 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Useful field of view test

A test of the useful field of view was introduced more than two decades ago and was designed to reflect the visual difficulties that older adults experience with everyday tasks. Importantly, the useful field of view is one of the most extensively researched and promising predictor tests for a range of driving outcomes measures, including driving ability and crash risk, as well as other everyday tasks. Currently available commercial versions of the test can be administered using personal computers and measure speed of visual processing speed for rapid detection and localization of targets under conditions of divided visual attention and in the presence and absence of visual clutter. The test is believed to assess higher order cognitive abilities, but performance also relies on visual sensory function since targets must be visible in order to be attended to. The format of the useful field of view test has been modified over the years; the original version estimated the spatial extent of useful field of view, while the latest versions measures visual processing speed. While deficits in the useful field of view are associated with functional impairments in everyday activities in older adults, there is also emerging evidence from several research groups that improvements in visual processing speed can be achieved through training. These improvements have been shown to reduce crash risk, and have a positive impact on health and functional well being, with the potential to increase the mobility and hence independence of older adults.

Mechanical stimulation of the pro-angiogenic capacity of human fracture haematoma: Involvement of VEGF mechano-regulation

Compromised angiogenesis appears to be a major limitation in various suboptimal bone healing situations. Appropriate mechanical stimuli support blood vessel formation in vivo and improve healing outcomes. However, the mechanisms responsible for this association are unclear. To address this question, the paracrine angiogenic potential of early human fracture haematoma and its responsiveness to mechanical loading, as well as angiogenic growth factors involved, were investigated in vitro. Human haematomas were collected from healthy patients undergoing surgery within 72. h after bone fracture. The haematomas were embedded in a fibrin matrix, and cultured in a bioreactor resembling the in vivo conditions of the early phase of bone healing (20 compression, 1. Hz) over 3. days. Conditioned medium (CM) from the bioreactor was then analyzed. The matrices were also incubated in fresh medium for a further 24. h to evaluate the persistence of the effects. Growth factor (GF) concentrations were measured in the CM by ELISAs. In vitro tube formation assays were conducted on Matrigel with the HMEC-1 cell line, with or without inhibition of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2). Cell numbers were quantified using an MTS test. In vitro endothelial tube formation was enhanced by CM from haematomas, compared to fibrin controls. The angiogenesis regulators, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1), were released into the haematoma CM, but not angiopoietins 1 or 2 (Ang1, 2), basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) or platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF). Mechanical stimulation of haematomas, but not fibrin controls, further increased the induction of tube formation by their CM. The mechanically stimulated haematoma matrices retained their elevated pro-angiogenic capacity for 24. h. The pro-angiogenic effect was cancelled by inhibition of VEGFR2 signalling. VEGF concentrations in CM tended to be elevated by mechanical stimulation; this was significant in haematomas from younger, but not from older patients. Other GFs were not mechanically regulated. In conclusion, the paracrine pro-angiogenic capacity of early human haematomas is enhanced by mechanical stimulation. This effect lasts even after removing the mechanical stimulus and appears to be VEGFR2-dependent.

The Nagle Royal Commission 25 years on : gaining perspective on two and a half decades of NSW prison reform

This article attempts an audit of changes in the NSW penal system over the last nearly 30 years. Taking the 1978 Nagle Royal Commission findings and analysis as the starting point a comparison is made between the Nagle era and the contemporary scene across a range of practices including imprisonment rates, violence, drug use, deaths in custody, prison conditions, prisoners rights, legal regulation, and others. It is suggested that developments since Nagle are mixed and cannot be attributed to a single logic or force. Major changes include a doubling of imprisonment rates, significant increases in Indigenous and women's imprisonment rates, the apparent ending of institutionalised bashings and the centrality of drug use to imprisonment and to the culture, health and security practices which characterise the current prison experience. The article may constitute a useful starting point for broader attempts to relate current penal practices to far wider changes in the conditions of life under late modernity.

In vitro assessment of migratory behavior of two cell populations in a simple multichannel microdevice

Recent literature suggests that mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSC) could be used as Trojan Horses to deliver “death-signals” to cancer cells. Herein, we describe the development of a novel multichannel cell migration device, and use it to investigate the relative migration rates of bone marrow-derived MSC and breast cancer cells (MCF-7) towards each other. Confluent monolayers of MSC and MCF-7 were established in adjacent chambers separated by an array of 14 microchannels. Initially, culture chambers were isolated by air bubbles (air-valves) contained within each microchannel, and then bubbles were displaced to initiate the assay. The MCF-7 cells migrated preferentially towards MSC, whilst the MSC did not migrate preferentially towards the MCF-7 cells. Our results corroborate previous literature that suggests MSC migration towards cancer cells in vivo is in response to the associated inflammation rather than directly to signals secreted by the cancer cells themselves.

Monitoring phase behavior of sub- and supercritical CO2 confined in porous fractal silica with 85% porosity

Phase behavior of CO2 confined in porous fractal silica with volume fraction of SiO2 φs = 0.15 was investigated using small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) and ultrasmall-angle neutron scattering (USANS) techniques. The range of fluid densities (0<(FCO2)bulk<0.977 g/cm3) and temperatures (T=22 °C, 35 and 60 °C) corresponded to gaseous, liquid, near critical and supercritical conditions of the bulk fluid. The results revealed formation of a dense adsorbed phase in small pores with sizes D<40 A° at all temperatures. At low pressure (P <55 bar, (FCO2)bulk <0.2 g/cm3) the average fluid density in pores may exceed the density of bulk fluid by a factor up to 6.5 at T=22 °C. This “enrichment factor” gradually decreases with temperature, however significant fluid densification in small pores still exists at temperature T=60°C, i.e., far above the liquid-gas critical temperature of bulk CO2 (TC=31.1 °C). Larger pores are only partially filled with liquid-like adsorbed layer which coexists with unadsorbed fluid in the pore core. With increasing pressure, all pores become uniformly filled with the fluid, showing no measurable enrichment or depletion of the porous matrix with CO2.

The salt dependence of DNA recognition by NF-kappaB p50 : a detailed kinetic analysis of the effects on affinityand specificity

The binding kinetics of NF-kappaB p50 to the Ig-kappaB site and to a DNA duplex with no specific binding site were determined under varying conditions of potassium chloride concentration using a surface plasmonresonance biosensor. Association and dissociation rate constants were measured enabling calculation of the dissociation constants. Under previously established high affinity buffer conditions, the k a for both sequences was in the order of 10(7) M-1s-1whilst the k d values varied 600-fold in a sequence-dependent manner between 10(-1) and 10(-4 )s-1, suggesting that the selectivity of p50 for different sequences is mediated primarily through sequence-dependent dissociation rates. The calculated K D value for the Ig-kappaB sequence was 16 pM, whilst the K D for the non-specific sequence was 9.9 nM. As the ionic strength increased to levels which are closer to that of the cellular environment, the binding of p50 to the non-specific sequence was abolished whilst the specific affinity dropped to nanomolar levels. From these results, a mechanism is proposed in which p50 binds specific sequences with high affinity whilst binding non-specific sequences weakly enough to allow efficient searching of the DNA.