Optimizing construction planning schedules by virtual prototyping enabled resource analysis

The inherent uncertainty and complexity of construction work make construction planning a particularly difficult task for project managers due to the need to anticipate and visualize likely future events. Conventional computer-assisted technology can help but is often limited to the constructability issues involved. Virtual prototyping, however, offers an improved method through the visualization of construction activities by computer simulation — enabling a range of ‘what-if’ questions to be asked and their implications on the total project to be investigated. This paper describes the use of virtual prototyping to optimize construction planning schedules by analyzing resource allocation and planning with integrated construction models, resource models, construction planning schedules and site-layout plans. A real-life case study is presented that demonstrates the use of a virtual prototyping enabled resource analysis to reallocate space, logistic on access road and arrange tower cranes to achieve a 6-day floor construction cycle.

The role of intermediaries in the implementation and development of asynchronous rural access

In Orissa state, India, the DakNet system supports asynchronous Internet communication between an urban hub and rural nodes. DakNet is noteworthy in many respects, not least in how the system leverages existing transport infrastructure. Wi-Fi transceivers mounted on local buses send and receive user data from roadside kiosks, for later transfer to/from the Internet via wireless protocols. This store-and-forward system allows DakNet to offer asynchronous communication capacity to rural users at low cost. The original ambition of the DakNet system was to provide email and SMS facilities to rural communities. Our 2008 study of the communicative ecology surrounding the DakNet system revealed that this ambition has now evolved – in response to market demand – to the extent that e-shopping (rather than email) has become the primary driver behind the DakNet offer.

Metal oxide nanofibres membranes assembled by spin-coating method

Ceramic membranes are of particular interest in many industrial processes due to their ability to function under extreme conditions while maintaining their chemical and thermal stability. Major structural deficiencies under conventional fabrication approach are pin-holes and cracks, and the dramatic losses of flux when pore sizes are reduced to enhance selectivity. We overcome these structural deficiencies by constructing hierarchically structured separation layer on a porous substrate using larger titanate nanofibres and smaller boehmite nanofibres. This yields a radical change in membrane texture. The differences in the porous supports have no substantial influences on the texture of resulting membranes. The membranes with top layer of nanofibres coated on different porous supports by spin-coating method have similar size of the filtration pores, which is in a range of 10–100 nm. These membranes are able to effectively filter out species larger than 60 nm at flow rates orders of magnitude greater than conventional membranes. The retention can attain more than 95%, while maintaining a high flux rate about 900 L m-2 h. The calcination after spin-coating creates solid linkages between the fibres and between fibres and substrate, in addition to convert boehmite into -alumina nanofibres. This reveals a new direction in membrane fabrication.

Numerical method and analytical technique of the modified anomalous subdiffusion equation with a nonlinear source term

In this paper, we consider a modified anomalous subdiffusion equation with a nonlinear source term for describing processes that become less anomalous as time progresses by the inclusion of a second fractional time derivative acting on the diffusion term. A new implicit difference method is constructed. The stability and convergence are discussed using a new energy method. Finally, some numerical examples are given. The numerical results demonstrate the effectiveness of theoretical analysis

Stability and convergence of an implicit numerical method for the non-linear fractional reaction-subdiffusion process

In this paper, we consider the following non-linear fractional reaction–subdiffusion process (NFR-SubDP): Formula where f(u, x, t) is a linear function of u, the function g(u, x, t) satisfies the Lipschitz condition and 0Dt1–{gamma} is the Riemann–Liouville time fractional partial derivative of order 1 – {gamma}. We propose a new computationally efficient numerical technique to simulate the process. Firstly, the NFR-SubDP is decoupled, which is equivalent to solving a non-linear fractional reaction–subdiffusion equation (NFR-SubDE). Secondly, we propose an implicit numerical method to approximate the NFR-SubDE. Thirdly, the stability and convergence of the method are discussed using a new energy method. Finally, some numerical examples are presented to show the application of the present technique. This method and supporting theoretical results can also be applied to fractional integrodifferential equations.

Marx as critical discourse analyst : the genesis of a critical method and its relevance to the critique of global capital.

In this paper we identify elements in Marx´s economic and political writings that are relevant to contemporary critical discourse analysis (CDA). We argue that Marx can be seen to be engaging in a form of discourse analysis. We identify the elements in Marx´s historical materialist method that support such a perspective, and exemplify these in a longitudinal comparison of Marx´s texts.

Enabling Open Access to Public Sector Information With Creative Commons Licences : The Australian Experience

This chapter considers how open content licences of copyright-protected materials – specifically, Creative Commons (CC) licences - can be used by governments as a simple and effective mechanism to enable reuse of their PSI, particularly where materials are made available in digital form online or distributed on disk.

Generation in context : an exploratory method for musical enquiry

This paper discusses a method, Generation in Context, for interrogating theories of music analysis and music perception. Given an analytic theory, the method consists of creating a generative process that implements the theory in reverse. Instead of using the theory to create analyses from scores, the theory is used to generate scores from analyses. Subjective evaluation of the quality of the musical output provides a mechanism for testing the theory in a contextually robust fashion. The method is exploratory, meaning that in addition to testing extant theories it provides a general mechanism for generating new theoretical insights. We outline our initial explorations in the use of generative processes for music research, and we discuss how generative processes provide evidence as to the veracity of theories about how music is experienced, with insights into how these theories may be improved and, concurrently, provide new techniques for music creation. We conclude that Generation in Context will help reveal new perspectives on our understanding of music.

Industrial playwriting : forms, strategies, and methods for creative production

This study, in its exploration of the attached play scripts and their method of development, evaluates the forms, strategies, and methods of an organised model of formalised playwriting. Through the examination, reflection and reaction to a perceived crisis in playwriting in the Australian theatre sector, the notion of Industrial Playwriting is arrived at: a practice whereby plays are designed and constructed, and where the process of writing becomes central to the efficient creation of new work and the improvement of the writer’s skill and knowledge base. Using a practice-led methodology and action research the study examines a system of play construction appropriate to and addressing the challenges of the contemporary Australian theatre sector. Specifically, using the action research methodology known as design-based research a conceptual framework was constructed to form the basis of the notion of Industrial Playwriting. From this two plays were constructed using a case study method and the process recorded and used to create a practical, step-by-step system of Industrial Playwriting. In the creative practice of manufacturing a single authored play, and then a group-devised play, Industrial Playwriting was tested and found to also offer a valid alternative approach to playwriting in the training of new and even emerging playwrights. Finally, it offered insight into how Industrial Playwriting could be used to greatly facilitate theatre companies’ ongoing need to have access to new writers and new Australian works, and how it might form the basis of a cost effective writer development model. This study of the methods of formalised writing as a means to confront some of the challenges of the Australian theatre sector, the practice of playwriting and the history associated with it, makes an original and important contribution to contemporary playwriting practice.

Design of Mono-symmetric LiteSteel Beam Floor Joists with Web Openings

The new cold-formed LiteSteel beam (LSB) sections have found increasing popularity in residential, industrial and commercial buildings due to their lightweight and cost-effectiveness. They have the beneficial characteristics of including torsionally rigid rectangular flanges combined with economical fabrication processes. Currently there is significant interest in using LSB sections as flexural members in floor joist systems. When used as floor joists, the LSB sections require holes in the web to provide access for inspection and various services. But there are no design methods that provide accurate predictions of the moment capacities of LSBs with web holes. In this study, the buckling and ultimate strength behaviour of LSB flexural members with web holes was investigated in detail by using a detailed parametric study based on finite element analyses with an aim to develop appropriate design rules and recommendations for the safe design of LSB floor joists. Moment capacity curves were obtained using finite element analyses including all the significant behavioural effects affecting their ultimate member capacity. The parametric study produced the required moment capacity curves of LSB section with a range of web hole combinations and spans. A suitable design method for predicting the ultimate moment capacity of LSB with web holes was finally developed. This paper presents the details of this investigation and the results

Statistical analysis and reduction of multiple access interference in MC-CDMA systems

Multicarrier code division multiple access (MC-CDMA) is a very promising candidate for the multiple access scheme in fourth generation wireless communi- cation systems. During asynchronous transmission, multiple access interference (MAI) is a major challenge for MC-CDMA systems and significantly affects their performance. The main objectives of this thesis are to analyze the MAI in asyn- chronous MC-CDMA, and to develop robust techniques to reduce the MAI effect. Focus is first on the statistical analysis of MAI in asynchronous MC-CDMA. A new statistical model of MAI is developed. In the new model, the derivation of MAI can be applied to different distributions of timing offset, and the MAI power is modelled as a Gamma distributed random variable. By applying the new statistical model of MAI, a new computer simulation model is proposed. This model is based on the modelling of a multiuser system as a single user system followed by an additive noise component representing the MAI, which enables the new simulation model to significantly reduce the computation load during computer simulations. MAI reduction using slow frequency hopping (SFH) technique is the topic of the second part of the thesis. Two subsystems are considered. The first sub- system involves subcarrier frequency hopping as a group, which is referred to as GSFH/MC-CDMA. In the second subsystem, the condition of group hopping is dropped, resulting in a more general system, namely individual subcarrier frequency hopping MC-CDMA (ISFH/MC-CDMA). This research found that with the introduction of SFH, both of GSFH/MC-CDMA and ISFH/MC-CDMA sys- tems generate less MAI power than the basic MC-CDMA system during asyn- chronous transmission. Because of this, both SFH systems are shown to outper- form MC-CDMA in terms of BER. This improvement, however, is at the expense of spectral widening. In the third part of this thesis, base station polarization diversity, as another MAI reduction technique, is introduced to asynchronous MC-CDMA. The com- bined system is referred to as Pol/MC-CDMA. In this part a new optimum com- bining technique namely maximal signal-to-MAI ratio combining (MSMAIRC) is proposed to combine the signals in two base station antennas. With the applica- tion of MSMAIRC and in the absents of additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN), the resulting signal-to-MAI ratio (SMAIR) is not only maximized but also in- dependent of cross polarization discrimination (XPD) and antenna angle. In the case when AWGN is present, the performance of MSMAIRC is still affected by the XPD and antenna angle, but to a much lesser degree than the traditional maximal ratio combining (MRC). Furthermore, this research found that the BER performance for Pol/MC-CDMA can be further improved by changing the angle between the two receiving antennas. Hence the optimum antenna angles for both MSMAIRC and MRC are derived and their effects on the BER performance are compared. With the derived optimum antenna angle, the Pol/MC-CDMA system is able to obtain the lowest BER for a given XPD.

Personal Access Tutor - helping students to learn MS Access

The paper describes Personal Access Tutor (PAT),an Intelligent Tutoring System which helps students to learn how to create forms and reports in MS Access. We present the architecture and components of PAT and also the services that PAT provides to the students. Results for an external (system) evaluation of PAT (both qualitative and quantitative data) are presented and discussed.