Impact and energy absorption of empty and foam-filled conical tubes

Foam-filled conical tubes have recently emerged as efficient energy absorbing devices to mitigate the adverse effects of impacts. The primary aim of this thesis was to generate research and design information on the impact and energy absorption response of empty and foam-filled conical tubes, and to facilitate their application in energy absorbing systems under axial and oblique loading conditions representative of those typically encountered in crashworthiness and impact applications. Finite element techniques supported by experiments and existing results were used in the investigation. Major findings show that the energy absorption response can be effectively controlled by varying geometry and material parameters. A useful empirical formula was developed for providing engineering designers with an initial estimate of the load ratio and hence energy absorption performances of these devices. It was evident that foam-filled conical tubes enhance the energy absorption capacity and stabilise the crush response for both axial and oblique impact loading without a significant increase in the initial peak load. This is practically beneficial when higher kinetic energy needs to be absorbed, thus reducing the impact force transmitted to the protected structure and occupants. Such tubes also increase and maintain the energy absorption capacity under global bending as well as minimise the reduction of energy absorption capacity with increasing load angle. Furthermore, the results also highlight the feasibility of adding a foam-filled conical tube as a supplementary device in energy absorbing systems, since the overall energy absorption performance of such systems can be favourably enhanced by only including a relatively small energy absorbing device. Above all, the results demonstrate the superior performance of foam-filled conical tube for mitigating impact energy in impact and crashworthiness applications.

Sounds from the empty city : a practice-led case study in the confluence of music, narrative and emotion

The creative practice: the adaptation of picture book The Empty City (Megarrity/Oxlade, Hachette 2007) into an innovative, interdisciplinary performance for children which combines live performance, music, projected animation and performing objects. The researcher, in the combined roles of writer/composer proposes deliberate experiments in music, narrative and emotion in the various drafts of the adaptation, and tests them in process and performance product. A particular method of composing music for live performance is tested in against the emergent needs of a collaborative, intermedial process. The unpredictable site of research means that this project is both looking to address both pre-determined and emerging points of inquiry. This analysis (directed by audience reception) finds that critical incidents of intermediality between music, narrative, action and emotion translate directly into highlights of the performance.

The empty city

Picture Book, Children's Book Council of Australia Notable Book 2008 What would you do if you were the only one in a deserted city? Where would you go, and what would you do? The Empty City taps into a fantasy that many of us have had as children to be allowed to explore, unhindered, the ordinarily crowded environment of a shopping centre.

The empty city (Stage adaptation)

This pre-production script for a non-verbal, multimedia performance is the outcome of three rounds of creative development (2009-10) focussed on adapting a children's picture book for the stage. Protoype versions of this script were realised at work-in progress performances at the Queensland Performing Arts Complex in January 2009, and the Woodward Theatre in July 2009. Supported by the Australia Council, Arts Queensland, Windmill Theatre (SA) and QUT

Development sites in the empty city : from picture book to performance

Picturebooks invite performance every time they are read. What happens to them when they’re adapted for live performance? This ongoing practice led research project (2008-) regenerates and transforms picturebook The Empty City (Hachette/Livre 2007) by David Megarrity and Jonathon Oxlade into a live experience. In this rebuilding, interanimation of text and illustration on the picturebook page suddenly open up into a new and complex structure incorporating composition of music, animation, live action, projected image and performing objects. The presenter is the creator of both the source text and writer/composer of the adaptation, providing a unique vantage point that draws on sources from both within and without the creative process up to and including audience reception. From the foundations up, this paper’s focus is on deep, muddy sites of development in the adaptation process, unearthed treasures, and how perceptions of fear and safety push, sway and stress the building of a new performance work for children in content, form and process.

The Empty City (playreading)

This 45 minute non-verbal intermedial performance for children was adapted from the picture book I authored of the same name. The process involved writing and re-writing text and music with the result being a new draft of both script and soundtrack. Part of the judging process for the award the script was nominated for involved a playreading, which offered a particular challenge to the researcher in terms of composition and playwriting. How can a script and soundtrack for a non-verbal, intermedial work adapt and innovate the within the formal and practical constraints of the traditional ‘playreading’? This project’s emphasis on nestling intermediality within ostensibly traditional theatrical constraints and processes draws on concepts of musicalisation, identified by Varopolou. (in Lehmann 2006:91) Certain ‘musical moments’ in the piece echoed Ross Brown’s (2010) acoustemological concepts of sonification of everyday life, and the process involved dynamic curation of ‘music under’ for emotional effect, avoiding cinematic clichés and reaching for connections between music and emotion characterized by scholars such as Juslin and Sloboda (2001) The resulting performance was a hybrid of playreading and slideshow, supported by an original soundtrack of ‘music under’ (pre-recorded, but ‘DJ’ed’ live) as well as text-driven moments where music and sound were foregrounded. Research contribution This iteration of The Empty City shows that the tradition of the playreading can be a playful space where even the multiple layers of an intermedial performance text can be represented. The Empty City was a finalist in the 2012-13 Queensland Premier’s Drama Award. A ticketed public playreading of the script was held in the Queensland Theatre Company’s Bille Brown Studio on the 28th of July 2012 alongside the other finalists.

Future of the Haze Agreement : is the glass half empty or half full?

"In 1997–98, the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) region suffered an unprecedented health and environmental catastrophe due to choking haze created by a massive forest !re in Indonesia. It is estimated that the total losses from the fire could be US$5–6 billion after taking into account the loss of trees and other natural resources as well as the long-term impact on human health. This unprecedented anthropogenic disaster not only created a severe health and environmental hazard but also raised a question mark about the credibility and effectiveness of the ASEAN regional grouping. Against this background, ASEAN took a number of regional initiatives to try and solve the problem and finally adopted a new treaty for regional cooperation to combat forest fire and haze in 2002. This paper assesses the future success of this agreement from the perspectives of the legal, institutional and geopolitical reality of the region. Since numerous studies have examined state responsibility for transboundary environmental harm under international law and its implications on the ASEAN haze problem, this article will not touch upon that general debate nor the remedies that are possibly available to victim states. Rather, it will focus on the ASEAN regional legal and institutional initiatives to combat the haze pollution and compare them with a similar European regional agreement. Regarding the following analysis, it is important to recognise the uncertainty arising from Indonesia’s status (presently a non-party to the Agreement). A primary indication of the future effectiveness of this agreement can be drawn from an analysis of the principles involved in this agreement, bearing in mind the inherent difficulty of enforcing norms in the international environmental legal system as a whole, and the geopolitical reality of the region."

Sounds From The Empty City (soundtrack)

These wordless songs were composed as music first, and soundtrack second. There is a difference. A soundtrack will always be connected with whatever it is accompanying. Music doesn’t neccessarily need to reference anything else. The Empty City transformed a picture book into a non-verbal performance combining the live and animated. Without spoken words the show would dance on the dangerous intersection of music, image and action. In both theatre and film (and this production drew on both traditions) soundtrack and music are often added on at the end when everything’s been pre-determined, a passive, responsive mode for such a powerful artform. It’s literally added in ‘post’. In The Empty City, music was present from its inception and grew with the show. It was active in process and product. It frequently led rehearsals and shaped other key decisions in virtual and live performance. Rather than tailor-make music towards pre-determined moments, independent compositions created without specific reference to narrative experimented with the creation of a flock of small musical pieces. I was interested in seeing how they flew and where they roosted, rather than having them born and raised in (narrative) captivity. The sonic palette is largely acoustic, incorporating ukulele, prepared piano and supported by a range of other elements tending towards electronica. Eventually more than seventy pieces of music were made for this show, twice the number used. These pieces were then placed in relation to the emerging scenes, then adapted in duration, texture and progression to develop a relationship with the scene. In this way, music (even when it’s synced) has a conversation with a performance, an exchange that may result in surprise rather than fulfillment of expectation. Leitmotif emerged from loops and layers, as the pieces of music ‘conversed’ with each other, rather than being premeditated and imposed. Nineteen of these tracks are compiled for this release, which finds the compositions (which progressed through many versions) poised at the moment between their fullest iteration as ‘music’ and their editing and full incorporation into a sychronised soundtrack. They are released as the began: as 'music-alone' (Kivy) In picture-book writing, the mutual interplay of text and image is sometimes referred to as interanimation , and this is the kind of symbiosis this project sought in the creation of the soundtrack. Reviewers of the noted the important role of the soundtrack in two separate productions of The Empty City: “The original score…takes centre stage” (Borhani, 2013) “…swept up in its repetition of sounds and images, like a Bach fugue” (Zampatti, 2013)

The Empty City (production)

This creative work is the production of the live and animated performance of The Empty City. With a significant period of creative development and script work behind it, the team engaged in a range of innovative performance-making practices in order to realise the work onstage as a non-verbal live and animated theatre work. This intermedial process was often led by music, and involved the creation and convergence of non-verbal action, virtual performers, performing objects and two simultaneous projections of animated images. The production opened at the Brisbane Powerhouse on June 27 2013, with a subsequent tour to Perth’s Awesome Festival in October 2013. Its technical achievements were noted in the critical responses. "The story is told on a striking set of two huge screens, the front one transparent, upon which still and moving images are projected, and between which Oliver performs and occasional “real” objects are placed. The effect is startling, and creates a cartoon three dimensionality like those old Viewmaster slide shows. The live action… and soundscape sync perfectly with the projected imagery to complete a dense, intricately devised and technically brilliant whole." (The West Australian 14.10.13)

Revascularization and tissue regeneration of an empty root canal space is enhanced by a direct blood supply and stem cells

Background Regenerative endodontics is an innovative treatment concept aiming to regenerate pulp, dentin and root structures. In the diseased or necrotic tooth, the limitation in vascular supply renders successful tissue regeneration/generation in a whole tooth challenging. The aim of this study is to evaluate the ability of vascularized tissue to develop within a pulpless tooth using tissue engineering techniques. Materials and methods A pulpless tooth chamber, filled with collagen I gel containing isolated rat dental pulp cells (DPC) and angiogenic growth factors, was placed into a hole created in the femoral cortex or into its own tooth socket, respectively. The gross, histological and biochemical characteristics of the de novo tissue were evaluated at 4 and 8weeks post-transplantation. Results Tooth revascularization and tissue generation was observed only in the femur group, confirming the important role of vascular supply in tissue regeneration. The addition of cells and growth factors significantly promoted connective tissue production in the tooth chamber. Conclusion Successful revascularization and tissue regeneration in this model demonstrate the importance of a direct vascular supply and the advantages of a stem cell approach. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons A/S.

Young people and citizenship-delayed, diminished and empty?

This paper is presented in workshop format in order to meet the style and themes of the conference, and seeks to explore as fully as possible with participants issues, concerns and proposals around the discourse of young people and citizenship. This paper takes the position that the relationship between young people and citizenship is complex and in places contradictory, and while Ruth Lister (1998), argues for an 'inclusionary potential', a central concern is that the citizenship that young people get is as Hartley Dean (1997), suggests, at best 'ambiguous', and at its worst, 'diminished'. Under not so new Labour, the term has according to Gail Lewis (1998) re-emerged as a 'category of political articulation', imbued with the pronouncements of Charles Murray (1995) on the underclass, and Amitai Etzioni (1996), on the virtues of Communitarianism and the central assertion that in relation to young people and certain communities, 'rights have exceeded responsibilities'. This body of opinion has proved to be seductive to a government dedicated to joined up solutions in the battle against social exclusion and to the reconfiguration of the welfare state to place the onus for welfare and social provision on to individuals and communities. Those who work with young people and young people themselves may wish to be proactive in asserting the kind of citizenship they require, rights-based, expansive and supportive, rather than accept an imposed version devoid of rights but full to the brim of authoritarian measures, vindictive proposals and narrow horizons. This paper will engender debate and reflection and offer a context of the erosion of young people's rights over the last 20 years, Hartley Dean (1996), and will consider the work of T.H. Marshall (1950) in dividing citizenship into three elements: the civil element, the political element, and the social element. The paper will explore in workshop tradition, strategies and proposals for action relevant to practitioners and academics, such as the reduction in the voting age to 16.

Microbial oil production from palm oil empty fruit bunch hydrolysates

This study explores the potential use of empty fruit bunch (EFB) residues from palm oil processing residues, as an alternative feedstock for microbial oil production. EFB is a readily available, lignocellulosic biomass that provides cheaper substrates for oil production in comparison to the use of pure sugars. In this study, potential oleaginous microorganisms were selected based on a multi-criteria analysis (MCA) framework which utilised Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) with Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluation (PROMETHEE) aided by Geometrical Analysis for Interactive Aid (GAIA). The MCA framework was used to evaluate several strains of microalgae (Chlorella protothecoides and Chlorella zofingiensis), yeasts (Cryptococcus albidus and Rhodotorula mucilaginosa) and fungi (Aspergillus oryzae and Mucor plumbeus) on glucose, xylose and glycerol. Based on the results of PROMETHEE rankings and GAIA plane, fungal strains A. oryzae and M. plumbeus and yeast strain R. mucilaginosa showed great promise for oil production from lignocellulosic hydrolysates. The study further cultivated A. oryzae, M. plumbeus and R. mucilaginosa on EFB hydrolysates for oil production. EFB was pretreated with dilute sulfuric acid, followed by enzymatic saccharification of solid residue. Hydrolysates tested in this study are detoxified liquid hydrolysates (LH) and enzymatic hydrolysate (EH).

Evaluation of oil production from oil palm empty fruit bunch by oleaginous micro-organisms

Oil palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) is a readily available, lignocellulosic biomass that has potential to be utilized as a carbon substrate for microbial oil production. In order to evaluate the production of microbial oil from EFB, a technical study was performed through the cultivation of oleaginous micro-organisms (Rhodotorula mucilaginosa, Aspergillus oryzae, and Mucor plumbeus) on EFB hydrolyzates. EFB hydrolyzates were prepared through dilute acid pre-treatment of the biomass, where the liquid fraction of pre-treatment was detoxified and used as an EFB liquid hydrolyzate (EFBLH). The solid residue was enzymatically hydrolyzed prior to be used as an EFB enzymatic hydrolyzate (EFBEH). The highest oil concentrations were obtained from M. plumbeus (1.9 g/L of oil on EFBLH and 4.7 g/L of oil on EFBEH). In order to evaluate the feasibility of large-scale microbial oil production, a techno-economic study was performed based on the oil yields of M. plumbeus per hectare of plantation, followed by the estimation of the feedstock cost for oil production. Other oil palm biomasses (frond and trunk) were also included in this study, as it could potentially improve the economics of large-scale microbial oil production. Microbial oil from oil palm biomasses was estimated to potentially increase oil production in the palm oil industry up to 25%, at a cheaper feedstock cost. The outcome of this study demonstrates the potential integration of microbial oil production from oil palm biomasses with existing palm oil industry (biodiesel, food and oleochemicals production), that could potentially enhance sustainability and profitability of microbial oil production.

Coulomb-hole summations and energies for GW calculations with limited number of empty orbitals: a modified static remainder approach

Ab initio GW calculations are a standard method for computing the spectroscopic properties of many materials. The most computationally expensive part in conventional implementations of the method is the generation and summation over the large number of empty orbitals required to converge the electron self-energy. We propose a scheme to reduce the summation over empty states by the use of a modified static remainder approximation, which is simple to implement and yields accurate self-energies for both bulk and molecular systems requiring a small fraction of the typical number of empty orbitals.