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Improved Performance Of Ballasted Tracks Under Impact Loading By Recycled Rubber Mats, Ngoc Trung Ngo, Buddhima Indraratna, Cholachat Rujikiatkamjorn

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

Ballasted tracks at transition locations such as approaches to bridges and road crossings experience increasing degradation and deformation due to dynamic and high impact forces, a key factor that decreases the stability and longevity of railroads. One solution to minimise ballast degradation at the transition zones is using rubber energy absorbing drainage sheets (READS) manufactured from recycled tyres. When placed beneath the ballast layer, READS distributes the load over wider area and attenuate of the load over a longer duration thus decreasing maximum stress, apart from reducing the energy transferred to the ballast and other substructure components. Subsequently, the track …

Assessment Of Radio-Induced Damage In Endothelial Cells Irradiated With 40 Kvp, 220 Kvp, And 4 Mv X-Rays By Means Of Micro And Nanodosimetric Calculations, Nicolas Tang, Marta Bueno, Sylvain Meylan, Yann Perrot, Hoang Tran, Amelie Freneau, Morgane Dos Santos, Aurelie Vaurijoux, Gaetan Gruel, Mario Bernal, Marie Bordage, Dimitris Emfietzoglou, Ziad Francis, Susanna Guatelli, Vladimir Ivanchenko, Mathieu Karamitros, Ioanna Kyriakou, Wook Shin, Sebastien Incerti, Carmen Villagrasa

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. The objective of this work was to study the differences in terms of early biological effects that might exist between different X-rays energies by using a mechanistic approach. To this end, radiobiological experiments exposing cell monolayers to three X-ray energies were performed in order to assess the yields of early DNA damage, in particular of double-strand breaks (DSBs). The simulation of these irradiations was set in order to understand the differences in the obtained experimental results. Hence, simulated results in terms of microdosimetric spectra and early DSB induction were analyzed and compared …

An In-Situ Synchrotron Study Of The B2→B19′ Phase Transformation In A Ni-Ti Alloy Subjected To Uniaxial Monotonic Tension, Xiaohui Bian, Ahmed A. Saleh, Peter Lynch, Christopher H. J Davies, Elena V. Pereloma, Azdiar Adil Gazder

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

A cold-drawn and annealed 56Ni-44Ti wt% alloy was subjected to in-situ uniaxial monotonic tension in a synchrotron. Spatially resolved diffraction data was acquired along the gauge length by pausing the loading at five select macroscopic strains within the stress plateau region. This enables tracking localised transformation phenomena by sub-dividing the gauge length into transformation band, untransformed and apparently transformed regions. Within the macroscopic stress plateau region: (i) the highly strained B2 phase within the propagating transformation band and apparently transformed regions produces a relaxation of the B2 phase within the untransformed region. (ii) The newly formed B19′ grain families exhibit …

Implementation Of An Iot Based Radar Sensor Network For Wastewater Management, Adam Drenoyanis, Raad Raad, Ivan Wady, Carmel Krogh

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

Critical wastewater events such as sewer main blockages or overflows are often not detected until after the fact. These events can be costly, from both an environmental impact and monetary standpoint. A standalone, portable radar device allowing non-invasive benchmarking of sewer pumping station (SPS) pumps is presented. Further, by configuring and deploying a complete Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN), Shoalhaven Water (SW) now has the opportunity to create "Internet of Things" (IoT)-capable devices that offer freedom from the reliance on mobile network providers, whilst avoiding congestion on the existing Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) telemetry backbone. This network …

Simulation Of Cosmic Radiation Spectra For Personal Microdosimetry At The International Space Station's Altitude, Stefania Peracchi, Susanna Guatelli, Linh T. Tran, Anatoly B. Rosenfeld

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

Latest researches predict the cosmic rays exposure during long space missions outside the Earth's geomagnetic sphere, as to the Moon and Mars, can double the cancer risk. The minimization of risk associated with radiation exposure in the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) is of great interest for astronauts of the International Space Station (ISS). This risk is due to radiation hazard and can be predicted by measurement of the dose equivalent produced by the radiation environment inside of the spacecraft. Since more than 15 years ago, the Centre For Medical Radiation Physics (CMRP), University of Wollongong, is developing silicon based microdosimeters …

Fibre Optic Dosimetry In Synchrotron Microbeam Radiation Therapy, James Archer, Enbang Li, Anatoly B. Rosenfeld, Michael L. F Lerch

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

Synchrotron microbeam radiation therapy is a novel pre-clinical therapy method that uses high brilliance, spatially fractionated, low energy x-rays to deliver a very high dose rate. A conventional spatial fractionation for these beams is 50 μm microbeam width at 400 μm peak-to-peak separation. To perform dosimetry on these beams, a dosimeter with a high spatial resolution is required. We present a plastic scintillator fibre optic dosimeter that has been demonstrated to be able to resolve the microbeam structure. The advantages of such a dosimeter is the water equivalence, passive components exposed to the radiation field, relatively inexpensive components and simple …

Evaluation Of Organ Doses Following High Dose Rate (Hdr) Brachytherapy Of Breast Cancer: A Geant4 Monte Carlo Simulation Study, M Aidil, Nurul Hashikin, Chai-Hong Yeong, Susanna Guatelli, K H. Ng, Alessandra Malaroda, Anatoly B. Rosenfeld, Alan C. Perkins

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

This study aimed to evaluate the absorbed doses received by the organs at risk (OARs) following Iridium-192 (192Ir) high dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy of the left breast. The MIRD5 adult female anthropomorphic phantom, readily available in the Geant4 Monte Carlo package was used. However, the left breast was modified from 195 to 145 cm3, to represent a breast following lumpectomy. Left breast was chosen due to its higher cancer occurrence than the right breast. The HDR sources were constructed with an outer cylindrical dimension of 4.5 mm (length) x 0.9 mm (diameter). Various influencing parameters were studied, i.e. catheter arrangement …

Behaviour Of Foam Concrete Under Impact Loading Based On Shpb Experiments, Yongliang He, Mingshi Gao, Hongchao Zhao, Yichao Zhao

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

This paper presents an innovative method for using foam concrete as a typical building material for soft structures in underground coal mines subjected to dynamic loading. To understand the behaviour of foam concrete under impact loading, a total of 30 specimens with a diameter of 50 mm and a height of 50 mm were experimentally tested using a 75 mm diameter split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) device. The key parameters investigated in the present study included the type of foam concrete (fly ash and sand), the density of foam concrete (1000, 1200 and 1400 kg/m3), and the impact velocity (3.0, …

A New Generation Of Magnetorheological Vehicle Suspension System With Tunable Stiffness And Damping Characteristics, Shuaishuai Sun, Xin Tang, Jian Yang, Donghong Ning, Haiping Du, Shiwu Zhang, Weihua Li

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

As the concept of variable stiffness (VS) and variable damping (VD) has increasingly drawn attention because of its superiority on reducing unwanted vibrations, dampers with property of varying stiffness and damping have been an attractive method to further improve vehicle performance and driver comfort. This paper presents the design, prototyping, modeling, and experimental evaluation of a VS and VD magnetorheological (MR) vehicle suspension system. It was first characterized by an INSTRON machine. Then, a phenomenological model was proposed to capture the characteristics of the damper and TS fuzzy approach was used to model the quarter car system where the proposed …

Leveraging Smote In A Two-Layer Model For Prediction Of Protein-Protein Interactions, Huaming Chen, Lei Wang, Chi-Hung Chi, Jun Shen

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part B

The research of the mechanisms of infectious diseases between host and pathogens remains a hot topic. It takes stock of the interactions data between host and pathogens, including proteins and genomes, to facilitate the discoveries and prediction of underlying mechanisms. However, the incomplete protein-protein interactions data impediment the advances in this exploration and solicit the wet-lab experiments to examine and verify the latent interactions. Although there have been numerous studies trying to leverage the computational models, especially machine learning models, the performances of these models were not good enough to produce high-fidelity candidates of interactions data due to the nature …

Cultural Capital Of Recruitment Decision‐Makers And Its Influence On Their Perception Of Person‐Organisation Fit Of Skilled Migrants, Shamika Almeida, Marie-France Waxin, Yin Paradies

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

This article examines how recruitment decision‐makers' cultural capital can influence their concerns about the organizational fit of skilled migrants (SM). We used survey data and interviews with Information Technology organizations in Australia. The study highlights the decision‐makers' relatively poor understanding of non‐western cultures and how it negatively influences their perception of candidates from non‐western backgrounds. Furthermore, this study also notes how organisational cultural values and decision‐makers' exposure to diverse cultures can influence their assumptions about the value of international qualifications and work experiences. Similarly, it can also influence how they assess the perception of fit based on a candidate's appearance …

The Enduring And Evolving Influence Of Ball And Brown (1968), Karen L. Benson, Millicent M. Chang, Philip Gray, Sue Wright

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Background In this virtual special issue (VSI) we acknowledge the contribution of Ball and Brown (1968) [BB68] and select some key papers from the Australian Journal of Management (AJM), published since its inception in 1976, that demonstrate how Ball and Brown influenced, and in many cases inspired, the research agendas of Australian and New Zealand researchers. AJM is particularly proud to acknowledge the connection with Ray Ball and Philip Brown. Not only did these scholars strongly influence the research agenda of AJM authors but Ray and Philip were both instrumental in the establishment and development of the Journal. The Australian …

Real‐Time Inflation Forecast Combination For Time‐Varying Coefficient Models, Bo Zhang

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

We use real‐time macroeconomic variables and combination forecasts with both time‐varying weights and equal weights to forecast inflation in the USA. The combination forecasts compare three sets of commonly used time‐varying coefficient autoregressive models: Gaussian distributed errors, errors with stochastic volatility, and errors with moving average stochastic volatility. Both point forecasts and density forecasts suggest that models combined by equal weights do not produce worse forecasts than those with time‐varying weights. We also find that variable selection, the allowance of time‐varying lag length choice, and the stochastic volatility specification significantly improve forecast performance over standard benchmarks. Finally, when compared with …

Do Accruals Earnings Management Constraints And Intellectual Capital Efficiency Trigger Asymmetric Cost Behaviour? Evidence From Australia, Yiru Yang

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

This study examines whether accruals earnings management constraints and intellectual capital (IC) efficiency affect asymmetric cost behaviour by analysing data for the 1990 to 2016 period on firms listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. The analysis reveals that, on average, anti-sticky cost behaviour occurs when firms have limited ability to engage in accrual earnings management to manipulate earnings in the current year. Further, IC efficiency - particularly human capital efficiency - increases the degree of cost stickiness. This study also finds that the degree of asymmetric cost behaviour is more pronounced in the post-International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) period than …

Loan Financing And Investment In Princeling-Backed Firms, Qing Li, Qigui Liu, Shiguang Ma, Gary G. Tian

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

This study investigates the role of princelings in Chinese listed firms. Our findings suggest that princelings ensure better access to bank loans for non-SOEs but bring no significant benefits to SOEs. Our empirical results further indicate that bank lending decisions are distorted for princeling-backed firms due to the privileges and protections they can obtain from the higher levels of the government through princelings' family ties. Moreover, we find that, due to excess long-term bank loans, princeling-backed non-SOEs tend to overinvest, which ultimately results in lower investment efficiency. Furthermore, we use the difference-in-difference method to capture the effect of the exogenous …

Financial Loss Of Life: The Homo Sacer In The Third Reich, Erin J. Twyford

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how the Aryanisation program of Nazi Germany created a financial loss of life for Jewish victims. This program led to further losses including political and actual life within the concentration camps and gas chambers.

Design/methodology/approach This paper utilises Agamben's (1995, 2002, 2005) concepts of biopolitics, the homo sacer and the state of exception. I examine business histories of the firm The Interessen Gemeinshaft der Deutschen Teerfarbenindustrie (the 'Community of Interest of the German Dyestuff Industry' known hereafter as 'I.G. Farben'), German legislation and other historical documents to construct a close reading …

Engineering-Based Design Methodology For Embedding Ethics In Autonomous Robots, Lindsay Robertson, Roba Abbas, Gursel Alici, Albert Munoz, Katina Michael

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

This paper explores the design process of robotics and autonomous systems using a co-design approach, applied ethics, and values-driven methods. Specifically, the approach seeks to move beyond traditional risk assessment toward a greater consideration of end-user exposure. The goal of the ethics-based co-design approach is to identify end-user and stakeholder values that guide the minimization of end-user vulnerability associated with the employment of autonomous systems. This design process is also used to identify positive consequences that probably increase human wellbeing as opposed to simply avoiding harm. We argue that biomedical autonomous systems design, during the preclinical phase, should bring together …

Making Cause-Related Corporate Social Responsibility (Csr)Count In Holiday Accommodation Choice, Melanie J. Randle, Astrid Kemperman, Sara Dolnicar

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

We test how different presentations of cause-related corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives affect the choice of holiday accommodation bookings. Results of a stated choice experiment indicate that - for the tourist population as a whole - information about CSR initiatives affects choice only minimally. One market segment emerges, however, that is highly responsive to all types of CSR message presentations: positive and negative framing, and local and international causes. This tourist segment is characterized by a distinct socio-demographic profile, thus representing a promising target market for tourism managers engaging in cause-related CSR strategies. Other tourist segments are sensitive to the …

Retaining Health Carers: The Role Of Personal And Organisation Job Resources, Shamika Almeida, Mario Fernando, Albert Munoz, Susan Cartwright

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify key personal and organisational resources that influence the engagement, well-being and job satisfaction of healthcare professionals working in Australia.

Design/methodology/approach: Using the job demands-resources model, this study investigates how employee resources and organisation resources influence engagement, well-being and job satisfaction of health professionals in Australian hospitals. The authors collected survey data from a sample of healthcare professionals (n=217) working in three hospitals in New South Wales, Australia.

Findings: The results confirm the importance of the emotional health of employees on their well-being. The results concur with existing research …

Children And "Junk Food" Advertising: Critique Of A Recent Australian Study, John R. Rossiter

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

A field experiment by Australian public health researchers Norman, Kelly, McMahon, and others allegedly demonstrated that primary school children's physical health is threatened by exposure to "junk food" advertising. Their study was published in the international health journal Appetite and was clearly intended to influence government regulatory policy. The methodology of the study was taken, without acknowledgement, from an earlier American study in the Journal of Consumer Research and much other research on children's consumer behavior, including pioneering studies conducted by the present author‚ was ignored. Also, quite unforgivably, the researchers neglected to cite Australia's already strict regulatory controls on …

Interdependencies Of Internal Migration, Urbanization, Poverty, And Inequality: The Case Of Urban India, Edgar J. Wilson, Kankesu Jayanthakumaran, Reetu Verma

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

In India, the number of metropolitan cities with a population of around 1 million people and above has increased from 35 in 2001 to 53 in 2011. Around 43% of the urban population resides in metropolitan cities.2 By 2030, the urban population of India is predicted to increase by a total of 163 million, relative to an increase in the rural population by 30.9 million (UN DESA 2014). Unplanned growth in the urban population tends to put pressure on regional/urban disparities and the rapidly increasing slum-dwelling population. In 2011-2012, the headcount ratio (HCR) based on US$ 1.90 per person per …

Accounting And Pastoral Power In Australian Disability Welfare Reform, Mona Nikidehaghani, Corinne L. Cortese, Freda C. Hui

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

This paper draws on Foucault's concept of pastoral power to explore the role of accounting in the Australian disability welfare reform. We provide an example of the use of individualising and totalising power against a backdrop of neoliberal reform. Our analysis reveals the centrality of accounting practices in transforming the identity of people with disabilities into one consistent with the intentions of neoliberalism ideology. Our findings demonstrate that accounting practices associated with disability welfare reform have been integral in exercising pastoral power. We further demonstrate that accounting, as a technology of the self, facilitates individualising and totalising control and, through …

Assessing The Link Between Cultural Influences And Persuasibility In Online Daily Deals, Morakot Ditta-Apichai, Uraiporn Kattiyapornpong

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Individual's susceptibility to persuasion and cultural values are important factors that influencing consumer buying behaviour. This paper assesses the linkage between an individual's persuasibility to cultural values in online Daily Deals (DD) in their tourism and hospitality deal choices. DD websites are the online platforms that offer a variety of deals and display different types of persuasive information to influence buying decisions. Using correlation analysis of 423 online DD buyers, this paper shows that individual differences in persuasibility significantly link to specific cultural values and thus extends the persuasion literature. It also provides relevant practical implications on the role of …

In Search Of The "Right Price" For Air Travel: First Steps Towards Estimating Granular Price-Demand Elasticity, Suranga Perera, David Tan

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Identifying price-demand elasticity for air travel using empirical data is fraught with issues. The largest of which is the problem of endogeneity. In this paper, we introduce instrumental variables derived from flow traffic passenger numbers to overcome endogeneity. When analyzing the price-demand relationship using flight date-point of sale and booking date-days to departure level data, flow traffic has the ideal property of influencing ticket prices via an airline's inventory control function yet is uncorrelated with demand shocks in the origin and destination market of interest. Ordinary least square (OLS) regression models report that the demand of the given market is …

Engaging Postgraduate International Students Online: An Autoethnographic Reflection Revealing Lessons Learned As An Early Career Academic, Laura L. Rook

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

This article presents an autoethnographic account of a project implemented to increase online student engagement in a postgraduate organisational behaviour subject comprised predominantly of international students. Autoethnography provided a lens to critically explore my andragogical practice as an early career academic (ECR) engaged in teaching across multiple campuses and online in a regional university. Following Brookfield's (2017) process of critical reflection whereby the illumination of power is considered, my reflections are presented and the valuable lessons I learned are highlighted. This account aims to extend our sociological understanding of online student engagement and the challenges experienced as an ECR, while …

General Public Perceptions And Motivations To Adopt Children From Out-Of-Home Care In New South Wales, Australia, Betty Luu, Amy Conley Wright, Melanie J. Randle

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Recent reforms in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, prioritise adoption over long-term foster care. While previous research has examined motivation to foster, less is known about the interest by the general public in adoption from out-of-home care. A general sample of the NSW public (N = 1030) completed an online survey about adoption practices and their willingness to consider adopting from out-of-home care, with background questions on perceived social support and life satisfaction. Barriers to pursuing adoption were identified, including concerns about the characteristics of the child related to their experiences of care and personal impacts including financial costs. Availability …

A Public Health Advocacy Approach For Preventing And Reducing Gambling Related Harm, Jennifer David, Samantha L. Thomas, Melanie J. Randle, Mike Daube

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Objective: To develop a framework to guide the application of public health advocacy strategies aimed at preventing and reducing gambling-related harm.

Methods: A narrative review of theories of change and public health advocacy literature.

Results: An eight-step public health advocacy framework was created, which outlines the critical steps and considerations when developing and implementing successful change efforts.

Implications for public health: To date, a clear public health advocacy approach to gambling harm prevention and reduction has not been well established. This study proposes a gambling specific framework to guide future public health advocacy efforts to prevent …

Institutional Investors, Controlling Shareholders And Ceo Pay‐Performance Relationship: Evidence From China, Dan Zhang, Shiguang Ma, Xiaofei Pan

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Using a large sample of China's listed firms between 2005 and 2015, we find that domestic mutual funds have a positive effect on the CEO pay‐performance relationship, and this effect becomes stronger when their ownership is higher and closer to the controlling shareholder's ownership. This effect is stronger in non‐state‐owned enterprises (non‐SOEs), firms facing weaker industry competition incentives, and firms located in more developed regions. However, Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors (QFIIs) do not have such an influence. Overall, our study contends that the effectiveness of institutional investors' monitoring role is subject to their identity, controlling shareholders and institutional environments.

Creating Learning Communities Through Flipped Classes: A Challenge, An Answer, Or An Opportunity For Teaching Strategic Human Resource Management?, Nadeera Ranabahu, Shamika Almeida

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

Teaching strategic human resource management to postgraduate students is becoming a challenge in countries like Australia, particularly due to the students undertaking postgraduate studies without relevant professional work experience. To address this, we used flipped teaching and learning activities and attempted to develop a learning community among multi-cultural postgraduate students who had no (or minimal) professional work experience. Using duoethnographic technique, we recorded our observations and reflections over three semesters in teaching strategic human resource management at postgraduate level in an Australian University. Our reflections demonstrate that community-based learning environment allows students without any relevant work experience to put strategic …

Do We Have Wicked Problems And Solutions In Strategic Decision Making?: A Review Of Literature, Safoora Pitsi, Anil Chandrakumara, Rohan Wickramasuriya

Faculty of Business - Papers (Archive)

In today's complex world, most businesses and companies experience different confusing strategy issues. Most of these problems are not just persistent or severe but are labelled as "wicked" in some areas of practice such as urban planners. In this context, the term 'wicked problems' refers to those issues which companies and businesses cannot resolve definitively. This paper proposes that applying wicked solutions to wicked problems might be an effective strategy that requires an appropriate decision-making approach by senior leaders of business organisations. It also provides ways of measuring outcomes of some strategic decisions. The paper will use the existing body …