Digital Commons Network^™

Using Task Analysis To Design Intuitive Online Grocery Systems, Mark Freeman, Alison Freeman

Faculty of Informatics - Papers (Archive)

This paper presents a normative task model for modelling user interactions with online grocery stores. It is envisaged that using task models will aid system developers in building better systems to meet users’ needs, and hereby creating better system design processes. This paper will discuss the three main areas of user experience when completing the process of adding a product to an online trolley: attempting to retrieve the product, receiving the results of the retrieval attempt, and adding the product to the trolley. The normative task model presented is expected to help in the future design of online grocery systems …

Information Retrieval And Social Tagging For Digital Libraries Using Formal Concept Analysis, Peter W. Eklund, Peter Goodall, Timothy Wray

Faculty of Informatics - Papers (Archive)

This paper reports a novel semantic web application developed to deliver a collaborative tagging system for a digital on-line museum. The key features of our application – called the Virtual Museum of the Pacific – concern the browsing and retrieval interface based on Formal Concept Analysis, the extensible distributed data model to support collaborative tagging and its web services implementation.

On The Analysis Of Background Subtraction Techniques Using Gaussian Mixture Models, Abdesselam Bouzerdoum, Azeddine Beghdadi, Son Lam Phung, Philippe L. Bouttefroy

Faculty of Informatics - Papers (Archive)

In this paper, we conduct an investigation into background subtraction techniques using Gaussian Mixture Models (GMM) in the presence of large illumination changes and background variations. We show that the techniques used to date suffer from the trade-off imposed by the use of a common learning rate to update both the mean and variance of the component densities, which leads to a degeneracy of the variance and creates “saturated pixels”. To address this problem, we propose a simple yet effective technique that differentiates between the two learning rates, and imposes a constraint on the variance so as to avoid the …

Intergrain Connectivity Of Mgb2 Ceramics Studied By Impedance Analysis, C.C Wang, C Wang, Rong Zeng, S X. Dou

Australian Institute for Innovative Materials - Papers

First, by using of the conventional Rowell analysis, we demonstrated that the addition of nano BN particles can effectively eliminate MgO and pores in MgB₂ resulting in a very high density and good connectivity of BN-doped MgB2. Then, another method—low-frequency dielectric impedance analysis—was introduced to characterize the properties of the grain boundaries of MgB₂. A comparative impedance study was performed in the frequency range from 100 Hz to 100 MHz on pure and nano BN-doped MgB₂. The study revealed some following interesting results: (1) a dielectric resonance around frequency of 10⁸ in both samples …

Impact Of The Home Learning Environment On Child Cognitive Development: Secondary Analysis Of Data From 'Growing Up In Scotland', Edward Melhuish

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This study aims to investigate whether interview-based measures of children’s activities are associated with cognitive ability at age 34 months, and whether they have independent effects once socio-demographic factors have been taken into account.

A Petrological, Mineralogical And Geochemical Analysis Of Listwaenite Alteration At Spring Creek Bingara In The Great Serpentinite Belt, New England, Nsw, E Holcroft, Solomon Buckman, I Neuss

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

No abstract provided.

Defining The Host Mucosal And Gut Microflora Interactions In Crohn's Disease Using Redundancy Analysis On Microarray Datasets, Caroline A. Kerr, J Shaw, Christopher S. Mcsweeney, Seungha Kang, M J. Buckley, T Lockett, Peter Pavlik

Graduate School of Medicine - Papers (Archive)

Introduction: Crohn’s disease (CD) is an inflammatory bowel disease that is characterised by chronic relapsing inflammation of the digestive tract. There is a significant body of evidence that suggests the intestinal mucosal microbiome interacts with the immune response to produce pathological inflammation and together these factors play a major role in the pathogenesis of CD. The aim of this study is to investigate interactions between the human intestinal mucosal transcriptome and mucosal microbiome using multivariate redundancy analysis on microarray datasets.

Methods: DNA and RNA were extracted from the same mucosal biopsies collected from CD patients (terminal ileum: n=5 from sites …

Qos Analysis And Service Selection For Composite Services, Huiyuan Zheng, Jian Yang, Weiliang Zhao

Faculty of Engineering - Papers (Archive)

A composite service can be constructed with the arbitrary combination of sequential, parallel, loop, and conditional structures. In this paper, we propose a general solution to calculate the QoS for composite services with complex structures. We also show QoS-based service selection can be conducted based on the proposed QoS calculation method. An application example is given to show the effectiveness of the method.

General Probability Distribution-Based Qos Analysis For Web Service Composition, Huiyuan Zheng, Jian Yang, Weiliang Zhao

Faculty of Engineering - Papers (Archive)

In this paper, we propose a comprehensive solution for QoS aggregation in service composition. Different from existing work on QoS modeling which uses single values, discrete values with frequencies, or well known statistical distributions, the proposed method can work on QoS represented by general probability distributions. A set of formulas are developed to calculate the QoS probability distribution for the composite service based on the four identified patterns. Experimental results are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Stress Analysis In Failed Roof At A Longwall Face, Jan Anton Nemcik, Ian Porter, Buddhima Indraratna

Faculty of Engineering - Papers (Archive)

This paper presents a conceptual work on roof failure mechanisms at a longwall coal mining face based on a multiple sliding block model. Underground observations of the caved roof strata at the longwall face indicate that many types of fracture exist and that two are dominant. In response to roof convergence close to the goaf, the stratified ground flexes resulting in shear failure along the weak bedding planes that are present in sedimentary strata, while sub-vertical fractures form just ahead of the longwall face in response to the mining induced stress state. . These mining induced fractures usually occur at …

Strategy Of Water Pollution Prevention In Taihu Lake And Its Effects Analysis, Shuqing Yang, P.W. Liu

Faculty of Engineering - Papers (Archive)

Taihu Lake, the third largest freshwater lake in China, is located in the Chanjiang Delta of the Yangtze River. Its waters are used by agriculture, industry and as major drinking water for several cities including Shanghai and Wuxi. The lake also is important for tourism, aquaculture and flood control. Taihu Lake and its surrounding areas are facing three major water-related threats: deteriorating water quality with inflow and runoff from its watershed; flooding during the rainy seasons; and water shortages during drier months. Noxious algae blooms are occurring with increasing frequency and water quality continues to decline. Remedial actions implemented to …

Tutorials On Agent-Based Modelling With Netlogo And Network Analysis With Pajek, Matthew J. Berryman, Simon D. Angus

SMART Infrastructure Facility - Papers

Complex adaptive systems typically contain multiple, heterogeneous agents, with non-trivial interactions. They tend to produce emergent (larger-scale) phenomena. Agent-based modelling allows one to read- ily capture the behaviour of a group of heterogeneous agents (such as people, animals, et cetera), with diverse behaviour and important in- teractions, so it is a natural t to modelling complex systems. Many complex systems (and agent-based models thereof) can be thought of as containing networks, either explicitly or implicitly. Therefore for complex systems research it is important to have a good understand- ing of network analysis techniques. This chapter is aimed at beginners to …

Autonomous Greenhouse Gas Measurement System For Analysis Of Gas Migration On Landfill Sites, Stephen Beirne, Breda M. Kierman, Cormac Fay, Colum Foley, Brian Corcoran, Alan F. Smeaton, Dermot Diamond

Faculty of Science - Papers (Archive)

This paper describes the design, development and validation of an autonomous gas sensing platform prototype for monitoring of the greenhouse gases, methane (CH₄) and carbon dioxide (CO₂). The deployment undertaken for validation of the developed prototype monitored landfill gas migration to perimeter borehole wells on a landfill site. Target gas concentrations were captured via infrared gas sensors tuned for each target gas and data reported to an offsite data collection point at 12 hour intervals. This bespoke platform and the accompanying data recording and interface software provide a flexible alternative to the presently employed labor intensive, …

Change Impact Analysis For Service Based Business Processes, Yi Wang, Jian Yang, Weiliang Zhao

Faculty of Engineering - Papers (Archive)

Change management is critical and challenging in the development and maintenance of service-based applications and information systems due to the distributed and dynamic nature of services. This paper proposes an approach for facilitating the change impact analysis in a service oriented environment. This research focuses on a typical scenario that multiple services are supported by a single business process. The change impact is analyzed based on the study of the dependency between services and business processes. Types of changes and change impact patterns are identified on the foundation of a service oriented business process model. These change types and the …

A Boundary Element Analysis On The Influence Of Krc And E/D On The Performance Of Cyclically Loaded Single Pile In Clay, Sudip Basack

Faculty of Engineering - Papers (Archive)

The environment prevalent in oceans necessitates the piles supporting offshore structures to be designed against lateral cyclic loading initiated by wave action. Such quasi-static load reversal induces deterioration in the strength and stiffness of the soil-pile system, introducing progressive reduction in the bearing capacity associated with increased settlement of the pile foundation. To understand the effect of lateral cyclic load on axial response of single piles in soft clay, a numerical model was previously developed and validated by the author. Using the methodology, further analysis has been carried out to investigate how the variation in relative pilesoil stiffness and eccentricity …

Social Tagging For Digital Libraries Using Formal Concept Analysis, Timothy Wray, Peter W. Eklund

Faculty of Informatics - Papers (Archive)

This paper describes the Art Collection Ecosystem – an application that allows users to tag and serendipitously browse content using Formal Concept Analysis. Within this application, tags are derived from meta-data of artworks within an existing asset management system and are classified according to theories derived from social tagging behaviour.We present past and recent iterations of its design, where it is evaluated as a contextual comparison to a popular image tagging application, Flickr. Through the process of iterative design and user evaluation, we produce results are of interest to any applied research and development that involves the exploration of digital …

Effects Of Benzodiazepines, Antidepressants And Opioids On Driving: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis Of Epidemiological And Experimental Evidence, Tharaka L. Dassanayake, Patricia Michie, Gregory Carter, Alison L. Jones

Graduate School of Medicine - Papers (Archive)

Background: Many individuals in the community are prescribed psychoactive drugs with sedative effects. These drugs may affect their daily functions, of which automobile driving is a major component. Objective: To examine the association of three classes of commonly used psychoactive drugs (viz. benzodiazepines and newer non-benzodiazepine hypnotics, antidepressants and opioids) with (i) the risk of traffic accidents (as indexed by epidemiological indicators of risk); and (ii) driving performance (as indexed by experimental measures of driving performance). Methods: A literature search for material published in the English language between January 1966 and January 2010 in PubMed and EMBASE databases was combined …

Dynamic Response Analysis Of The Rotating Blade Of Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine, Xiong Liu, Xianmin Zhang, Gangqiang Li, Yan Chen, Zhiquan Ye

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

This paper presents a dynamic response analysis of the blade of horizontal axis wind turbines using finite element method. The blade is treated as a cantilever and modeled with two-node beam element. The blade element-momentum theory is applied to calculate the aerodynamic loads. Dynamic inflow and dynamic stall are taken into account to reflect the transient aerodynamics. The centrifugal stiffening is introduced to consider the restoring effects of centrifugal force. An aerodynamic damping model is presented for calculating the overall damping ratio instantaneously during time-domain simulation. The structural dynamic equation is solved using Newmark method and the overall dynamic response …

Nonlinear Analysis For A Single Vertical Drain Including The Effects Of Preloading Considering The Compressibility And Permeability Of The Soil, Buddhima Indraratna, Xueyu Geng, Cholachat Rujikiatkamjorn

Faculty of Engineering - Papers (Archive)

In this paper, the free strain radial consolidation theory incorporating the changes of compressibility and permeability of the soil with the change in effective stress via time dependent surcharge preloading is presented. In contrast to the conventional analysis, the current study highlights the nonlinear characteristics of the soil during the consolidation process. A comparison of the nonlinear radial consolidation model, with the conventional theory and the equal strain theory i.e. constant volume compressibility, mv and constant coefficient of horizontal permeability, kh is presented. Finally, a case history at Muar coastal plain, Malaysia is analysed on the basis of the current …

Analysis Of Strip Edge Cracks During Cold Rolling Of Thin Strip, Zhengyi Jiang, Haibo Xie, Dongbin Wei

Faculty of Engineering - Papers (Archive)

In this paper, the mechanics of strip edge cracks and its propagation has been studied, and the effects of strip edge drop and stress intensity factor (SIF) on edge crack defections during cold rolling of thin strip have been discussed. An experimental investigation was presented into the effect of strip edge drop on edge cracks during cold rolling of thin strip. The edge crack increases significantly due to more inhomogeneous deformation and work hardening at the strip edge. The effective stress intensity factor range is important as it represents the major physical cause of the crack propagation. The efficiency and …

Geotechnical Analysis Of Slopes And Landslides - Achievements And Challenges, R N. Chowdhury, Phillip N. Flentje

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

This paper is concerned with the major achievements in geotechnical slope analysis and the challenges for further advancement in the 21stcentury. New developments of great value have occurred over the past few decades for carrying out both site-specific and regional studies. These include advanced limit equilibrium methods, sophisticated stress deformation analysis, seismic analyses, applications of GIS, probabilistic approaches, advanced geological modeling (2D and 3D) and knowledge-based methods of predicted performance and decision-making. Outcomes of slope analysis are enhanced by advances in observational methods including real-time or continuous field monitoring of slope performance. One of the challenges is to further understand …

A Psychometric Analysis Of The Mental Health Consumer Participation Questionnaire, Brenda Happell, Lorna Moxham, Chris Platania-Phung

Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Papers (Archive)

If consumer participation is to be translated from rhetoric into reality, the attitudes of health professionals need to be addressed. Educational strategies can play an important role, but measures of attitudes are needed to determine the effectiveness of these strategies. This paper seeks to establish the Mental Health Consumer Participation Questionnaire (MHCPQ) on psychometric grounds, and explore attitude levels. Overall, the 150 nursing students who participated saw consumer participation in a favourable light, although this varied with the nature and extent of involvement. Psychometric properties, attitude structure, and attitude differences are reported. The MHCPQ displays good face validity and can …

Toward Consensus In The Analysis Of Urinary 8-Oxo-7,8-Dihydro-2′- Deoxyguanosine As A Noninvasive Biomarker Of Oxidative Stress, M D Evans, R Olinski, S Loft, M S Cooke, Jr P Rossner, R Sram, T Henriksen, H E Poulsen, Allan Weimann, A Barbieri, L Sabatini, F Violante, S Kino, T Ochi, K Sakai, M Takeuchi, H Kasai, J H N Meerman, D Gackowski, R Rozalski, A Siomek, Barry Halliwell, Andrew M. Jenner, H Wang, C Cerda, G Saez, S Haghdoost, P Svoboda, C-W Hu, M-R Chao, K-Y Peng, W-C Shih, K-Y Wu, H Orhan, N S Istanbullu, V Mistry, P B Farmer, J Sandhu, R Singh, C Cortez, Y Su, R M Santella, P Lambert, R Smith

Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute

Of the DNA-derived biomarkers of oxidative stress, urinary 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2′-deoxyguanosine (8-oxodG) is the most frequently measured. However, there is significant discrepancy between chromatographic and immunoassay approaches, and intratechnique agreement among all available chromatography-based assays and ELISAs is yet to be established. This is a significant obstacle to their use in large molecular epidemiological studies. To evaluate the accuracy of intra/intertechnique and interlaboratory measurements, samples of phosphate buffered saline and urine, spiked with different concentrations of 8-oxoG, together with a series of urine samples from healthy individuals were distributed to ESCULA members. All laboratories received identical samples, including 2 negative controls that …

Rehabilitation For Guillain Barre Syndrome: Analysis Of The Australian Rehabilitation Outcomes Dataset, F Khan, Tara L. Stevermuer, Frances D. Simmonds

Australian Health Services Research Institute

To examine the outcomes of inpatient rehabilitation for Guillain Barre Syndrome (GBS) survivors using the Australian Rehabilitation Outcomes Centre (AROC) database. De-identified data from the AROC database was analysed for all rehabilitation admissions during 2003 - 2008, using 4 classes for functional level. The outcomes included: Functional Independence Measure (FIM) scores and FIM efficiency, hospital length of stay (LOS) and discharge destination. Of 577 case episodes 58% were male, mean age 56.7 years, 91% were discharged to the community and 64.8% (n = 374) were in the lowest functional classes (217, 218 and 219). The majority of GBS survivors were …

Development Economics: From Classical To Critical Analysis, Susan N. Engel

Faculty of Arts - Papers (Archive)

When development economics emerged as a sub-discipline of economics in the 1950s its main concern, like that of most economic theory, was (and largely remains) under-standing how the economies of nation-states have grown and expanded. This means it has been concerned with looking at the sources and kinds of economic expansion measured via increases in Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the role of different inputs into production (capital, labor, and land), the impact of growth in the various sectors of the economy (agriculture, manufacturing, and service sectors), and, to a lesser extent, the role of the state. These concerns are at …

Resource Price Turbulence And Macroeconomic Adjustment For A Resource Exporter: A Conceptual Framework For Policy Analysis, Grant M. Cox, Charles Harvie

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Increased global demand for energy and other resources, particularly from the rapidly developing economies of China and India and the opening up of global resource markets to global investors and speculative activity, has resulted in considerable recent turbulence in resource prices. The recent magnitude of change in resource prices, both positive and negative, and their macroeconomic implications is of considerable contemporary importance to both resource importing and exporting economies. For a resource exporting economy, such as that of Australia, the recent resource price boom has resulted in: increased government taxation revenue, increased employment and wages in the resource and resource …

The Unit Of Analysis In Is Theory: The Case For Activity, Helen Hasan, Sumayya Banna

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

In the field of IS, researchers use and adapt existing theories to make sense of their data. They also build new theory from their research findings. The way theory is used, adapted or created usually assumes a certain unit of analysis, which could be the artefact, the system, the organisation, the user, the developer, the team or something else. In this paper we propose that ‘activity’ should also be considered as a suitable unit of analysis for theory in IS since the purpose of any information systems is to facilitate activities of use. To support this proposition, we describe tenets …

An Empirical Analysis Of The Retention Of Dissatisfied Business Services Customers Using Structural Equation Modelling, Venkata K. Yanamandram, Lesley White

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This study extends the body of literature concerning service switching, complaint handling, dependence and commitment by investigating why dissatisfied B2B customers do not switch service providers. Specifically, it develops and tests a social exchange-based model examining how dissatisfied, but behaviourally loyal, customers act in terms of their repurchase intentions. A conceptual model, specifying a set of hypothesised relationships between dimensions of switching costs, interpersonal relationships, dimensions of complaint handling, satisfaction with complaint handling, attractiveness of alternatives, dependence, calculative commitment and repurchase intentions, was examined using AMOS 17.0 on a sample of 376 business directors/managers from responding organisations. The results show …

Are External Shocks Permanent Or Transitory? An Analysis Of Visitor Arrivals To Thailand, Ali S. Saleh, Reetu Verma, Ranjith Ihalanayake

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Tourism industry in Thailand has recently experienced several external shocks such as September 11 attacks, SARS outbreak, Bird Flu, Political unrest and the recent global financial crisis which may have a temporary or permanent impact on the number of visitor arrivals to the country. This paper conducts univariate and panel Lagrange Multiplier tests with a break proposed by Lee and Strazicich (2004) and Im, Lee, and Tieslau (2005) to identify the time of the structural break and to determine whether shocks to visitor arrivals to Thailand have a temporary or permanent impact. We use annual data for Thailand’s top ten …

Measuring Technical Inefficiency Factors For Thai Listed Manufacturing Enterprises: A Stochastic Frontier (Sfa) And Data Envelopment Analysis (Dea), Yot Amornkitvikai, Charles Harvie

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This study employs stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) and two-stage DEA approaches to predict firm technical efficiency and analyse an inefficiency effects model for overall Thai listed manufacturing sector enterprises including sub-listed manufacturing sector enterprises using an unbalanced panel data for 178 Thai listed manufacturing enterprises over the period 2000 to 2008. Both estimation approaches are found to produce consistent results for overall Thai listed manufacturing sector enterprises. For sub-listed manufacturing sector enterprises both approaches empirically find quite consistent results in coefficient signs, but significance results from both estimation approaches may be different. Focusing on overall Thai listed enterprises both approaches …