Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Synthesis Of Mn3o4-Encapsulated Graphene Sheet Nanocomposites Via A Facile, Fast Microwave Hydrothermal Method And Their Supercapacitive Behaviour, Li Li, Kuok Hau Seng, Zhixin Chen, Hua-Kun Liu, Ivan P. Nevirkovets, Zaiping Guo

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Well-crystallized Mn3O4-anchored reduced graphene oxide (rGO) nanocomposites have been successfully synthesized via a facile, effective, energy-saving, and scalable microwave hydrothermal technique for potential application as supercapacitor material. Integrating these nanostructures resulted in a strong synergistic effect between the two materials, consequently leading to a hybrid composite with higher specific capacitance compared to the bare Mn3O4 nanoparticles. The results from different sorts of characterization indicate that the Mn3O4 particles were deposited and anchored on graphene sheets. The capacitance value of the rGO(31.6%)–Mn3O4 nanocomposite reached 153 F/g, much higher than that of the bare Mn3O4 (87 F/g) at a scan rate of …

Privacy Issues And Solutions In Social Network Sites, Xi Chen, Katina Michael

Associate Professor Katina Michael

The boom of the internet and the explosion of new technologies have brought with them new challenges and thus new connotations of privacy. Clearly, when people deal with e-government and e-business, they do not only need the right to be let alone, but also to be let in secret. Not only do they need freedom of movement, but also to be assured of the secrecy of their information. Solove [6] has critiqued traditional definitions of privacy and argued that they do not address privacy issues created by new online technologies. Austin [7] also asserts: “[w]e do need to sharpen and …

Indian Millennials: Are Microchip Implants A More Secure Technology For Identification And Access Control?, Christine Perakslis, Katina Michael

Associate Professor Katina Michael

This mixed methods study with a sequential explanatory strategy explored qualitatively the statistically significant quantitative findings relative to Indian respondents’ perceptions about RFID (radio frequency identification) transponders implanted into the human body. In the first analysis phase of the study, there was a significant chi-square analysis reported (χ2 = 56.64, df = 3, p = .000) relative to the perception of small business owners (N = 453) that implanted chips are a more secure form of identification and/or access control in organizations and the respondents’ country of residence. Countries under study included Australia, India, the UK and US. The country …

The Value Of Government Mandated Location-Based Services In Emergencies In Australia, Anas Aloudat, Katina Michael, Roba Abbas, Mutaz Al-Debei

Associate Professor Katina Michael

The adoption of mobile technologies for emergency management has the capacity to save lives. In Australia in February 2009, the Victorian Bushfires claimed 173 lives, the worst peace-time disaster in the nation’s history. The Australian government responded swiftly to the tragedy by going to tender for mobile applications that could be used during emergencies, such as mobile alerts and location services. These applications, which are becoming increasingly accurate with the evolution of positioning techniques, have the ability to deliver personalized information direct to the citizen during crises, complementing traditional broadcasting mediums like television and radio. Indeed governments have a responsibility …

Commentary On: Mann, Steve (2012): Wearable Computing, Katina Michael, M.G. Michael

Associate Professor Katina Michael

In Professor Steve Mann- inventor, physicist, engineer, mathematician, scientist, designer, developer, project director, filmmaker, artist, instrumentalist, author, photographer, actor, activist- we see so much of the paradigmatic classical Greek philosopher. I recall asking Steve if technology shaped society or society shaped technology. He replied along the lines that the question was superfluous. Steve instead pointed to praxis, from which all theory, lessons or skills stem, are practiced, embodied and realized. Steve has always been preoccupied by the application of his ideas into form. In this way too, he can be considered a modern day Leonardo Da Vinci.

Book Review: Securing The Cloud: Cloud Computer Security Techniques And Tactics, Katina Michael

Associate Professor Katina Michael

With so much buzz around Cloud Computing, books like this one written by Winkler are much in demand. Winkler’s experience in the computing business shines through and as readers we are spoiled with a great deal of useful strategic information- a jam packed almost 300 page volume on securing the cloud.

In Memoriam: Associate Professor Dr Elaine Lawrence, Katina Michael

Associate Professor Katina Michael

Despite being a graduate of the rigorous Bachelor of Information Technology at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) in 1996, I was unfortunate in that I missed being taught by Associate Professor Elaine Lawrence who began working at UTS in 1990 as a Lecturer in Computing Science. Dr Lawrence became a senior lecturer in 2000, and subsequently an associate professor in 2006. Our paths crossed in 2002 when I was tasked to deliver a new course entitled “eBusiness Principles” in my first year of lecturing at the University of Wollongong, and after an initial scurry to find an adequate textbook, …

Sousveillance And The Social Implications Of Point Of View Technologies In The Law Enforcement Sector, Katina Michael, M.G. Michael

Associate Professor Katina Michael

Policing today has become a high-tech affair; especially in the provision of incident event tracking and reporting systems increasingly being used to provide evidence in a court of law. These in-car video (ICV) and body worn recording systems are said to increase convictions and eliminate false claims made by defendants, providing documentary support to police officers and their associated actions in an incident. But today, new technologies such as smart phones equipped with cameras and global positioning system chipsets can also be found in the hands of the everyday citizen, used to capture everyday happenings and distributed to social networks …

Book Review: Security Risk Management: Building An Information Security Risk Management Program From The Ground Up, Katina Michael

Associate Professor Katina Michael

In an age of outsourcing tasks that are not considered to be a core competency of the business, organisations have often relied on external consultants for matters pertaining to security. In actual fact, most companies could have utilized existing skill-sets in-house to produce a security risk management program, if only they knew what steps to take, and how to go about it all. Evan Wheeler in his book on information security risk management does just that- he equips professionals tasked with security, with the thinking required to create a program that is more preoccupied with the complex strategic-level questions than …

Location Privacy Under Dire Threat As Uberveillance Stalks The Streets, Katina Michael, Roger Clarke

Associate Professor Katina Michael

Location tracking and monitoring applications have proliferated with the arrival of smart phones that are equipped with onboard global positioning system (GPS) chipsets. It is now possible to locate a smart phone user down to 10 metres of accuracy on average. Innovators have been quick to capitalise on this emerging market by introducing novel pedestrian tracking technologies which can denote the geographic path of a mobile user. At the same time there is contention by law enforcement personnel over the need for a warrant process to track an individual in a public space. This paper considers the future of location …

Analytical Solution For Interaction Forces In Rc Beams Strengthened With Nsm Rectangular Bars, S S. Zhang, J G. Teng

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

The flexural performance of an RC beam can be improved using the near-surface mounted (NSM) FRP strengthening technique. In such FRP-strengthened RC beams, debonding failure at the two bar ends may occur due to high interaction forces in the bar-end regions between the RC beam and the FRP bars. This paper presents a theoretical investigation into these interaction forces in RC beams strengthened with NSM FRP rectangular bars. By introducing and defining two interfacial stiffness parameters, an analytical solution for the tangential and the normal interaction forces is first obtained as an extension of the analytical solution developed by Smith …

Effect Of The Austenitising Heat Treatment On The Microstructure And Hardness Of Martensitic Stainless Steel Aisi 420, Lilian D. Barlow, Madeleine Du Toit

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

The effect of austenitizing on the microstructure and hardness of two martensitic stainless steels was examined with the aim of supplying heat-treatment guidelines to the user that will ensure a martensitic structure with minimal retained austenite, evenly dispersed carbides and a hardness of between 610 and 740 HV (Vickers hardness) after quenching and tempering. The steels examined during the course of this examination conform in composition to medium-carbon AISI 420 martensitic stainless steel, except for the addition of 0.13% vanadium and 0.62% molybdenum to one of the alloys. Steel samples were austenitized at temperatures between 1000 and 1200 C, followed …

Self-Reported Practices, Attitudes And Levels Of Training Of Practitioners In The English Nhs Stop Smoking Services, Mairtin S. Mcdermott, Robert West, Leonie S. Brose, Andy Mcewen

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

The primary aim of the current study is to investigate the self-reported practices, attitudes and levels of training of stop smoking practitioners (SSPs) working at the English National Health Service's (NHS) Stop Smoking Services (SSSs). A secondary aim was to investigate differences between 'Specialist' and 'Community' SSPs. An online survey was conducted with 484 SSPs. Most (94%) SSPs offered one-to-one appointments to smokers, only 43% always used the abrupt quit model and 30% reported ever recommending particular medication to clients. SSPs reported an average of 3.7 days training when starting work and 26% reported never observing an experienced practitioner before …

Translating Evidence-Based Guidelines Into Practice: A Survey Of Practices Of Commissioners And Managers Of The English Stop Smoking Services, Mairtin S. Mcdermott, Heather Thomson, Robert West, Jennifer A. M Kenyon, Andy Mcewen

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Background: The English National Health Service's (NHS) Stop Smoking Services (SSSs) constitute one of the most highly developed behavioural support programmes in the world. However, there is significant variation in success rates across the approximately 150 services, some of which may be due to variation in practice. This study aimed to assess these differences in practice.

Methods: Two online surveys were administered. All commissioners (people who purchase services for the NHS) and managers (those who run the services) of NHS SSSs in England were invited to participate. Items included details of current practices and services provided, what informed the …

Apocalypse Not: Doomsday Thinkers Of Oz Should Get Out More, Graham Harris

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

I sometimes wonder what planet this country of ours is on. The environmental debate we are having seems to be in a parallel universe to the rest of the world. Having spent the last four years running one of Europe's biggest environmental research laboratories, the Lancaster Environment Centre, I find Australia strangely out of kilter. All I hear here is apocalyptic gloom and doom: either the planet is done for if we don't act, or the economy is done for if we do! We have a highly polarised debate and even more polarised reporting; with too much hand-wringing and head-banging …

Don't Wait For Sciene To 'Settle': Decide What Society Needs, Graham Harris

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

If you listen to the debate between science and society in most of the West, you get one version or another of the linear model. Science comes first. When it is "settled", society will know what to do. This is as true in the climate debate as it is in innovation. First comes the "breakthrough" and then the widget gets commercialised. Much of the economic development of the West has been driven by this "knowledge based" worldview. It worked quite well when the problems were simple and the benefits easily captured - from steam engines to early antibiotics - but …

People Plus: Is Transhuman The Next Stage In Our Evolution?, Katina Michael

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Inviting artificial intelligence into our bodies has appeal - but it also carries certain risks. I have often wondered what it would be like to rid myself of a keyboard for data entry, and a computer screen for display. Some of my greatest moments of reflection are when I am in the car driving long distances, cooking in my kitchen, watching the kids play at the park, waiting for a doctor's appointment or on a plane thousands of metres above sea level. I have always been great at multitasking but at these times it is often not practical or convenient …

Australia's Hand Out Addicted Car Industry Needs Some Tough Love, Henry Ergas

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

The Federal Government will contribute millions of dollars to Australian car manufacturers Holden and Ford in an effort to keep Australia's automotive sector afloat. The government will add $34 million to a $103 million rescue package for Ford's Victorian assembly plant that will see the facility remain open until at least 2016. The funding, which will be met by a grant from the Victorian Government, comes as Holden is reportedly negotiating with Canberra over co-investment to produce a new Commodore model in 2018. But should governments continue to bail out an industry that is lagging in Australia and internationally? University …

Self-Guided Bullets Won't Stuff Up, But What About The Grunts And Drones Firing Them?, Katina Michael

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

At the beginning of this year Sandia Labs in the United States announced it had patented a design for a self-guided bullet that could help soldiers at war. The technology is expected to prevent the need for targeted air strikes that could kill innocent people while criminals take cover in their midst. This "super" self-guided bullet can hit laser-designated targets accurately to around 2,000 metres. An example of this capability can be found in the XM25 rifle. To rephrase the Cold War notion of "limited nuclear warfare", we could now say with these latest developments to the war-fighting repertoire that …

Effects Of Cultural Cognitive Styles On Users Evaluation Of Website Complexity, Tingru Cui, Xinwei Wang, Hock Hai Teo

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

The internationalization of websites requires compelling navigation experience for users from diverse cultures. This research investigates the effects of cultural cognitive styles on user perception of website complexity and the subsequent influence on user satisfaction towards the website. More specifically, the website complexity is examined along three dimensions: component, coordinative, and dynamic. Laboratory experiments involving participants from China and United States were used to test the hypotheses. The results showed that the effect of objective complexity on perceived complexity is contingent on cultural cognitive styles. People with holistic and analytic cultural cognitive styles display different perceptions of website complexity. This …

Effect Of Gallium Doping And Ball Milling Process On The Thermoelectric Performance Of N-Type Zno, Priyanka Jood, Germanas Peleckis, Xiaolin Wang, S X. Dou

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

We report a systematic investigation of the thermoelectric properties of n-type Ga-doped ZnO synthesized using different ball milling conditions. Samples fabricated by the high-energy ball milling resulted in a highly dense layered structure with randomly distributed voids. These samples measured the lowest room temperature thermal conductivity, i.e., 27 W/mK due to increased phonon scattering. Furthermore, the Ga:ZnO system showed a metal–semiconductor transition above 300 K with transition temperature decreasing with increasing doping level. Measurement of the activation energy revealed the presence of one donor level around 3.9–7.8 meV and a deeper donor level around 15.4–18.1 meV below the conduction band …

Teaching Monte Carlo Codes At University: Development Of A Geant4 Course For Students Of Schools Of Physics, Susanna Guatelli, Dean Cutajar, Anatoly B. Rosenfeld, Catherine Layton

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Nowadays, it is important that students of Schools of Physics include the study of Monte Carlo codes in their curriculum as these codes are widely used in research. At the School of Engineering Physics of the University of Wollongong, we designed and set in place a Geant4 course addressed to the Medical Physics domain. In this paper, we illustrate the main features of the course and its development since 2010. The design of this course maybe adopted to teach Geant4 or any other Monte Carlo code, and in general to teach complex software tools to students with limited computing background. …

Energy Storage For Renewable Energy, Saugato Mukerji

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Presented at All Energy Australia 2012 International Conference, Melbourne

Replication Of Polypyrrole With Photonic Structures From Butterfly Wings As Biosensor, Jie Tang, Shenmin Zhu, Zhixin Chen, Chuanliang Feng, Yanjun Shen, Fan Yao, Di Zhang, Won-Jin Moon, Deok-Min Song

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Polypyrrole (PPy) with photonic crystal structures were synthesized from Morpho butterfly wings using a two-step templating process. In the first step photonic crystal SiO2 butterfly wings were synthesized from Morpho butterfly wings and in the second step the SiO2 butterfly wings were used as templates for the replication of PPy butterfly wings using an in situ polymerization method. The SiO2 templates were then removed from the PPy butterfly wings using a HF solution. The hierarchical structures down to the nanometer level, especially the photonic crystal structures, were retained in the final PPy replicas, as evidenced directly by field-emission scanning electron …

Distortion Behavior Of A Heavy Hydro Turbine Blade Casting During Forced Air Cooling In Normalizing Treatment Process, Hailiang Yu, Jinwu Kang, T J. Wang, J A. Ma, Y Y. Hu, Tianyou Huang, S B. Wang, Y Wu, C C. Zhang, Yan-Tao Dai, P Li

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Distortion behavior of blade castings in heat treatment process determines their geometrical accuracy, and improper control of it may result in additional repair, shape righting, or even rejection. This article presents a novel approach for discovering the distortion behavior of heavy blade castings during heat treatment process in production. Real-time measurements of distortion and temperature field of a heavy hydro turbine blade casting weighted 17 ton during forced air cooling in normalizing treatment process were carried out by using deformation measurement instruments and an infrared thermal imaging camera. The distortion processes of the typical locations of blade and the temperature …

Double Space-Time Transmit Diversity For Very High Data Rate Mb-Ofdm Uwb Systems, Ngoc P. Le, Le C. Tran, Farzad Safaei

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

In this paper, we investigate a multiband-orthogonal frequency division multiplexing ultra-wideband (MB-OFDM UWB) system with very high data rates (VHDR) of several gigabits per second (Gbps). We propose a DSTTD-based VHDR MB-OFDM UWB system by incorporating a double space-time transmit diversity (DSTTD) scheme into the conventional MB-OFDM UWB system. At the receiver, an efficient soft-demapper that takes into consideration the noise enhancement due to a zero-forcing equalization is developed. Numerical simulations of the proposed system at a very high data rate of 2.Gbps over the IEEE 802.15.3a channel models are implemented. The simulation results show that this system could achieve …

Order-4 Orthogonal Cooperative Communication In Space-Time-Frequency Coded Mb-Ofdm Uwb, Zixuan Lin, Le C. Tran, Farzad Safaei

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

The combination of cooperative communication and Space-Time-Frequency-Codes (STFCs) has been recently proposed in the literature for Multiband OFDM Ultra-Wideband (MB-OFDM UWB) to improve the bit error performance, system capacity, data rate and wireless communications range. This paper proposes a cooperative communication design using Order-4 Orthogonal STFCs in MB-OFDM UWB systems, which is referred to as Order-4 Orthogonal Cooperative Communication Scheme (4-OCCS). It will be shown that 4-OCCS improves significantly the diversity and error performance of the MB-OFDM UWB system, compared to the conventional MB-OFDM UWB (without STFCs) as well as our Order-2 Orthogonal Cooperative Communication Scheme using Alamouti STFCs (2-OCCS) …

The Work Pattern Of Personal Care Workers In Two Australian Nursing Homes: A Time-Motion Study, Siyu Qian, Ping Yu, Zhen-Yu Zhang, David M. Hailey, Pamela J. Davy, Mark Nelson

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Background: The aim of the study is to describe the work pattern of personal care workers (PCWs) in nursing homes. This knowledge is important for staff performance appraisal, task allocation and scheduling. It will also support funding allocation based on activities.

Methods: A time-motion study was conducted in 2010 at two Australian nursing homes. The observation at Site 1 was between the hours of 7:00 and 14:00 or 15:00 for 14 days. One PCW was observed on each day. The observation at Site 2 was from 10:00 to 17:00 for 16 days. One PCW working on a morning shift and …

Social Implications Of Technology: The Past, The Present, And The Future, Karl Stephan, Katina Michael, M. G. Michael, Laura Jacob, Emily Anesta

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

The social implications of a wide variety of technologies are the subject matter of the IEEE Society on Social Implications of Technology (SSIT). This paper reviews the SSIT’s contributions since the Society’s founding in 1982, and surveys the outlook for certain key technologies that may have significant social impacts in the future. Military and security technologies, always of significant interest to SSIT, may become more autonomous with less human intervention, and this may have both good and bad consequences. We examine some current trends such as mobile, wearable, and pervasive computing, and find both dangers and opportunities in these trends. …

Horadam Functions And Powers Of Irrationals, Martin W. Bunder

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

This paper generalizes a result of Gerdemann to show (with slight variations in some special cases) that, for any real number m and Horadam function Hn(A, B, P,Q), mHn(A, B, P, Q) = i=h k∑(t,Hn+i(A, B, P, Q)), for two consecutive values of n, if and only if, m= i=h k∑ (tiai)= i=h k∑ (t ibi) where a =(P+(P2-4Q) 1/2)/2 and b = (P-(P2-4Q) 1/2)/2. (Horadam functions are defined by: H 0(A, B, P, Q) = A, H1(A,B,P,Q) = B, Hn+1(A, B, P,Q) = PHn(A,B, P,Q)-QHn-1(A, B, P,Q).) Further generalizations to the solutions of arbitrary linear recurrence relations are also …