Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

No Limits To Watching?, Katina Michael, M.G. Michael

M. G. Michael

Little by little, the introduction of new body-worn technologies is transforming the way people interact with their environment and one another, and perhaps even with themselves. Social and environmental psychology studies of human-technology interaction pose as many questions as answers. We are learning as we go: 'learning by doing' through interaction and 'learning by being'. Steve Mann calls this practice existential learning; wearers become photoborgs, a type of cyborg (cybernetic organism) whose primary intent is image capture from the domains of the natural and artificial. This approach elides the distinction between the technology and the human; they coalesce into one.

No Limits To Watching?, Katina Michael, M.G. Michael

Professor Katina Michael

Little by little, the introduction of new body-worn technologies is transforming the way people interact with their environment and one another, and perhaps even with themselves. Social and environmental psychology studies of human-technology interaction pose as many questions as answers. We are learning as we go: 'learning by doing' through interaction and 'learning by being'. Steve Mann calls this practice existential learning; wearers become photoborgs, a type of cyborg (cybernetic organism) whose primary intent is image capture from the domains of the natural and artificial. This approach elides the distinction between the technology and the human; they coalesce into one.

Investigation Of Crashes And Identifying The Best Practices For Setting Up Speed Zones In Towns Along Rural Highways In Nevada, Krishna Prasad Shrestha

Joseph Shrestha

In 2010, 51,664 crashes occurred in Nevada. Only about 9% of those crashes occurred in rural areas of the state. However, if only fatal crashes are considered, 41% of those fatal crashes occurred in rural areas. Generally, speed zones are provided in towns along rural highways to reduce speed-related crashes. However, a guideline is necessary for a consistent procedure to setup speed zones throughout the state. The main objectives of this study are to determine factors associated with crashes and to identify the best practices for setting up speed zones in towns along rural highways.

Eleven towns along rural highways …

Shear Lag And Eccentricity Effects Of Bolted Connections In Cold-Formed Steel Sections, Lip H. Teh, Veysel Yazici

Veysel Yazici

This paper examines the "three factors" approach previously presented by the senior author for determining the net section efficiency of a bolted cold-formed steel open profile. One objective is to ascertain that the net section efficiency is governed by three factors: the in-plane shear lag associated with stress concentration around a bolt hole that is also present in a flat sheet, the out-of-plane shear lag that is also present in a bi-symmetric I-section bolted at the flanges only, and the bending moment arising from the connection eccentricity with respect to the neutral axis. This paper presents the test results of …

Unconventional Block Shear Failures Of Bolted Connections In Cold-Reduced Steel Sheets, Lip H. Teh, Veysel Yazici

Veysel Yazici

This paper examines the block shear design equation proposed by the first author based on laboratory tests of bolted connection specimens failing in the conventional block shear failure mode. It shows that the explanation regarding the feasible mechanism of block shear failures previously provided by the first author does not necessarily apply to staggered bolted connections, in which the downstream bolts do not have the same edge distance. For staggered bolted connections, a block shear failure may occur through the shear rupture and tensile yielding mechanism for particular configurations, as demonstrated for the first time in this paper. The present …

The Local Index Formula In Noncommutative Geometry Revisited, Alan Carey, John Phillips, Adam Rennie, Fyodor Sukochev

Associate Professor Adam Rennie

In this review we discuss the local index formula in noncommutative geomety from the viewpoint of two new proofs are partly inspired by the approach of Higson especially that in but they differ in several fundamental aspedcts, in particular they apply to semifinite spectral triples for a *s-subalgebra A of a general semifinite von Neumann algebra. Our proofs are novel even in the setting of the original theorem and reduce the hypotheses of the theorem to those necessary for its statement. These proofs rely on the introduction of a function valued cocycle which is 'almost' a (b, B)-cocycle in the …

Semi-Finite Noncommutative Geometry And Some Applications, Alan L. Carey, Adam C. Rennie, John Phillips

Associate Professor Adam Rennie

These notes are a summary of talks given in Shonan, Japan in February 2008 with modifications from a later series of talks at the Hausdorff Institute for Mathematics in Bonn in July 2008 and at the Erwin Schr¨odinger Institute in October 2008. The intention is to give a short discussion of recent results in noncommutative geometry (NCG) where one extends the usual point of view of [22] by replacing the bounded operators B(H) on a Hilbert space H by certain sub-algebras; namely semi-finite von Neumann algebras. These are weakly closed subalgebras of the bounded operators on a Hilbert space that …

Effects Of Feed And Draw Solution Temperature And Transmembrane Temperature Difference On The Rejection Of Trace Organic Contaminants By Forward Osmosis, Ming Xie, William E. Price, Long D. Nghiem, Menachem Elimelech

William E. Price

The effects of feed and draw solution temperature and transmembrane temperature difference on the rejection of 12 trace organic contaminants (TrOCs) by two forward osmosis (FO) membranes were investigated. The membrane structure parameter (S) and the reverse salt (NaCl) flux selectivity (RSFS) were constant over the temperature range of 20-40 1C, suggesting that within this range, the solution temperature did not significantly influence the membrane polymeric structure. Draw solution properties, including diffusivity, viscosity, and osmotic pressure, played an important role in water and reverse salt (NaCl) flux behaviour and TrOC rejection. Pure water and salt (NaCl) permeability coefficients of the …

Coupling Granular Activated Carbon Adsorption With Membrane Bioreactor Treatment For Trace Organic Contaminant Removal: Breakthrough Behaviour Of Persistent And Hydrophilic Compounds, Luong N. Nguyen, Faisal I. Hai, William E. Price, Jinguo Kang, Long D. Nghiem

William E. Price

This study investigated the removal of trace organic contaminants by a combined membrane bioreactor - granular activated carbon (MBR-GAC) system over a period of 196 days. Of the 22 compounds investigated here, all six hydrophilic compounds with electron-withdrawing functional groups (i.e., metronidazole, carbamazepine, ketoprofen, naproxen, fenoprop and diclofenac) exhibited very low removal efficiency by MBR-only treatment. GAC post-treatment initially complemented MBR treatment very well; however, a compound-specific gradual deterioration of the removal of the above-mentioned problematic compounds was noted. While a 20% breakthrough of all four negatively charged compounds namely ketoprofen, naproxen, fenoprop and diclofenac occurred within 1000-3000 bed volumes …

Impact Of Chemical Cleaning On The Nanofiltration Of Pharmaceutically Active Compounds (Phacs): The Role Of Cleaning Temperature, Alexander Simon, William E. Price, Long D. Nghiem

William E. Price

This study investigated the impact of chemical cleaning on the physicochemical properties of a nanofiltration membrane and its subsequent separation efficiency of inorganic salts and two pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs), sulfamethoxazole and carbamazepine. Chemical cleaning was simulated by immersing virgin membrane samples in aqueous citric acid, sodium hydroxide (NaOH), ethylenediaminetetraacetic-acid (EDTA) and sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS) at various temperatures for 18 h. The cleaning temperature did not exert any discernible impact on the surface charge of the NF270 membrane selected in this study. However, high cleaning temperatures were shown to either amplify or reduce the impact of chemical cleaning on …

Predicting The Fate Of Emerging Trace Organic Contaminants Of Concern During Mbr Treatment Based On Their Molecular Properties, K C. Wijekoon, L D. Nghiem, F I. Hai, J Kang, W E. Price

William E. Price

We demonstrate that the fate of emerging trace organic contaminants during membrane bioreactor (MBR) treatment can be qualitatively predicted by assessing their molecular properties. This work futher expands the qualitative framework for the prdiction of trace organic removal by MBR treatment reported in our recent study.

The Fate Of Pharmaceuticals, Steroid Hormones, Phytoestrogens, Uv-Filters And Pesticides During Mbr Treatment, Kaushalya C. Wijekoon, Faisal I. Hai, Jinguo Kang, William E. Price, Wenshan Guo, Hao H. Ngo, Long D. Nghiem

William E. Price

This study examined the relationship between molecular properties and the fate of trace organic contaminants (TrOCs) in the aqueous and solid phases during wastewater treatment by MBR. A set of 29 TrOCs was selected to represent pharmaceuticals, steroid hormones, phytoestrogens, UV-filters and pesticides that occur ubiquitously in municipal wastewater. Both adsorption and biodegradation/transformation were found responsible for the removal of TrOCs by MBR treatment. A connection between biodegradation and molecular structure could be observed while adsorption was the dominant removal mechanism for the hydrophobic (logD > 3.2) compounds. Highly hydrophobic (logD > 3.2) but readily biodegradable compounds did not accumulate in sludge. …

Understanding The Factors Controlling The Removal Of Trace Organic Contaminants By White-Rot Fungi And Their Lignin Modifying Enzymes: A Critical Review, Shufan Yang, Faisal I. Hai, Long D. Nghiem, William E. Price, Felicity Roddick, Maria T. Moreira, Saleh F. Magram

William E. Price

White-rot fungi (WRF) and their lignin modifying enzymes (LME) can degrade a wide range of trace organic contaminants (TrOC), which are suspected to cause adverse health effects in humans and other biota. Recent studies have successfully applied either whole-cell WRF or their extracellular culture extract to remove TrOC from the aqueous phase. TrOC removal by a WRF system is dependent on a range of factors including molecular structure of the TrOC, fungal species and their specific LME, culture medium composition, and methods to enhance fungal degradation capacity; however, the specific relationships between these factors have not been systematically delineated. The …

Removal Of Trace Organic Contaminants By An Mbr Comprising A Mixed Culture Of Bacteria And White-Rot Fungi, Luong N. Nguyen, Faisal I. Hai, Shufan Yang, Jinguo Kang, Frederic D L Leusch, Felicity Roddick, William E. Price, Long D. Nghiem

William E. Price

The degradation of 30 trace organic contaminants (TrOC) by a white-rot fungus-augmented membrane bioreactor (MBR) was investigated. The results show that white-rot fungal enzyme (laccase), coupled with a redox mediator (1-hydroxy benzotriazole, HBT), could degrade TrOC that are resistant to bacterial degradation (e.g. diclofenac, triclosan, naproxen and atrazine) but achieved low removal of compounds (e.g. ibuprofen, gemfibrozil and amitriptyline) that are well removed by conventional activated sludge treatment. Overall, the fungus-augmented MBR showed better TrOC removal compared to a system containing conventional activated sludge. The major role of biodegradation in removal by the MBR was noted. Continuous mediator dosing to …

Effects Of Caustic Cleaning On Pore Size Of Nanofiltration Membranes And Their Rejection Of Trace Organic Chemicals, Alexander Simon, James A. Mcdonald, Stuart J. Khan, William E. Price, Long D. Nghiem

William E. Price

The aim of this study was to assess the impact of caustic cleaning on the rejection of three different trace organic chemical (TrOC) groups (i.e. neutral hydrophilic, neutral hydrophobic and negatively charged) by two nanofiltration (NF) membranes ‒ namely NF270 and NF90. Chemical cleaning was simulated by exposing virgin membrane samples to commercial caustic cleaning formulations as well as sodium hydroxide solutions containing analytical grade additives such as sodium dodecyl sulfate or ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid. The membrane average pore size before and after exposure to a commercially available caustic cleaning formulation was determined based on the pore transport model. The results …

Changes In Surface Properties And Separation Efficiency Of A Nanofiltration Membrane After Repeated Fouling And Chemical Cleaning Cycles, Alexander Simon, William E. Price, Long D. Nghiem

William E. Price

The aim of this study was to evaluate the changes in membrane surface properties and solute separation by a nanofiltration membrane during repetitive membrane fouling and chemical cleaning. Secondary treated effluent and model fouling solutions containing humic acids, sodium alginate, or silica colloids were used to simulate membrane fouling. Chemical cleaning was carried out using a commercially available caustic cleaning formulation. Carbamazepine and sulfamethoxazole were selected to examine the filtration behaviour of neutral and negatively charged organic compounds, respectively. Results show that the impact of membrane fouling on solute rejection is governed by pore blocking, modification of the membrane surface …

Comparison Between Sequential And Simultaneous Application Of Activated Carbon With Membrane Bioreactor For Trace Organic Contaminant Removal, Luong N. Nguyen, Faisal I. Hai, Jinguo Kang, Long D. Nghiem, William E. Price, Wenshan Guo, Huu H. Ngo, Kuo-Lun Tung

William E. Price

The removal efficiency of 22 selected trace organic contaminants by sequential application of granular activated carbon (GAC) and simultaneous application of powdered activated carbon (PAC) with membrane bioreactor (MBR) was compared in this study. Both sequential application of GAC following MBR treatment (MBR–GAC) and simultaneous application of PAC within MBR (PAC–MBR) achieved improved removal (over 95%) of seven hydrophilic and biologically persistent compounds, which were less efficiently removed by MBR-only treatment (negligible to 70%). However, gradual breakthrough of these compounds occurred over an extended operation period. Charged compounds, particularly, fenoprop and diclofenac, demonstrated the fastest breakthrough (complete and 50–70%, in …

Removal Of N-Nitrosamines By An Aerobic Membrane Bioreactor, Kaushalya C. Wijekoon, Takahiro Fujioka, James A. Mcdonald, Stuart J. Khan, Faisal I. Hai, William E. Price, Long D. Nghiem

William E. Price

This study investigated the fate of eight N-nitrosamines during membrane bioreactor (MBR) treatment. The results suggest that biodegradation is mainly responsible for the removal of N-nitrosamines during MBR treatment. Other removal mechanisms were insignificant (e.g. adsorption to sludge) or not expected (e.g. photolysis and volatilization) given the experimental conditions and physicochemical properties of the N-nitrosamines studied here. N-nitrosamine removal efficiencies were from 24% to 94%, depending on their molecular properties. High removal of N-nitrosamines such as N-nitrosodimethylamine and N-nitrosodiethylamine could be explained by the presence of strong electron donating functional groups (EDG) in their structure. In contrast, N-nitrosomorpholine possessing the …

Why American Engineers Aren't Unionized - A Comparative Perspective, Peter F. Meiksins, Chris Smith

Peter Meiksins

This article presents a comparative perspective on why U.S. engineers are not unionized. The decline of organized labor in the U.S. has stimulated a new interest in comparative research. Explanations of the prolonged stagnation and contraction of the U.S. labor movement that focus on the U.S. alone run the risk of assuming that the U.S. case is normal, and that the decline of organized labor is a structural inevitability of advanced capitalism. By broadening their scope to include other industrialized countries with similar political economies and different labor histories, students of the labor movement will be better able to identify …

Discovery Of Communications Patterns By The Use Of Intelligent Reasoning, J Fulcher, Minjie Zhang, Q Bai, F Ren

Dr Fenghui Ren

An agent-based model of communications traffic generated within a social network is described, which caters for various knowledge discovery techniques to be used in order to extract 'interesting' temporal patterns contained within anomalous data records. Attendant Java-based software — NetShow — is presented which enables analysis and display of static network configuration, links between network nodes, and correlations between the traffic passing through nominated nodes. In addition, display of network dynamics is facilitated via the incorporation of swarm techniques. Related issues of 'similarity', 'familiarity' and 'contact lists' are discussed within the context of Social Network Analysis and Link Mining. Finally, …

Emergence Of Social Norms Through Collective Learning In Networked Agent Societies, Chao Yu, Minjie Zhang, Fenghui Ren, Xudong Luo

Dr Fenghui Ren

Social norms play a pivotal role in sustaining social order by regulating individual behaviors in a society. In normative multiagent systems, social norms have been used as an efficient mechanism to govern virtual agent societies towards cooperation and coordination. In this paper, we study the emergence of social norms via learning from repeated local interactions in networked agent societies. We propose a collective learning framework, which imitates the opinion aggregation process in human decision making, to study the impact of agent local collective behaviors on norm emergence in different situations. In the framework, each agent interacts repeatedly with all of …

Agent-Based Demand Management In A Power Distribution Network By Considering Distributed Generations, Fenghui Ren, Minjie Zhang, Danny Soetanto

Dr Fenghui Ren

A distribution network carries electricity from transmission network to consumers through facilities such as substations, buses and feeders. Distributed generations emerge as the new alternative power resource to a distribution network at a smaller and distributed scale. On one hand, distributed generations can decrease substations' load and power price. On the other hand, they will bring difficulties to substations for demand management. This paper proposes a multiagent model to represent a radial distribution network. The model includes five types of agents, which are substation agents, bus agents, feeder agents, load agents and generation agents. Through communicating with neighbouring agents, each …

A Multiagent Approach For Decentralized Voltage Regulation In Power Distribution Networks Within Dgs, Fenghui Ren, Minjie Zhang, Danny Sutanto

Dr Fenghui Ren

Voltage regulation (VR) is a procedure to keep voltages in a distribution network (DN) within normal limits. Conven- tionally, a voltage regulator can read voltage levels from pre- dened measures, and regulate the voltages. However, due to lacking of a distributed generator's (DG) information, the unexpected electricity from a DG will mislead readings on voltages levels, so as to disturb the VR in a DN. Adjust- ing a DG's reactive power output is an alternative way for VR. However, because of limited penetration levels, DGs need to collaborate with other devices in order to provide an eective voltage regulation. Therefore, …

A Multi-Agent Solution To Distribution System Management By Considering Distributed Generators, Fenghui Ren, Minjie Zhang, Darmawan Sutanto

Dr Fenghui Ren

A traditional distribution network carries electricity from a central power resource to consumers, and the power dispatch is controlled centrally. Distributed generators (DGs) emerge as an alternative power resource to distribution networks at a smaller and distributed scale, which will bring benefits such as reduced voltage drop and loss. However, because most of high penetration DGs are not utility owned and characterized by high degree of uncertainty such as solar and wind, the distribution network may perform differently from the conventionally expected behaviors. How to dynamically and efficiently manage the power dispatch in a distribution network to balance the supply …

An Adaptive Bilateral Negotiation Model Based On Bayesian Learning, Chao Yu, Fenghui Ren, Minjie Zhang

Dr Fenghui Ren

Endowing the negotiation agent with a learning ability such that a more beneficial agreement might be obtained is increasingly gaining attention in agent negotiation research community. In this paper, we propose a novel bilateral negotiation model based on Bayesian learning to enable self-interested agents to adapt negotiation strategies dynamically during the negotiation process. Specifically, we assume that two agents negotiate over a single issue based on time-dependent tactic. The learning agent has a belief about the probability distribution of its opponent's negotiation parameters (i.e., the deadline and reservation offer). By observing opponent's historical offers and comparing them with the fitted …

Dynamic Testing Of Tekseal High Yield Grout To Provide An Orepass Plug Designed For Impact, I V. S Mutton, Alexander Remennikov, D Pateman

Alex Remennikov

Significant wear in orepasses particularly in the brow and chute areas is proportional to the tonnage throughput with increased wear associated with running orepasses empty. During planned shutdowns it may be necessary to isolate maintenance crews from objects falling from orepasses. In the last 15 years grout orepass plugs that can later be easily removed have been poured above chute maintenance areas. These provide protection from high energy impact and isolating workers from the hazard. Construction and removal methods will be briefly explained. Since it is not feasible to investigate the problem of orepass plug impact response using full-scale experimental …

Utilising Non-Composite Steel-Concrete-Steel Panels For Protective Structures, A M. Remennikov, S Y. Kong, Brian Uy

Alex Remennikov

A high-performance protective structure utilising non-composite steel-concrete-steel (SCS) sandwich panels for protecting buildings and facilities against close-range detonation of VBIEDs and heavy ve-hicle impacts has been developed. Unlike other existing composite sandwich panels, no shear connec-tors between the steel faceplates are utilised to construct protective panels in order to simplify the con-struction process. The concrete core of the panel is included to provide the mass for increased inertia effects, and the steel faceplates are designed to develop tensile membrane resistance at large displace-ment to dissipate impulsive energy. The energy dissipation capability and high ductility of the axially-restrained non-composite SCS panels …

Reliability-Based Conversion Of A Structural Design Code For Railway Prestressed Concrete Sleepers, A M. Remennikov, Martin Murray, Sakdirat Kaewunruen

Alex Remennikov

"Ballasted railway track is very suitable for heavy-rail networks because of its many superior advantages in design, construction, short- and long-term maintenance, sustainability, and life cycle cost. An important part of the railway track system, which distributes the wheel load to the formation, is the railway sleeper. Improved knowledge has raised concerns about design techniques for prestressed concrete (PC) sleepers. Most current design codes for these rely on allowable stresses and material strength reductions. However, premature cracking of PC sleepers has been found in railway tracks. The major cause of cracking is the infrequent but high-magnitude wheel loads produced by …

The Response Of Axially Restrained Non-Composite Steel-Concrete-Steel Sandwich Panels Due To Large Impact Loading, Alex M. Remennikov, Sih Ying Kong, Brian Uy

Alex Remennikov

In conventional steel-concrete-steel (SCS) construction, the external steel plates are connected to the concrete infill by welded shear stud connectors. This paper describes a programme of experimental and numerical investigations on reduced-scale non-composite SCS panels with axially restrained connections. The experimental results have demonstrated that the non-composite SCS panels are capable of developing enhanced load-carrying capacity through the tensile membrane resistance of the steel faceplates. This type of construction was found to exhibit highly ductile response and be able to sustain large end rotations of up to 18° without collapse. High fidelity finite element models for SCS panels under impact …

The Local Index Formula In Semifinite Von Neumann Algebras Ii: The Even Case, Alan Carey, John Phillips, Adam Rennie, F Sukochev

Associate Professor Adam Rennie

We generalise the even local index formula of Connes and Moscovici to the case of spectral triples for a ∗-subalgebra A of a general semifinite von Neumann algebra. The proof is a variant of that for the odd case which appears in Part I. To allow for algebras with a non-trivial centre we have to establish a theory of unbounded Fredholm operators in a general semifinite von Neumann algebra and in particular prove a generalised McKean-Singer formula.