Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Zach's News, Georgia Southern University, Zach S. Henderson Library

University Libraries News Online (2008-2023)

• HOT DOC: First Audio Book Available on GPO'S Federal Digital System

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 …

Ultrasensitive Detection Of Antibodies Using A New Tus-Ter-Lock Immunopcr System, Isabelle Morin, Nicholas E. Dixon, Patrick M. Schaeffer

Professor Nick E Dixon

A system consisting of a protein LG coated surface for the capture of mammalian antibodies (target), and an antigen fused to Tus and stoichiometrically linked to a DNA template via the Tus-Ter-lock sequence allowed the ultrasensitive detection of 5.5 attomol of target by real-time immunoPCR in complex media. © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2010.

Amplified Voices, But They Are Speaking To The Wrong People. Why The Complaint System For Unacceptable Advertising In Australia Is Not Working, Katherine Eagleton, Sandra C. Jones

Sandra Jones

This exploratory study highlights the lack of public awareness of the role of the Advertising Standards Board (ASB) in the process of handling complaints about unacceptable advertising in Australia. Results show that only a small proportion of Australian adults know that the ASB are the appropriate complaints handling body. This lack of awareness is evident even among those who have made a complaint about advertising (generally to a less appropriate body). This highlights the need for an education campaign to inform the general public how to make a complaint about inappropriate advertising, and who to make a complaint to. Empowering …

X-Tream: A Novel Dosimetry System For Synchrotron Microbeam Radiation Therapy, M Petasecca, A Cullen, I Fuduli, A Espinoza, C Porumb, C Stanton, A H. Aldosari, E Brauer-Krisch, H Requardt, A Bravin, V Perevertaylo, Anatoly B. Rosenfeld, M L. F Lerch

Anatoly Rozenfeld

Microbeam Radiation Therapy (MRT) is a radiation treatment technique under development for inoperable brain tumors. MRT is based on the use of a synchrotron generated X-ray beam with an extremely high dose rate ( ~ 20 kGy/sec), striated into an array of X-ray micro-blades. In order to advance to clinical trials, a real-time dosimeter with excellent spatial resolution must be developed for absolute dosimetry. The design of a real-time dosimeter for such a radiation scenario represents a significant challenge due to the high photon flux and vertically striated radiation field, leading to very steep lateral dose gradients. This article analyses …

Investigation Of Large-Scale Washover Of A Small Barrier System On The Southeast Australian Coast Using Ground Penetrating Radar, Brian G. Jones, C Bristow, Adam D. Switzer

B. G. Jones

Prehistoric depositional signatures for large-scale washover involving marine inundation events such as storm and tsunami have been the subject of considerable research over the last 15 years. Much of this research has focused on the identification of sand sheets in back-barrier environments as depositional records for extreme washover events. All these deposits must have a sediment source, and by their nature, the most likely source of sediment for washover into back-barrier environments is the barrier itself. This study identifies an erosional signature for large-scale washover from a small coastal barrier on the southeast Australian coast. A distinct lense of marine …

Specifying System Requirements Using The 5s Method, Robert B. K Brown, Peter Hyland, Ian C. Piper

Dr Ian Piper

The 5S Method takes an Activity Theory approach to stakeholder elicitation. We interview stakeholders and build up a network of Activities according to Activity Theory precepts. These Activities are hierarchically decomposed into the smaller units of Action and Operation. This comprises a useful conceptual map of the human motivations and dependencies prior to insertion of the new computer based system. To identify and describe such a potential computer system, we analyse and identify linkages between the Activities and assemble a list of those which could usefully pass through such a computer system. Design decisions are driven and evaluated by reference …

The Institutional Legacy And The Development Of An Australian National Innovation System, Simon Ville

Simon Ville

Institutions are the rules of the game that help to shape the long-term historical development of societies. They mediate human interaction and can be more or less formal (or tangible) in nature ranging from systems of government to common modes of behaviour. Most formal institutions can be distinguished as economic, social, political or cultural in nature although such distinctions are more difficult to make for informal institutions. What is certain is the pervasive impact of all types of institutions on a country’s multifaceted development. Thus, economic performance may be shaped as much by a nation’s legal system as by its …

Conducting Polymers With Fibrillar Morphology Synthesized In A Biphasic Ionic Liquid/Water System, J.M. Pringle, Orawan Ngamna, Carol M. Lynam, Gordon G. Wallace, Maria Forsyth, Douglas Macfarlane

Gordon Wallace

The synthesis of poly(pyrrole), poly(terthiophene), and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) with unusual fibrillar morphologies has been achieved by chemical polymerization in a biphasic ionic liquid/water system. Use of aqueous gold chloride as the oxidant, with the monomers dissolved in a hydrophobic ionic liquid, allows the polymerization to occur at the ionic liquid/water interface. The resultant conducting polymer fibrils are, on average, 50−100 nm wide and can be thousands of nanometers long. The polymers produced in this ionic liquid system are compared to those synthesized in a biphasic chloroform/water system.

Simulation Model Of A Grid-Connected Single-Phase Photovoltaic System In Pscad/Emtdc, Brian K. Perera, Sridhar R. Pulikanti, Philip Ciufo, Sarath Perera

Dr Philip Ciufo

In this paper, a complete simulation model of a grid-connected single-phase two-stage photovoltaic (PV) system with associated controllers is presented. The simulation model is developed in PSCAD/EMTDC simulation program. The component models of the grid-connected PV system include a PV array, a dc-dc boost converter, a voltage source converter (VSC) and an LCL filter. Components of the LCL filter, the dc-link capacitor of the VSC and the inductor of the dc-dc boost converter are established theoretically and that are used in modelling the grid-connected PV system. The control architecture of the presented system incorporates a synchronous reference frame phase-locked-loop (s-PLL), …

Developing 'Policy Stories' For State Health System Benchmarking: A Small-N Quali-Quantitative Study, Erica Bell, Bastian Seidel

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Background: The benchmarking literature has made important advances and offers many different population health indicators that can be used to compare state health systems. However, there is still a need for qualitative, complexity-oriented approaches that allow policy-makers to develop explanatory 'policy stories' from combining such indicators that are useful to policy solutions. Methods: A new qualitative method from the social sciences based on Boolean approaches, called Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), was piloted in a 'real world' policy consultancy to combine Australian state-level indicators of community and health system inputs, interventions, and population health outcomes. Analyses were provided for state inputs …

The Added Value Of Understanding Informal Social Networks In An Adaptive Capacity Assessment: Explorations Of An Urban Water Management System In Indonesia, Silva Larson, Kim S. Alexander, Riyanti Djalante, Dewi G.C Kirono

Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health - Papers: part A

Social networks play an important role in environmental governance regimes, and they are a key to the adaptive capacity of systems that deal with complex, contextual and multi-faceted issues. Urban water systems are typical examples of complex systems facing many pressures, such as increased population, water quality deterioration, and climate change. This paper explores social networks of the key stakeholders engaged in urban water management, in Makassar City, Indonesia, in the context of exploring ways to improve management of an increasingly complex urban water system. Three social networks were explored; those constituted by formal and informal interactions and networks perceived …

Systems Of Integration: Using System Dynamics To Understand Technology Integration In Learning And Teaching, Sarah K. Howard, Kate Thompson

Faculty of Social Sciences - Papers (Archive)

This paper presents the use of system dynamics to analyze factors impacting on teachers adoption and integration of technology in learning and teaching. Educational change is a complex and dynamic process, particularly in the area of technology integration. Existing models of teacher integration have not been designed to account for shifting and changing teacher experience, confidence and cultural aspects of technology integration. Therefore, the use of system dynamics is proposed to provide a more informed understanding of these interactions, with the aim to extend existing models of teachers' technology integration. This discussion applies this approach to analyze and model teachers' …

Ropes Eye Plaque Dosimetry: Commissioning And Verification Of An Ophthalmic Brachytherapy Treatment Planning System, J Poder, N Annabell, M Geso, M Alqathami, S Corde

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

In this study, the Plaque SimulatorTM eye plaque brachytherapy planning system was commissioned for ROPES eye plaques and Amersham Health model 6711 Iodine 125 seeds, using TG43-UI data. The brachytherapy module of the RADCALC® independent checking program was configured to allow verification of the accuracy of the dose calculated by Plaque SimulatorTM. Central axis depth dose distributions were compared and observed to agree to within 2% for all ROPES plaque models and depths of interest. Experimental measurements were performed with a customized PRESAGEm 3-D type dosimeter to validate the calculated depth dose distributions. Preliminary results have shown the effect of …

Brachyview, A Novel Inbody Imaging System For Hdr Prostate Brachytherapy: Design And Monte Carlo Feasibility Study, M Safavi-Naeini, Z Han, D Cutajar, S Guatelli, M Petasecca, M L. F Lerch, D. Franklin, J Jakubek, S Pospisil, J Bucci, M Zaider, Anatoly B. Rosenfeld

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Purpose: High dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy is a form of radiation therapy for treating prostate cancer whereby a high activity radiation source is moved between predefined positions inside applicators inserted within the treatment volume. Accurate positioning of the source is essential in delivering the desired dose to the target area while avoiding radiation injury to the surrounding tissue. In this paper, HDR BrachyView, a novel inbody dosimetric imaging system for real time monitoring and verification of the radioactive seed position in HDR prostate brachytherapy treatment is introduced. The current prototype consists of a 15 × 60 mm2 silicon pixel detector …

Resonance Forever In A Rotational System: The Infinite Viv Lock-In Regime For Pivoted Cylinders, Brad Stappenbelt, Andrew Dennis Johnstone

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

The aim of the present investigation was to examine the critical vortex-induced vibration (VIV) point for cylinders in a rotational system. For translational systems, the existence of a critical mass ratio for cylinders undergoing vortex-induced vibration has been well established. At mass ratios below this critical point, the reduced velocity at VIV lock-out tends to infinity, resulting in the resonance forever condition as described by the authors first reporting this phenomenon. The approach adopted in the present investigation involved measuring the VIV response of a positively buoyant pivoted cylinder being towed at very high reduced velocity. High reduced velocity was …

Teamwork As A Service: A Cloud-Based System For Enhancing Teamwork Performance In Mobile Learning, Geng Sun, Jun Shen

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Although cloud computing helps learners to access online learning content through commonly used devices, it can be difficult to collaborate in the mobile environment. We develop a service-oriented system, ‘Teamwork as a Service’ (TaaS), to facilitate learners’ team learning activities. The five main services of TaaS facilitate a teamwork-enhanced learning flow associated with the theory of Kolb’s team learning experience, providing learners with an introduction, a ‘jigsaw classroom’, schedule planning, and mutual supervision during the whole process. Specifically, TaaS enables a rational grouping mechanism that allocates learners to their appropriate tasks in order to give their best performance. TaaS is …

Facilitating Collaborative Learning In Taas: A Mobile Cloud System For Enhancing Teamwork Performance, Geng Sun, Jun Shen

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Mobile cloud-based learning is a novel trend that brings many advantages to distributed learners to achieve collaborative learning, but it still lacks of mechanisms to enhance their teamwork performances. To make up that shortcoming, combining the features of cloud environment, we have identified a learning flow, a specification of workflow, based on Kolb team learning experience. This novel learning flow can be executed by our newly designed system, Teamwork as a Service (TaaS), in conjunction with cloud-hosting learning management systems, following which learners benefit from functions given by cloudbased services, separately for organizing cloud jigsaw classroom, planning and publishing tasks, …

A Personalized Hybrid Recommendation System Oriented To E-Commerce Mass Data In The Cloud, Fang Dong, Junzhou Luo, Xia Zhu, Yuxiang Wang, Jun Shen

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Personalized recommendation technology in Ecommerce is widespread to solve the problem of product information overload. However, with the further growth of the number of E-commerce users and products, the original recommendation algorithms and systems will face several new challenges: (1) to model user’s interests more accurately; (2) to provide more diverse recommendation modes; and (3) to support large-scale expansion. To address these challenges, from the actual demands of E-commerce applications (as Made-in-China website), a personalized hybrid recommendation system, which can support massive data set, is designed and implemented in this paper by using Cloud technology. Hereinto, the recommendation algorithms are …

Do We Have The Reliable Data? An Exploration Of Data Quality For Aids Information System In China, Hong Chen, Ping Yu, Ning Wang

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

A national AIDS program evaluation system has been applied to the ranking of the performance of involved public health organizations in China since 2007. The system provides quantitative performance comparison information based on automatic mining of the data stored in a unified web-based national information system, China AIDS Comprehensive Response Information Management System (the CRIMS). Hence, the quality of the AIDS program evaluation system is directly related to the data quality in the CRIMS. This study aims to evaluate the performance of the AIDS program evaluation system. The research method is qualitative interview of public health practitioners in Jiangxi Province. …

Clinical Validation Of An In-House Epid Dosimetry System For Imrt Qa At The Prince Of Wales Hospital, M Tyler, P Vial, P Metcalfe, S Downes

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

In this study a simple method using standard flood-field corrected Electronic Portal Imaging Device (EPID) images for routine Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) Quality Assurance (QA) was investigated. The EPID QA system was designed and tested on a Siemens Oncor Impression linear accelerator with an OptiVue 1000ST EPID panel (Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc, USA) and an Elekta Axesse linear accelerator with an iViewGT EPID (Elekta AB, Sweden) for 6 and 10 MV IMRT fields with Step-and-Shoot and dynamic-MLC delivery. Two different planning systems were used for patient IMRT field generation for comparison with the measured EPID fluences. All measured …

A Multi Agent System Based Implementation For Semantic Web Services, J Shen, G Beydoun, G C. Low

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Many information systems developers face high cost in adopting service oriented architectures because of the high cost of locating appropriate services to customise and integrate into their system. This paper aims at reducing this cost by automating much of the composition and service selection effort. It illustrates the use of a Peer-Peer multi agent system (MAS) to facilitate service selection with multiple Quality of Service properties. The system will use semantic enrichment of services in order to facilitate their identification and composition. With semantic driven composition, services can be shared between teams of developers and across multiple organisations connected via …

Total Electron-Scattering Cross Sections From Pyrimidine As Measured Using A Magnetically Confined Experimental System, Martina C. Fuss, Ana G. Sanz, Francisco Blanco, Juan Carlos Oller, Paulo Limao-Vieira, Michael J. Brunger, Gustavo Garcia

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

In this paper, an apparatus for measuring electron-scattering cross sections while applying a strong axial magnetic field is described. The first original experiment performed with this setup is the measurement of the total cross sections for pyrimidine (1,3-diazine), which are presented for the incident electron energy range of 8-500 eV. Generally good agreement with earlier theoretical predictions is found after accounting for the angular acceptance (angular resolution for forward scattering) of the apparatus.

Validation Of An Imrt Beam Model Using A Secondary Treatment Planning System As A 3d Dosimeter, A Xing, S Arumugam, L Holloway, G Goozee

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

A treatment planning system IMRT beam model is usually validated using phantom-based measurement, however this will not detect errors related to patient anatomy and inhomogeneity. In this study a secondary treatment system (CMS XIO) was used as a 3D dosimeter to verify an IMRT beam model recently commissioned in a Philips Pinnacle treatment planning system. Data sets from three head-neck and two prostate patients previously treated were utilised. The IMRT plans for these patients were planned in Pinnacle and transferred to XIO. The dose at each voxel in the patient volume was calculated in both XIO and Pinnacle. The 2D …

A Theoretical Investigation Of A Solar Photovoltaic Thermal System Integrated With Phase Change Materials, M Imroz Sohel, Zhenjun Ma, Paul Cooper, Jamie Adams, Robert Scott

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

In this paper we present a theoretical investigation of an air based solar photovoltaic thermal (PVT) system integrated with phase change materials. The advantage of the air based PVT system is that the air can be directly used for space heating or cooling. At first we present an air based PVT system model and analyze the effect of major parameters on the system performance. We then integrate this PVT system model with a phase change material (PCM) energy storage system model and analyze the system performance. We found that solar irradiation increased thermal efficiency initially before reaching a plateau. However, …

I-125 Ropes Eye Plaque Dosimetry: Validation Of A Commercial 3d Ophthalmic Brachytherapy Treatment Planning System And Independent Dose Calculation Software With Gafchromic Ebt3 Films, Joel Poder, Stephanie Corde

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to measure the dose distributions for different Radiation Oncology Physics and Engineering Services, Australia (ROPES) type eye plaques loaded with I-125 (model 6711) seeds using GafChromic R EBT3 films, in order to verify the dose distributions in the Plaque SimulatorTM (PS) ophthalmic 3D treatment planning system. The brachytherapy module of RADCALC R was used to independently check the dose distributions calculated by PS. Correction factors were derived from the measured data to be used in PS to account for the effect of the stainless steel ROPES plaque backing on the 3D dose distribution. …

A Simple Adaptive Stfc Mb-Ofdm Uwb System For Wban Applications, Miftadi Sudjai, Le Chung Tran, Farzad Safaei

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

This paper proposes a simple, but efficient, adaptive space-time-frequency coded (STFC) multiband orthogonal frequency division multiplexing ultra-wideband (MB-OFDM UWB) system to improve the average BER performance for body-to-external link wireless body area network (WBAN) applications. The novelty of this paper is the proposed body direction based adaptive algorithm that controls the set of modulation scheme, space-time-frequency code (STFC) coding rate, and power of signal constellations implemented in STFC MB-OFDM UWB WBAN. Simulation results show that the proposed system can provide a consistent 1-2 dB improvement in the case of 2I1O configuration, and 1-3 dB improvement in a medium-to-high SNR region …

Innovations Of The Assessment System In Introductory Statistics Subject, Norhayati Baharun, Anne Porter

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

This paper presents the results of a study investigating the innovations in the assessment system implemented in an introductory statistics subject (STAT131) at the University of Wollongong (UOW). For several years, innovations have been introduced to STAT131 particularly in the assessment system. These included the approaches of assignments, summary and mid-session test in 2003; assignments, laboratory work and midsession test from 2004 to 2005; four tests and three make-up tests in 2006; six tests with three compulsory and two optional tests in 2007; four tests (the best of three test marks were chosen) and opportunity to re-sit the tests in …

Mine Water Treatment Using A Vacuum Membrane Distillation System, Muttucumaru Sivakumar, M Ramezanianpour, G O Halloran

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Water scarcity and strict environmental regulations has seen the rapid development of membrane technologies in water and wastewater treatment. Effluent discharge from a local coal mine containing 2332 mg/L of TDS (Total Dissolved Solids), 14.4 mg/L of Ca, 2.72 mg/L of Mg, 1.92 mg/L of Fe and 3.38 mg/L of Al is treated by a vacuum membrane distillation system. This technology aims to remove particles and dissolved impurities by evaporation and condensation technique that mimics what occurs in nature within a water cycle. It employs a hollow-fiber membrane that enables to remove 99.9% of TDS from mine water. This paper …

Ontology-Based Search System Using Hierarchical Structure Design, Norasykin Mohd Zaid, Sim Kim Lau, Mohd Nihra Haruzuan Mohamad Said

Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences - Papers: Part A

Major retrieval issues on conventional online database search systems faced by novice researchers are identified and described. An ontology-based search framework is proposed. The framework consists of five elements: (1) user, (2) query, (3) query interface, (4) search process, and (5) result. The query interface is designed based on the ontology hierarchical structure in the ontology datastore and is represented as keywords/sub-keywords structures in the query interface. Ontology enables relationships between keywords and terms to be defined. Ontology allows desired information to be retrieved by sharing common vocabularies with an understanding of meaning of terms in the domain. A prototype …