Description:
In Australia, as in most other industrialized economies, there is growing concern about the work capacity of older workers and their retention in the workforce against a background of population aging and efforts to prolong working lives. It is widely recognized that working later will be promoted by equipping industry and workers with instruments that can gauge working potential. Although policy makers in most industrialized nations now consider an extension of working lives as the basis of sustaining welfare systems and offsetting decline in the number of young labor market entrants, globalization and the competition this fosters present as a strong countervailing force for both government and employers. Certain groups, including older workers with few or outdated skills, and those with declining health may be particularly affected by job insecurity and long-term unemployment. Reconciling these seemingly countervailing tensions is a problem now facing a number of industrialized economies. A resilient older worker whose skills and capabilities can easily adjust as the requirements of the market shift would help maintain labor productivity growth even as populations age (Hagemann and Nicoletti 1989). "From Introduction"
Description:
Cognitive radio network (CRN) users are inherently expected to experience widely-varied delays due to the uncertainty in wireless channel availability. Supporting delay sensitive real-time services through CRNs, so that visitors are allowed to experience full-scale networking services by opportunistically sharing the spectrum from a number of existing networks without impacting on the primary users, thus remains a challenging task. This paper presents a novel technique to provision QoS guarantee for delay-sensitive services in CRNs having secondary users equipped with multiple radio interfaces. The technique relies on modeling spectrums holes from multiple primary networks through a resultant channel to enable implementing a single server queuing model with random service interruption. Simulation results using ns-2.33 show that using multiple radio interfaces has sheer strength to reduce CRN delay with fewer number of primary channel sensing.
Description:
This article conceptualizes public service ethos as a multidimensional construct and develops a framework that explains first, why individuals are motivated by this ethos (Public Service Belief); second, how they deliver public services in accordance with this ethos (Public Service Practice); and third, what ends they perceive it to endorse (Public Interest). Despite considerable interest in public service ethos within the public administration literature, research is constrained by the absence of a measure of this ethos. This article therefore reports three studies conducted to advance theory and research through the development of a psychometrically sound instrument. Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrates support for a three-factor structure, where the dimensions are distinct but related aspects of public service ethos. Moreover, findings show this measure to be valid, reliable, and generalizable. As such it offers researchers an instrument with which to better explore the character and existence of a public service ethos.
Description:
Wireless sensor networks promise to guarantee accurate, fault tolerant and timely detection of events in large scale sensor fields. To achieve this the notion of k-coverage is widely employed in WSNs where significant redundancy is introduced in deployment as an event is expected to be sensed by at least k sensors in the neighborhood. As sensor density increases significantly with k, it is imperative to find the optimal k for the underlying event detection system. In this work, we consider the detection probability, fault tolerance and latency as the Quality of Service (QoS) metrics of an event detection system employing k-coverage and present a probabilistic model to guarantee given QoS support with the minimum degree of coverage taking into account the noise related measurement error, communication interference and sensor fault probability. This work eventually resolves the problem of over or under deployment of sensors, increases scalability and provides a well defined mechanism to tune the degree of coverage according to performance needs.
Description:
Wireless sensor networks promise to guarantee accurate, fault tolerant and timely detection of events in large scale sensor fields. To achieve this the notion of k-coverage is widely employed in WSNs where significant redundancy is introduced in deployment as an event is expected to be sensed by at least k sensors in the neighborhood. As sensor density increases significantly with k, it is imperative to find the optimal k for the underlying event detection system. In this work, we consider the detection probability, fault tolerance and latency as the Quality of Service (QoS) metrics of an event detection system employing k-coverage and present a probabilistic model to guarantee given QoS support with the minimum degree of coverage taking into account the noise related measurement error, communication interference and sensor fault probability. This work eventually resolves the problem of over or under deployment of sensors, increases scalability and provides a well defined mechanism to tune the degree of coverage according to performance needs.
Description:
Existing in-network query processing techniques are categorized as approximation and aggregation based approaches. The former achieves lower query response delay at the expense of accuracy, while the latter reduces query response inaccuracy by executing queries at the actual sensor nodes resulting in longer delay. In this paper, we propose a query processing framework which is delay as well as accuracy aware and capable of dynamic adjustment to meet user/application requirements. When query response is required within specific delay, it provides approximated sensor data meeting the delay requirement. On the other hand, when query response accuracy is vital, it tolerates longer delay in acquiring response with the desired accuracy. To achieve this, we propose a novel method of constructing a delay aware spanning tree (DAST) based on query load and organizing sensor data with varied accuracy. Experimental results illustrate superiority of the proposed framework against competing approaches.
Description:
Context: Liver transplantation has become the treatment of choice for patients with end-stage liver disease. Most studies show a positive effect on quality of life after liver transplantation, but most studies are based on data from Western countries and little is known about quality of life in liver transplant recipients in Turkey or other developing countries. Objective: To investigate liver transplant recipients' quality of life and factors affecting it, before and 3 months after transplantation in western Turkey. Design: Descriptive and comparative, with data collected prospectively. Setting: Two medical centers in Western Turkey. Patients: Sixty-five adult recipients of a liver transplant between May 15 and December 31,2007. Instruments: Quality of life was measured by using the Nottingham Health Profile Turkish version, and sociodemographic and clinical data were collected from patients' records. Results: Scores on all subscales of the Nottingham Health Profile differed significantly from before to after liver transplantation. The differences between the mean scores for quality of life before and after transplantation varied significantly with the patients' sex and disease severity.
Description:
We address for the first time the measurement of nonradiative decay rates in Cr-related centers in nanodiamonds. Compared to our previous quantum efficiency measurement of Cr centers created in bulk diamond, separate measurements of radiative and nonradiative decay rates in grown nanodiamonds prove more challenging due to size dependence effects. We demonstrate in this Letter that, using defocused dipole imaging and collection efficiency calculation via finite-difference time-domain (FDTD), a quantum efficiency up to 0.9 can be inferred to Cr-related centers showing a 2-level system photon statistics.
Description:
"... the thesis examines traditional anarchist theorisations of 'politics without the state' and finds them to be as contained by the State and its founding concepts as the political liberalism of our present. All that remains to be salvaged from anarchist thought is the idea expressed in its name: that is, to be 'without rulers'. In order to escape such conceptual containment, Raw politics aims to produce a 'stripped-down' conceptualisation of politics." - Abstract.
Description:
"... the thesis examines traditional anarchist theorisations of 'politics without the state' and finds them to be as contained by the State and its founding concepts as the political liberalism of our present. All that remains to be salvaged from anarchist thought is the idea expressed in its name: that is, to be 'without rulers'. In order to escape such conceptual containment, Raw politics aims to produce a 'stripped-down' conceptualisation of politics." - Abstract.
Description:
Although living organisms can have some genetic interactions occurring instantaneously while others with time-delay, current modeling techniques for genetic network reconstruction make simplifications and assume that the interactions can be either of these but not both. In this paper, we propose a gene regulatory network reconstruction algorithm that can model concurrent occurrence of both, instantaneous as well as time-delayed interactions, thus providing a better representation of the original biological processes. First we introduce a novel framework using the Bayesian network (BN) formalism that can model both types of interactions. A gene regulatory network reconstruction algorithm using this proposed framework is then developed that employs an evolutionary search strategy and a decomposable scoring metric based on information theoretic quantities. Investigations of our approach are performed using both, the synthetic data as well as Saccharomyces cerevisiae gene expression data. Comparisons with recent reconstruction methods show the superiority of the proposed method.
Description:
Many face-to-face lecture programs are supplemented by recorded lectures. In this study on-campus students were surveyed regarding their experiences of face-to-face and recorded lectures. The majority of students favoured face-to-face lectures due to the ability to interact with lecturers and other students and the ability to ask questions in real time. Recorded lectures were seen to be useful for clarification and revision, due to the ability to rewind, pause and review.
Description:
Many face-to-face lecture programs are supplemented by recorded lectures. In this study on-campus students were surveyed regarding their experiences of face-to-face and recorded lectures. The majority of students favoured face-to-face lectures due to the ability to interact with lecturers and other students and the ability to ask questions in real time. Recorded lectures were seen to be useful for clarification and revision, due to the ability to rewind, pause and review.
Description:
Paleoecological records from billabongs (floodplain lakes) in southern Australia can be used to develop ecosystem response models that describe how the underlying hydrology and geomorphology of these aquatic ecosystems control their resilience to anthropogenic stressors.
Description:
This thesis improves the GRN discovery process by integrating heuristic information via a co-regulation function, a post-processing procedure, and a Hub Network algorithm to build the backbone of the network.
Description:
This thesis improves the GRN discovery process by integrating heuristic information via a co-regulation function, a post-processing procedure, and a Hub Network algorithm to build the backbone of the network.
Description:
Monte Carlo simulation was used to study the effect of inclination factor on the reliability of shallow foundations. The variation of inclination factor was inspected by considering the variation of horizontal and vertical loads. Meyerhof’s bearing capacity equation was employed to formulate the performance function of bearing capacity of shallow foundations. A shallow foundation on cohesionless soils under various loading conditions was simulated. Friction angle of soil, horizontal and vertical loads were considered as non-correlated normally distributed variables in the study. The results showed that, probability of failure of the shallow foundation was less influenced by the variation of vertical load than that of friction angle and horizontal load. Reliability indexes of the foundation were derived with the probability of failure (Pf) using different methods. It was found that, when the limit equilibrium function is not normally distributed, for a given value of Pf, the value of reliability index varies with the method employed.
Description:
Repeated sprint training improves intermittent peak running speed in team-sport athletes. J Strength Cond Res 25(5): 1318-1325, 2011-The aim of this study was to compare the effect of 2 repeated sprint training interventions on an intermittent peak running speed (IPRS) test designed for Australian Rules football. The test required participants to perform 10 3 10-m maximal efforts on an 80-m course every 25 seconds, for each of which the mean peak speed (kilometers per hour) was recorded to determine IPRS. The training interventions were performed twice weekly for 4 weeks immediately before regular football training. In the constant volume intervention (CVol), sprint repetition number remained at 10 (n = 9), and in the linear increase in volume (LIVol) intervention, repetition number increased linearly each week by 2 repetitions (n = 12). Intermittent peak running speed, 300-m shuttle test performance, and peak running speed were assessed before and upon completion of training. All measures were compared to a control group (CON; n = 8) in which players completed regular football training exclusively. Intermittent peak running speed performance in CVol and LIVol improved significantly (p < 0.01) by 5.2 and 3.8%, respectively, with no change in IPRS for CON. There were no differences in IPRS changes between CVol and LIVol. Additionally, peak running speed improved significantly (p < 0.01) by 5.1% for CVol, whereas 300-m shuttle performance improved significantly (p < 0.01) by 2.6% for LIVol only. Intermittent peak running speed, 300-m shuttle performance and peak running speed were improved after 4 weeks of training; however, progressively increasing sprint repetition number had no greater advantage on IPRS adaptation. Additionally, exclusive regular football training over a 4-week period is unlikely to improve IPRS, peak running speed, or 300-m shuttle performance.