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A survey dataset to evaluate the changes in mobility and transportation due to COVID-19 travel restrictions in Australia, Brazil, China, Ghana, India, Iran, Italy, Norway, South Africa, United States

- Barbieri, Diego, Lou, Baowen, Passavanti, Marco, Hui, Cang, Lam, Louisa

  • Authors: Barbieri, Diego , Lou, Baowen , Passavanti, Marco , Hui, Cang , Lam, Louisa
  • Date: 2020
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Data in Brief Vol. 33, no. (2020), p.
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  • Description: COVID-19 pandemic has heavily impacted the global community. To curb the viral transmission, travel restrictions have been enforced across the world. The dataset documents the mobility disruptions and the modal shifts that have occurred as a consequence of the restrictive measures implemented in ten countries: Australia, Brazil, China, Ghana, India, Iran, Italy, Norway, South Africa and the United States. An online questionnaire was distributed during the period from the 11st to the 31st of May 2020, with a total of 9 394 respondents. The first part of the survey has characterized the frequency of use of all transport modes before and during the enforcement of the restrictions, while the second part of the survey has dealt with perceived risks of contracting COVID-19 from different transport modes and perceived effectiveness of travel mitigation measures. Overall, the dataset (stored in a repository publicly available) can be conveniently used to quantify and understand the modal shifts and people's cognitive behavior towards travel due to COVID-19. The collected responses can be further analysed by considering other demographic and socioeconomic covariates. © 2020 The Author(s). *Please note that there are multiple authors for this article therefore only the name of the first 5 including Federation University Australia affiliate “Louisa Lam” is provided in this record*

The effects of the no-touch gap on the no-touch bipolar radiofrequency ablation treatment of liver cancer : a numerical study using a two compartment model

- Yap, Shelley, Cheong, Jason, Foo, Ji, Ooi, Ean Tat, Ooi, Ean Hin

  • Authors: Yap, Shelley , Cheong, Jason , Foo, Ji , Ooi, Ean Tat , Ooi, Ean Hin
  • Date: 2020
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Applied Mathematical Modelling Vol. 78, no. (2020), p. 134-147
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  • Description: The no-touch bipolar radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for cancer treatment is advantageous primarily because of its capability to prevent tumour track seeding (TTS). In this technique, the RF probes are placed at a distance (no-touch gap) away from the tumour boundary. Ideally, the RF probes should be placed sufficiently far from the tumour in order to avoid TTS. However, having a gap that is too large can lead to ineffective ablation. This paper investigates how the selection of the no-touch gap can affect the tissue electrical and thermal responses during the no-touch bipolar RFA treatment. Simulations were carried out on a two compartment model using the finite element method. Results obtained indicated that a gap that is too large may lead to incomplete ablation and failure to achieve significant ablation margin. However, keeping the gap to be too small may not be clinically practical. It was suggested that the incomplete ablation and the insufficient ablation margin observed in some of the cases may require the placement of additional probes around the tumour. The present study stresses on the importance of identifying the optimal no-touch gap that can avoid TTS without compromising the treatment outcome. © 2019 Elsevier Inc.

Clinical and Cost-Effectiveness of Therapist-Guided Internet-Delivered Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Older Adults With Symptoms of Anxiety: A Randomized Controlled Trial

- Dear, Blake, Zou, Judy, Ali, Shehzad, Lorian, Carolyn, Johnston, Luke, Sheehan, Joanne, Staples, Lauren, Gandy, Milena, Fogliati, Vincent, Klein, Britt, Titov, Nickolai

  • Authors: Dear, Blake , Zou, Judy , Ali, Shehzad , Lorian, Carolyn , Johnston, Luke , Sheehan, Joanne , Staples, Lauren , Gandy, Milena , Fogliati, Vincent , Klein, Britt , Titov, Nickolai
  • Date: 2015
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Behavior Therapy Vol. 46, no. 2 (2015), p. 206-217
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  • Description: There is preliminary support for internet-delivered cognitive behaviour therapy (iCBT) as a way of improving access to treatment among older adults with anxiety. The aim of this randomized controlled trial (RCT) was to examine the efficacy, long-term outcomes, and cost-effectiveness of an iCBT program for adults over 60. years of age with anxiety. Successful applicants were randomly allocated to either the treatment group (n= 35) or the waitlist control group (n= 37). The online treatment course was delivered over 8. weeks and provided with brief weekly contact with a clinical psychologist via telephone or secure email. Eighty-four percent of participants completed the iCBT course within the 8. weeks and 90% provided data at posttreatment. Significantly lower scores on measures of anxiety (Cohen's d=. 1.43; 95% CI: 0.89 - 1.93) and depression (Cohen's d=. 1.79; 95% CI: 1.21 - 2.32) were found among the treatment group compared to the control group at posttreatment. These lower scores were maintained at 3-month and 12-month follow-up and the treatment group rated the iCBT treatment as acceptable. The treatment group had slightly higher costs ($92.2; 95% CI: $38.7 to $149.2) and Quality-Adjusted Life-Years (QALYs. =. 0.010; 95% CI: 0.003 to 0.018) than the control group at posttreatment and the intervention was found to have a greater than 95% probability of being cost-effective. The results support iCBT as an efficacious and cost-effective treatment option for older adults with symptoms of anxiety. © 2014 Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies.

Clinical and Cost-Effectiveness of Therapist-Guided Internet-Delivered Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Older Adults With Symptoms of Depression: A Randomized Controlled Trial

- Titov, Nickolai, Dear, Blake, Ali, Shehzad, Zou, Judy, Lorian, Carolyn, Johnston, Luke, Terides, Matthew, Kayrouz, Rony, Klein, Britt, Gandy, Milena, Fogliati, Vincent

  • Authors: Titov, Nickolai , Dear, Blake , Ali, Shehzad , Zou, Judy , Lorian, Carolyn , Johnston, Luke , Terides, Matthew , Kayrouz, Rony , Klein, Britt , Gandy, Milena , Fogliati, Vincent
  • Date: 2015
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Behavior Therapy Vol. 46, no. 2 (2015), p. 193-205
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  • Description: Depression is a common and significant health problem among older adults. Unfortunately, while effective psychological treatments exist, few older adults access treatment. The aim of the present randomized controlled trial (RCT) was to examine the efficacy, long-term outcomes, and cost-effectiveness of a therapist-guided internet-delivered cognitive behavior therapy (iCBT) intervention for Australian adults over 60. years of age with symptoms of depression. Participants were randomly allocated to either a treatment group (n= 29) or a delayed-treatment waitlist control group (n=. 25). Twenty-seven treatment group participants started the iCBT treatment and 70% completed the treatment within the 8-week course, with 85% of participants providing data at posttreatment. Treatment comprised an online 5-lesson iCBT course with brief weekly contact with a clinical psychologist, delivered over 8. weeks. The primary outcome measure was the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 Item (PHQ-9), a measure of symptoms and severity of depression. Significantly lower scores on the PHQ-9 (Cohen's d=. 2.08; 95% CI: 1.38 - 2.72) and on a measure of anxiety (Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 Item) (Cohen's d=. 1.22; 95% CI: 0.61 - 1.79) were observed in the treatment group compared to the control group at posttreatment. The treatment group maintained these lower scores at the 3-month and 12-month follow-up time points and the iCBT treatment was rated as acceptable by participants. The treatment group had slightly higher Quality-Adjusted Life-Years (QALYs) than the control group at posttreatment (estimate: 0.012; 95% CI: 0.004 to 0.020) and, while being a higher cost (estimate $52.9. l 95% CI: -. 23.8 to 128.2), the intervention was cost-effective according to commonly used willingness-to-pay thresholds in Australia. The results support the potential efficacy and cost-effectiveness of therapist-guided iCBT as a treatment for older adults with symptoms of depression. © 2014 Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies.

Maternal ratings of ODD symptoms : Subtypes versus severity in a general community sample of children

- Gomez, Rapson, Stavropoulos, Vasileios

  • Authors: Gomez, Rapson , Stavropoulos, Vasileios
  • Date: 2018
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Comprehensive Psychiatry Vol. 81, no. (2018), p. 81-90
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  • Description: Background and aims: Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) is a common childhood disorder (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2000; APA, 2013). The aim of the present study was to ascertain the optimal structure for the ODD symptoms by identifying whether ODD is a qualitatively distinct entity (categorical) or is a continuum, with high levels on this continuum reflecting ODD (quantitative or dimensional view). Methods: Mothers' ratings of the ODD symptoms of 457 children, aged 3 to 15 years, as presented in the disruptive behavior rating scale were obtained. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), latent class analysis (LCA), and factor mixture modelling (FMM) were applied to determine the best model for oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) symptoms in children. Results: The findings provided most support for a FMM with 3 classes (unaffected odd class, at risk class, and affected class) and 3 factors (oppositional, antagonistic, and negative affect). Conclusion: The findings are discussed in relation to dimensional, categorical, and hybrid (categorical/dimensional) models of ODD symptoms.

Global solutions to fractional programming problem with ratio of nonconvex functions

- Ruan, Ning, Gao, David

  • Authors: Ruan, Ning , Gao, David
  • Date: 2015
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Applied Mathematics and Computation Vol. 255, no. (2015), p. 66-72
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  • Description: This paper presents a canonical dual approach for minimizing a sum of quadratic function and a ratio of nonconvex functions in Rn. By introducing a parameter, the problem is first equivalently reformed as a nonconvex polynomial minimization with elliptic constraint. It is proved that under certain conditions, the canonical dual is a concave maximization problem in R2 that exhibits no duality gap. Therefore, the global optimal solution of the primal problem can be obtained by solving the canonical dual problem. © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Improving torque performance in reciprocating compressors via asymmetric stoke characteristics

- Sultan, Ibrahim, Phung, Truong

  • Authors: Sultan, Ibrahim , Phung, Truong
  • Date: 2019
  • Type: Text , Book chapter
  • Relation: Positive displacement machines : Modern design innovations and tools Chapter 6 p. 145-162
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  • Description: This chapter is intended to show that it is possible to obtain a considerable improvement in compressor performance and reliability by modifying the design of the compressor drive. Instead of the traditional slider-crank mechanism, which has been used as a drive since the compressor industry started, it is now possible to replace this drive by more sophisticated ones which offer more flexible stroke design. Such replacement has been made possible by the modern manufacturing methods and analysis tools which are currently at the disposal of industry and research bodies. Earlier work in the domain of proposing new linkages to drive positive displacement machines can be found in the work by Ooi and Wan (2000) who presented a proposal to drive the compressor piston directly from the back using a camlike mechanism. Also, Mimmi and Pennacchi (2001) proposed a pump drive that produces four variable-length strokes per crank revolution. On the other hand, Sultan and Kalim (2011) presented a five-bar geared linkage which can be used to drive a reciprocating compressor instead of the conventional slider-crank mechanism. The next section will present a mathematical model for the compressor operation.

What's in a name? Clarifying the nomenclature of virtual simulation

- Cant, Robyn, Cooper, Simon J., Sussex, Roland, Bogossian, Fiona

  • Authors: Cant, Robyn , Cooper, Simon J. , Sussex, Roland , Bogossian, Fiona
  • Date: 2019
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Clinical Simulation in Nursing Vol. 27, no. (2019), p. 26-30
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  • Description: Clinical simulation is an essential component of health professional education. Digital technologies can provide students with near-reality, interactive virtual simulation learning experiences on static and mobile appliances. Clarification is needed, however, regarding the various types of virtual simulation and the different program components. We drew on published literature to define virtual simulation modalities and to offer definitive terminology to clarify the nomenclature and composition of virtual simulation. Reporting should include description of ‘Fidelity’ ‘Immersion’ and ‘Patient’ to add clarity and utility to research in the field.

Anxiety and clinical performance in simulated setting in undergraduate health professionals education : An integrative review

- Al-Ghareeb, Amal, Cooper, Simon J., McKenna, Lisa

  • Authors: Al-Ghareeb, Amal , Cooper, Simon J. , McKenna, Lisa
  • Date: 2017
  • Type: Text , Journal article , Review
  • Relation: Clinical Simulation in Nursing Vol. 13, no. 10 (2017), p. 478-491
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  • Description: Background Undergraduate health professionals clearly experience anxiety during simulation. However, little is known regarding learners’ physiological and psychological responses and the influence of these responses on performance. Method An integrative review was undertaken to provide a comprehensive understanding of the influence of anxiety on undergraduate health professionals’ performance during simulation, and to review the tools and measurements reported in the healthcare literature. Result Eleven articles were included showing simulation aroused learners physiologically and psychologically, either improving or declining clinical performance. Conclusion Two contrasting perceptions emerged, which are indicative of the current lack of understanding regarding the effects of anxiety on performance in a simulation setting. © 2017 International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation and Learning

How dynamic capabilities affect adoption of management innovations

- Lin, Hai-Fen, Su, Jing-Qin, Higgins, Angela

  • Authors: Lin, Hai-Fen , Su, Jing-Qin , Higgins, Angela
  • Date: 2016
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Journal of Business Research Vol. 69, no. 2 (2016), p. 862-876
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  • Description: Management innovation facilitates changes including technical innovation thus improving organizational performance; Chinese firms typically adopt these management innovations. Building on previous research of how and why management innovation occurs, this study measures the influence of four dynamic capabilities on four stages of the innovation process. The study surveys 264 Chinese firms and analyzes results through PLS-SEM. The findings indicate that relational capability facilitates sensing capability, absorptive capacity, and integrative capability. Further, all of these dynamic capabilities affect stages of the adoptive management innovation process; from initiation through to implementation. As innovation results can be intangible and lagging, and consequently difficult to measure, the method offers managers an alternative by monitoring the effects of different capabilities at each stage of the adoptive management innovation process. © 2015 Elsevier Inc.

Viewing nurse practitioners' perceptions of patient care through the lens of enablement

- Frost, Jane, Currie, Marian, Cruickshank, Mary, Northam, Holly

  • Authors: Frost, Jane , Currie, Marian , Cruickshank, Mary , Northam, Holly
  • Date: 2017
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Journal for Nurse Practitioners Vol. 13, no. 8 (2017), p. 570-576
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  • Description: Research conducted in primary health care (PHC) shows the value of patient enablement. Although nurse practitioners (NPs) are increasingly playing a role in PHC, limited research exploring their contribution to enabling patients exists. This article describes a qualitative descriptive study in which enablement was used to explore PHC NPs' perceptions of the care they provide to patients. Analysis of the focus group data identified 3 primary themes: patient centeredness and bespoke care; reciprocity, trust, and acceptance; and knowledge transference. Relating these themes to the constructs of the Patient Enablement Instrument demonstrated a clear link between NP care and patient enablement. © 2017 Elsevier Inc.

Ekeland's inverse function theorem in graded Fréchet spaces revisited for multifunctions

- Huynh, Van Ngai, Théra, Michel

Geometric design of the limaçon machine

- Sultan, Ibrahim, Phung, Truong

  • Authors: Sultan, Ibrahim , Phung, Truong
  • Date: 2019
  • Type: Text , Book chapter
  • Relation: Positive displacement machines : Modern design innovations and tools Chapter 3 p. 63-93
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  • Description: Positive displacement machines have acquired particular popularity with the current push for sustainable energy production and consumption. It is currently not acceptable to waste energy available in high-pressure gasses throttled or vented to atmosphere in industrial processes (Samuel, 2007; Shu, Yu, Tian, Wei, & Liang, 2014) or blown out of cylinders in large diesel engines (Amann, 1987; Panesar, 2015; Karvountzis-Kontakiotis, Pesiridis, Zhao, Alshammari, et al., 2017). For such applications, a suitably sized positive displacement machine would be employed to harvest energy from these gases and transform it into useful forms. Turbines that are traditionally employed in massive power plants cannot be used for energy harvesting applications due to their inability to handle neither two-phase vapors (Groniewsky, Gy€orke, & Imre, 2017) nor flow occurring at small rates. For these applications, a gas expander, which is a positive displacement machine is usually employed. In relation to pressure creation, positive displacement pumps and compressors are commonly employed to impart pressure to respectively gaseous and liquid fluids flowing at rates which are required by most industries. This chapter presents the limac¸on rotary positive displacement machine, which can be employed for energy production (i.e., as a gas expander) and energy consumption (i.e., as a compressor or a pump) with equal ease and effectiveness. The limac¸on machine (Sultan, 2005) offers a straightforward technology, which has occurred to many creative minds as evident by patents which can be traced back to the 19th century. However, it is unfortunate that such technology did not make it to mass production due to the lack of mathematical understanding of their geometric characteristics and unavailability of manufacturing tools required to machine their chambers. Recently, however, with technical papers published on the topic, industry take-up of the technology has started to emerge. A good example of this take up is shown by the patent of Nystrom (2016).

Dietary quercetin attenuates oxidant-induced endothelial dysfunction and atherosclerosis in apolipoprotein e knockout mice fed a high-fat diet : A critical role for heme oxygenase-1

- Shen, Yu, Ward, Natalie, Hodgson, Jonathan, Puddey, Ian, Wang, Yutang, Zhang, Di, Maghzal, Ghassan, Stocker, Roland, Croft, Kevin

  • Authors: Shen, Yu , Ward, Natalie , Hodgson, Jonathan , Puddey, Ian , Wang, Yutang , Zhang, Di , Maghzal, Ghassan , Stocker, Roland , Croft, Kevin
  • Date: 2013
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Free Radical Biology and Medicine Vol. 65, no. (2013), p. 908-915
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  • Description: Several lines of evidence indicate that quercetin, a polyphenol derived in the diet from fruit and vegetables, contributes to cardiovascular health. We aimed to investigate the effects of dietary quercetin on endothelial function and atherosclerosis in mice fed a high-fat diet. Wild-type C57BL/6 (WT) and apolipoprotein E gene knockout (ApoE-/-) mice were fed: (i) a high-fat diet (HFD) or (ii) a HFD supplemented with 0.05% w/w quercetin (HFD+Q), for 14 weeks. Compared with animals fed HFD, HFD+Q attenuated atherosclerosis in ApoE-/- mice. Treatment with the HFD+Q significantly improved endothelium-dependent relaxation of aortic rings isolated from WT but not ApoE-/- mice and attenuated hypochlorous acid-induced endothelial dysfunction in aortic rings of both WT and ApoE-/- mice. Mechanistic studies revealed that HFD+Q significantly improved plasma F2- isoprostanes, 24 h urinary nitrite, and endothelial nitric oxide synthase activity, and increased heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) protein expression in the aortas of both WT and ApoE-/- mice (P<0.05). HFD+Q also resulted in small changes in plasma cholesterol (P<0.05 in WT) and plasma triacylglycerols (P<0.05 in ApoE -/-mice). In a separate experiment, quercetin did not protect against hypochlorite-induced endothelial dysfunction in arteries obtained from heterozygous HO-1 gene knockout mice with low expression of HO-1 protein. Quercetin protects mice fed a HFD against oxidant-induced endothelial dysfunction and ApoE-/- mice against atherosclerosis. These effects are associated with improvements in nitric oxide bioavailability and are critically related to arterial induction of HO-1. © 2013 Elsevier Inc.

Sports Injuries

- Joseph, Corey, Finch, Caroline

  • Authors: Joseph, Corey , Finch, Caroline
  • Date: 2014
  • Type: Text , Book chapter
  • Relation: Reference Module in Biomedical Research p.
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  • Description: Sport is a common context for injury. It is the most common reason for hospital-treated injury in adolescents and young adults and there is some evidence that injury rates at the population level are increasing. Sports injuries can occur to participants across all forms of sport ranging from elite/professional sport to competitive sport in clubs/colleges/schools to school sport to a range of fitness and physical activity programs usually undertaken for health and social reasons. Over recent years, evidence has accumulated that the majority of these injuries should be preventable if sports injury interventions are successfully implemented. The challenge remains to demonstrate the effectiveness of many sports injury interventions in appropriate real-world settings and to better understand the drivers and barriers to sports injury prevention implementation efforts. © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Degradation of amine-based solvents

- Reynolds, Alicia, Verheyen, Vincent, Meuleman, Erik

  • Authors: Reynolds, Alicia , Verheyen, Vincent , Meuleman, Erik
  • Date: 2016
  • Type: Text , Book chapter
  • Relation: Absorption-Based Post-Combustion Capture of Carbon Dioxide Chapter 16 p. 399-423
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  • Description: Degradation of aqueous amines during post-combustion capture (PCC) of CO2 from fossil-fuel flue gases by wet gas scrubbing can lead to reduced energy efficiency, operational instability, increased corrosion, and unwanted emissions to the environment. Oxidative amine degradation and the accumulation of heat-stable salts primarily occur during absorption of CO2, whereas carbamate polymerization (also called thermal degradation) primarily occurs during desorption of CO2 and thermal amine reclamation. Oxidative degradation is closely related to corrosion, catalyzed by dissolved metal ions, and can be exacerbated by intermittent operation of PCC. Other important reactions, such as nitrosation, occur at much slower rates but can produce environmentally sensitive compounds. The ability to measure the concentrations of individual compounds or monitor amine degradation during PCC is important for managing amine degradation during PCC and demonstrating compliance with environmental regulations. Although some suitable analytical methods are available, further work is needed before they could satisfy the rigorous statutory and legal requirements. Strategies for avoiding and managing amine degradation need to be integrated into all PCC activities including: selecting degradation-resistant amines, ensuring adequate pretreatment of CO2-rich flue gas, avoiding severe CO2 absorption and desorption conditions, and the use of anticorrosion and antioxidation additives. Avoiding intermittent operation of PCC processes and choosing nonmetal column packing may also assist in minimizing amine degradation. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved.

In search of academic legitimacy : The current state of scholarship on graffiti and street art

- Ross, Jeffrey, Bengtsen, Peter, Lennon, John, Phillips, Susan, Wilson, Jacqueline

  • Authors: Ross, Jeffrey , Bengtsen, Peter , Lennon, John , Phillips, Susan , Wilson, Jacqueline
  • Date: 2017
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Social Science Journal Vol. 54, no. 4 (2017), p. 411-419
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  • Description: Much has changed since the 1960s when the first scholarship on contemporary graffiti appeared. The current paper is an attempt to outline and contextualize a number of recurrent challenges facing researchers of graffiti and street art, as well as developments that have taken place in this scholarly field. The aim of creating this outline is to assist in increasing the amount, and improving the quality, of future scholarship on graffiti and street art. We recognize, however, that although many of the challenges have at one time seemed insurmountable, over time they have lessened as graffiti and street art have grown as art movements, and because a small cadre of tenacious scholars focusing on graffiti and street art has published and taught in this area. An increasing, though limited, number of academic venues focused on graffiti and street art scholarship has slowly emerged. We also recognize that with increased scholarship that has laid the foundation, new avenues to explore graffiti and street art have become apparent. © 2017 Western Social Science Association

Symbol coding of Laplacian distributed prediction residuals

- Ali, Mortuza, Murshed, Manzur

  • Authors: Ali, Mortuza , Murshed, Manzur
  • Date: 2015
  • Type: Text , Journal article
  • Relation: Digital Signal Processing: A Review Journal Vol. 44, no. 1 (2015), p. 76-87
  • Relation: http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP130103670
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  • Description: Predictive coding schemes, proposed in the literature, essentially model the residuals with discrete distributions. However, real-valued residuals can arise in predictive coding, for example, from the usage of an r order linear predictor specified by r real-valued coefficients. In this paper, we propose a symbol-by-symbol coding scheme for the Laplace distribution, which closely models the distribution of real-valued residuals in practice. To efficiently exploit the real-valued predictions at a given precision, the proposed scheme essentially combines the process of residual computation and coding, in contrast to conventional schemes that separate these two processes. In the context of adaptive predictive coding framework, where the source statistics must be learnt from the data, the proposed scheme has the advantage of lower 'model cost' as it involves learning only one parameter. In this paper, we also analyze the proposed parametric coding scheme to establish the relationship between the optimal value of the coding parameter and the scale parameter of the Laplace distribution. Our experimental results demonstrated the compression efficiency and computational simplicity of the proposed scheme in adaptive coding of residuals against the widely used arithmetic coding, Rice-Golomb coding, and the Merhav-Seroussi-Weinberger scheme adopted in JPEG-LS.
  • Description: Predictive coding schemes, proposed in the literature, essentially model the residuals with discrete distributions. However, real-valued residuals can arise in predictive coding, for example, from the usage of an r order linear predictor specified by r real-valued coefficients. In this paper, we propose a symbol-by-symbol coding scheme for the Laplace distribution, which closely models the distribution of real-valued residuals in practice. To efficiently exploit the real-valued predictions at a given precision, the proposed scheme essentially combines the process of residual computation and coding, in contrast to conventional schemes that separate these two processes. In the context of adaptive predictive coding framework, where the source statistics must be learnt from the data, the proposed scheme has the advantage of lower 'model cost' as it involves learning only one parameter. In this paper, we also analyze the proposed parametric coding scheme to establish the relationship between the optimal value of the coding parameter and the scale parameter of the Laplace distribution. Our experimental results demonstrated the compression efficiency and computational simplicity of the proposed scheme in adaptive coding of residuals against the widely used arithmetic coding, Rice-Golomb coding, and the Merhav-Seroussi-Weinberger scheme adopted in JPEG-LS. © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Positive displacement machines : Modern design innovations and tools

- Sultan, Ibrahim, Phung, Truong

  • Authors: Sultan, Ibrahim , Phung, Truong
  • Date: 2019
  • Type: Text , Book
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  • Description: Positive Displacement Machines are based on the concept of changing the volume available for fluid processing in a manner which produces matching variations in the pressure of that fluid. This is achieved by the use of mechanical linkages specially designed to optimize the pressure-volume relationships in order ofr the machine to perform efficiently. This volume explains the workings of a variety of positive displacement machines which include pumps, compressors, and gas expanders. Presented at a mathematical and technical level, the most influential research in this field over the past decade or so is examined, along with best practice from industry. The work featured here highlights the importance of using the latest computation techniques, and following proper design procedure to achieve the desired outcome.

Do simulation studies measure up? A simulation study quality review

- Cant, Robyn, Levett-Jones, Tracy, James, Ainsley

  • Authors: Cant, Robyn , Levett-Jones, Tracy , James, Ainsley
  • Date: 2018
  • Type: Text , Journal article , Review
  • Relation: Clinical Simulation in Nursing Vol. 21, no. (2018), p. 23-39
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  • Description: Simulation-based education has become a ubiquitous teaching approach in nursing. However, ensuring the quality of simulation research is critical. We reviewed the methodological quality of 26 quantitative studies published in Clinical Simulation in Nursing, 2017. The Medical Education Research Study Quality Instrument and Simulation Research Evaluation Rubric showed that nearly all studies were of moderate to high quality (rated ≥50%). Correlation coefficients showed that interrater agreement was high overall (≥0.94). In conclusion, this was a valid approach for examining simulation study quality. Although most included studies were of high quality, some elements of study reporting can be improved upon.