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Stimulant sensitive flocculation and consolidation
No full textAbstract of WO2005021129 The present invention relates to methods for the separation of materials from heterogeneous fluids and provides a means of effecting stimulant-sensitive flocculation and consolidation of solid suspensions within a liquid medium. Specifically, the present invention provides a method of controlling the state of a suspension of solid particles in a liquid, including applying to the suspension a stimulus adapted to control inter-particle forces between the solid particles. The stimulus is reversibly operable to control attraction and/or repulsion. Means of consolidating a sediment bed and of separating the resultant liquids-rich and solids-rich phases are also within the ambit of the invention
Amino acids/NH₃ mixtures for CO₂ capture: effect of neutralization methods on CO₂ mass transfer and NH₃ vapour loss
No full textAmino acid salts are effective promoters to improve CO₂ absorption in NH₃-based solutions, but at the expense of an increase in NH₃ vapour loss. To address this issue, we proposed the neutralisation of amino acids using NH₃ instead of KOH and investigated the effect of neutralisation methods on NH3 vapour loss and mass transfer coefficient of CO₂ in amino acids/NH₃ mixtures at 15°C. It has been found that NH₃ neutralized amino acids solutions can enhance KG of CO₂ in the NH₃ solution and suppress NH₃ loss at the same time. Among three amino acids investigated, taurine is most suitable for the NH₃ neutralisation. We developed the chemical equilibrium model for amino acid-NH₃-CO₂-H₂O and used the model to predict the species profiles in the mixture and explain the experimental results
Exploratory multivariate analysis by example using R (Book review)
No full textReview of: Exploratory multivariate analysis by example using R, by Francois Husson, Sebastien Le and Jerome Pages, Boca Raton, Chapman & Hall / CRC Press, 2011, xii+228 pp., £53.99 or US$83.95 (hardback), ISBN 978-1-4398-3580-
Stability of organic carbon in soil particle-size fractions at different depths: insight on C dynamics in two Australian soils
No full textSoil organic carbon comprises a large and highly dynamic reservoir of the global carbon cycle. Due to its origins as atmospheric CO2, its numerous benefits to soil fertility, and the implications this has for feeding a growing world population, soil carbon sequestration, that is the transfer of atmospheric CO2 to soils, has been trumpeted as a winning solution for humans and the environment. Several issues surrounding our knowledge of soil carbon dynamics must be resolved to ensure the successful implementation of soil carbon sequestration schemes, specifically the factors influencing soil organic carbon storage and stability. Identifying soils with the highest capacity to store organic carbon provides the greatest potential to meet greenhouse gas reduction targets, whereas targeting highly stable mechanisms of soil organic carbon storage is advocated as the approach with the greatest likelihood for long-term success. This thesis combines physical and chemical techniques to investigate soil organic carbon storage and dynamics throughout the profile. Two soils of different mineralogy and texture (a 'clayey' soil and a 'sandy' soil) were sampled to bedrock and fractionated into differing particle-sizes, which were then chemically investigated. Analysis techniques included elemental analysis for organic carbon content, diffuse-reflectance infrared spectroscopy to investigate the chemical components of soil organic carbon, and radiocarbon analysis to determine the age of soil organic carbon. The sampling sites were chosen to minimise differences in external factors influencing soil organic carbon dynamics, such as climate and topography, enabling assessment of soil organic carbon storage and dynamics as a function of mineralogy, texture and depth. Two main concepts are probed within this work. Firstly, that soil mineralogy and texture are driving factors determining soil organic carbon storage and depth distribution. Organic carbon was preferentially enriched in the finest fraction in both soils, showing that increased specific surface area enhances soil organic carbon storage. The depth distribution of soil organic carbon differed between the soils: the sandy soil had a stronger gradient of organic carbon from topsoil to bedrock than the clayey soil, highlighting the influence of mineralogy and texture on soil organic carbon retention. The second focus of this thesis are the stabilisation mechanisms of soil organic carbon, that is mechanisms which lead to a reduction in the biodegradation of soil organic carbon and hence increase in the retention time of organic carbon in soils. The results of the radiocarbon analysis and DRIFT spectroscopy indicate different stabilisation mechanisms in the soils. In the clayey soil, the oldest, most stable carbon is physically protected within aggregates, which are highly stable due to soil mineralogy providing effective binding agents for aggregates. No link was found between soil organic carbon chemistry and stability in the clayey soil. In the sandy soil, mineralogy and texture do not physically protect soil organic carbon, and the greatest soil organic carbon stability arises from pyrogenesis, which alters the chemical composition of soil organic carbon, leading to stable carbon stored as charcoal. Soil organic carbon stability increased with greater soil depth and lower organic carbon content, implying that organic carbon stability result from low carbon availability inhibiting microbial activity in subsoils.
Several conclusions are drawn from the results of this thesis. Firstly, that enhanced soil carbon storage is not linked with enhanced soil carbon stability, as the greatest carbon storage occurs within the finest soil fractions, but this is not the most stable carbon. This implies that trade-offs between amount and longevity of soil carbon storage will have to be made within the framework of soil carbon sequestration schemes. Secondly, that the stabilisation mechanisms of soil organic carbon are texture and mineralogy dependent. The independence of soil organic carbon chemistry and stability in the clayey soil leads to the conclusion that the input quality of soil organic matter in heavy-textured soils may not be relevant to its long-term retention: sequestering carbon in such soils may be as simple as increasing carbon inputs and allowing aggregation to occur. In contrast, in sandy soils the quality of the soil organic matter appears highly relevant to its stability in the soil, and addition of highly stable carbon forms, namely charcoal, to sandy soils is required to increase stable carbon forms in such soils.
Lastly, the high stability of organic carbon in subsoils may result from substrate limitation. If confirmed, this has far-reaching implications for soil carbon sequestration schemes, as targeting subsoils will not lead to a long-term increase in soil organic carbon stocks if carbon availability is increased. Future studies should, therefore, investigate the links between radiocarbon age and organic carbon content in subsoils.</p
Power amplifiers for electronic bio-implants
No full textHealthcare systems face continual challenges in meeting their aims to provide quality care to their citizens within tight budgets. Ageing populations in the developed world are perhaps one of the greatest concerns in providing quality healthcare in the future. The median age of citizens in economically developed regions is set to approach 40 years by the year 2050, and reach as high as 55 years in Japan. This trend is likely to lead to strained economies caused by less revenue raised by smaller workforces. Another effect of ageing populations is the need of further care in order to remain healthy. This care varies from frequent check-ups to condition monitoring, compensation for organ malfunction and serious surgical operations. As a result of these trends, healthcare systems will face the task of servicing more people with more serious and expensive health services, all using less available funds. Effort is being focused on running cheaper and more effective healthcare systems and the development of technology to assist in this process is a natural research priority
An empirical examination of the effects of professional credentials on personal financial planning practitioners’ income in Hong Kong
No full textThe objective of this dissertation is to empirically investigate the effect of professional credentials on personal financial planning practitioner’s income in Hong Kong. Financial planning in Hong Kong is relatively new among financial services, dating back only to the
early 2000s. The financial planning industry in Hong Kong is largely unregulated, and professional certification is not required to act as a financial planner. Regardless, many individuals working in the financial planning field choose to undertake one or more professional certifications, such as a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNERCM (the most common and most highly regarded) and others. There are currently over 66,000 CFPcertified financial planners in Hong Kong, along with an unknown number of other certifications. This study seeks to investigate why individuals undergo certification in the absence of external regulatory requirements. We employ human capital and inequality theories to describe the process of certification as a voluntary investment in knowledge and skill building, and then posit that this would only be justified if there were an expected financial return in the form of higher income. Utilising data from a sample of 5,019 financial planning professionals from a single Hong Kong insurance firm, we examine the relationship between earnings and certification, human capital factors (education and experience), and demographic factors (age and sex). The empirical results indicate that certification, level of education, experience, gender and age do impact on the earnings of financial planners in Hong Kong. The results also reveal that a cluster of certifications do impact on earnings of financial practitioners with four certifications (CFP, LUTCF, FCHCP, and RFC) all of which are highly associated with higher incomes, while only one, the RFP, was not. The RFP was also the least popular certification among financial planners. These findings, taken together, have two implications. First, certification is a path to increased income. Second, certifications do have different market values, thus offering an insight into why individuals choose one form of certification over another. Finally, company policy makers as well as regulators should take cognizance of the rewards associated with certification in order to determine whether it is worthwhile to mandate professional certification of financial planners in the financial services industry in Hong Kong.</p
Words for the Heat of Deeds
No full textWords for the Heat of Deeds is a work of creative non-fiction centred on the early nineteenth century colonial penal outstation of Newcastle. The narrative reworks and recodes the often incomplete, recorded, archival lives of criminals and gaolers who either attended, or were connected to, the outstation’s martial lifetime. As a creative text, it reconfigures this past into a portrait of time and place, with particular emphasis on its squalor, violence, contradictions, resilience and grace. The project weds research and experimental literature with the music of language and disused words. It is also an imaginative, but thoroughly researched, re-enactment of the topography and the discourses of an historical period. The project’s engagement with cultural theory, historiography and genre informs and enlarges its contextual and conceptual boundaries. As the exegesis will outline, the generic, literary aims and themes informing the creative narrative are mediated by cultural theory as it relates to criminality, language, class, convictism and the writing of history. These intercept with certain fundamental readings of Australian history, particularly in relation to how convictism and true crime have been adopted and absorbed by an historical narrative of nationhood and identity. Words for the Heat of Deeds, in this context, is an alternative microhistory which responds creatively to usurp this singular dominant view. The exegesis describes and explains how the coherence of Words for the Heat of Deeds is grounded in the ways that its component parts – both the research and the writing – process and catalytically configure these influences into a creative narrative.</p
Measuring BIM performance: five metrics
No full textThe term Building Information Modelling (BIM) refers to an expansive knowledge domain within the design, construction and operation (DCO) industry. The voluminous possibilities attributed to BIM represent an array of challenges that can be met through a systematic research and delivery framework spawning a set of performance assessment and improvement metrics. This article identifies five complementary components specifically developed to enable such assessment: (i) BIM capability stages representing transformational milestones along the implementation continuum; (ii) BIM maturity levels representing the quality, predictability and variability within BIM stages; (iii) BIM competencies representing incremental progressions towards and improvements within BIM stages; (iv) Organizational Scales representing the diversity of markets, disciplines and company sizes; and (v) Granularity Levels enabling highly targeted yet flexible performance analyses ranging from informal self-assessment to high-detail, formal organizational audits. This article explores these complementary components and positions them as a systematic method to understand BIM performance and to enable its assessment and improvement. A flowchart of the contents of this article is provided
Improved injury management at an Australian aluminium smelter
No full textObjective: This longitudinal study sought to determine the effectiveness of interventions to improve injury management in an industrial setting. Participants: Study participants were workers from three production departments of a large aluminium smelter. Methods: The interventions introduced were to encourage active participation in rehabilitation procedures by injured workers, improve communication with all stakeholders, identify and manage psychosocial issues, and focus the workforce on occupational health and safety matters. Linear regression modelling was used to determine the effectiveness of the interventions using data collected for fourteen months before and fifteen months after the introduction of interventions. Outcomes compared were the number of injuries, number of persons on restricted duty, and lost hours per month. Results: Modelling showed the intervention significantly reduced the number of injuries in the potrooms (from 14 to 6 per month). The number of persons on restricted duties was reduced in all departments (potrooms: from 12 to 7 persons per month, cast house: 3 to 1 person per month, carbon plant: 3 to 1 person per month). Lost hours were significantly reduced in the potrooms (from 244 to 61 hours per month). Conclusion: These findings demonstrate the effectiveness of the revised injury management process introduced
Pitting corrosion in pipeline steel weld zones
No full textSteel pipelines externally exposed to seawater pit more severely in heat-affected weld zones but longer-term quantitative data are scarce. Maximum pit depths and variability are reported for the longitudinal weld in API X56 Spec 5 L grade steel pipeline samples exposed continuously to natural Pacific Ocean seawater for 3.5 years. For the first year maximum pit depths and pit depth variability for the different weld zones were very similar. Both became much greater subsequently, with the greatest increases for the heat affected zone. This is compared with steel composition and grain size and potential reasons for the observations discussed