4582 research outputs found
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Transition to low carbon energy policies in China-from the five-year plan perspective
No full textEnergy policy plays a critical role not only in the energy development, but also in the social and environmental aspects of a nation. Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development is one of the most important government plans, which documents the national strategy during that period. This study presents a critical review of 12 Five-Year Plans that have been released by the Chinese central government in last 58 years. In particular, the recently released Twelfth Five-Year Plan is reviewed. The results clearly show a pattern of increasingly level of attention of Chinese government to energy efficiency improvement, air pollutant emission reduction, new and renewable energy develop- ment, carbon dioxide emission and climate change.
Zeno-anti-Zeno crossover dynamics in a spin-boson system
No full textWe examine the critical system parameters which affect the quantum Zeno–anti-Zeno transition in a spin–boson system by applying the notion of correlated Zeno subspaces beyond the qubit system to its decayed part represented by a collective reservoir of oscillators. We also examine the effect of coherent control via a periodic sequence of dynamical decoupling pulses prior to projective measurement. Our results show that depending on the system bias and measurement time interval of the spin–boson model, coherent control via periodic dynamical decoupling pulses eliminates the Zeno–anti-Zeno transition behavior. We extend the calculations to examine the entanglement dynamics of two initially entangled qubits coupled to independent reservoirs with varying configuration and subjected to frequent measurements. In a multipartite system, in which one or more qubit–reservoir system can undergo the Zeno–anti-Zeno transition, we show that the effects of measurements made in a one qubit–reservoir subsystem can reverberate noticeably throughout a whole array of N pairs of qubit–reservoir subsystems.
A model for the study of user adoption behaviours of mobile commerce
No full textWith strong computing power and efficient data networks, new mobile phones are sophisticated enough for smoothly surfing the internet and conducting electronic commerce as on the desktop computers, there should have significant opportunities and growth of mobile commerce. However, the user acceptance of m-commerce is below expectation (Harris et al., 2005). Researches of the user acceptance of m-commerce have proven the positive user adoption determinants based on the user acceptance models of information systems (IS), but only few explore the negative adoption factors. This paper extends the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model for the study of the negative emotion and behaviour that affects the user acceptance of m-commerce. The extended UTAUT model aims to help m-commerce service providers to understand both the positive and negative factors that can significantly explain user adoption intention and use behaviour so that they can adjust their strategies for providing successful m-commerce services. It also provides an extended base for further research on the user acceptance models of new IS.
Print a compact single- and quad-band slot antenna on ceramic substrate
No full textA miniaturized slot antenna is designed on the 0.4mmthickness Al2O3 ceramic substrate with ground plane size of 30mm × 30mm and the printed method is used to get the designed patterns. Two different strip insets, U-shape and N-shape, are added in the slot to improve the characteristics of microstrip fed antennas. When a symmetrical U-shaped strip inset is added in the slot, the fabricated antenna reveals a single-band characteristic and has a relatively large return loss of -28.0 dB at 3.12GHz and a wide -10 dB impendence bandwidth of 8.9% (275 MHz). When an un-symmetrical N-shaped strip inset is added, the antenna reveals the quad-band characteristics with the resonant frequencies at 2.22 GHz, 3.23 GHz, 4.63 GHz, and 5.42 GHz, respectively. The gains and far-field radiation patterns of the N-shaped antenna are also developed in this study.
Designing Risk and Resilience: perspectives from participants
No full textThis paper presents student and staff reflection of an Architectural Design studio which introduced students to complex decision making processes in concert with their designerly intentions. The fertile setting of final studio in the three year Bachelor of Architectural studies degree at an Australian University, offered students opportunity to demonstrate the multiple capabilities acquired in the degree through a studio focus on integration. The approach taken was to foreground a social issue in the students’ own city and consider design speculations which could address these issues and develop the affective domain of student learning. Students were presented with literature on the needs of Youth-at-Risk, complimented by narrative accounts of young people ‘ageing out’ of State care, in tandem with three fee paying clients, each with different sites embodying differing social and political contexts within which the needs of Youth-at-Risk were to be addressed. The students’ task to manage and respond to the needs of both the fee paying client and young occupants, exposed the challenging dialectic architects face when attempting to broker an effective design outcome for all concerned. Through dialogue with industry, government agencies, community advocates and housing groups, as well as design staff, students considered the integration of the social and urban fabric of their city. The paper discuses the carefully staged studio process and management which aimed to develop student confidence and decision making capability. It also reflects upon student’s own process to better understand the dynamic interplay between social and political influence, client needs and their own designerly intentions. Preliminary findings indicate student’s appreciation of the opportunity to engage with contemporary local social issues which challenged them to consider their architectural contribution beyond the customary formal scheme of an architectural design studio
Beyond un-sustainability: multi-disciplinarity in sustainable design education
No full textAs is widely recognised, unsustainable practices and behaviours are now embedded in everyday life and are difficult to reverse. Our rapidly evolving systems of transport, commerce and communication, land-use, buildings and objects, often depend on unsustainable increases in energy and resource use, and are often directly or indirectly damaging to the environment. Specialized design disciplines are unable singularly to respond adequately to the global scale and multi-disciplinary scope of this unfolding systemic crisis. However, a multidisciplinary approach to the various scenarios and domains of un-sustainability provides a more appropriate response, bringing the large-scale problems of un-sustainability into sharper focus and broadening the designer’s responsibility beyond the typical scenario of a single discipline response. In the University of South Australia’s new Master of Sustainable Design program a multi-disciplinary approach to sustainable design has been adopted as a key educational strategy. In seminar-based courses the cultural, social and technological forces shaping the crisis outlined above are examined from multi-disciplinary standpoints. This informs design oriented scenarios which respond to typical sites of ‘un-sustainability’ and provide a shared context within which multi-disciplinary design is performed. In this paper we discuss our multi-disciplinary strategy and its dimensions in studio and seminar classes. We also examine some initial evidence of its impact on the first cohorts of our Master of Sustainable Design program, from a range of design disciplines including architecture, interior architecture and industrial design. The evidence we will discuss is based upon initial student course evaluation statistics, small focus groups and interview questionnaires, with a special focus on collaborative, cross-disciplinary learning
Vehicle routing optimization with soft time windows in a fuzzy random environment
No full textThis paper is concerned with a vehicle routing problem with soft time windows (VRPSTW) in a fuzzy random environment. Two objectives are considered: (1) minimize the total travel cost and (2) maximize the average satisfaction level of all customers. After setting up the model for the VRPSTW in a fuzzy random environment, the fuzzy random expected value concept is used to deal with the constraints and its equivalent crisp model is derived. The global–local–neighbor particle swarm optimization with exchangeable particles (GLNPSO-ep) is employed to solve the equivalent crisp model. A case study is also presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
Design of a Javanese intelligent tutor: an alternative to preserve endangered languages
No full textLanguage is a means of communication in writing and in speech, is important part of culture of every nation, and helps to maintain the history and civilization. The domination of languages such as English reduces the significance of local languages and makes them marginalised. Many research projects address endangered languages, in the attempted vitalisation methods and development of theireffectiveteaching methods. The article discusses Intelligent Tutoring System as applied to Artificial Javanese Intelligent Tutor (AJI Tutor).
