50716 research outputs found
Sort by
Computing, Craft, Climate and Country
No full textThis article explores the productive synergies between design for climate and design for Country, and the ways that computation can contribute meaningfully. Our context is a world experiencing multiple crises (climate, biodiversity loss, equity) and a discipline (architecture) that has historically reinvented itself by embracing the transformative potential demanded (and offered) by such challenges. We frame these lesser discussed use-cases of computation via three case studies: a robotic re-enactment of place-based craft, a system of earth-cast vaults, and a pavilion constructed from minimally processed tree forks
Relative trust in critical minerals governance for just transitions in Ghana and Australia
No full textThis paper explores the role of trust in the sustainable mining of critical minerals for a just transition across two complementary and contrasting cases, Ghana and Australia: the former being an emerging critical mineral economy and having a need to enforce social and environmental practices that depart from its history of non-critical minerals mining; the latter using domestic and international institutions to build trust in minerals governance at home and overseas. Based on an interdisciplinary exploratory and reflective methodology relying on four different data streams, this paper offers empirical research on how trust can be built and sustained in-country and through a combination of policies and practices, both on the part of mining companies and governments. We conceptualise trust in terms of confidence about a situation or entity based on experience and reasonable expectations. We found that in critical minerals mining communities, key predictors of trust are satisfaction, participation, social cohesion that is built on shared experiences of the past and present, and an adequate degree of social and economic independence for affected communities. The policy implications of the centrality of trust come at a crucial time when critiques of the role of the critical minerals industry in re-colonising and greenwashing are on the rise. This study finds government regulatory and policy settings can be used to promote trust in ways that are applicable to both developed and developing countries.</p
Dutton’s tax-deductible interest for first homebuyers is a breakthrough
No full textLike many conservatives, I have been waiting for something original from the Coalition that will differentiate them from the socialists. Labor has proven time and again that socialist approaches to housing affordability do not work. Today, I am pleased to report that Peter Dutton has announced an Australian first: First homebuyers will be eligible for tax deductions on their mortgage interest for new builds for the first five years of their mortgage.This is great news, and the policy echoes my argument in the Speccie from this time last year: How about tax deductions for your home loan interest
Independent evolution of satellite DNA sequences in homologous sex chromosomes of Neotropical armored catfish (Harttia)
No full textThe Neotropical armored catfish Harttia is a valuable model for studying sex chromosome evolution, featuring two independently evolved male-heterogametic systems. This study examined satellitomes—sets of satellite DNAs—from four Amazonian species: H. duriventris (X1X2Y), H. rondoni (XY), H. punctata (X1X2Y), and H. villasboas (X1X2Y). These species share homologous sex chromosomes, with their satellitomes showing a high number of homologous satellite DNAs (satDNAs), primarily located on centromeres or telomeres, and varying by species. Each species revealed a distinct satDNA profile, with independent amplification and homogenization events occurring, suggesting an important role of these repetitive sequences in sex chromosome differentiation in a short evolutionary time, especially in recently originated sex chromosomes. Whole chromosome painting and bioinformatics revealed that in Harttia species without heteromorphic sex chromosomes, a specific satDNA (HviSat08-4011) is amplified in the same linkage group associated with sex chromosomes, suggesting an ancestral system. Such sequence (HviSat08-4011) has partial homology with the ZP4 gene responsible for the formation of the egg envelope, in which its role is discussed. This study indicates that these homologous sex chromosomes have diverged rapidly, recently, and independently in their satDNA content, with transposable elements playing a minor role when compared their roles on autosomal chromosome evolution.</p
Multimodal Computational Framework for Assessing SDG Contributions
No full textThis research elaborates the importance of addressing the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) related to sustainable consumption and responsible production using multimodal artificial intelligence, computer vision, and machine learning methods. The past hundred years of urban growth in a developing country such as Brazil has been extraordinary, with more than 85% of the population now living in cities. The growing need for land has led countries such as Brazil, Peru and Bolivia to embrace deforestation as a poorlyinformed cure, with disastrous implications on many species residing in the Amazon Rainforest. So we should be good at estimating deforestation levels because more deforestation leads to a lot of really bad environmental issues. We present a multimodal computational pipeline for the multi-label classification of aerial satellite imagery from an open-access dataset covering the region of Brazil's Amazon rainforest. This framework can help in tracking deforestation activities and it may be relevant to other regions globally as well.</p
Third debate attitude reflects leadership: we ain’t got either
Get PDFUnlike Albo, Dutts is up against the mainstream media (MSM). Listening to left-leaning journos give Albo the win in the third debate, and others avoiding calling it because they are closet lefties, makes it clear to me where the MSM’s loyalties lie.In such an environment, there is some merit in Dutts not being ‘authentic’ about himself and trying to tone down his strength. But this approach is bleeding conservatives to the right. Anecdotally, the Liberal Party is haemorrhaging badly.Meanwhile, Albo has done the opposite and has been as floppy as a puppy by delivering an Easter message via his pets
Inverse kinematics solution for a six-degree-of-freedom upper limb rehabilitation robot using deep learning models
Get PDFThe inverse kinematics problem in serially manipulated upper limb rehabilitation robots implies the usage of the end-effector position to obtain the joint rotation angles. In contrast to the forward kinematics, there are no systematic approaches for solving the inverse kinematics problem. Furthermore, for some morphology of the upper limb rehabilitation robots, the inverse kinematics problem is particularly challenging to solve. Conventional methods to solve the inverse kinematics problem reported in the literature are computationally expensive. In the present work, we propose a deep learning-based model to acquire the joint angles for a given end-effector position. The proposed approach exhibits high efficacy in determining the joint angles for various target positions and can accurately predict the end-effector positions once trained, improving the ability of the upper limb rehabilitation robot to adapt to varying patient needs. Due to its improved capability and effectiveness to track positions, the proposed algorithm lays the foundation for the development of efficient controllers in future.</p
Kinesiology taping length and dynamic balance control in individuals with chronic ankle instability
Get PDFTo explore the effect of different lengths of kinesiology taping (KT) on dynamic balance control in individuals with and without chronic ankle instability (CAI). Thirty-one participants (16 CAI, 15 non-CAI) volunteered, and all of them were tested for dynamic balance with KT taping of varied strip lengths, in a random sequence, with taping conditions being: above-ankle taping (short taping), below-knee taping (mid taping), and above-knee taping (long taping). Dynamic balance was measured by the Y-Balance test (YBT) with three reaching directions; anterior (YBT-A), posteromedial (YBT-PM), posterolateral (YBT-PL), untaped at enrolment and immediately after each taping condition. Non-CAI participants consistently outperformed CAI all YBT measures made in the untaped condition (all p<0.05). Linear mixed model (LMM) analysis suggested there were significant KT-Group interactions reflecting reducing inter-group difference as tape length increased for YBT-C (F(3, 29) = 5.599, p = 0.016, ES = 0.104), YBT-PM (F (3, 29) = 3.53, p = 0.018, ES = 0.102) and YBT-PL (F (3, 29) = 2.72, p = 0.049, ES = 0.008), but not YBT-A (F (3, 29) = 1.44, p = 0.236). Paired t-tests suggested that in the CAI group, compared to the untaped condition, YBT-PM scores increased in all taping conditions, with mean difference (MD) from 3.5 to 7.0% (t = 2.17–5.17, p = 0.00-0.046, 95%CI = −9.83, −0.07), whereas YBT-C (MD = 4.2%, t = 1.03, p = 0.001, 95%CI = −6.36, −1.97) and YBT-PL scores (MD = 5.3%, t = 3.9, p = 0.001, 95%CI = −8.18, −2.41) increased only in the long-taping condition. KT taping can improve dynamic balance for individuals with CAI to a level of those without CAI. Longer KT taping seems to show superior effects. However, individuals without CAI may not benefit from KT taping when performing a dynamic balance task.</p
Strange Dreams and Unforgiving Landscapes:Australian Gothic and the prose poem
No full textThe Australian Gothic is rooted in loss, alienation and angst, concerned with boundaries, transgression and the horror of the “unseen, or the half-seen – the repressed matter that threatens to return” (Doolan, 2019). As a genre which turns on “the perceived hostility of the natural environment, the violence of colonisation … and fears of the racial Other” (Doolan, 2019), it is also embedded in complex ideas about the uncanny, the haunting of borderlines and margins; liminal spaces in which conceptions of belonging, dispossession, and the body interact in uneasy ways; and abjection. While there is significant scholarship on the Australian (colonial) Gothic in relation to cinema and fiction, its connection to poetry is relatively neglected. In this paper we consider the broader implications of prose poems by Samuel Wagan Watson, Thomas Shapcott, Ania Walwicz and Meredith Wattison, as well as prose poems of our own, focusing on how the Australian Gothic may be understood as a form of neo-Gothic, and how the Australian neo-Gothic prose poem possesses an uncanny ability to subvert traditional colonial notions. In doing so, we argue that the Australian neo-Gothic prose poem, partly due to its hybrid form, is well suited to recognising that tragic colonial histories are simultaneously past and present in a postcolonial world – a form of haunting in which violent encounters may not be safely relegated to the past or contained within static visions of time and place.</p
Developing geospatial tools to identify refuges from alien trout invasion in Australia to assist freshwater conservation
No full textContext: Introduced fish have caused significant range reductions for many native fish, with many threatened species now found in headwater refuges, protected by in-stream barriers such as waterfalls, weirs and culverts. Owing to the remoteness of such refuges, distribution of many native species is poorly understood despite the urgency of determining their distribution because of threats posed by the spread of introduced fish into these refuges. Aims: We investigated the application of emerging remote-sensing technology (LiDAR) to improve our ability to locate potential invasion barriers and identify headwater refuges. Methods: We used LiDAR-derived digital elevation models to find likely barriers, and conducted fish surveys to determine introduced trout passability and distribution in tributary headwaters. Key results: Trout were rarely observed upstream of waterfalls with a gradient of >0.82, whereas native galaxiids were found only in the absence of trout. Of 17 trout barriers surveyed, 9 supported a population of galaxiids upstream, whereas 8 were fishless. Implications: LiDAR-based analysis is an effective tool for preliminary site selection and prioritisation for freshwater fish conservation. Discovery of three new populations of galaxiids in this study demonstrates the potential of this technique to locate additional trout-free headwater streams, important for threatened galaxiids and other trout-sensitive aquatic species.</p