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Development of An Artificial Neural Network (ANN) Model for Improved Corrosion Management using Fly Ash Geopolymer Concrete (FAGC) in Marine Infrastructure Applications
Get PDFOPC for marine infrastructure. Optimized mixes demonstrated a significant 65-70% reduction in chloride migration by 56–90 days, validating long-term durability despite higher early-age porosity. An Artificial Neural Network (ANN) model, with a precision of RMSE 0.007899, effectively predicted chloride migration trends, enhancing corrosion management. These findings highlight geopolymer concrete's eco-friendly durability, reduced maintenance costs, and suitability for sustainable marine structures in harsh environments
Household attitudes and institutional positions towards shared vehicles and autonomous automobility.
Get PDFThis thesis examined household and planning attitudes to shared vehicles and autonomous automobility. Many residents had used ridesourcing and held favourable attitudes to shared autonomous vehicles to reduce car ownership costs. Planners had enabled shared vehicles and many were facilitating autonomous automobility. However, contextual and institutional differences suggest autonomous vehicles will have variable spatial impacts, including the extent to which ridesharing and its integration with transit can mitigate traffic growth from road transport automation
Weight Bias Among Australian Healthcare Students
No full textBy 2035, over four billion people are projected to live with overweight or obesity, many of whom will seek care from healthcare professionals. However, weight bias among future providers may impact care quality. This thesis explored weight bias among Australian healthcare students and evaluated an intervention aimed at its reduction. Findings suggest that current efforts may be insufficient, highlighting the need for long-term educational and policy reforms to effectively address weight bias among healthcare students
Quality work in the future: New directions via a co-evolving sociotechnical systems perspective
No full textWe face the situation of radical change in work due to advances in AI and related digital technologies, with uncertainty about how this change will affect workers’ opportunities for meaningful work designs, as well as the flow-on effects for worker well-being, health, skills and productivity. A ‘technocentric fallacy’ assumes that technology itself is the primary driver of successful digital transformation. Yet we have learned from history that technological considerations alone are insufficient for human well-being and productivity. The long-established sociotechnical systems theory of work design advocates that the social aspects of work (e.g. leadership, culture, task allocations) and technical aspects of work (e.g. AI, robots) need to be jointly optimised to achieve quality work. In this article, we expand this theoretical approach to fit current challenges, and to enable its wider-scale application. Our team of social and technical scholars propose a ‘co-evolving’ sociotechnical systems’ (CeSTS) approach to the design, implementation, and use of digital technology in work contexts. CeSTS expands thinking across time and across levels of analysis to create a more proactive, and ultimately more balanced, approach. Achieving CeSTS requires interdisciplinary collaboration, methods that can track dynamic and emergent change, and a multi-stakeholder approach that both informs research and shapes change in work. Altogether, the radical changes in technology demand an equally radical shift in how scholars investigate, and ultimately help to shape, future work. JEL Classification: 03
Job crafting through the lens of exploitation and exploration: A daily diary study on job crafting towards strengths and development
No full textThis study investigates how employees engage in two distinct job crafting strategies by either leveraging their existing strengths (job crafting towards strengths, JC-strengths) or pursuing personal development (job crafting towards development, JC-development) through the lens of exploitation and exploration. We propose that JC-strengths, as an exploitative strategy, enhances task performance, whereas JC-development, as an explorative strategy, boosts creative performance. We further propose that job autonomy enables both JC-strengths and JC-development by affording discretion in how work is shaped, while a strong performance-pay link serves as a directional signal by reinforcing exploitation-oriented crafting (JC-strengths) and discouraging exploration-oriented crafting (JC-development) in the presence of job autonomy. Conducting a 10-day daily survey among 115 employees, our findings confirmed the hypothesized distinct effects of JC-strengths and JC-development on task and creative performance on a daily basis, respectively. Moreover, daily job autonomy was found to be significantly related to daily JC-strengths, especially when coupled with a high performance-pay link. However, the expected effect of daily job autonomy on daily JC-development and the cross-level moderating effect of performance-pay link on this relationship were not significant
Basic Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA): Drivers, Barriers and Opportunities for Renewal
No full textA large proportion of Basic SDA dwellings are increasingly recognised as outdated, often inaccessible, in poor condition, not fit-for-purpose, costly to maintain, and often failing to meet contemporary standards of community-based and more individualised housing for people with disabilities. Despite this, many people with disability continue to live in such housing due to a lack of suitable alternatives and systemic barriers to upgrading or relocating. Although the number of New Build SDA dwellings continues to grow, Basic properties still account for two out of every five dwellings enrolled in the SDA program.
Drawing on interviews with government and community sector stakeholders, and available quantitative data (albeit limited), this research highlights the physical and financial challenges associated with Basic SDA housing. A key finding is that SDA payments attached to Basic housing are insufficient to support the significant capital investment required for dwelling upgrades or replacements. Community housing providers face additional constraints, such as limited capacity to borrow, insufficient access to affordable land, and funding rules that exclude or limit SDA dwellings from accessing grants and concessional finance through non-SDA government programs such as the Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF) or the Affordable Housing Bond Aggregator (AHBA). At the same time, high vacancy rates in these dwellings and high maintenance costs reduce rental income and undermine the financial sustainability of housing and support providers.
The report identifies several promising practices and strategies and calls for urgent coordinated action across government and community sectors to facilitate the transition away from outdated housing models within the SDA program and towards contemporary, accessible housing that aligns with residents’ preferences and needs. The findings and recommendations aim to support practice and policy pathways for improving the quality and sustainability of housing for people with disability
Refining and Implementing a Vigorous Intermittent Lifestyle Physical Activity Intervention: Views of Key Stakeholders.
No full textBACKGROUND: Novel options are needed to promote physical activity in the aging population. This study aimed to adapt intervention contents, determine implementation strategies and the mode of delivery for support materials of a targeted vigorous intermittent lifestyle physical activity (VILPA) intervention by consulting with key stakeholders (health professionals and adults transitioning to retirement). METHODS: A two-phase approach was undertaken. In Phase 1, semistructured interviews were conducted with 10 health professionals. The intervention was amended, and implementation strategies were drafted according to findings from the health professional interviews. In Phase 2, the amended VILPA intervention was presented and discussed in two focus groups with 15 adults transitioning to retirement. The participants were consulted regarding the feasibility, acceptability, and appropriateness of the amended intervention and the implementation strategies and mode of delivery for the support materials. Qualitative content analysis was performed across both phases. FINDINGS: Key implementation strategies adults transitioning to retirement recommended were education, social support, self-monitoring, rewards, and regular prompts. Participants preferred paper-based delivery of the intervention materials, as they thought the visual of a hard-copy material would act as a reminder to follow the intervention. Stakeholders believed the VILPA intervention could be delivered with a printed booklet that contained weekly checklists allowing participants to self-monitor and track their progress. Significance/Implications: This is the first attempt to translate evidence-based research on VILPA to an intervention in real-world settings. The novel intervention could provide new opportunities for older adults to engage in physical activity anywhere and anytime
Load Prediction Model of Accidental Hydrogen Explosion
No full textThis thesis investigates hydrogen explosion hazards and develops predictive models to improve safety assessment and structural resilience. A combination of CFD simulations, machine learning, and analytical methods is used to estimate key blast parameters with high accuracy. The study also proposes a novel model for liquid hydrogen BLEVE scenarios. These contributions support safer hydrogen infrastructure design and risk mitigation, facilitating the broader adoption of hydrogen as a clean energy carrier
Deep Learning for Predicting Surface Elevation Change in Tailings Storage Facilities from UAV-Derived DEMs
Get PDFTailings storage facilities (TSFs) have experienced numerous global failures, many linked to active deposition on tailings beaches. Understanding these processes is vital for effective management. As deposition alters surface elevation, developing an explainable model to predict the changes can enhance insight into deposition dynamics and support proactive TSF management. This study applies deep learning (DL) to predict surface elevation changes in tailings storage facilities (TSFs) from high-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs) generated from UAV photogrammetry. Three DL architectures, including multilayer perceptron (MLP), fully convolutional network (FCN), and residual network (ResNet), were evaluated across spatial patch sizes of 64 × 64, 128 × 128, and 256 × 256 pixels. The results show that incorporating broader spatial contexts improves predictive accuracy, with ResNet achieving an R2 of 0.886 at the 256 × 256 scale, explaining nearly 89% of the variance in observed deposition patterns. To enhance interpretability, SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) were applied, revealing that spatial coordinates and curvature exert the strongest influence, linking deposition patterns to discharge distance and microtopographic variability. By prioritizing predictive performance while providing mechanistic insight, this framework offers a practical and quantitative tool for reliable TSF monitoring and management
New constraints on metamorphism and crustal evolution of the Isua Supracrustal Belt and neighbouring gneisses, southwest Greenland
No full textThis thesis investigates the polymetamorphic rock record of the Isua Supracrustal Belt and surrounding Eoarchean gneisses in southwest Greenland using petrography and in situ Lu–Hf garnet geochronology. It unravels the pressure–temperature–time (P–T–t) record of Eoarchean granulite-facies metamorphism and synthesizes a more complete metamorphic history by integrating literature and new age constraints on later events, further including an apatite–within–zircon inclusion study focused on recovering Eoarchean isotopic signatures