Publications
Books
Durao, F, Bayyapu, K, Xu, G, Dolog, P & Lage, R 2013, Medical Information Retrieval Enhanced with User’s Query Expanded with Tag-Neighbors, Springer New York.
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Under-specified queries often lead to undesirable search results that do not contain the information needed. This problem gets worse when it comes to medical information, a natural human demand everywhere. Existing search engines on the Web often are unable to handle medical search well because they do not consider its special requirements. Often a medical information searcher is uncertain about his exact questions and unfamiliar with medical terminology. To overcome the limitations of under-specified queries, we utilize tags to enhance information retrieval capabilities by expanding users’ original queries with context-relevant information. We compute a set of significant tag neighbor candidates based on the neighbor frequency and weight, and utilize the qualified tag neighbors to expand an entry query. The proposed approach is evaluated by using MedWorm medical article collection and results show considerable precision improvements over state-of-the-art approaches.
Howlett, RJ & Gabrys, B 2013, InnovationKT-2012 Preface.
Hussain, OK, Dillon, TS, Hussain, FK & Chang, EJ 2013, Risk Assessment and Management in the Networked Economy, 1, Springer Berlin Heidelberg, Netherlands.
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This book, authored by some of the leading researchers in the field, includes chapters that shed a new light over the domain. The book builds on the important idea that users confidence in online services will be increasingly based on a VI Foreword sound, shared notion of dynamic transactional risk, rather then on todays heuristics. Such notion, as proposed in this book, captures the fundamental aspects of occasional online transactions, including time-dependence and possible information asymmetries.
Luo, T, Chen, S, Xu, G & Zhou, J 2013, Trust-based Collective View Prediction, 1, Springer New York, Germany.
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Collective view prediction is to judge the opinions of an active web user based on unknown elements by referring to the collective mind of the whole community. Content-based recommendation and collaborative filtering are two mainstream collective view prediction techniques. They generate predictions by analyzing the text features of the target object or the similarity of users past behaviors. Still, these techniques are vulnerable to the artificially-injected noise data, because they are not able to judge the reliability and credibility of the information sources. Trust-based Collective View Prediction describes new approaches for tackling this problem by utilizing users trust relationships from the perspectives of fundamental theory, trust-based collective view prediction algorithms and real case studies. The book consists of two main parts a theoretical foundation and an algorithmic study. The first part will review several basic concepts and methods related to collective view prediction, such as state-of-the-art recommender systems, sentimental analysis, collective view, trust management, the Relationship of Collective View and Trustworthy, and trust in collective view prediction. In the second part, the authors present their models and algorithms based on a quantitative analysis of more than 300 thousand users data from popular product-reviewing websites. They also introduce two new trust-based prediction algorithms, one collaborative algorithm based on the second-order Markov random walk model, and one Bayesian fitting model for combining multiple predictors.
Ni, B-J 2013, Formation, characterization and mathematical modeling of the aerobic granular sludge, Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
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Xu, G, Zong, Y & Yang, Z 2013, Applied data mining, 1, CRC Press, USA.
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Data mining has witnessed substantial advances in recent decades. New research questions and practical challenges have arisen from emerging areas and applications within the various fields closely related to human daily life, e.g. social media and social networking. This book aims to bridge the gap between traditional data mining and the latest adv.
Chapters
Abdallah, ME & Waldron, KJ 2013, 'Duty Factor and Leg Stiffness Models for the Design of Running Bipeds' in Mechanisms and Machine Science, Springer International Publishing, pp. 275-293.
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© 2013, Springer International Publishing Switzerland. Supporting the design process for running biped robots, analytical models are presented for two aspects of running: the duty factor (DF) of the gait, and the stiffness value of the leg. For a given running speed, an optimal DF exists that minimizes the energy expenditure. We present a formula for the optimal DF based on a model of the energetics, and the results are compared to both human data and simulation results. In addition, a model is presented for the stiffness value of the leg as a function of the physical properties, speed, and DF. The Gait Resonance Point is proposed as a design target for compliant running. At this point, the gait matches the spring resonance and the stiffness value becomes independent of the DF.
Alavi, AH, Gandomi, AH, Mollahasani, A & Bazaz, JB 2013, 'Linear and Tree-Based Genetic Programming for Solving Geotechnical Engineering Problems' in Metaheuristics in Water, Geotechnical and Transport Engineering, Elsevier, pp. 289-310.
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Al-Ohali, M & Burdon, S 2013, 'International Collaboration' in Higher Education Dynamics, Springer Netherlands, pp. 159-166.
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This chapter explores the issues confronting higher education in Saudi Arabia as it moves towards globalisation of learning and research and the integration of its universities into national economic and social policy frameworks. A particular emphasis is placed on the processes necessary for university engagement with multinational corporations, both inside and outside the Kingdom. The authors stress, however, that international collaboration carries risks as well as rewards. Determining an appropriate development strategy for the higher education sector that balances those risks and rewards is critical to the Kingdom’s future.
Al-okaily, A, Hani, QB, Almazaydeh, L, Abuzaghleh, O & Chaczko, Z 2013, 'Designing and Integrating a New Model of Semi-Online Vehicle’s Fines Control System' in Lecture Notes in Electrical Engineering, Springer New York, pp. 1205-1217.
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Beyhan, B & Cetindamar, D 2013, 'No Escape from the Dominant Theories: The Analysis of Intellectual Pillars of Technology Management in Developing Countries' in Strategic Planning Decisions in the High Tech Industry, Springer London, pp. 11-34.
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© 2013 Springer-Verlag London. All rights are reserved. This chapter aims to identify the intellectual bases of the technology management (TM) literature generated in developing countries using citation and co-citation analyses and answers the question of whether the intellectual bases of the TM literature created by authors in developing countries diverge from those of the global TM literature. Based on a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of ten technology-innovation management (TIM) specialty journals through the period 1998-2007, this study produces three important findings. First, the TM literature generated in developing countries is dominated by the knowledge and theories created in developed countries. Second, among these knowledge sources some authors from developing countries focus on the specialties of developing countries, such as Kim and Lall, come into prominence; however, these authors are not even mentioned in the previous bibliometric studies covering overall TM research. Finally, the researchers in developing countries tackle with the issues or topics specific to their own context through combining three major bulks of literature. These are (1) resource-based view (RBV)/core competencies and organizational learning-related research; (2) literature dealing with the evolutionary theorizing on economic change and growth, and (3) literature related to technological capabilities, technology transfer, and industrialization in developing countries.
Bohnen, F, Stolpe, M, Deuse, J & Morik, K 2013, 'Using a Clustering Approach with Evolutionary Optimized Attribute Weights to Form Product Families for Production Leveling' in Lecture Notes in Production Engineering, Springer Berlin Heidelberg, pp. 189-202.
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Burdon, S & Al-Ohali, M 2013, 'Higher Education in Saudi Arabia' in Smith, L & Abouammoh, A (eds), Higher Education in Saudi Arabia - Achievements, Challenges and Opportunities, Springer Netherlands, Dordrecht, pp. 159-167.
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The decision to move down a path of international higher education collaboration is not one that should be taken lightly by Saudi universities. Significant resources and investment in time and money are required for success. This chapter will explore the issues confronting higher education in Saudi Arabia as it moves towards globalization of learning and research and the integration of its universities into national economic and social policy frameworks.
Burton, GJ, Sheng, D & Romero, E 2013, 'Volumetric behavior of unsaturated-reconstituted soils' in Advances in Unsaturated Soils, pp. 411-416.
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The vast majority of unsaturated soil research is completed on compacted soils. Due to ease of laboratory testing, specimens are typically prepared dry of optimum and often with high void ratios (low dry density) to capture the phenomena of collapse. Compacted soils have significant impacts on infrastructure, but the inherent effects of structure within each sample are difficult to differentiate from the effects of suction (and degree of saturation) in the laboratory. Although significant advances have been made with techniques such as MIP and ESEM. The difficulties of producing and unsaturated sample from slurry have largely limited the amount of published literature on samples reconstituted from slurry. In this paper, the available published data sets of Jennings and Burland (1962), Vicol (1990) and Cunningham (2000) are reviewed. Predictions of the volume change behavior are then made.
Cao, L, Motoda, H, Srivastava, J, Lim, EP, King, I, Yu, PS, Nejdl, W, Xu, G, Li, G & Zhang, Y 2013, 'Behavior and Social Computing' in Cao, L, Motoda, H, Srivastava, J, Lim, E-P, King, I, Yu, PS, Nejdl, W, Xu, G, Li, G & Zhang, Y (eds), Behavior and Social Computing, Springer International Publishing, Germany, pp. v-vi.
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Chaczko, Z & Resconi, G 2013, 'Assessing the Quality of WSAN Topologies' in Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Springer Berlin Heidelberg, pp. 174-182.
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Chanan, AP, Vigneswaran, S, Kandasamy, J & Simmons, B 2013, 'Wastewater Management Journey – From Indus Valley Civilisation to the Twenty-First Century' in Sharma, SK & Sanghi, R (eds), Wastewater Reuse and Management, Springer Netherlands, Germany, pp. 3-18.
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Throughout the human existence on this planet, water and wastewater infrastructure never attracted as much public attention as it did during the second half of the nineteenth century. Following extensive debate on appropriate solutions for problems associated with hygiene and public health, options were chosen from several competing alternatives, while others foreclosed. Sociocultural impacts of these late nineteenth century decisions have lasted until the present day [1]. The shape of our cities and centralised approach embedded within sanitary engineers mindset today owe its existence to the options selected nearly 200 years ago. The current selection of water and wastewater management options, particularly in the developing world, has the opportunity to learn from 200 years of experience. It is critical that these lessons influence the design of future wastewater management systems because undoubtedly the decisions being made today will impact on the future generations. This chapter highlights the development of wastewater management through human evolution and settlement history.
Daim, T, Cetindamar, D, Beyhan, B & Basoglu, N 2013, 'Strategic Planning Decisions: An Overview' in Strategic Planning Decisions in the High Tech Industry, Springer London, pp. 1-10.
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© 2013 Springer-Verlag London. All rights are reserved. Who would have thought 10 years ago that Apple would be a phone company or even a music company? As we are witnessing another technological discontinuity, once again we realize the importance of making informed decisions in the high-tech industry. This book provides a snapshot of the tools being developed to address the uncertainty induced by technological discontinuities.
Dickson-Deane, C & Deane, WA 2013, 'Implementing Infrastructure-Related Education Technology Solutions at the Government Primary and Secondary School Level' in Advances in Educational Technologies and Instructional Design, IGI Global, pp. 343-363.
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Ding, G 2013, 'Cost or benefit?' in Building in Value: Pre-Design Issues, pp. 149-165.
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Editorial comment Cost-benefit analysis (CBA) is generally associated with the selection of alternative developments or projects that are competing for limited or scarce resources. The most common use of CBA is in the selection of publicly funded projects where many possible uses of funds from government budgets exist but such funds are strictly limited and their use is subject to public scrutiny. The selection of those projects that are to proceed requires the use of some systematic method of appraising the competing alternatives and choosing those which provide the greatest benefits to the community - in other words, choosing the alternatives that will produce the best value for money.
Dyson, LE & Brady, F 2013, 'A Study of Mobile Technology in a Cape York Community: Its Reality Today and Potential for the Future' in Ormond-Parker, L, Corn, A, Obata, K & O'Sullivan, S (eds), Information Technology and Indigenous Communities, AIATSIS Research Publications, Canberra, pp. 9-26.
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This chapter presents a study of mobile technology adoption and use by an Aboriginal community in Cape York undertaken for the Wujal Wujal Aboriginal Shire Council. The installation of a Telstra 3G mobile phone network in January 2008 represented a major change in the provision of information and communication technologies (ICT) to this and many other communities in the Cape. The study showed high rates of ownership of mobile phones and MP3 players. Mobile phones had become an essential tool for communicating with family and friends and for work, and in addition people made good use of the multimedia and internet features of their phones. Key factors in the acquisition of mobile phones were identified as the superior cost management that mobiles offered over other lCT, and their multimedia functionality and portability. The total design of the mobile service in terms of hardware, functionality and billing options was seen as superior from a social construction perspective. Major deficits uncovered by the study include the limited mobile coverage in areas frequented by community members, the high costs of mobile phone calls, and the lack of recognition of the potential of mobile technology to develop capacity, improve services, and sustain cultural and language revitalisation.
Dyson, LE, Andrews, T, Smyth, R & Wallace, R 2013, 'Toward a Holistic Framework for Ethical Mobile Learning' in Berg, ZL & Muilenburg, LY (eds), Handbook of Mobile Learning, Routledge, New York, pp. 405-416.
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As more universities, colleges and schools adopt mobile learning, concerns have been voiced regarding the emergence of unethical behaviour. This paper examines a range of ethical issues and analyses the reasons for them. A framework for an ethical approach to mobile learning is put forward in which harm minimization is balanced with both the need to prepare students for living in a mobile world and the benefits of an approach to learning which has advantages for students from diverse backgrounds. A case is made for the adoption of an ethic of responsibility by educators, administrators and students.
Eigner, M, Ernst, J, Roubanov, D, Deuse, J, Schallow, J & Erohin, O 2013, 'Product Assembly Information to Improve Virtual Product Development' in Lecture Notes in Production Engineering, Springer Berlin Heidelberg, pp. 303-313.
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El Saliby, I, Shon, HK & McDonagh, A 2013, 'Visible-light active doped titania for water purification: nitrogen and silver doping' in Lens, PNL, Virkutyte, J, Jegatheesan, V, Kim, SH & Al-Abed, S (eds), Nanotechnology for Water and Wastewater Treatment, IWA PUBLISHING, London, UK, pp. 189-208.
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Photocatalysis over semiconductors, mainly Ti02, has been employed and extensively studied over the past few decades (Malato et aI., 2009). The so-called "first generation photocatalYSIS" are characterised by their photoexcitation limited to the UV region of the solar spectrum. Nevertheless, many photocatalysts showed outstanding performance in decomposing a large number of pollutants of water and air. A number of water pollutants belong to the family of biorecalcitrant pollutants (non-biodegradable) and these include pharmaceutical and personal care products, industrial wastes, and a large number of pesticides/herbicides. Many of the emerging pollutants are resistant to conventional water treatment processes, noxious to the environment and some are classified as endoctine disrupting agents. The removal of non-biodegradable pollutants from wastewater poses a serious challenge for the water industry. Generally, advanced oxidation processes (AOP) are employed to achieve this goal. Heterogeneous photocatalysis, as part of AOP, is sometimes adopted as a tool to eliminate these contaminants. However, the high cost associated with the use of photocatalysis to treat such compounds has always been a disadvantage for its large-scale adoption in treatment processes. The high cost is mainly associated with: (1) the energy consumed for the UV light irradiation of the photocatalyst, (2) the energy required for the separation of the photocatalyst particles from water. A total of 40% of the solar light reaching the lithosphere is visible light, whereas UV light accounts only for 5% of the total solar radiation. The development of new photocatalysts that can effectively harvest visible light is crucial for making this technology viable in the waler treatment industry. The use of "second-generation riOz photocatalysts" to harvest visible light from solar energy is gaining popularity (Anpo, 1997). Most of the research involving the use of second generation TiOz photocatalysts has...
Feng, X, Zhang, W, Zhao, X, Zhang, Y & Gao, Y 2013, 'Probabilistic k-Skyband Operator over Sliding Windows' in Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Springer Berlin Heidelberg, pp. 190-202.
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Fitch, R & McAllister, R 2013, 'Hierarchical Planning for Self-reconfiguring Robots Using Module Kinematics', Springer, Germany, pp. 477-490.
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Reconfiguration allows a self-reconfiguring modular robot to adapt to its environment. The reconfiguration planning problem is one of the key algorithmic challenges in realizing self-reconfiguration. Many existing successful approaches rely on grouping modules together to act as meta-modules. However, we are interested in reconfiguration planning that does not impose fixed meta-module relationships but instead forms cooperative relationships between modules dynamically. This approach avoids the need to hand-code meta-module motions and potentially allows reconfiguration with fewer modules. In this paper we present a general two level reconfiguration framework. The top level plans in module-connector space using distributed dynamic programming. The lower level accepts a transition function for the kinematic model of the chosen module type as input. As an example, we implement such a transition function for the 3R, SuperBot-style module. Although not explored in this paper, this general approach is naturally extended to consider power use, clock time, or other quantities of interest. © 2013 Springer-Verlag.
Gandomi, AH & Alavi, AH 2013, 'Expression Programming Techniques for Formulation of Structural Engineering Systems' in Metaheuristic Applications in Structures and Infrastructures, Elsevier, pp. 439-455.
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Gandomi, AH, Alavi, AH & Talatahari, S 2013, 'Structural Optimization Using Krill Herd Algorithm' in Swarm Intelligence and Bio-Inspired Computation, Elsevier, pp. 335-349.
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A new metaheuristic optimization algorithm, called krill herd (KH), has been recently proposed by Gandomi and Alavi. In this study, KH is introduced for structural optimization. For more verification, KH is subsequently applied to three design problems reported in the literature. The performance of the KH algorithm is further compared with various algorithms representative of the state of the art in the area. The comparisons show that the results obtained by KH can be better than the best solutions obtained by the existing methods in these three case studies. © 2013 Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Gandomi, AH, Alavi, AH & Talatahari, S 2013, 'Structural Optimization Using Krill Herd Algorithm' in Swarm Intelligence and Bio-Inspired Computation: Theory and Applications, pp. 335-349.
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A new metaheuristic optimization algorithm, called krill herd (KH), has been recently proposed by Gandomi and Alavi. In this study, KH is introduced for structural optimization. For more verification, KH is subsequently applied to three design problems reported in the literature. The performance of the KH algorithm is further compared with various algorithms representative of the state of the art in the area. The comparisons show that the results obtained by KH can be better than the best solutions obtained by the existing methods in these three case studies.
Gandomi, AH, Yang, X-S, Talatahari, S & Alavi, AH 2013, 'Metaheuristic Algorithms in Modeling and Optimization' in Metaheuristic Applications in Structures and Infrastructures, Elsevier, pp. 1-24.
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Gill, AQ & Bunker, D 2013, 'SaaS Requirements Engineering for Agile Development' in Wang, X, Ali, N, Ramos, I & Vidgen, R (eds), Agile and Lean Service-Oriented Development: Foundations, Theory, and Practice, IGI Global, USA, pp. 64-93.
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The emergence of Software as a Service (SaaS) has made it possible to develop dynamic and complex business processes as eServices. The development of business processes as eServices (SaaS) can be assisted by the means of adaptive or agile development processes. The development of business processes in terms of SaaS require to perform SaaS requirements engineering (RE), which is an important phase of a software development process for the success of any project. The challenge here is how best to do SaaS RE (e.g. mapping business process to eServices) and select agile development practices for developing business processes in terms of SaaS. In order to address this challenge, an integrated agile RE model for SaaS project development environments is outlined within this chapter. The purpose of the proposed RE model is to aid in iteratively determining SaaS requirements in short iterations as opposed to the only first and onetime upfront phase of a development process. Each identified SaaS requirement or a set of requirements for a given iteration is linked to a single or set of specific agile practices for implementation in short iterations. This model can be used as a guideline by organisations wishing to understand the challenging task of mapping business processes to SaaS and its implementation by using agile software development processes or practices.
Grant, S, Dyson, LE & Robertson, TJ 2013, 'Diseño participativo para la inclusion digital: El caso de los aborígenes australianos' in Paz, L & Malumian, V (eds), Pioneros y Hacedores: Fundamentos y Casos de Diseño de Interacción con Estándares de Accesibilidad y, Ediciones Godot, Buenos Aires, Argentina, pp. 61-79.
Hasselmann, K, Jaeger, C, Leipold, G, Mangalagiu, D & Tàbara, JD 2013, 'Reframing the Problem of Climate Change' in Reframing the Problem of Climate Change: From Zero Sum Game to Win-Win Solutions, Routledge, pp. 131-159.
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Konrad, B, Lieber, D & Deuse, J 2013, 'Striving for Zero Defect Production: Intelligent Manufacturing Control Through Data Mining in Continuous Rolling Mill Processes' in Lecture Notes in Production Engineering, Springer Berlin Heidelberg, pp. 215-229.
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Kwok, NM, Wang, D, Ha, QP, Fang, G & Chen, SY 2013, 'Locally-Equalized Image Contrast Enhancement Using PSO-Tuned Sectorized Equalization' in Chatterjee, A & Siarry, P (eds), Computational Intelligence in Image Processing, Springer Berlin Heidelberg, Spinger-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, pp. 21-36.
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Contrast enhancement is a fundamental procedure in applications requiring image processing. Indeed, image enhancement contributes critically to the success of subsequent operations such as feature detection, pattern recognition and other higher-level processing tasks. Of interest among methods available for contrast enhancement is the intensity modification approach, which is based on the statistics of pixels in a given image. However, due to variations in the imaging condition and the nature of the scene being captured, it turns out that global manipulation of an image may be vulnerable to a noticeable quality degradation from distortion and noise. This chapter is devoted to the development of a local intensity equalization strategy together with mechanisms to remedy artifacts produced by the enhancement while ensuring a better image for viewing. To this end, the original image is subdivided randomly into sectors, which are equalized independently. A Gaussian weighting factor is further used to remove discontinuities along sector boundaries. To achieve simultaneously the multiple objectives of contrast enhancement and viewing distortion reduction, a suitable optimization algorithm is required to determine sector locations and the associated weighting factor. For this, a particle-swarm optimization algorithm is adopted in the proposed image enhancement method. This algorithm helps optimize the Gaussian weighting parameters for discontinuity removal and determine the local region where enhancement is applied. Following comprehensive descriptions on the methodology, this chapter presents some real-life images for illustration and verification of the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
Le, M, Nauck, D, Gabrys, B & Martin, T 2013, 'KNNs and Sequence Alignment for Churn Prediction' in Research and Development in Intelligent Systems XXX, Springer International Publishing, pp. 279-285.
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Lee, JH, Gu, N, Ostwald, MJ & Jupp, J 2013, 'Understanding Cognitive Activities in Parametric Design' in Communications in Computer and Information Science, Springer Berlin Heidelberg, pp. 38-49.
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Li, L, Xiao, H & Xu, G 2013, 'Recommending Related Microblogs' in Xu, G & Li, L (eds), Social Media Mining and Social Network Analysis, IGI Global, Hershey, USA, pp. 202-210.
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Lin, CT 2013, 'ABC intelligence on fuzziness' in On Fuzziness: A Homage to Lotfi A. Zadeh, Elsevier, The Netherlands, pp. 377-381.
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Three research areas, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Brain-like Intelligence (BI) and Computational Intelligence (CI) (denoted as ABC Intelligence), intertwine throughout my career. In my early days, I have shown strong interest in biology, psychology, and later on engineering. When I was an undergraduate student from 1982 to 1986, several hands-on courses on robotics covering automatic control, computer vision, AI, and microprocessor inspired my devotion of machine intelligence. When I arrived in West Lafayette of India for my graduate studies at Purdue University in 1988, I was given the book, Parallel Distributed Processing: Explorations in the Microstructure of Cognition by James L. McClelland, David E. Rumelhart and the PDP Research Group [1]. This book has opened my eyes on the “Connectionism”, representing a set of approaches in the fields of artificial intelligence, cognitive psychology, cognitive science, neuroscience, and philosophy of mind. I have been deeply intrigued by the book due to its cross-disciplinary nature
Lin, C-T 2013, 'ABC Intelligence on Fuzziness' in Studies in Fuzziness and Soft Computing, Springer Berlin Heidelberg, pp. 377-381.
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Liu, Q & Li, J 2013, 'Protein Binding Interfaces and Their Binding Hot Spot Prediction: A Survey' in Shen, B (ed), Translational Bioinformatics, Springer Netherlands, German, pp. 79-106.
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In living organisms, genes are the blueprints or library, specifying instructions for building proteins. Proteins constitute the bulk of cells. Proteins mutual binding and interactions play a vital role in numerous functions and activities, such as signal transduction, enzymatic reactions, immunoreactions and inter-cellular communications. This survey provides basic knowledge of proteins and protein binding. First, we describe proteins fundamental elements, structures and functions. In Sect. 5.2, we present concepts related to protein binding and interactions. In Sect. 5.3, we explain why protein binding interfaces have a uneven distribution of binding free energy. In the Sects. 5.4 and 5.5, we explain why protein interfaces are complicated and how the current studies deal with this difficult problem. In Sect. 5.6, we present an overview on methods to model and predict binding free energy of protein interactions. Section 5.7 concludes this survey with a summary.
Lu, J & Kerre, E 2013, 'Education' in A Tribute to Prof. Dr. Da Ruan, Springer Berlin Heidelberg, pp. 35-36.
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Lu, J & Kerre, E 2013, 'Keynotes, Tutorials and Panels in Conferences' in A Tribute to Prof. Dr. Da Ruan, Springer Berlin Heidelberg, pp. 91-97.
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Lu, J & Kerre, E 2013, 'Obituary: In Memoriam Prof. Dr. Da Ruan' in A Tribute to Prof. Dr. Da Ruan, Springer Berlin Heidelberg, pp. 19-23.
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Lu, J, Zhang, G, Ma, J, Wu, F, Wang, C, Zhang, J & Purba, JH 2013, 'In the Days since Da Passed Away: Our Best Adjunct Professor and Best Friend' in A Tribute to Prof. Dr. Da Ruan, Springer Berlin Heidelberg, pp. 121-136.
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Mahabaleswar, US & Saha, SC 2013, 'Analytical solution of a walters’ liquid b flow over a linear stretching sheet in a porous medium' in Focus on Porous Media Research, pp. 121-130.
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This Chapter represents the analytical solution of a two-dimensional linear stretching sheet problem involving a non-Newtonian liquid and suction by (a) invoking the boundary layer approximation and (b) using this result to solve the stretching sheet problem without using boundary layer approximation. The basic boundary layer equations for momentum, which are non-linear partial differential equations, are converted into non-linear ordinary differential equations by means of similarity transformation. The results reveal a new analytical procedure for solving the boundary layer equations arising in a linear stretching sheet problem involving a non-Newtonian liquid (Walters’ liquid B). The present study sheds light on the analytical solution of a class of boundary layer equations arising in the stretching sheet problem.
Manjula & Waldron, KJ 2013, 'Design for Inclusivity: Meaningful Collaboration with Differences' in Kumar, V, Schmiedler, J & Sreenivasan, SV (eds), Mechanisms and Machine Science, Springer International Publishing, pp. 1-16.
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The ubiquitous availability of the internet for global networking has made collaborating by differences necessary. This is challenging because of the human history of tribal organizations. In this paper we draw from our 45 years of personal and professional journey together to elicit the skills that have helped us to successfully engage across racial, cultural, and academic differences. It required designing new rules of social and academic engagement that changed how we related with the “other”. We rely on these techniques daily to inform us on how to facilitate collaboration in any situation capitalizing on the diversity of thought, body, experience, belief, and/or training while focusing on the similarity of our journey.
Naderpour, M & Lu, J 2013, 'A Human Situation Awareness Support System to Avoid Technological Disasters' in Vitoriano, B, Montero, J & Ruan, D (eds), Atlantis Computational Intelligence Systems, Atlantis Press, Paris, France, pp. 307-325.
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In many complex technological systems, accidents have primarily been attributed to human error. In the majority of these accidents the human operators were striving against significant challenges. They have to face data overload, the challenge of working with a complex system and the stressful task of understanding what is going on in the situation. Therefore, to design and implement complex technological systems where the information flow is quite high, and poor decisions may lead to serious consequences, Situation Awareness (SA) should be appropriately considered. A level 1 SA is highly supported in these systems through the various heterogeneous sensors and signal-processing methods but, for levels 2 and 3 there is still a need for concepts and methods. This work develops a system called the Human Situation Awareness Support System (HSASS) that supports the safety operators in an ever increasing amount of available risky status and alert information. The proposed system includes a new dynamic situation assessment method based on risk, which has the ability to support the operators understanding of the current state of the system, predict the near future, and suggest appropriate actions. The proposed system does not control the course of action and allows the human to act at his/her discretion in specific contexts.
Nguyen, TV & Eisman, JA 2013, 'Pharmacogenetics and Pharmacogenomics of Osteoporosis' in Genetics of Bone Biology and Skeletal Disease, Elsevier, pp. 151-167.
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Nie, F, Xu, D, Tsang, IW & Zhang, C 2013, 'A Flexible and Effective Linearization Method for Subspace Learning' in Fu, Y & Ma, Y (eds), Graph Embedding for Pattern Analysis, Springer New York, New York, pp. 177-203.
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© Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013. In the past decades, a large number of subspace learning or dimension reduction methods [2,16,20,32,34,37,44] have been proposed. Principal component analysis (PCA) [32] pursues the directions of maximum variance for optimal reconstruction. Linear discriminant analysis (LDA) [2], as a supervised algorithm, aims to maximize the inter-class scatter and at the same timeminimize the intra-class scatter. Due to utilization of label information, LDA is experimentally reported to outperform PCA for face recognition, when sufficient labeled face images are provided [2] .
Peynot, T, Fitch, R, McAllister, R & Alempijevic, A 2013, 'Resilient Navigation through Probabilistic Modality Reconfiguration', Springer Verlag, Berlin, Germany, pp. 75-88.
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This paper proposes an approach to achieve resilient navigation for indoor mobile robots. Resilient navigation seeks to mitigate the impact of control, localisation, or map errors on the safety of the platform while enforcing the robot's ability to achieve its goal. We show that resilience to unpredictable errors can be achieved by combining the benefits of independent and complementary algorithmic approaches to navigation, or modalities, each tuned to a particular type of environment or situation. In this paper, the modalities comprise a path planning method and a reactive motion strategy. While the robot navigates, a Hidden Markov Model continually estimates the most appropriate modality based on two types of information: context (information known a priori) and monitoring (evaluating unpredictable aspects of the current situation). The robot then uses the recommended modality, switching between one and another dynamically. Experimental validation with a SegwayRMP-based platform in an office environment shows that our approach enables failure mitigation while maintaining the safety of the platform. The robot is shown to reach its goal in the presence of: 1) unpredicted control errors, 2) unexpected map errors and 3) a large injected localisation fault. © 2013 Springer-Verlag.
Piyathilaka, L & Kodagoda, S 2013, 'Human Activity Recognition for Domestic Robots.' in Alvarez, LM, Corke, PI & Roberts, JM (eds), Field and Service Robotics - Results of the 9th International Conference, December 9-11, 2013, Brisbane, Australia, Springer, Springer, pp. 395-408.
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Prasad, M, Lin, C-T, Yang, C-T & Saxena, A 2013, 'Vertical Collaborative Fuzzy C-Means for Multiple EEG Data Sets' in Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Springer Berlin Heidelberg, pp. 246-257.
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Resconi, G, Braun, R & Chaczko, Z 2013, 'Geometry of a Sensor Networks' in Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Springer Berlin Heidelberg, pp. 507-512.
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Saco, PM & Rodríguez, JF 2013, '2.14 Modeling Ecogeomorphic Systems' in Treatise on Geomorphology, Elsevier, pp. 201-220.
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Saco, PM & Rodríguez, JF 2013, 'Modeling Ecogeomorphic Systems' in Treatise on Geomorphology, pp. 201-220.
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Numerical simulations of ecogeomorphic systems have become one of the most important tools when trying to understand the coevolution of and feedbacks between biota and landforms. This chapter presents recent advances in ecogeomorphological modeling in the areas of fluvial channel systems, catchment landform evolution, semi-arid systems, tidal wetlands, and aeolian dune fields. A variety of modeling approaches and examples of applications are presented, and prospects for future research in this area are discussed. © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved..
Sahab, MG, Toropov, VV & Gandomi, AH 2013, 'A Review on Traditional and Modern Structural Optimization' in Metaheuristic Applications in Structures and Infrastructures, Elsevier, pp. 25-47.
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Shrestha, CK, Khabbaz, H & Keshavarzi, A 2013, 'Flow structure at downstream side of two sequential bridge piers' in Advances in River Sediment Research, pp. 95-95.
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The bridge piers in rivers are normally installed in the form of two sequential piers in the flow direction. The flow structure between two bridge piers is important and very different from a single pier. In this study, the three dimensional flow structures at the downstream side of two sequential bridge piers have been investigated under no scouring condition. The results, obtained from a series of laboratory tests with both a single pier and two pier arrangements, are presented. Furthermore, the detailed results for two pier arrangements including the effects of different pier spacing on turbulence characteristics of the flow have been provided. Three dimensional flow velocities were measured at different grid points and different depths within the flow using a micro Acoustic Doppler Velocimeter (ADV). The velocity was measured at a frequency of 50 Hz. The results indicated that substantial flow structure interactions were generated with increasing the spacing between two piers. Moreover, the flow structure at the downstream side of the piers varied significantly. It was observed that when the spacing between bridge piers was greater than three times of the pier diameter, the effect of the upstream pier on flow structure at downstream side decreases and eventually piers acted as individual piers.
Sood, S 2013, 'E-Novation and Start-Up Companies' in Small and Medium Enterprises, IGI Global, pp. 1860-1872.
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Szymanski, J, Chaczko, Z, Rodanski, B & Jablonski, A 2013, 'Enabling Design and Development of Wireless BANs Using 802.15.x Standards' in Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Springer Berlin Heidelberg, pp. 475-482.
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Tao, M, Wu, C & Li, XB 2013, 'Numerical simulation of multiple fracture zones in underground dynamic loading processes' in Rock Dynamics and Applications - State of the Art, pp. 451-456.
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The excavation fracture responses around cavities in rock mass with initial stress were examined using three dimensional numerical modelling. In addition to the primary fractured zone in near field, numerical modelling generated the second fractured zone in far field, and an elastic non-fractured zone between the two fractured zones, i.e., the fractured zones and the non-fractured zone occur alternately around deep cavity. This finding proved that the zonal disintegration phenomenon can occur in underground excavation process.
Tran, BH, Center, JR & Nguyen, TV 2013, 'Translational Genetics of Osteoporosis: From Population Association to Individualized Prognosis' in Primer on the Metabolic Bone Diseases and Disorders of Mineral Metabolism, Wiley, pp. 376-388.
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© 2013 American Society for Bone and Mineral Research. All rights reserved. Genetic factors play an important role in osteoporosis and fracture risk. The genetic studies performed over the past few decades have provided valuable insights into the pathophysiology of osteoporosis. With the decreasing costs of genome-wide scanning, consortia have been able to pool much larger populations in genome-wide association (GWA) studies for complex diseases that overcome some of the statistical problems that have plagued reproducibility from earlier studies in osteoporosis. A major priority in osteoporosis research at present is to develop prognostic models for identifying individuals who have a high risk of fracture. Research into the genetic background of osteoporosis and identification of osteoporosis-related genes can advance our understanding of pathophysiologic mechanisms of fracture. With a rapid improvement in genotyping technology, the next generation of GWA studies will be adding more variants at a low frequency to cover as many single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) as possible.
Wang, D, Zhang, G & Zuo, H 2013, 'Fuzzy Number Ranking Based on Combination of Deviation Degree and Centroid' in Yang, Y, Ma, M & Liu, B (eds), Communications in Computer and Information Science, Springer Berlin Heidelberg, pp. 595-604.
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Ward, P, Liu, D, Waldron, K & Hasan, M 2013, 'OPTIMAL DESIGN OF A MAGNETIC ADHESION FOR CLIMBING ROBOTS' in Waldron, KJ & Tokhi, MO (eds), Nature-Inspired Mobile Robotics, World Scientific Publishing, Singapore, pp. 375-382.
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© 2013 by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd. All rights reserved. Designing a magnetic adhesion system for climbing robots requires careful selection of design parameters to achieve a feasible solution. There are many considerations which must be taken into account, such as, size constraints for the intended environment and robot configuration, the maximum load that can be supported by the climbing robot, and the expected air gaps during operation. With consideration of the design challenges, an optimal design for a magnetic adhesion system is presented. Based on the optimal design a prototype footpad has been constructed for use on an inchworm climbing robot and experimental results are presented.
Xu, G, Gu, Y & Yi, X 2013, 'On Group Extraction and Fusion for Tag-Based Social Recommendation' in Xu, G & Li, L (eds), Social Media Mining and Social Network Analysis, IGI Global, Hershey, USA, pp. 211-223.
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Yang, XS, Cui, Z, Xiao, R, Gandomi, AH & Karamanoglu, M 2013, 'Preface' in Swarm Intelligence and Bio-Inspired Computation: Theory and Applications, pp. xix-xxii.
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Yoo, C, Fitch, R & Sukkarieh, S 2013, 'Probabilistic Temporal Logic for Motion Planning with Resource Threshold Constraints' in Robotics, The MIT Press, pp. 457-464.
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Yosun, T & Çetindamar, D 2013, 'Hidden Champions of Turkey' in Hidden Champions in CEE and Turkey, Springer Berlin Heidelberg, pp. 383-405.
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Zeng, C, Jia, W, He, X & Xu, M 2013, 'Recent Advances on Graph-Based Image Segmentation Techniques' in Image Processing, IGI Global, pp. 1323-1337.
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Zong, Y & Xu, G 2013, 'Clustering Algorithms for Tags' in Xu, G & Li, L (eds), Social Media Mining and Social Network Analysis, IGI Global, Hershey, USA, pp. 39-53.
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Journal articles
Abbas, SM, Sevimli, O, Heimlich, MC, Esselle, KP, Kimiaghalam, B, Foroughi, J & Safaei, F 2013, 'Microwave Characterization of Carbon Nanotube Yarns For UWB Medical Wireless Body Area Networks', IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, vol. 61, no. 10, pp. 3625-3631.
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Abdal-hay, A, Tijing, LD & Lim, JK 2013, 'Characterization of the surface biocompatibility of an electrospun nylon 6/CaP nanofiber scaffold using osteoblasts', Chemical Engineering Journal, vol. 215-216, pp. 57-64.
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The purpose of this research is to improve the biocompatibility of bone tissue engineering scaffolds using a one-step electrospinning process. Calcium phosphate (CaP) was coated on the surface of nylon 6 (N6) nanofibers to form an ultrathin layer, thereby increasing surface roughness and wettability of the N6 nanofiber membrane in order to further improve implant tissue integration. The morphology, composition, chemical interaction bonding and mechanical properties of CaP-coated N6 nanofibers were characterized. The wettability of the scaffold was measured in terms of the water contact angle, and the results indicated that N6 fibers coated with an ultrathin layer of CaP exhibited an excellent surface wettability (water contact angle = 0°). Mechanical testing revealed higher properties of coated CaP layers compared to a plain N6 mat. The biological response induced by the surface modifications of N6 fibers was evaluated by in vitro cell culture with MC3T3-E1 osteoblasts cells. It was found that CaP-coated N6 nanofibrous matrices definitely favored cell proliferation, with the efficiency dependent upon the coating technique. A combination of a nanoscale fibrous structure and a CaP coating could mimic the structure, composition and function of bone tissues
Abdul-Hadi, A, Mansor, S, Pradhan, B & Tan, CK 2013, 'Seasonal variability of chlorophyll-a and oceanographic conditions in Sabah waters in relation to Asian monsoon—a remote sensing study', Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, vol. 185, no. 5, pp. 3977-3991.
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Abdul-Halim, N-S, Whitten, PG & Nghiem, LD 2013, 'Characterising poly (vinyl chloride)/Aliquat 336 polymer inclusion membranes: Evidence of phase separation and its role in metal extraction', Separation and Purification Technology, vol. 119, pp. 14-18.
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Abdullahi, S & Pradhan, B 2013, 'Applied Spatial Analysis and Policy'.
Abedin, MJ, Masjuki, HH, Kalam, MA, Sanjid, A, Rahman, SMA & Masum, BM 2013, 'Energy balance of internal combustion engines using alternative fuels', Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 26, pp. 20-33.
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Abeywardena, D, Kodagoda, S, Dissanayake, G & Munasinghe, R 2013, 'Improved State Estimation in Quadrotor MAVs A Novel Drift-Free Velocity Estimator', IEEE ROBOTICS & AUTOMATION MAGAZINE, vol. 20, no. 4, pp. 32-39.
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In this article, we presented a novel state estimator for quadrotor MAVs, where clear improvements in estimates stemming from the incorporation of quadrotor-specific dynamical constraints were demonstrated. Our design is based on an EKF and is capable of estimating both roll and pitch angles of the attitude, in addition to X and Y components of the body frame translational velocities within a bounded error. This estimator is applied to inertial data gathered from real-world flight experiments. The resulting attitude and velocity estimates obtained match closely with the ground truth and are drift free.
Adak, C 2013, 'Dual Layer Textual Message Cryptosystem with Randomized Sequence of Symmetric Key', Vol. 4 No., vol. 2, p. 2012.
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This paper introduces a new concept of textual message encryption anddecryption through a pool of randomized symmetric key and the dual layercryptosystem with the concept of visual cryptography and steganography. Atextual message is converted into two image slides, and the images areencrypted through two different randomized sequences of symmetric key. Thedecryption is done in the reverse way. The encrypted images are decrypted bythose two symmetric keys. The decrypted image slides are merged together andconverted into textual message. Here the image sharing is done through theconcept of visual cryptography and the textual message to image conversion isdone through the concept of steganography.
Adak, C 2013, 'Robust Steganography Using LSB-XOR and Image Sharing', Tata McGraw-Hill, ISBN (13): 978-1-25-906393-0, 2013.
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Hiding and securing the secret digital information and data that aretransmitted over the internet is of widespread and most challenging interest.This paper presents a new idea of robust steganography using bitwise-XORoperation between stego-key-image-pixel LSB (Least Significant Bit) value andsecret message-character ASCII-binary value (or, secret image-pixel value). Thestego-key-image is shared in dual-layer using odd-even position of each pixelto make the system robust. Due to image sharing, the detection can only be donewith all the image shares.
Afshar, S, Cohen, G, Wang, R, Schaik, AV, Tapson, J, Lehmann, T & Hamilton, TJ 2013, 'The Ripple Pond: Enabling Spiking Networks to See', Frontiers in Neuroscience, no. 7 NOV.
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In this paper we present the biologically inspired Ripple Pond Network (RPN),a simply connected spiking neural network that, operating together withrecently proposed PolyChronous Networks (PCN), enables rapid, unsupervised,scale and rotation invariant object recognition using efficient spatio-temporalspike coding. The RPN has been developed as a hardware solution linkingpreviously implemented neuromorphic vision and memory structures capable ofdelivering end-to-end high-speed, low-power and low-resolution recognition formobile and autonomous applications where slow, highly sophisticated and powerhungry signal processing solutions are ineffective. Key aspects in the proposedapproach include utilising the spatial properties of physically embedded neuralnetworks and propagating waves of activity therein for information processing,using dimensional collapse of imagery information into amenable temporalpatterns and the use of asynchronous frames for information binding.
Afshar-Mazandaran, R & Khabbaz, H 2013, 'Evaluating the Bearing Capacity of a Soil Layer Overlying Rigid Substratum Using a Modified Failure Mechanism Based on Limit State Analysis', ADVANCES IN CIVIL AND INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING, PTS 1-4, vol. 353-356, pp. 806-814.
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The bearing capacity of shallow foundations resting on a soil layer with a finite depth over bedrock has been studied for years by many investigators. Farzaneh et al (2010) introduced a rigorous bearing capacity analysis based on the upper bound state theorem, using a log-spiral surface algorithm. This paper presents a thorough evaluation of this collapse mechanism and subsequently, a modified failure mechanism is introduced. The collapse mechanism consists of rigid blocks under combined rotational and transitional movements. The effects of the loading parameters on bearing capacity results are then discussed. The findings of this study are compared with the original limit state mechanism as well as previously published solutions, emphasising the accuracy and efficiency of the modified mechanisms. Furthermore, parametric studies are carried out to evaluate the ultimate bearing capacity of shallow foundations resting on a restricted soil, layer using the proposed mechanism. Design tables are finally presented for practical use in geotechnical engineering. © (2013) Trans Tech Pudlications, Switzerland.
Aghdamy, S, Wu, C & Griffith, M 2013, 'Simulation of Retrofitted Unreinforced Concrete Masonry Unit Walls under Blast Loading', International Journal of Protective Structures, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 21-44.
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Agrawal, A, Azabi, YO & Rahman, BMA 2013, 'Stacking the Equiangular Spiral', IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, vol. 25, no. 3, pp. 291-294.
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Agrawal, A, Tiwari, M, Azabi, YO, Janyani, V, Rahman, BMA & Grattan, KTV 2013, 'Ultrabroad supercontinuum generation in tellurite equiangular spiral photonic crystal fiber', Journal of Modern Optics, vol. 60, no. 12, pp. 956-962.
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Aguilera, RP & Quevedo, DE 2013, 'Stability Analysis of Quadratic MPC With a Discrete Input Alphabet', IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, vol. 58, no. 12, pp. 3190-3196.
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Aguilera, RP, Lezana, P & Quevedo, DE 2013, 'Finite-Control-Set Model Predictive Control With Improved Steady-State Performance', IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 658-667.
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Finite-control-set model predictive control (FCS-MPC) is a novel and promising control scheme for power converters and drives. Many practical and theoretical issues have been presented in the literature, showing good performance of this technique. The present work deals with one of the most relevant aspects of any controller, namely, the steady-state operation. As will be shown, basic FCS-MPC formulations can be enhanced to achieve a reduced average steady-state error. As an illustrative example, we apply our proposal to a simple H-Bridge power converter. Experimental results were carried out to verify the performance obtained by the proposed predictive strategies. © 2012 IEEE.
Ahmed, LA, Center, JR, Bjørnerem, Å, Bluic, D, Joakimsen, RM, Jørgensen, L, Meyer, HE, Nguyen, ND, Nguyen, TV, Omsland, TK, Størmer, J, Tell, GS, van Geel, TACM, Eisman, JA & Emaus, N 2013, 'Progressively increasing fracture risk with advancing age after initial incident fragility fracture: The Tromsø Study', Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, vol. 28, no. 10, pp. 2214-2221.
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Akbarnezhad, A, Ong, KCG, Tam, CT & Zhang, MH 2013, 'Effects of the Parent Concrete Properties and Crushing Procedure on the Properties of Coarse Recycled Concrete Aggregates', Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering, vol. 25, no. 12, pp. 1795-1802.
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Due to its considerably lower embodied carbon and making use of industrial by-products including fly ash and ground granulated blast-furnace slag, geopolymer concrete (GPC) is considered as a sustainable alternative to Portland cement (OPC) concrete. However, prior to granting GPC a green label and encouraging its widespread use, a number of other important possible impacts associated with this new material throughout its life cycle need to be further investigated. One of the important aspects of sustainability which has received little attention with regards to GPC is the end-of-life impact. While end-of-life strategies such as recycling and reuse have been widely investigated for conventional concrete, the applicability of such strategies to GPC has not been investigated. This paper presents the results of an experimental study conducted to investigate the recyclability of GPC. Basic properties of recycled geopolymer aggregates (RGAs) including water absorption, density and Los Angeles abrasion loss as well as the effects of size of RGA on these properties were investigated. In addition, the effects of the different replacement ratios of coarse RGA for coarse natural aggregates on the properties of the new recycled aggregate geopolymer concrete (RAG) including compressive strength, flexural strength and modulus of elasticity were investigated. The RGA and RAG properties were compared with those of recycled OPC concrete aggregate (RCA) and recycled aggregate OPC concrete (RAC) produced under relatively similar conditions.
AKCAPINAR SEZER, E, PRADHAN, B & GOKCEOGLU, C 2013, 'Erratum to: Manifestation of an adaptive neuro-fuzzy model on landslide susceptibility mapping: Klang valley, Malaysia [Expert Systems with Applications', Expert systems with applications, vol. 40, no. 6.
Al Rawashdeh, S, Ruzouq, R, Al-Fugara, A, Pradhan, B, Ziad, SHA-H & Ghayda, AR 2013, 'Monitoring of Dead Sea water surface variation using multi-temporal satellite data and GIS', Arabian Journal of Geosciences, vol. 6, no. 9, pp. 3241-3248.
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AlAamri, H, Abolhasan, M, Franklin, D & Lipman, J 2013, 'Optimised relay selection for route discovery in reactive routing', AD HOC NETWORKS, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 70-88.
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On-demand routing protocols have the potential to provide scalable information delivery in large ad hoc networks. The novelty of these protocols is in their approach to route discovery, where a route is determined only when it is required by initiating a route discovery procedure. Much of the research in this area has focused on reducing the route discovery overhead when prior knowledge of the destination is available at the source or by routing through stable links. Hence, many of the protocols proposed to date still resort to flooding the network when prior knowledge about the destination is un-available. This paper proposes a novel routing protocol for ad hoc networks, called On-demand Tree-based Routing Protocol (OTRP). This protocol combines the idea of hop-by-hop routing (as used by AODV) with an efficient route discovery algorithm called Tree-based Optimised Flooding (TOF) to improve scalability of ad hoc networks when there is no prior knowledge about the destination. To achieve this in OTRP, route discovery overheads are minimised by selectively flooding the network through a limited set of nodes, referred to as branching nodes. The key factors governing the performance of OTRP are theoretically analysed and evaluated, including the number of branch nodes, location of branching nodes and number of Route REQuest (RREQ) retries. It was found that the performance of OTRP (evaluated using a variety of well-known metrics) improves as the number of branching nodes increases and the number of consumed RREQ retries is reduced. Additionally, theoretical analysis and simulation results shows that OTRP outperforms AODV, DYMO, and OLSR with reduced overheads as the number of nodes and traffic load increases. © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Alavi, AH, Gandomi, AH, Nejad, HC, Mollahasani, A & Rashed, A 2013, 'Design equations for prediction of pressuremeter soil deformation moduli utilizing expression programming systems', Neural Computing and Applications, vol. 23, no. 6, pp. 1771-1786.
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Al‐Hajjar, M, Fisher, J, Williams, S, Tipper, JL & Jennings, LM 2013, 'Effect of femoral head size on the wear of metal on metal bearings in total hip replacements under adverse edge‐loading conditions', Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part B: Applied Biomaterials, vol. 101B, no. 2, pp. 213-222.
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Aljarajreh, H, Reaz, MBI, Amin, MS & Husain, H 2013, 'An Active Inductor Based Low Noise Amplifier for RF Receiver', Electronics and Electrical Engineering, vol. 19, no. 5, pp. 49-52.
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AlKilani, SG, Jupp, JR & Sawhncy, A 2013, 'Readying a developing economy for national performance measurement and benchmarking: A case study of the Jordanian construction industry', International Journal for Housing Science and Its Applications, vol. 37, no. 1, pp. 11-21.
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In many developing countries, national construction performance measures and benchmarking processes are yet to be formulated, implemented and tracked. This inherent weakness of an economic sector has negative impacts on, productivity, efficiency and performance. This paper takes the Jordanian construction industry as a case study of a developing economy and highlights the significant challenges it faces in implementing performance measurement. Findings from this study reveal a number of specific and general characteristics, and the extent and seventy of industry-based barriers. The paper identifies a range of requirements at the national level that must be met to move from a state of relative disarray to an industry ready for the successful implementation of performance measurement and benchmarking. The authors anticipate that the findings of this paper will be of interest to academics and professionals involved in other developing countries' construction industries. Copyright©2013 IAHS.
Alkilani, SZ, Jupp, J & Sawhney, A 2013, 'Issues of construction health and safety in developing countries: a case of Jordan', Construction Economics and Building, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 141-156.
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Al-Kouri, O, Al-Fugara, A, Al-Rawashdeh, S, Sadoun, B, Sadoun, B & Pradhan, B 2013, 'Geospatial Modeling for Sinkholes Hazard Map Based on GIS & RS Data', Journal of Geographic Information System, vol. 05, no. 06, pp. 584-592.
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Al-Kouri, O, Al-Rawashdeh, S, Sadoun, B, Sadoun, B & Pradhan, B 2013, 'Geospatial modeling for sinkholes hazard map based on GIS & RS data', Journal of Geographic Information System, vol. 5, no. 06, p. 584.
Al-Mahmoud, F, Castel, A & François, R 2013, 'Modelling of flexural behaviour of RC beams strengthened with NSM CFRP rods including serviceability', European Journal of Environmental and Civil Engineering, vol. 17, no. 7, pp. 532-553.
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Al-shalabi, M, Billa, L, Pradhan, B, Mansor, S & Al-Sharif, AAA 2013, 'Modelling urban growth evolution and land-use changes using GIS based cellular automata and SLEUTH models: the case of Sana’a metropolitan city, Yemen', Environmental Earth Sciences, vol. 70, no. 1, pp. 425-437.
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Al-shalabi, M, Pradhan, B, Billa, L, Mansor, S & Althuwaynee, OF 2013, 'Manifestation of Remote Sensing Data in Modeling Urban Sprawl Using the SLEUTH Model and Brute Force Calibration: A Case Study of Sana’a City, Yemen', Journal of the Indian Society of Remote Sensing, vol. 41, no. 2, pp. 405-416.
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Al-sharif, AAA, Pradhan, B, Shafri, HZM & Mansor, S 2013, 'Spatio-temporal analysis of urban and population growths in tripoli using remotely sensed data and GIS', Indian Journal of Science and Technology, vol. 6, no. 8, pp. 5134-5142.
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The remote sensing data and GIS have been used widely to analyse and study the patterns of urban expansions. The capital of Libya, Tripoli was selected to perform this study and to examine its urban growth. Four satellite imageries and population censuses of the study area for the time period 1984 to 2010 were used in this work. The objectives of this paper are identifying and analysing the urban sprawl of Tripoli as a pattern and as process. Also to understand and assess the interchangeable relationship of urban growth and population growth of study area. Urban area extents in different time periods were extracted by supervised classification method of the satellite imageries. Then, the population data and urban extents data were coupled to perform the analysis. Additionally, Shannon's entropy technique was used for further assessment of urban growth. The study findings demonstrate that Tripoli had sprawled urban growth during the period 1984 to 2010. Moreover, during the above mentioned period, the urban expansion dispersion rate has shown in an ascending mode. Consequently, this uncontrolled dispersed urban development had resulted in high consumption land rate per capita despite of decrement in population growth rate.
Altaee, A 2013, 'Theoretical study on feed water designs to reverse osmosis pressure vessel', Desalination, vol. 326, pp. 1-9.
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Scale fouling and power consumption are one of the most important parameters in reverse osmosis (RO) desalination. To reduce scale problems in RO, single or central feeds to the pressure vessel were suggested instead of using end feed. In this paper Reverse Osmosis System Analysis (ROSA) software was used to simulate the differences between single, central and end feed designs. The effect of feed Silt Density Index (SDI) and number of the RO elements in the pressure vessel were investigated here. Feed SDIs 5, 3, and 1 were considered in this paper. To study the effect of the numbers of RO elements, 6 RO and 8 RO elements per pressure vessel were simulated. The simulation results showed that the power consumption in the end feed design was lower than in the single and central feed designs. The simulation results showed that Langelier Silt Index (LSI) and Stiff & Davis Stability Index (SDSI) were lower in the single than central feed design which in turn was lower than in the end feed design. These results indicated that although the power consumption in the single and central feed designs was higher than in the end feed design; the former designs were more efficient in rescuing the RO scale problems. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.
Altaee, A, Mabrouk, A & Bourouni, K 2013, 'A novel Forward osmosis membrane pretreatment of seawater for thermal desalination processes', Desalination, vol. 326, pp. 19-29.
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Altaee, A, Mabrouk, A & Bourouni, K 2013, 'Corrigendum to “A novel forward osmosis membrane pretreatment of seawater for thermal desalination processes” [Desalination 326 (2013) 19–29]', Desalination, vol. 329, pp. 115-115.
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Alturki, AA, McDonald, JA, Khan, SJ, Price, WE, Nghiem, LD & Elimelech, M 2013, 'Removal of trace organic contaminants by the forward osmosis process', Separation and Purification Technology, vol. 103, pp. 258-266.
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Al-Zubaydi, AY 2013, 'Building Models Design And Energy Simulation With Google Sketchup And Openstudio', Journal of Advanced Science and Engineering Research, vol. 3, no. 4.
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The necessity to approach the zero net building design and the improving of building thermal performance augmented the need to use the energy simulation programmes in order to estimate the building energy consumption and virtually modify the structure and the construction material. Energy Plus software from the US Department of Energy introduced a plug-in for Google SketchUp drawing software known as Open Studio, this tool can be considered as a free licences powerful simulation tool available for all engineers to estimate and modify the buildings energy consumption. In this paper we presented a step by step simulation procedure to explain the software capability and encourage the use of the tool by engineers interested in energy efficiency calculations
Amailef, K & Lu, J 2013, 'Ontology-supported case-based reasoning approach for intelligent m-Government emergency response services', DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS, vol. 55, no. 1, pp. 79-97.
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There is a critical need to develop a mobile-based emergency response system (MERS) to help reduce risks in emergency situations. Existing systems only provide short message service (SMS) notifications, and the decision support is weak, especially in man-made disaster situations. This paper presents a MERS ontology-supported case-based reasoning (OS-CBR) method, with implementation, to support emergency decision makers to effectively respond to emergencies. The advantages of the OS-CBR approach is that it builds a case retrieving process, which provides a more convenient system for decision support based on knowledge from, and solutions provided for past disaster events. The OS-CBR approach includes a set of algorithms that have been successfully implemented in four components: data acquisition; ontology; knowledge base; and reasoning; as a sub-system of the MERS framework. A set of experiments and case studies validated the OS-CBR approach and application, and demonstrate its efficiency. Copyright © 2013 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Amarjargal, A, Jiang, Z, Tijing, LD, Park, C-H, Im, I-T & Kim, CS 2013, 'Nanosheet-based α-Fe2O3 hierarchical structure decorated with TiO2 nanospheres via a simple one-pot route: Magnetically recyclable photocatalysts', Journal of Alloys and Compounds, vol. 580, pp. 143-147.
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Amarjargal, A, Tijing, LD, Im, I-T & Kim, CS 2013, 'Simultaneous preparation of Ag/Fe3O4 core–shell nanocomposites with enhanced magnetic moment and strong antibacterial and catalytic properties', Chemical Engineering Journal, vol. 226, pp. 243-254.
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In this study, core–shell Ag/Fe3O4 nanocomposites have been successfully prepared by modified co-precipitation route followed by facile hydrothermal treatment in one-pot synthesis under various (Ag(NH3)2+) ion concentrations without adding any reducing agents. A single crystal Ag core and polycrystallized Fe3O4 shell nanostructures could be obtained when high amount of AgNO3 precursor are used in the presence of Fe2+ ions source, i.e., ferrous salt alone. A mechanism leading to the formation of such morphologies was proposed and samples were characterized with several analytical techniques including field emission scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. Significant increase of saturation magnetic moment was observed for the Ag/Fe3O4 nanocomposite. The results showed enhanced magnetic moment and strong catalytic and antibacterial activities of the present Ag/Fe3O4 nanocomposite, demonstrating its importance for potential application in water treatment and biomedical application, with the ability of subsequent removal by means of an external magnetic field.
Amarjargal, A, Tijing, LD, Park, C-H, Im, I-T & Kim, CS 2013, 'Controlled assembly of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles on electrospun PU nanofibrous membrane: A novel heat-generating substrate for magnetic hyperthermia application', European Polymer Journal, vol. 49, no. 12, pp. 3796-3805.
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A facile method of fabricating novel heat-generating membranes composed of electrospun polyurethane (PU) nanofibers decorated with superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (NPs) is reported. Electrospinning was used to produce polymeric nanofibrous matrix, whereas polyol immersion technique allowed in situ assembly of well-dispersed Fe3O4 NPs on the nanofibrous membranes without any surfactant, and without sensitizing and stabilizing reagent. The assembly phenomena can be explained by the hydrogen-bonding interactions between the amide groups in the PU matrix and the hydroxyl groups capped on the surface of the Fe3O4 NPs. The prepared nanocomposite fibers showed acceptable magnetization value of 33.12 emu/g, after measuring the magnetic hysteresis loops using SQUID. Moreover, the inductive heating property of electrospun magnetic nanofibrous membranes under an alternating current (AC) magnetic field was investigated. We observed a progressive increase in the heating rate with the increase in the amount of magnetic Fe3O4 NPs in/on the membranes. The present electrospun magnetic nanofibrous membrane may be a potential candidate as a novel heat-generating substrate for localized hyperthermia cancer therapy. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Amarjargal, A, Tijing, LD, Ruelo, MTG, Park, C-H, Pant, HR, Vista IV, FP, Lee, DH & Kim, CS 2013, 'Inactivation of bacteria in batch suspension by fluidized ceramic tourmaline nanoparticles under oscillating radio frequency electric fields', Ceramics International, vol. 39, no. 2, pp. 2141-2145.
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Here, we investigated the synergistic effect of fluidized ceramic tourmaline nanoparticles (NPs) with oscillating electric fields to the inactivation of Escherichia coli in batch suspension. Different amounts of tourmaline NPs (5–100 mg) were dispersed in bacterial suspension (50 ml) and oscillating radio frequency (RF) electric field was applied at 3 V (equivalent of 1.5 V/cm electric field strength) and at varying frequencies (100 kHz and 1 MHz). The results showed high inactivation efficiency when combining fluidized tourmaline NPs and oscillating electric fields as compared to individual treatments of electric fields or tourmaline NPs only. The results showed 2.5–5-log reduction of viable E. coli concentration depending on the tourmaline concentration, electric field frequency and solution temperature. The present method shows a lot of promise as a novel and low-cost bacterial inactivation technique for water treatment applications.
Aminian, P, Niroomand, H, Gandomi, AH, Alavi, AH & Arab Esmaeili, M 2013, 'New design equations for assessment of load carrying capacity of castellated steel beams: a machine learning approach', Neural Computing and Applications, vol. 23, no. 1, pp. 119-131.
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Anaissi, A, Kennedy, PJ, Goyal, M & Catchpoole, DR 2013, 'A balanced iterative random forest for gene selection from microarray data', BMC BIOINFORMATICS, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 1-10.
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Background: The wealth of gene expression values being generated by high throughput microarray technologies leads to complex high dimensional datasets. Moreover, many cohorts have the problem of imbalanced classes where the number of patients belonging to each class is not the same. With this kind of dataset, biologists need to identify a small number of informative genes that can be used as biomarkers for a disease.Results: This paper introduces a Balanced Iterative Random Forest (BIRF) algorithm to select the most relevant genes for a disease from imbalanced high-throughput gene expression microarray data. Balanced iterative random forest is applied on four cancer microarray datasets: a childhood leukaemia dataset, which represents the main target of this paper, collected from The Children's Hospital at Westmead, NCI 60, a Colon dataset and a Lung cancer dataset. The results obtained by BIRF are compared to those of Support Vector Machine-Recursive Feature Elimination (SVM-RFE), Multi-class SVM-RFE (MSVM-RFE), Random Forest (RF) and Naive Bayes (NB) classifiers. The results of the BIRF approach outperform these state-of-the-art methods, especially in the case of imbalanced datasets. Experiments on the childhood leukaemia dataset show that a 7% ∼ 12% better accuracy is achieved by BIRF over MSVM-RFE with the ability to predict patients in the minor class. The informative biomarkers selected by the BIRF algorithm were validated by repeating training experiments three times to see whether they are globally informative, or just selected by chance. The results show that 64% of the top genes consistently appear in the three lists, and the top 20 genes remain near the top in the other three lists.Conclusion: The designed BIRF algorithm is an appropriate choice to select genes from imbalanced high-throughput gene expression microarray data. BIRF outperforms the state-of-the-art methods, especially the ability to handle the class-imbalanced data. Moreover, the...
Anand, S, Nylk, J, Neale, SL, Dodds, C, Grant, S, Ismail, MH, Reboud, J, Cooper, JM & McGloin, D 2013, 'Aerosol droplet optical trap loading using surface acoustic wave nebulization', OPTICS EXPRESS, vol. 21, no. 25, pp. 30148-30155.
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Anisur, MR, Mahfuz, MH, Kibria, MA, Saidur, R, Metselaar, IHSC & Mahlia, TMI 2013, 'Curbing global warming with phase change materials for energy storage', Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 18, pp. 23-30.
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Aoki, Y, Valipour, H, Samali, B & Saleh, A 2013, 'A Study on Potential Progressive Collapse Responses of Cable-Stayed Bridges', Advances in Structural Engineering, vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 689-706.
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Apeh, E & Gabrys, B 2013, 'Detecting and Visualizing the Change in Classification of Customer Profiles based on Transactional Data', Evolving Systems, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 27-42.
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Customer transactions tend to change over time with changing customer behaviour patterns. Classifier models, however, are often designed to perform prediction on data which is assumed to be static. These classifier models thus deteriorate in performance over time when predicting in the context of evolving data. Robust adaptive classification models are therefore needed to detect and adjust to the kind of changes that are common in transactional data. This paper presents an investigation into using change mining to monitor the adaptive classification of customers based on their transactions through moving time windows. The classification performance of two-class decision tree ensembles built using the data binning process based on the number of items purchased was monitored over varying 3, 6, 9 and 12 months time windows. The changing class values of the customer profiles were analysed and described. Results from our experiments show that the proposed approach can be used for learning and adapting to changing customer profiles. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.
Aquilina, P, Chamoli, U, Parr, WCH, Clausen, PD & Wroe, S 2013, 'Finite element analysis of three patterns of internal fixation of fractures of the mandibular condyle', British Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, vol. 51, no. 4, pp. 326-331.
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Arbab, MI, Masjuki, HH, Varman, M, Kalam, MA, Imtenan, S & Sajjad, H 2013, 'Fuel properties, engine performance and emission characteristic of common biodiesels as a renewable and sustainable source of fuel', Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 22, pp. 133-147.
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Ardalany, M, Fragiacomo, M, Deam, B & Crews, K 2013, 'Analytical cracking load estimation of Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL) beams with holes', European Journal of Wood and Wood Products, vol. 71, no. 1, pp. 37-48.
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Predicting the load-carrying capacity of timber beams with holes cannot be performed by usual analysis methods if the failure of the beam is governed by the crack initiation and propagation around the hole at low load levels. Predicting the cracking load is an important design issue because it corresponds to the load-carrying capacity of the timber beam before the crack propagation. One of the models that can be used for the fracture formulation is that of a beam on elastic foundation. In this model a part of the beam is assumed to follow the conditions of beam with elastic foundation which has spring stiffness equal to the fracture properties of the material in the crack surface. Based on beam on elastic foundation model, the cracking load prediction is the target of the paper. Some closed form solutions for the beam with hole are presented. The formulation has been derived for two cases of pure shear and pure bending moment. Finally a semi-empirical formulation for combination of shear and bending moment in the section is presented. The model predictions are compared with the results of an experimental program showing good correlation. The analytical model can therefore be proposed for future revisions of codes of practice such as the Eurocode 5
Ariffin, SA & Dyson, LE 2013, 'mLearning in Malaysian Universities: Local Ethical Considerations for Mobile Phone Use', Transactions on Mobile Learning, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 15-19.
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Ethical policies are significant in regulating the use of mobile phones for mLearning. However, in developing countries, such as Malaysia, this area is fairly new. This article discusses research conducted within the Malaysian university system to gain perspectives from academics and students about the use of mobile phones for learning. The research methods used were interviews and focus groups. The findings were grouped according to several themes: concerns about the use of mobile phones inside the classroom; regulation and self-regulation of mobile phone use; banning of mobile phones from the classroom; allowing their use in emergency and special situations; uncertainty about ethical policies for using mobile phones; and worries about students potential disconnection from social life. Various approaches to regulate mobile phone use were discovered and are discussed in this article.
Arodudu, O, Voinov, A & van Duren, I 2013, 'Assessing bioenergy potential in rural areas – A NEG-EROEI approach', Biomass and Bioenergy, vol. 58, pp. 350-364.
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Arsene, CTC & Gabrys, B 2013, 'Probabilistic finite element predictions of the human lower limb model in total knee replacement', Medical Engineering & Physics, vol. 35, no. 8, pp. 1116-1132.
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Aryal, R, Beecham, S, Vigneswaran, S, Kandasamy, J & Naidu, R 2013, 'Spatial variation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and equivalent toxicity in Sydney Harbour, Australia', Journal of Water and Climate Change, vol. 4, no. 4, pp. 364-372.
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Ashraf, J, Hussain, OK & Hussain, FK 2013, 'A Framework for Measuring Ontology Usage on the Web', COMPUTER JOURNAL, vol. 56, no. 9, pp. 1083-1101.
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A decade-long conscious effort by the Semantic Web community has resulted in the formation of a decentralized knowledge platform which enables data interoperability at a syntactic and semantic level. For information interoperability, at a syntactic level, RDF provides the standard format for publishing data and RDFS gives structure to the information. For semantic-level interoperability, ontologies are used which allow information dissemination and assimilation among diverse applications and systems; where information is equally accessible and useful to humans and machines. The success of the linked open data project, recognition of explicit semantics (annotated through web ontologies) by search engines and the realized potential advantages of semantic data for publishers have resulted in tremendous growth in the use of web ontologies on the web. In order to promote the adoption of ontologies (to new users), reusability of adopted ontologies, effective and efficient utilization on ontological knowledge and evolving the ontological model, erudite insight on the usage of ontologies is imperative. While ontology evaluation attempts to evaluate a developed ontology to assess its fitness and quality, it does not provide any insight into how ontologies are being used and what is the state of prevalent knowledge patterns. Realizing the importance of measuring and analysing ontology usage to advance the adoption, reusability and exploitation of ontologies, we present a semantic framework for measuring and analysing ontology usage on the Web on empirical grounding. Our methodological approach is discussed to highlight the detail and role of each step. A framework is presented along with the set of metrics developed to measure ontology usage from different aspects such as ontology richness, usage and incentives to provide a holistic view on the state of ontology usage. The framework is then evaluated using an important use-case scenario to identify the prevalent knowledge ...
Aslani, F & Nejadi, S 2013, 'Creep and Shrinkage of Self-Compacting Concrete with and without Fibers', JOURNAL OF ADVANCED CONCRETE TECHNOLOGY, vol. 11, no. 10, pp. 251-265.
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Fiber-reinforced self-compacting concrete (FRSCC) is a high-performance building material that combines positive aspects of fresh properties of self-compacting concrete (SCC) with improved characteristics of hardened concrete as a result of fiber addition. Considering these properties, the application ranges of both FRSCC and SCC can be covered. To produce SCC, either the constituent materials or the corresponding mix proportions may notably differ from the conventional concrete (CC). These modifications besides enhance the concrete fresh properties affect the hardened properties of the concrete including creep and shrinkage. Therefore, it is vital to investigate whether all the assumed hypotheses about conventional concrete are also valid for SCC structures. In the present paper, a numerical and experimental study about creep and shrinkage behavior of FRSCC and SCC is performed. Two new creep and shrinkage prediction models based on the comprehensive analysis on the available models of both CC and SCC are proposed for FRSCC and SCC structures. In order to evaluate the predictability of the proposed models, an experimental program was carried out. For this purpose, four SCC mixes - plain SCC, steel, polypropylene, and hybrid FRSCC - are considered in the test program. Several specimens were loaded and deformation in non-loaded specimens was also measured to assess shrinkage. All specimens were kept under constant stress during at least 364 days in a climatic chamber with temperature and relative humidity of 22°C and 50%, respectively. Results showed that the new models were able to predict deformations with good accuracy, although providing deformations slight overestimated. Copyright © 2013 Japan Concrete Institute.
Aslani, F & Nejadi, S 2013, 'Mechanical characteristics of self-compacting concrete with and without fibres', MAGAZINE OF CONCRETE RESEARCH, vol. 65, no. 10, pp. 608-622.
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Fibre-reinforced self-compacting concrete (FRSCC) is a high-performance building material that combines positive aspects of fresh properties of self-compacting concrete (SCC) with improved characteristics of hardened concrete as a result of fibre addition. Considering these properties, the application ranges of both FRSCC and SCC can be covered. A test program is carried out to develop information about the mechanical properties of FRSCC. For this purpose, four SCC mixes - plain SCC, steel, polypropylene and hybrid FRSCC - Are considered in the test program. The properties include compressive and splitting tensile strengths, modulus of elasticity, modulus of rupture, and compressive stress-strain curve. These properties are tested at 3, 7, 14, 28, 56 and 91 days. Relationships are established to predict the compressive and splitting tensile strengths, modulus of elasticity, modulus of rupture, and compressive stress-strain curve. The models provide predictions matching the measurements.
Aslani, F & Nejadi, S 2013, 'Self-compacting concrete incorporating steel and polypropylene fibers: Compressive and tensile strengths, moduli of elasticity and rupture, compressive stress-strain curve, and energy dissipated under compression', COMPOSITES PART B-ENGINEERING, vol. 53, no. 1, pp. 121-133.
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Fiber-reinforced self-compacting concrete (FRSCC) is a high-performance building material that combines positive aspects of fresh properties of self-compacting concrete (SCC) with improved characteristics of hardened concrete as a result of fiber addition. Considering these properties, the application ranges of both FRSCC and SCC can be covered. A test program is carried out to develop information about the mechanical properties of FRSCC. For this purpose, four SCC mixes - plain SCC, steel, polypropylene, and hybrid FRSCC - are considered in the test program. The properties include compressive and splitting tensile strengths, moduli of elasticity and rupture, compressive stress-strain curve, and energy dissipated under compression. These properties are tested at 3, 7, 14, 28, 56, and 91 days. Relationships are established to predict the compressive and splitting tensile strengths, moduli of elasticity and rupture, compressive stress-strain curve, and energy dissipated under compression. The models provide predictions matching the measurements. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Asrul, M, Zulkifli, NWM, Masjuki, HH & Kalam, MA 2013, 'Tribological Properties and Lubricant Mechanism of Nanoparticle in Engine Oil', Procedia Engineering, vol. 68, pp. 320-325.
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Atabani, AE, Badruddin, IA, Mahlia, TMI, Masjuki, HH, Mofijur, M, Lee, KT & Chong, WT 2013, 'Fuel Properties of Croton megalocarpus, Calophyllum inophyllum, and Cocos nucifera (coconut) Methyl Esters and their Performance in a Multicylinder Diesel Engine', Energy Technology, vol. 1, no. 11, pp. 685-694.
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Atabani, AE, Mahlia, TMI, Anjum Badruddin, I, Masjuki, HH, Chong, WT & Lee, KT 2013, 'Investigation of physical and chemical properties of potential edible and non-edible feedstocks for biodiesel production, a comparative analysis', Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 21, pp. 749-755.
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Atabani, AE, Mahlia, TMI, Masjuki, HH, Badruddin, IA, Yussof, HW, Chong, WT & Lee, KT 2013, 'A comparative evaluation of physical and chemical properties of biodiesel synthesized from edible and non-edible oils and study on the effect of biodiesel blending', Energy, vol. 58, pp. 296-304.
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Atabani, AE, Silitonga, AS, Ong, HC, Mahlia, TMI, Masjuki, HH, Badruddin, IA & Fayaz, H 2013, 'Non-edible vegetable oils: A critical evaluation of oil extraction, fatty acid compositions, biodiesel production, characteristics, engine performance and emissions production', Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 18, pp. 211-245.
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Athab, HS & Lu, DD 2013, 'Quasi‐active power factor correction on flyback‐based dc/dc converter', International Journal of Circuit Theory and Applications, vol. 41, no. 5, pp. 483-497.
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Awad, R, Chambers, J & Jupp, JR 2013, 'Volunteer Tourism and Architecture Students: What motivates and can best prepare them?', Journal of Pedagogic Development, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 6-12.
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This paper explores student attitudes toward volunteering in the context of university-led building development programs, raising questions about the practice of volunteering and its contribution to community development. Focusing on students undertaking tertiary education in Western countries, this literature based study firstly explores the perceptions and motivations behind volunteering, and secondly discusses its developmental impact on low-income communities.
Azadeh, A, Jiryaei Sharahi, Z, Ashjari, B & Saberi, M 2013, 'A flexible intelligent algorithm for identification of optimum mix of demographic variables for integrated HSEE-ISO systems: The case of a gas transmission refinery', Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries, vol. 26, no. 6, pp. 1159-1182.
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Azadeh, A, Rouzbahman, M, Saberi, M, Valianpour, F & Keramati, A 2013, 'Improved prediction of mental workload versus HSE and ergonomics factors by an adaptive intelligent algorithm', Safety Science, vol. 58, pp. 59-75.
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Azadeh, A, Saberi, M & Gitiforouz, A 2013, 'An integrated fuzzy mathematical model and principal component analysis algorithm for forecasting uncertain trends of electricity consumption', Quality & Quantity, vol. 47, no. 4, pp. 2163-2176.
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Azadeh, A, Saberi, M, Asadzadeh, SM & Anvarian, N 2013, 'An Adaptive-Network-Based Fuzzy Inference System-Data Envelopment Analysis Algorithm for Optimization of Long-Term Electricity Consumption, Forecasting and Policy Analysis: The Case of Seven Industrialized Countries', Energy Sources, Part B: Economics, Planning, and Policy, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 56-66.
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Azadeh, A, Saberi, M, Asadzadeh, SM, Hussain, OK & Saberi, Z 2013, 'A neuro-fuzzy-multivariate algorithm for accurate gas consumption estimation in South America with noisy inputs', International Journal of Electrical Power & Energy Systems, vol. 46, pp. 315-325.
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Azadeh, A, Saberi, M, Kazem, A, Ebrahimipour, V, Nourmohammadzadeh, A & Saberi, Z 2013, 'A flexible algorithm for fault diagnosis in a centrifugal pump with corrupted data and noise based on ANN and support vector machine with hyper-parameters optimization', Applied Soft Computing, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 1478-1485.
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Azadeh, A, Saberi, M, Rouzbahman, M & Saberi, Z 2013, 'An intelligent algorithm for performance evaluation of job stress and HSE factors in petrochemical plants with noise and uncertainty', Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries, vol. 26, no. 1, pp. 140-152.
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Azadeh, A, Sheikhalishahi, M, Asadzadeh, SM, Saberi, M & Neghab, AEP 2013, 'Forecasting and optimization of service level in vague and complex SCM by a flexible neural network–fuzzy mathematical programming approach', The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, vol. 68, no. 5-8, pp. 1453-1470.
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Azadeh, A, Sheikhalishahi, M, Saberi, M & Mostaghimi, MH 2013, 'An intelligent multivariate approach for optimum forecasting of daily ozone concentration in large metropolitans with incomplete inputs', International Journal of Productivity and Quality Management, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 209-209.
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Previous studies show that it is quite necessary to accurately analyse and forecast ozone level especially in complex and large urban regions with incomplete inputs. Also, there is a need for more precise and efficient models to determine effective warning policies with respect to ozone concentration level in large cities. This study presents a flexible and adaptive approach to overcome the above issues. Moreover, an adaptive approach based on artificial neural network (ANN), adaptive neuro-fuzzy interference system (ANFIS) and conventional regression for forecasting of daily ozone levels is developed and discussed. The preferred model is selected via mean absolute percentage of error (MAPE). The proposed model is applied to one of the most polluted and populated cities in the world. Five pollutants and four meteorological variables are considered as inputs and ozone level is considered as output. The results show the flexibility of the proposed approach. The superiority and applicability of the proposed approach over previous models are also shown and discussed in this paper.Copyright © 2013 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.
Aziz, T, Hossain, MJ, Saha, TK & Mithulananthan, N 2013, 'VAR Planning With Tuning of STATCOM in a DG Integrated Industrial System', IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, vol. 28, no. 2, pp. 875-885.
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Babanajad, SK, Gandomi, AH, Mohammadzadeh S., D & Alavi, AH 2013, 'Numerical modeling of concrete strength under multiaxial confinement pressures using linear genetic programming', Automation in Construction, vol. 36, pp. 136-144.
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Bagheri, M, Gandomi, AH, Bagheri, M & Shahbaznezhad, M 2013, 'Multi‐expression programming based model for prediction of formation enthalpies of nitro‐energetic materials', Expert Systems, vol. 30, no. 1, pp. 66-78.
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Banasiak, L, Indraratna, B, Regmi, G, Golab, A & Lugg, G 2013, 'Characterisation and assessment of recycled concrete aggregates used in a permeable reactive barrier for the treatment of acidic groundwater', Geomechanics and Geoengineering, vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 155-166.
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The acidification of coastal waterways because of acid sulphate soil is an environmental, economic and social problem within Australia. A pilot-scale permeable reactive barrier (PRB), using recycled concrete aggregates as reactive material, was installed in low-lying acid sulphate soil terrain for acidic groundwater remediation. Column experiments were previously undertaken with synthetic groundwater to ascertain the dominant reactions occurring within the PRB. Results showed that armouring of the reactive material surface by precipitated Al- and Fe-bearing minerals significantly reduced its acid neutralisation capacity (ANC). The purpose of this current study was to validate this decline in ANC through characterisation of the virgin and armoured concrete aggregates, and precipitates that formed on the concrete. Samples of concrete aggregates and precipitates were analysed using X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Scanning electron microscopy-Energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) and X-ray micro-computed tomography (μCT). The conclusions drawn from these analyses are that Al-bearing (gibbsite 14.3%, boehmite 10.9%) and Fe-bearing (goethite 38.2%) mineral precipitates of diverse morphology form as a thin layer coating the aggregate surfaces. A reduction of CaO in the armoured concrete aggregates by 47% correlates with the reduction in ANC of the virgin concrete by 50% due to armouring. © 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.
Baran, TA & Oppenheim, AV 2013, 'A derivation of the recursive solution to the autocorrelation normal equations [Lecture Notes]', IEEE Signal Processing Magazine, vol. 30, no. 1, pp. 142-144.
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This paper generalizes Bell's 'basic' second order sequences and Lucas' 'fundamental' and 'primordial' second order sequences in order to develop some properties of two classic arbitrary order generalizations of the sequences of Fibonacci and Lucas. An e
Barnhill, E, Kennedy, P, Hammer, S, van Beek, EJR, Brown, C & Roberts, N 2013, 'Statistical mapping of the effect of knee extension on thigh muscle viscoelastic properties using magnetic resonance elastography', Physiological Measurement, vol. 34, no. 12, pp. 1675-1698.
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Bastidas-Arteaga, E, Schoefs, F, Stewart, MG & Wang, X 2013, 'Influence of global warming on durability of corroding RC structures: A probabilistic approach', Engineering Structures, vol. 51, pp. 259-266.
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Chloride ingress and carbonation cause corrosion of reinforced concrete (RC) structures affecting its operational life. Experimental evidence indicates that these deterioration processes are highly influenced by CO2 emissions and climatic conditions in the surrounding environment - i.e., temperature, humidity, etc. Since studies on global warming announce changes in climate, the impact of changing climate on RC durability should also be considered. This paper links RC deterioration mechanisms to CO2 emissions and global warming. Based on various studies on climate change, models for estimating the effect of CO2 emissions and temperature/humidity changes due to global warming are described. Furthermore, various scenarios of global warming that can be used to assess the effect of climate change in structural reliability are proposed. The proposed approach is then illustrated with a numerical example that calculates the probability of failure of a RC bridge beam for future climate scenarios. The paper then outlines some adaptation strategies, particularly focusing on the needs for risk-based selection of optimal adaptation measures. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.
Beck, D, Thoms, JAI, Perera, D, Schütte, J, Unnikrishnan, A, Knezevic, K, Kinston, SJ, Wilson, NK, O’Brien, TA, Göttgens, B, Wong, JWH & Pimanda, JE 2013, 'Genome-wide analysis of transcriptional regulators in human HSPCs reveals a densely interconnected network of coding and noncoding genes', Blood, vol. 122, no. 14, pp. e12-e22.
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Bedi, JS, Lester, DW, Fang, YX, Turner, JFC, Zhou, J, Alfadul, SM, Perry, C & Chen, Q 2013, 'Electrospinning of poly(methyl methacrylate) nanofibers in a pump-free process', Journal of Polymer Engineering, vol. 33, no. 5, pp. 453-461.
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BEHBOOD, V, LU, JIE & ZHANG, G 2013, 'FUZZY BRIDGED REFINEMENT DOMAIN ADAPTATION: LONG-TERM BANK FAILURE PREDICTION', International Journal of Computational Intelligence and Applications, vol. 12, no. 01, pp. 1350003-1350003.
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Behl, B, Papageorgiou, I, Brown, C, Hall, R, Tipper, JL, Fisher, J & Ingham, E 2013, 'Biological effects of cobalt-chromium nanoparticles and ions on dural fibroblasts and dural epithelial cells', Biomaterials, vol. 34, no. 14, pp. 3547-3558.
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Belles-Sampera, J, Merigó, JM & Santolino, M 2013, 'Some New Definitions of Indicators for the Choquet Integral', AGGREGATION FUNCTIONS IN THEORY AND IN PRACTISE, vol. 228, pp. 467-476.
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Belles-Sampera, J, Merigó, JM, Guillén, M & Santolino, M 2013, 'The connection between distortion risk measures and ordered weighted averaging operators', Insurance: Mathematics and Economics, vol. 52, no. 2, pp. 411-420.
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Benesch, N, Hartung, J, Schallow, J, Deuse, J & Ferstl, H 2013, 'Unternehmenskooperationen in der Digitalen Fabrik', Zeitschrift für wirtschaftlichen Fabrikbetrieb, vol. 108, no. 5, pp. 295-299.
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Bennett, ND, Croke, BFW, Guariso, G, Guillaume, JHA, Hamilton, SH, Jakeman, AJ, Marsili-Libelli, S, Newham, LTH, Norton, JP, Perrin, C, Pierce, SA, Robson, B, Seppelt, R, Voinov, AA, Fath, BD & Andreassian, V 2013, 'Characterising performance of environmental models', Environmental Modelling & Software, vol. 40, pp. 1-20.
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Beydoun, G & Hoffmann, A 2013, 'Dynamic evaluation of the development process of knowledge-based information systems', KNOWLEDGE AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS, vol. 35, no. 1, pp. 233-247.
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Beydoun, G & Low, G 2013, 'Generic modelling of security awareness in agent based systems', INFORMATION SCIENCES, vol. 239, pp. 62-71.
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Beydoun, G, Garcia-Sanchez, F, Vincent-Torres, CM, Lopez-Lorca, AA & Martinez-Bejar, R 2013, 'Providing metrics and automatic enhancement for hierarchical taxonomies', INFORMATION PROCESSING & MANAGEMENT, vol. 49, no. 1, pp. 67-82.
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Taxonomies enable organising information in a human-machine understandable form, but constructing them for reuse and maintainability remains difficult. The paper presents a formal underpinning to provide quality metrics for a taxonomy under development. It proposes a methodology for semi-automatic building of maintainable taxonomies and outlines key features of the knowledge engineering context where the metrics and methodology are most suitable. The strength of the approach presented is that it is applied during the actual construction of the taxonomy. Users provide terms to describe different domain elements, as well as their attributes, and methodology uses metrics to assess the quality of this input. Changes according to given quality constraints are then proposed during the actual development of the taxonomy. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Bharathy, G & Silverman, BG 2013, 'Holistically evaluating agent-based social systems models: a case study.', Simul., vol. 89, no. 1, pp. 102-135.
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Billa, L & Pradhan, B 2013, 'GIS modeling for selection of a transfer station site for residential solid waste separation and recycling', Pertanika Journal of Science and Technology, vol. 21, no. 2, pp. 487-498.
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In this study a GIS model was developed and spatial analytical techniques performed to identify and select a suitable location for a waste transfer station in the sprawling suburban town of Petaling Jaya. The lack of a transfer station in urban centres of Malaysia has caused many problems and affects the efficiency of waste collection and disposal. With diminishing space for landfills and the increasing cost of solid waste management, the need for urban solid-waste recycling has become very important. However, finding a place for waste to be efficiently sorted before unwanted waste can be carried to disposal landfills has social and physical constraints. This study applies GIS techniques and analysis for site selection and identifies an acceptable area. In the model, environmental, physical and social constraints were taken into account, resulting in the selection of a potential area that is acceptable to the residents of the area because it is out of range of causing public nuisance and within minimum travelling distance for collection vehicles. The results show that the potential location for the transfer station should be in proximity of the industrial area of Petaling Jaya, allowing for the possible sale of recyclable materials to local industries. The location is also sited near a major highway to allow quick transportation of the rest of the unwanted waste to the landfill. © 2013 Universiti Putra Malaysia Press.
Biro, K, Pradhan, B, Buchroithner, M & Makeschin, F 2013, 'LAND USE/LAND COVER CHANGE ANALYSIS AND ITS IMPACT ON SOIL PROPERTIES IN THE NORTHERN PART OF GADARIF REGION, SUDAN', Land Degradation & Development, vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 90-102.
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Biro, K, Pradhan, B, Sulieman, H & Buchroithner, M 2013, 'Exploitation of TerraSAR-X Data for Land use/Land Cover Analysis Using Object-Oriented Classification Approach in the African Sahel Area, Sudan', Journal of the Indian Society of Remote Sensing, vol. 41, no. 3, pp. 539-553.
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Biro, K, Pradhan, B, Sulieman, H & Buchroithner, M 2013, 'Exploitation of TerraSAR-X data for land use/land cover analysis using object-oriented classification approach in the African Sahel Area, Sudan', Journal of the Indian Society of Remote Sensing, vol. 41, no. 3, pp. 539-553.
Bjarnadottir, S, Li, Y & Stewart, MG 2013, 'Hurricane Risk Assessment of Power Distribution Poles Considering Impacts of a Changing Climate', Journal of Infrastructure Systems, vol. 19, no. 1, pp. 12-24.
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Storm-related power outages cause approximately $270 million per year in repair costs in the United States. As a result of increasing sea surface temperatures caused by the changing climate, hurricane patterns (i.e., intensity/frequency) may change; however, there is much uncertainty as to how climate change may affect hurricane patterns. Implications of the changing hazard patterns on hurricane risk warrants an investigation to evaluate the potential impact of climate change on power distribution pole failure. This paper proposes a probabilistic framework to evaluate the vulnerability of power distribution poles to hurricanes under the potential impact of a changing climate. Two methods for the design of distribution poles in the United States, the National Electric Safety Code method and the ASCE method, are considered to investigate the difference of the vulnerability of a distribution pole subjected to hurricane hazard. The framework includes a reliability analysis of the designed power distribution poles using fragility analysis, the effects of degradation of timber poles, probabilistic wind models, and an assessment of the potential impacts of climate change on the annual failure probability of power distribution poles. This paper finds that climate change may have a significant effect on the structural failure probabilities of distribution poles. The age of the poles has a significant impact on the reliability of power distribution poles, which warrants the exploration of cost-effective methods to determine when a distribution pole should be replaced to ensure adequate strength to withstand wind loads. © 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
Blamires, SJ & Spencer, R-J 2013, 'Influence of Habitat and Predation on Population Dynamics of the Freshwater TurtleMyuchelys georgesi', Herpetologica, vol. 69, no. 1, pp. 46-57.
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Blamires, SJ, Hou, C, Chen, L-F, Liao, C-P & Tso, I-M 2013, 'Three-dimensional barricading of a predatory trap reduces predation and enhances prey capture', Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, vol. 67, no. 5, pp. 709-714.
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Blamires, SJ, Wu, C-C, Wu, C-L, Sheu, H-S & Tso, I-M 2013, 'Uncovering Spider Silk Nanocrystalline Variations That Facilitate Wind-Induced Mechanical Property Changes', Biomacromolecules, vol. 14, no. 10, pp. 3484-3490.
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Bliuc, D, Nguyen, ND, Nguyen, TV, Eisman, JA & Center, JR 2013, 'Compound risk of high mortality following osteoporotic fracture and refracture in elderly women and men', Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, vol. 28, no. 11, pp. 2317-2324.
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Blooma, MJ, Kurian, JC, Chua, AYK, Goh, DHL & Lien, NH 2013, 'Social question answering: Analyzing knowledge, cognitive processes and social dimensions of micro-collaborations', Computers & Education, vol. 69, pp. 109-120.
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Bohnen, F, Buhl, M & Deuse, J 2013, 'Systematic procedure for leveling of low volume and high mix production', CIRP Journal of Manufacturing Science and Technology, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 53-58.
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The application of conventional leveling approaches is limited to large scale production. This paper presents a systematic procedure for leveling of low volume and high mix production. It employs clustering techniques to group product types into product families. After that, a family-based leveling pattern is created which describes a repetitive sequence of capacity slots considering all families. According to the leveling pattern, each family is manufactured within a periodic interval. The paper provides a brief overview of the systematic procedure. It focuses on the creation of the leveling pattern using operations research methods and presents a real life application. © 2012 CIRP.
Boomer, KMB, Weller, DE, Jordan, TE, Linker, L, Liu, Z, Reilly, J, Shenk, G & Voinov, AA 2013, 'Using Multiple Watershed Models to Predict Water, Nitrogen, and Phosphorus Discharges to the Patuxent Estuary1', JAWRA Journal of the American Water Resources Association, vol. 49, no. 1, pp. 15-39.
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Borzeshi, EZ, Perez Concha, O, Xu, RYD & Piccardi, M 2013, 'Joint Action Segmentation and Classification by an Extended Hidden Markov Model', IEEE Signal Processing Letters, vol. 20, no. 12, pp. 1207-1210.
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Hidden Markov models (HMMs) provide joint segmentation and classification of sequential data by efficient inference algorithms and have therefore been employed in fields as diverse as speech recognition, document processing, and genomics. However, conventional HMMs do not suit action segmentation in video due to the nature of the measurements which are often irregular in space and time, high dimensional and affected by outliers. For this reason, in this paper we present a joint action segmentation and classification approach based on an extended model: the hidden Markov model for multiple, irregular observations (HMM-MIO). Experiments performed over a concatenated version of the popular KTH action dataset and the challenging CMU multi-modal activity dataset (CMU-MMAC) report accuracies comparable to or higher than those of a bag-of-features approach, showing the usefulness of improved sequential models for joint action segmentation and classification tasks. © 1994-2012 IEEE.
Bressan, N, James, A, Lecce, L & McGregor, C 2013, 'Cardiorespiratory physiological data as an indicator of fentanyl pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics in critically ill newborn infants: A case report', Journal of Critical Care, vol. 28, no. 6, pp. e30-e31.
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Brun, TA, Hsieh, M-H & Perry, C 2013, 'Compatibility of state assignments and pooling of information', Phys. Rev. A, vol. 92, no. 1, p. 012107.
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We say that two (or more) state assignments for one and the same quantumsystem are compatible if they could represent the assignments of observers withdiffering information about the system. A criterion for compatibility wasproposed in [Phys. Rev. A 65, 032315 (2002)]; however, this leaves unansweredthe question of whether there are degrees of compatibility which could berepresented by some quantitative measure, and whether there is astraightforward procedure whereby the observers can pool their information toarrive at a unique joint state assignment. We argue that such measures are onlysensible given some assumption about what kind of information was used inmaking the state assignments in the first place, and that in general stateassignments do not represent all of the information possessed by the observers.However, we examine one particular measure, and show that it has astraightforward interpretation, assuming that the information was acquired froma particular type of measurement, and that in this case there is a natural rulefor pooling information. We extend this measure to compatibility of states fork observers, and show that the value is the solution to a semidefinite program.Similar compatibility measures can be defined for alternative notions of statecompatibility, including Post-Peierls (PP) and Equal Support (ES)compatibility.
Brunner, C, Peynot, T, Vidal‐Calleja, T & Underwood, J 2013, 'Selective Combination of Visual and Thermal Imaging for Resilient Localization in Adverse Conditions: Day and Night, Smoke and Fire', Journal of Field Robotics, vol. 30, no. 4, pp. 641-666.
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Bu, GP, Son, JB, Lee, JH, Guan, H, Blumenstein, M & Loo, YC 2013, 'Typical deterministic and stochastic bridge deterioration modelling incorporating backward prediction model', Journal of Civil Structural Health Monitoring, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 141-152.
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© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013. A backward prediction model (BPM) has been developed to generate the missing bridge condition ratings in past years, thereby ensuring adequate condition data as required in long-term performance modelling. The BPM establishes a correlation between the known condition ratings and the non-bridge factors, including climate condition, traffic volume and population growth. The aim of this study is to confirm the ability of BPM in improving the prediction accuracy using the existing bridge deterioration models. The prediction accuracies of typical deterministic and stochastic bridge deterioration models are compared when different sets of BPM-generated historical condition ratings are used as input. Comparisons indicate that the prediction error decreases as more historical condition ratings are made available. Notwithstanding the above findings, several limitations of the current deterministic and stochastic bridge deterioration models are also worth noting and further research is essential to improve the prediction accuracy of bridge deterioration modelling.
Budka, M & Gabrys, B 2013, 'Density-Preserving Sampling: Robust and Efficient Alternative to Cross-Validation for Error Estimation', IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks and Learning Systems, vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 22-34.
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Budka, M, Juszczyszyn, K, Musial, K & Musial, A 2013, 'Molecular model of dynamic social network based on e-mail communication', Social Network Analysis and Mining, vol. 3, no. 3, pp. 543-563.
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In this work we consider an application of physically inspired sociodynamical model to the modelling of the evolution of email-based social network. Contrary to the standard approach of sociodynamics, which assumes expressing of system dynamics with heuristically defined simple rules, we postulate the inference of these rules from the real data and their application within a dynamic molecular model. We present how to embed the n-dimensional social space in Euclidean one. Then, inspired by the Lennard-Jones potential, we define a data-driven social potential function and apply the resultant force to a real e-mail communication network in a course of a molecular simulation, with network nodes taking on the role of interacting particles. We discuss all steps of the modelling process, from data preparation, through embedding and the molecular simulation itself, to transformation from the embedding space back to a graph structure. The conclusions, drawn from examining the resultant networks in stable, minimum-energy states, emphasize the role of the embedding process projecting the non–metric social graph into the Euclidean space, the significance of the unavoidable loss of information connected with this procedure and the resultant preservation of global rather than local properties of the initial network. We also argue applicability of our method to some classes of problems, while also signalling the areas which require further research in order to expand this applicability domain.
Burdon, S, Kilidar, HA & Mooney, G 2013, 'Evaluating an organisation's cultural readiness for innovation', International Journal of Business Innovation and Research, vol. 7, no. 5, pp. 572-572.
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Innovation is often identified as a major driver of organisational growth in free market economies. However, just as often, there is lack of understanding on how best to enable the desired innovation outcomes. This paper addresses assessment of the internal culture of a large commercial engineering company seeking to enhance its ability to build, promote and sustain competitive advantage within its market. The paper's objective is to describe a framework that was designed and tested within the enterprise. The framework identifies and tracks cultural prerequisites underpinning employees' creative activities and how these align with the organisation's readiness to enact innovative outcomes. The findings confirm that many of the prerequisites for developing and progressing new ideas are socially dependent. In addition, efforts to innovate can easily be dissipated and derailed unless the prevailing organisation culture actively encourages interaction of staff and provides tuned and visible practices to easily capture, assess, reward and action new ideas produced by that interaction. Copyright © 2013 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.
Cagno, E & Trianni, A 2013, 'Exploring drivers for energy efficiency within small- and medium-sized enterprises: First evidences from Italian manufacturing enterprises', Applied Energy, vol. 104, pp. 276-285.
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Cagno, E, Worrell, E, Trianni, A & Pugliese, G 2013, 'A novel approach for barriers to industrial energy efficiency', Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 19, pp. 290-308.
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Cai, B, Huang, S, Liu, D, Yuan, S, Dissanayake, G, Lau, H & Pagac, D 2013, 'Multiobjective Optimization for Autonomous Straddle Carrier Scheduling at Automated Container Terminals', IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON AUTOMATION SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, vol. 10, no. 3, pp. 711-725.
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A multiobjective optimization model is presented in this paper for the Autonomous Straddle Carriers Scheduling (ASCS) problem in automated container terminals, which is more practical than the single objective model. The model considers three objectives [ i.e., Straddle Carriers (SCs) traveling time, SC waiting time and finishing time of high-priority container-transferring jobs], and their weighted sum is investigated as the representative example. The presented model is formulated as a pickup and delivery problem with time windows in the form of binary integer programming. An exact algorithm based on Branch-and-Bound with Column Generation (BBCG) is employed for solving the multiobjective ASCS problem. Based on the map of an actual fully automated container terminal, simulation results are compared with the single-objective scheduling to demonstrate the effectiveness and flexibility of the presented multiobjective model, as well as the efficacy of the BBCG algorithm for autonomous SC scheduling. © 2012 IEEE.
Cai, C, Wang, Y & Geers, G 2013, 'Vehicle‐to‐infrastructure communication‐based adaptive traffic signal control', IET Intelligent Transport Systems, vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 351-360.
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Callow, D, Lee, J, Blumenstein, M, Guan, H & Loo, Y-C 2013, 'Development of hybrid optimisation method for Artificial Intelligence based bridge deterioration model — Feasibility study', Automation in Construction, vol. 31, pp. 83-91.
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Cao, L 2013, 'Combined mining: Analyzing object and pattern relations for discovering and constructing complex yet actionable patterns', WIREs Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 140-155.
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Cao, L, Yu, PS, Motoda, H & Williams, G 2013, 'Special issue on behavior computing', Knowledge and Information Systems, vol. 37, no. 2, pp. 245-249.
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Cao, X, Wang, J, Wang, Z, Du, J, Yuan, X, Huang, W, Meng, J, Gu, H, Nie, Y, Ji, B, Hu, S & Zheng, Z 2013, 'MicroRNA profiling during rat ventricular maturation: A role for miR‐29a in regulating cardiomyocyte cell cycle re‐entry', FEBS Letters, vol. 587, no. 10, pp. 1548-1555.
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Cao, X, Wei, X, Han, Y, Yang, Y, Sebe, N & Hauptmann, A 2013, 'Unified Dictionary Learning and Region Tagging with Hierarchical Sparse Representation', Computer Vision and Image Understanding, vol. 117, no. 8, pp. 934-946.
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Cao, Y, Xia, L & Ying, M 2013, 'Probabilistic automata for computing with words', JOURNAL OF COMPUTER AND SYSTEM SCIENCES, vol. 79, no. 1, pp. 152-172.
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Usually, probabilistic automata and probabilistic grammars have crisp symbols as inputs, which can be viewed as the formal models of computing with values. In this paper, we first introduce probabilistic automata and probabilistic grammars for computing with (some special) words, where the words are interpreted as probabilistic distributions or possibility distributions over a set of crisp symbols. By probabilistic conditioning, we then establish a retraction principle from computing with words to computing with values for handling crisp inputs and a generalized extension principle from computing with words to computing with all words for handling arbitrary inputs. These principles show that computing with values and computing with all words can be respectively implemented by computing with some special words. To compare the transition probabilities of two near inputs, we also examine some analytical properties of the transition probability functions of generalized extensions. Moreover, the retractions and the generalized extensions are shown to be equivalence-preserving. Finally, we clarify some relationships among the retractions, the generalized extensions, and the extensions studied by Qiu and Wang. © 2012 Elsevier Inc.
Carmichael, MG & Liu, D 2013, 'Estimating Physical Assistance Need Using a Musculoskeletal Model', IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, vol. 60, no. 7, pp. 1912-1919.
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Technologies that provide physical assistance during tasks are often required to provide assistance specific to the task and person performing it. An example is robotic rehabilitation in which the assistance-as-needed (AAN) paradigm aims to provide operators with the minimum assistance required to perform the task. Current approaches use empirical performance-based methods which require repeated observation of the specific task before an estimate of the needed assistance can be determined. In this paper, we present a new approach utilizing a musculoskeletal model (MM) of the upper limb to estimate the operator's assistance needs with respect to physical tasks. With capabilities of the operator defined at the muscular level of the MM, an optimization model is used to estimate the operator's strength capability. Strength required to perform a task is calculated using a task model. The difference or gap between the operator's strength capability and the strength required to execute a task forms the basis for the new AAN paradigm. We show how this approach estimates the effects of limb pose, load direction, and muscle impairments on a person's ability to perform tasks. © 1964-2012 IEEE.
Carter, DR, Cheung, BB, Liu, T, Au, C, Norris, MD, Haber, M, Murray, J, Gurova, KV, Gudkov, AV & Marshall, GM 2013, 'Abstract 5043: The facilitates chromatin transcription (FACT) protein complex promotes neuroblastoma tumor initiation.', Cancer Research, vol. 73, no. 8_Supplement, pp. 5043-5043.
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Castel, A & François, R 2013, 'Calculation of the Overall Stiffness and Irreversible Deflection of Cracked Reinforced Concrete Beams', Advances in Structural Engineering, vol. 16, no. 12, pp. 2035-2042.
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Cath, TY, Elimelech, M, McCutcheon, JR, McGinnis, RL, Achilli, A, Anastasio, D, Brady, AR, Childress, AE, Farr, IV, Hancock, NT, Lampi, J, Nghiem, LD, Xie, M & Yip, NY 2013, 'Standard Methodology for Evaluating Membrane Performance in Osmotically Driven Membrane Processes', DESALINATION, vol. 312, pp. 31-38.
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Center, JR & White, CP 2013, 'Bariatric surgery, weight loss and bone', Nature Reviews Endocrinology, vol. 9, no. 11, pp. 630-632.
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Cetindamar, D & Kilitcioglu, H 2013, 'Measuring the competitiveness of a firm for an award system', Competitiveness Review: An International Business Journal, vol. 23, no. 1, pp. 7-22.
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Chai, J, Sheng, D, Carter, JP & Zhu, H 2013, 'Corrigendum to “Coefficient of consolidation from non-standard piezocone dissipation curves” [Comput. Geotech. 41 (2012) 13–22]', Computers and Geotechnics, vol. 51, pp. 128-128. CHAIWONGSAI, J, CHIRACHARIT, W, CHAMNONGTHAI, K, MIYANAGA, Y & HIGUCHI, K 2013, 'A Low Power Tone Recognition for Automatic Tonal Speech Recognizer', IEICE Transactions on Fundamentals of Electronics, Communications and Computer Sciences, vol. E96.A, no. 6, pp. 1403-1411. Chan, KY, Dillon, T, Lam, HK, Ling, SSH & Nguyen, HT 2013, 'Special issue on hybrid evolutionary systems for manufacturing processes', APPLIED SOFT COMPUTING, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 1329-1331. Chan, MY, Nguyen, ND, Center, JR, Eisman, JA & Nguyen, TV 2013, 'Quantitative ultrasound and fracture risk prediction in non-osteoporotic men and women as defined by WHO criteria', Osteoporosis International, vol. 24, no. 3, pp. 1015-1022. Chanan, AP, Vigneswaran, S, Kandasamy, J & Johir, MA 2013, 'Need for a fresh look at phosphorus management in wastewater treatment: Trash to treasure', Sustainable Environment Research, vol. 23, no. 1, pp. 23-31. Eutrophication of water bodies is a major, global environmental problem. It is now well understood that its main cause is excessive amounts of nutrients such as phosphorus. Stringent laws were therefore introduced across the world, requiring that the level of the P be significantly reduced. Consequently, the focus for wastewater treatment industry became the elimination of phosphorus in effluent stream. Treatment technologies capable of removing over 90% of phosphorus from wastewater have now been developed. However, these phosphorus removal options are likely to be ineffective in the future. The future would call for a shift to the primary goal of phosphorus removal to 'capturing and reusing' phosphorus. This paper calls for a re-think in developing phosphorus management programs. Discussing Fertigation as step-one in phosphorus reclamation, the paper will further elaborate phosphorus recovery opportunities such as ion-exchange that can be retrofitted to existing wastewater treatment plants. Chang, L, Yu, JX & Qin, L 2013, 'Fast Maximal Cliques Enumeration in Sparse Graphs.', Algorithmica, vol. 66, no. 1, pp. 173-186. In this paper, we consider the problem of generating all maximal cliques in a sparse graph in polynomial delay. Given a graph G=(V,E) with n vertices and m edges, the latest and fastest polynomial delay algorithm for sparse graphs enumerates all maximal cliques in O(δ 4) time delay, where δ is the maximum degree of vertices. However, it requires an O(n×m) preprocessing time. We improve it in two aspects. First, our algorithm does not need preprocessing. Therefore, our algorithm is a truly polynomial delay algorithm. Second, our algorithm enumerates all maximal cliques in O(δ×H 3) time delay, where H is the so called H-value of a graph or equivalently it is the smallest integer satisfying |{vâ̂̂Vâ̂£δ(v)≥H}|≤H given δ(v) as the degree of a vertex. In real-world network data, H usually is a small value and much smaller than δ. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC. Che Mat, R, Shariff, ARM, Pradhan, B, Mahmud, AR, Shafry, M, Rahim, M & Rehman, A 2013, 'A Comparison between four-tier framework and three-tier framework for online applications of 3D GIS visualization', Life Science Journal, vol. 10, no. 3, pp. 1534-1540. Online application of 3D visualization for GIS (Geographic Information System) data is of interest to not only professionals such as cartographers, geographers, geologists and psychologists but also popular among the ordinary people. The system's conventional design is generated from client/server based architecture. This architecture is the main platform for designing the online system architecture, which works based on the distributing concept which is 'tier'. The tier is required to separate the works/tasks between the system architecture. Currently, three-tiers architecture is the most well-known architecture used in GIS applications and other application. However, this architecture has a drawback on the middle tier which needs more processing power to meet the request from multiple of users. GIS applications, especially which involve 3D visualization generate a massive amount of data. Due to this situation, the use of the current three-tier framework for online application of 3D visualization for GIS will decrease the performance of the system in terms of time for processing the request from the users. The aim of this study is to introduce the new four-tier framework and compare it with the existing three-tier framework. This framework consist of four-tier architecture, which is divided into client tier, logic tier, visualization process tier, and database tier. The comparison is based on response time, loading time, frames rate per second, CPU usage, and memory usage. The new framework shows superiority in its performance, and the processing power is reduced. Chekli, L, Phuntsho, S, Kandasamy, J & Shon, H 2013, 'Assessing the aggregation behaviour of iron oxide nanoparticles by using a multi-method approach.', Technical Proceedings of the 2013 NSTI Nanotechnology Conference and Expo, NSTI-Nanotech 2013, vol. 1, pp. 47-50. Iron nanoparticles are becoming increasingly popular for the treatment of contaminated soil and groundwater; however, their mobility and reactivity in subsurface environments are significantly affected by their tendency to aggregate. Assessing their stability under environmental conditions is crucial for determining their environmental fate. A multi-method approach (including different size-measurement techniques) was used to thoroughly characterise the behaviour of iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe2O3NPs) under environmentally relevant conditions. Although recent studies have demonstrated the importance of using a multi-method approach when characterising nanoparticles, the majority of current studies continue to use a single-method approach. Discussions and examples to support the need of a multi-method approach to characterise the aggregation of nanoparticles will be presented in this study. Chekli, L, Phuntsho, S, Roy, M & Shon, HK 2013, 'Characterisation of Fe-oxide nanoparticles coated with humic acid and Suwannee River natural organic matter', SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT, vol. 461, pp. 19-27. Iron oxide nanoparticles are becoming increasingly popular for various applications including the treatment of contaminated soil and groundwater; however, their mobility and reactivity in the subsurface environment are significantly affected by their tendency to aggregate. One solution to overcome this issue is to coat the nanoparticles with dissolved organic matter (DOM). The advantages of DOM over conventional surface modifiers are that DOM is naturally abundant in the environment, inexpensive, non-toxic and readily adsorbed onto the surface of metal oxide nanoparticles.In this study, humic acid (HA) and Suwannee River natural organic matter (SRNOM) were tested and compared as surface modifiers for Fe2O3 nanoparticles (NPs). The DOM-coated Fe2O3 NPs were characterised by various analytical methods including: flow field-flow fractionation (FlFFF), high performance size exclusion chromatography (HPSEC) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The stability of the coated NPs was then evaluated by assessing their aggregation and disaggregation behaviour over time.Results showed that both HA and SRNOM were rapidly and readily adsorbed on the surface of Fe2O3 NPs, providing electrosteric stabilisation over a wide range of pH. HPSEC results showed that the higher molecular weight components of DOM were preferentially adsorbed onto the surface of Fe2O3. As SRNOM consists of macromolecules with a higher molecular weight than HA, the measured size of the SRNOM-coated Fe2O3 NPs was 30% larger than the HA-coated Fe2O3 NPs. FTIR results indicated the occurrence of hydrogen bonding arising from electrostatic interaction between the DOM and Fe2O3 NPs. Finally, a stability study showed that after 14days, small agglomerates and aggregates were formed. The HA-coated Fe2O3 NPs formed agglomerates which were easily disaggregated using a vortex mixer, with the coated NPs returning to their initial size. However, SRNOM-coated Fe2O3 NPs were only partially disagg... Chekli, L, Phuntsho, S, Roy, M, Lombi, E, Donner, E & Shon, HK 2013, 'Assessing the aggregation behaviour of iron oxide nanoparticles under relevant environmental conditions using a multi-method approach', WATER RESEARCH, vol. 47, no. 13, pp. 4585-4599. Iron nanoparticles are becoming increasingly popular for the treatment of contaminated soil and groundwater; however, their mobility and reactivity in subsurface environments are significantly affected by their tendency to aggregate. Assessing their stability under environmental conditions is crucial for determining their environmental fate. A multi-method approach (including different size-measurement techniques and the DLVO theory) was used to thoroughly characterise the behaviour of iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe2O3NPs) under environmentally relevant conditions. Although recent studies have demonstrated the importance of using a multi-method approach when characterising nanoparticles, the majority of current studies continue to use a single-method approach.Under some soil conditions (i.e. pH 7, 10mM NaCl and 2mM CaCl2) and increasing particle concentration, Fe2O3NPs underwent extensive aggregation to form large aggregates (>1μm). Coating the nanoparticles with dissolved organic matter (DOM) was investigated as an alternative 'green' solution to overcoming the aggregation issue instead of using the more commonly proposed polyelectrolytes. At high concentrations, DOM effectively covered the surface of the Fe2O3NPs, thereby conferring negative surface charge on the particles across a wide range of pH values. This provided electrostatic stabilisation and considerably reduced the particle aggregation effect. DOM-coated Fe2O3NPs also proved to be more stable under high ionic strength conditions. The presence of CaCl2, however, even at low concentrations, induced the aggregation of DOM-coated Fe2O3NPs, mainly via charge neutralisation and bridging. This has significant implications in regards to the reactivity and fate of these materials in the environment. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. Chen, B, Lam, W, Tsang, IW & Wong, T-L 2013, 'Discovering Low-Rank Shared Concept Space for Adapting Text Mining Models', IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, vol. 35, no. 6, pp. 1284-1297. We propose a framework for adapting text mining models that discovers low-rank shared concept space. Our major characteristic of this concept space is that it explicitly minimizes the distribution gap between the source domain with sufficient labeled data and the target domain with only unlabeled data, while at the same time it minimizes the empirical loss on the labeled data in the source domain. Our method is capable of conducting the domain adaptation task both in the original feature space as well as in the transformed Reproducing Kernel Hilbert Space (RKHS) using kernel tricks. Theoretical analysis guarantees that the error of our adaptation model can be bounded with respect to the embedded distribution gap and the empirical loss in the source domain. We have conducted extensive experiments on two common text mining problems, namely, document classification and information extraction, to demonstrate the efficacy of our proposed framework. © 2013 IEEE. Chen, J, Ji, Z, Kribs, D, Lütkenhaus, N & Zeng, B 2013, 'Symmetric Extension of Two-Qubit States', Phys. Rev. A, vol. 90, no. 3, pp. 032318-032318-10. Quantum key distribution uses public discussion protocols to establish sharedsecret keys. In the exploration of ultimate limits to such protocols, theproperty of symmetric extendibility of underlying bipartite states $\rho_{AB}$plays an important role. A bipartite state $\rho_{AB}$ is symmetric extendibleif there exits a tripartite state $\rho_{ABB'}$, such that the $AB$ marginalstate is identical to the $AB'$ marginal state, i.e. $\rho_{AB'}=\rho_{AB}$.For a symmetric extendible state $\rho_{AB}$, the first task of the publicdiscussion protocol is to break this symmetric extendibility. Therefore tocharacterize all bi-partite quantum states that possess symmetric extensions isof vital importance. We prove a simple analytical formula that a two-qubitstate $\rho_{AB}$ admits a symmetric extension if and only if$\tr(\rho_B^2)\geq \tr(\rho_{AB}^2)-4\sqrt{\det{\rho_{AB}}}$. Given theintimate relationship between the symmetric extension problem and the quantummarginal problem, our result also provides the first analytical necessary andsufficient condition for the quantum marginal problem with overlappingmarginals. Chen, L, Li, C, Huang, T, Chen, Y, Wen, S & Qi, J 2013, 'A synapse memristor model with forgetting effect', Physics Letters A, vol. 377, no. 45-48, pp. 3260-3265. Chen, P, Li, J, Wong, L, Kuwahara, H, Huang, JZ & Gao, X 2013, 'Accurate prediction of hot spot residues through physicochemical characteristics of amino acid sequences', PROTEINS-STRUCTURE FUNCTION AND BIOINFORMATICS, vol. 81, no. 8, pp. 1351-1362. Hot spot residues of proteins are fundamental interface residues that help proteins perform their functions. Detecting hot spots by experimental methods is costly and time-consuming. Sequential and structural information has been widely used in the compu Chen, Z, Ngo, HH & Guo, W 2013, 'A Critical Review on the End Uses of Recycled Water', CRITICAL REVIEWS IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, vol. 43, no. 14, pp. 1446-1516. Recycled water provides a viable opportunity to supplement water supplies as well as alleviate environmental loads. The authors examine the sources of recycled water and discusses various end uses. They focus on reviewing the historical development and current status of recycled water on a global scale with containing the evolvement of wastewater treatment technologies, water quality guidelines, and public attitudes. The authors also illustrate typical case studies of recycled water in a number of countries and regions, including Australia, Asia, the United States, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. These pilot studies can be good examples for the future projects. They identify the good prospects of further expansion and exploration of current and new end uses while emphasizing the integrated water planning and management as well as challenging and tasks in the future. © 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC. Chen, Z, Ngo, HH & Guo, W 2013, 'Risk Control in Recycled Water Schemes', CRITICAL REVIEWS IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, vol. 43, no. 22, pp. 2439-2510. Recycled water is becoming one of the indispensable and reliable water resources at present. When it is introduced as an alternative source, risks on human health and the environment become major constraints driving the application and extension of recycled water. The authors examine the sources and associated risks of recycled water and introduce the practical risk control technologies on various end uses. They also review some existing risk assessment models by comparing their strengths and weaknesses toward the good approach of integrated modeling. Some critical suggestions on risk management and communication are made based on the given information. © 2013 Taylor and Francis Group, LLC. Chen, Z, Ngo, HH, Guo, W & Wang, X 2013, 'Analysis of Sydney's recycled water schemes', FRONTIERS OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & ENGINEERING, vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 608-615. © Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2012. Recycled water provides a viable opportunity to partially supplement fresh water supplies as well as substantially alleviate environmental loads. Currently, thousands of recycled water schemes have been successfully conducted in a number of countries and Sydney is one of the leading cities, which has made massive effort to apply water reclamation, recycling and reuse. This study aims to make a comprehensive analysis of recycled water schemes in Sydney for a wide range of end uses such as landscape irrigation, industrial process uses and residential uses (e.g., golf course irrigation, industrial cooling water reuse, toilet flushing and clothes washing etc.). For each representative recycled water scheme, this study investigates the involved wastewater treatment technologies, the effluent quality compared with specified guideline values and public attitudes toward different end uses. Based on these obtained data, multi criteria analysis (MCA) in terms of risk, cost-benefit, environmental and social aspects can be performed. Consequently, from the analytical results, the good prospects of further expansion and exploration of current and new end uses were identified toward the integrated water planning and management. The analyses could also help decision makers in making a sound judgment for future recycled water projects. Chen, Z, Ngo, HH, Guo, W, Wang, XC, Miechel, C, Corby, N, Listowski, A & O'Halloran, K 2013, 'Analysis of social attitude to the new end use of recycled water for household laundry in Australia by the regression models', JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, vol. 126, no. 1, pp. 79-84. Recycled water for household laundry can be regarded as a promising strategy to alleviate the current demand on scarce water supplies. Public acceptability becomes fairly important to ensure the successful establishment and development of this new end use. To address the issue, this study conducted social surveys in two locations of Australia, Port Macquarie and Melbourne, where respondents were asked 17 questions. The regression models provide conclusions about which characteristics are more likely to lead to the acceptance of recycled water from society. Three attitudinal variables (RWAlterDW, Attitude and Cost) and three psychological variables (Odour, Reading and SmallUnit) were found to be the key driving forces behind domestic water reuse behaviour. These findings could drive the future research direction to achieve better public perception of this new end use of recycled water. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. Cheng, B, Ritz, C, Burnett, I & Zheng, X 2013, 'A General Compression Approach to Multi-Channel Three-Dimensional Audio', IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON AUDIO SPEECH AND LANGUAGE PROCESSING, vol. 21, no. 8, pp. 1676-1688. Cheng, P, Chen, Z, Rui, Y, Guo, YJ, Gui, L, Tao, M & Zhang, QT 2013, 'Channel Estimation for OFDM Systems over Doubly Selective Channels: A Distributed Compressive Sensing Based Approach', IEEE Transactions on Communications, vol. 61, no. 10, pp. 4173-4185. Channel estimation for an orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) broadband system over a doubly selective channel is very challenging. This is mainly due to the significant Doppler shift, which results in a time-frequency doubly-selective (DS) channel. The DS channel features a large number of channel coefficients, which introduces inter-carrier interference (ICI) and forces the need for allocating a large number of pilot subcarriers. To tackle this problem, in this paper we propose a novel channel estimation scheme based on distributed compressive sensing (DCS) theory. Taking advantage of the basis expansion model (BEM) and the channel sparsity in the delay domain, we transform the original DS channel into a novel two-dimensional channel model, where several jointly sparse BEM coefficient vectors become the estimation goal. Then a special decoupling form originating from a novel sparse pilot pattern is designed for such estimation, which results in an ICI-free structure and enables the DCS application to make joint estimation of these vectors accurately. Combined with a smoothing treatment process, the proposed scheme can achieve significantly higher estimation accuracy than the existing ones, although with a much smaller number of pilot subcarriers. Theoretical analysis and simulation results both confirm its performance merits. © 2013 IEEE. Cheng, S, Ji, JC & Zhou, J 2013, 'Fast synchronization of directionally coupled chaotic systems', APPLIED MATHEMATICAL MODELLING, vol. 37, no. 1-2, pp. 127-136. The fast synchronization of directionally coupled chaotic systems under a chained interaction topology is studied by applying finite-time stability theory. It is shown that all chaotic systems can achieve synchronization in finite time as long as the coupling strength is strong enough. It is proved that the settling times are determined by the interaction strength, system parameters and initial conditions of the chaotic systems. Furthermore, it is found that the settling times are mainly dependent on the bounded value and dimension of the coupled chaotic systems when the individual chaotic sub-system is bounded. Finally, illustrative examples and numerical simulations are given to show the correctness of theoretical results. Cheng, XW, Jiang, ZY, Wei, DB, Hao, L, Zhao, JW, Peng, JG, Lu, SZ & Jiang, LZ 2013, 'Effect of Water Vapor on Oxidation of Ferritic Stainless Steel 21Cr-0.6Mo-Nb-Ti in Simulated Reheating Environment', Advanced Materials Research, vol. 690-693, pp. 280-289. Chin-Teng Lin, Shu-Fang Tsai & Li-Wei Ko 2013, 'EEG-Based Learning System for Online Motion Sickness Level Estimation in a Dynamic Vehicle Environment', IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks and Learning Systems, vol. 24, no. 10, pp. 1689-1700. Motion sickness is a common experience for many people. Several previous researches indicated that motion sickness has a negative effect on driving performance and sometimes leads to serious traffic accidents because of a decline in a person's ability to maintain self-control. This safety issue has motivated us to find a way to prevent vehicle accidents. Our target was to determine a set of valid motion sickness indicators that would predict the occurrence of a person's motion sickness as soon as possible. A successful method for the early detection of motion sickness will help us to construct a cognitive monitoring system. Such a monitoring system can alert people before they become sick and prevent them from being distracted by various motion sickness symptoms while driving or riding in a car. In our past researches, we investigated the physiological changes that occur during the transition of a passenger's cognitive state using electroencephalography (EEG) power spectrum analysis, and we found that the EEG power responses in the left and right motors, parietal, lateral occipital, and occipital midline brain areas were more highly correlated to subjective sickness levels than other brain areas. In this paper, we propose the use of a self-organizing neural fuzzy inference network (SONFIN) to estimate a driver's/passenger's sickness level based on EEG features that have been extracted online from five motion sickness-related brain areas, while either in real or virtual vehicle environments. The results show that our proposed learning system is capable of extracting a set of valid motion sickness indicators that originated from EEG dynamics, and through SONFIN, a neuro-fuzzy prediction model, we successfully translated the set of motion sickness indicators into motion sickness levels. The overall performance of this proposed EEG-based learning system can achieve an average prediction accuracy of ∼ 82%. © 2013 IEEE. Chitambar, E & Hsieh, M-H 2013, 'Revisiting the optimal detection of quantum information', Physical Review A, vol. 88, no. 2. In 1991, Peres and Wootters wrote a seminal paper on the nonlocal processing of quantum information. We return to their classic problem and solve it in various contexts. Specifically, for discriminating the 'double trine' ensemble with minimum error, we prove that global operations are more powerful than local operations with classical communication (LOCC). Even stronger, there exists a finite gap between the optimal LOCC probability and that obtainable by separable operations (SEP). Additionally we prove that a two-way, adaptive LOCC strategy can always beat a one-way protocol. Our results demonstrate 'nonlocality without entanglement' in two-qubit pure states. © 2013 American Physical Society. Chitambar, E, Duan, R & Hsieh, M-H 2013, 'When do Local Operations and Classical Communication Suffice for Two-Qubit State Discrimination?', IEEE Trans. Inform. Theory, vol. 60, no. 3, pp. 3-1561. In this paper we consider the conditions under which a given ensemble oftwo-qubit states can be optimally distinguished by local operations andclassical communication (LOCC). We begin by completing the \emph{perfect}distinguishability problem of two-qubit ensembles - both for separableoperations and LOCC - by providing necessary and sufficient conditions for theperfect discrimination of one pure and one mixed state. Then for the well-knowntask of minimum error discrimination, it is shown that \textit{almost all}two-qubit ensembles consisting of three pure states cannot be optimallydiscriminated using LOCC. This is surprising considering that \textit{any} twopure states can be distinguished optimally by LOCC. Special attention is givento ensembles that lack entanglement, and we prove an easy sufficient conditionfor when a set of three product states cannot be optimally distinguished byLOCC, thus providing new examples of the phenomenon known as 'non-localitywithout entanglement'. We next consider an example of $N$ parties who eachshare the same state but who are ignorant of its identity. The state is drawnfrom the rotationally invariant 'trine ensemble', and we establish a tightconnection between the $N$-copy ensemble and Shor's 'lifted' single-copyensemble. For any finite $N$, we prove that optimal identification of thestates cannot be achieved by LOCC; however as $N\to\infty$, LOCC can indeeddiscriminate the states optimally. This is the first result of its kind.Finally, we turn to the task of unambiguous discrimination and derive new lowerbounds on the LOCC inconclusive probability for symmetric states. When appliedto the double trine ensemble, this leads to a rather differentdistinguishability character than when the minimum-error probability isconsidered. Chiu, C & Chaczko, Z 2013, 'Enhancement of Surgical Training Practice with the Spring Tensor Heuristic Model', International Journal of Electronics and Telecommunications, vol. 59, no. 3, pp. 237-244. Chon, K, Cho, J & Shon, HK 2013, 'A pilot-scale hybrid municipal wastewater reclamation system using combined coagulation and disk filtration, ultrafiltration, and reverse osmosis: Removal of nutrients and micropollutants, and characterization of membrane foulants', Bioresource Technology, vol. 141, no. 1, pp. 109-116. A pilot-scale municipal wastewater reclamation system using combined coagulation and disk filtration (CCDF), ultrafiltration (UF), and reverse osmosis (RO) membrane has been built to investigate removal of water contaminants and fouling mitigation. The reclaimed water using the pilot system could meet draft regulations on wastewater reuse of the California Department of Public Health (DOC: 0.5 mgC/L; TN: 5 mgN/L). The removal of micropolluants by the CCDF process and UF could not be evaluated by their MW, Log D, and charge characteristics. However, they were identified as governing factors affecting the removal of micropollutants by the RO. The CCDF process might effectively remove particulate materials capable of contributing to cake layer formation on the UF membrane surfaces but the residual coagulants provided a strong effect on fouling formation of the UF membrane. Thus, hydrophobic fractions of the desorbed UF membrane foulants were higher than those of the desorbed RO membrane foulants. Chon, K, Cho, J & Shon, HK 2013, 'Advanced characterization of algogenic organic matter, bacterial organic matter, humic acids and fulvic acids', Water Science and Technology, vol. 67, no. 10, pp. 2228-2235. Chon, K, Cho, J & Shon, HK 2013, 'Fouling characteristics of a membrane bioreactor and nanofiltration hybrid system for municipal wastewater reclamation', Bioresource Technology, vol. 130, pp. 239-247. A laboratory-scale membrane bioreactor (MBR) and nanofiltration (NF) hybrid system has been built to investigate effects of changes in characteristics of effluent organic matter by the MBR on fouling characteristics of the NF membranes. Large amounts of polysaccharide-like substances with small molecular weight and strong fluorescence intensity at the excitation wavelength of 230 nm and the emission wavelength of 420 nm were produced by microbial growth in the MBR. These substances had a great influence on fouling formation of the NF membranes. Fouling characteristics of the MBR were governed by both hydrophobic and hydrophilic fractions while hydrophilic fractions were found as major constituents of the desorbed NF membrane foulants. Flux decline rates of the NF membranes were closely associated with differences in their fouling layer compositions, meaning that performances of the NF membranes (i.e., flux decline) could be influenced by the membrane characteristics (i.e., surface zeta potential and contact angle). Chu, Q-X, Mao, C-X & Zhu, H 2013, 'A Compact Notched Band UWB Slot Antenna With Sharp Selectivity and Controllable Bandwidth', IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, vol. 61, no. 8, pp. 3961-3966. Chun-Wei Seah, Tsang, IW & Yew-Soon Ong 2013, 'Transfer Ordinal Label Learning', IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks and Learning Systems, vol. 24, no. 11, pp. 1863-1876. Designing a classifier in the absence of labeled data is becoming a common encounter as the acquisition of informative labels is often difficult or expensive, particularly on new uncharted target domains. The feasibility of attaining a reliable classifier for the task of interest is embarked by some in transfer learning, where label information from relevant source domains is considered for complimenting the design process. The core challenge arising from such endeavors, however, is the induction of source sample selection bias, such that the trained classifier has the tendency of steering toward the distribution of the source domain. In addition, this bias is deemed to become more severe on data involving multiple classes. Considering this cue, our interest in this paper is to address such a challenge in the target domain, where ordinal labeled data are unavailable. In contrast to the previous works, we propose a transfer ordinal label learning paradigm to predict the ordinal labels of target unlabeled data by spanning the feasible solution space with ensemble of ordinal classifiers from the multiple relevant source domains. Specifically, the maximum margin criterion is considered here for the construction of the target classifier from an ensemble of source ordinal classifiers. Theoretical analysis and extensive empirical studies on real-world data sets are presented to study the benefits of the proposed method. Cirelli, J, McGregor, C, Graydon, B & James, A 2013, 'Analysis of continuous oxygen saturation data for accurate representation of retinal exposure to oxygen in the preterm infant.', Stud Health Technol Inform, vol. 183, pp. 126-131. Maintaining blood oxygen saturation within the intended target range for preterm infants receiving neonatal intensive care is challenging. Supplemental oxygen is believed to lead to increased risk of retinopathy of prematurity and hence managing the level of oxygen within this population is important within their care. Current quality improvement activities use coarse hourly spot readings to measure supplemental oxygen levels as associated with targeted ranges that vary based on gestational age. In this research we use Artemis, a real-time online healthcare analytics platform to ascertain if the collection of second by second data provides a better representation of retinal exposure to oxygen than an infrequent, intermittent spot reading. We show that Artemis is capable of producing more accurate information from the higher frequency data, as it includes all the episodic events in the activity of the hour, which provides a better understanding of oxygen fluctuation ranges which affect the physiological status of the infant. Consoli, NC, Festugato, L, da Rocha, CG & Cruz, RC 2013, 'Key parameters for strength control of rammed sand–cement mixtures: Influence of types of portland cement', Construction and Building Materials, vol. 49, pp. 591-597. Cowern, NEB, Simdyankin, S, Ahn, C, Bennett, NS, Goss, JP, Hartmann, J-M, Pakfar, A, Hamm, S, Valentin, J, Napolitani, E, De Salvador, D, Bruno, E & Mirabella, S 2013, 'Extended Point Defects in Crystalline Materials: Ge and Si', Physical Review Letters, vol. 110, no. 15. Croucher, DR, Hochgräfe, F, Zhang, L, Liu, L, Lyons, RJ, Rickwood, D, Tactacan, CM, Browne, BC, Ali, N, Chan, H, Shearer, R, Gallego-Ortega, D, Saunders, DN, Swarbrick, A & Daly, RJ 2013, 'Involvement of Lyn and the Atypical Kinase SgK269/PEAK1 in a Basal Breast Cancer Signaling Pathway', Cancer Research, vol. 73, no. 6, pp. 1969-1980. Da Rocha, CG & Formoso, CT 2013, 'Configuring product variants in customisa-tion strategies for house-building', Open House International, vol. 38, no. 3, pp. 48-56. Mass customisation involves the provision of product variants that fulfil clients' specific requirements seeking to increase product values. The configuration process involves a chain of decisions, which needs to be undertaken to create product variants that meet each client specific requirements. In this paper, this chain of decisions is conceptualized in terms of customisation units. Each customisation unit encompasses a customisable attribute (e.g. size, colour) and the range of items offered for this attribute. A design science approach was adopted in this investigation. In this approach, knowledge is produced by creating and testing a solution, which provides practical and theoretical contributions. A method is proposed to analyse and improve the configuration process by conceptualizing this process as a tree diagram. The proposed method is used to analyse the configuration process developed by organisations of the house-building sector based in the U.K. and Brazil: a manufacturer of floor tiles, contractors, and registered providers. These analyses enabled a comparison of the distinct configuration processes adopted. In addition, problems associated to the configuration process (such as burden of choice) and opportunities for improvements were also identified. Finally, alternative chains of decision were also devised based on these analyses to address the problems identified. da Rocha, CG & Kemmer, SL 2013, 'Method to Implement Delayed Product Differentiation in Construction of High-Rise Apartment Building Projects', Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, vol. 139, no. 10, pp. 05013001-05013001. Dackermann, U, Li, J & Samali, B 2013, 'Identification of member connectivity and mass changes on a two-storey framed structure using frequency response functions and artificial neural networks', JOURNAL OF SOUND AND VIBRATION, vol. 332, no. 16, pp. 3636-3653. This paper presents a structural health monitoring (SHM) technique that utilises pattern changes in frequency response functions (FRFs) as input parameters for a system of artificial neural networks (ANNs) to assess the structural condition of a structure. To verify the proposed method, it is applied to numerical and experimental models of a two-storey framed structure, on which structural damage is induced by member connectivity and mass changes, respectively. For the numerical structure, simulated time-history data are polluted with various levels of white Gaussian noise in order to realistically represent field-testing conditions. As a damage indicator, residual FRFs are used, which are derived by calculating the differences in FRF data between the undamaged/baseline structure and the structure with changed joint conditions or added mass. To obtain suitable patterns for neural network training, principal component analysis (PCA) techniques are adopted to reduce the size of the residual FRF data and to filter noise. A hierarchical system of individual ANNs, termed network ensemble, is then trained to map changes in PCA-reduced residual FRFs to damage conditions. The results obtained for both damage investigations, namely joint damage and mass changes, demonstrate that the proposed SHM technique is accurate and reliable in assessing the condition of the test structure numerically and experimentally based on direct FRF measurements and network ensemble analysis. From the outcomes of the individual networks, it is found that the proposed hierarchical network ensemble approach is highly efficient in filtering poor results of underperforming networks obtained from measurement locations with low damage sensitivity. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. Dackermann, U, Li, J, Rijal, R & Samali, B 2013, 'A Vibration-Based Approach for the Estimation of the Loss of Composite Action in Timber Composite Systems', STRUCTURAL HEALTH ASSESSMENT OF TIMBER STRUCTURES, vol. 778, pp. 462-469. This paper presents a novel approach for the determination of the loss of composite action for timber composite systems using only measurements from non-destructive vibration testing. Traditionally, the composite action of a system is evaluated from static load testing using deflection measurements. However, static load testing is expensive, time consuming and inappropriate for existing flooring systems. The method proposed in this paper is based on the Damage Index (DI) method, which uses changes in modal strain energies, to detect locations and severities of damage. In the proposed method, a new Loss of Composite Action Index (LCAI), which is derived from direct mode shape measurements obtained from dynamic testing, is introduced to evaluate the loss of composite action. The proposed method is tested and validated on numerical and experimental models of a timber composite beam structure, which consists of two timber components that are connected with different numbers of screws to simulate various degrees of partial composite states. The results obtained from the new method are very encouraging and show a clear trend of the proposed dynamic-based LCAI in indicating the loss of composite action in the investigated timber composite structure. © (2013) Trans Tech Publicutions, Switzerland. Dale-Jones, G, Hancock, P & Willey, K 2013, 'Accounting Students in an Australian University Improve their Writing: But How Did it Happen?', Accounting Education, vol. 22, no. 6, pp. 544-562. The ability to communicate ' orally and in writing' is a graduate attribute that employers in many countries rank as number one in importance, aside from relevant qualifications. This paper reports the implementation and evaluation of a collaborative peer assessment and self-assessment learning and teaching (L&T) initiative, which was designed to improve postgraduate students' judgment of writing standards and to improve their own writing according to that standard. The initiative was embedded in an introductory financial accounting unit in an Australian university. In a mixed methods study, the matched pair design revealed improvements in the written communication skills of students as determined by an independent assessor. There was also statistically significant improvement in the ability of students to apply assessment standards to grammatical, structural and presentation components of written communication. Whereas it was not possible to attribute the improvements entirely to the collaborative peer assessment initiative, our observations and students' self-reporting comments suggest that the L&T initiative was effective Daqamseh, ST, Mansor, S, Pradhan, B, Billa, L & Mahmud, AR 2013, 'Potential fish habitat mapping using MODIS-derived sea surface salinity, temperature and chlorophyll-a data: South China Sea Coastal areas, Malaysia', Geocarto International, vol. 28, no. 6, pp. 546-560. Davidson, PL, Wilson, SJ, Chalmers, DJ, Wilson, BD, Eager, D & McIntosh, AS 2013, 'Analysis of Energy Flow During Playground Surface Impacts', Journal of Applied Biomechanics, vol. 29, no. 5, pp. 628-633. Dayong Ye, Minjie Zhang & Sutanto, D 2013, 'Self-Adaptation-Based Dynamic Coalition Formation in a Distributed Agent Network: A Mechanism and a Brief Survey', IEEE Transactions on Parallel and Distributed Systems, vol. 24, no. 5, pp. 1042-1051. Deng, W, Xie, F, Baltar, HTMCM & Goldys, EM 2013, 'Metal-enhanced fluorescence in the life sciences: here, now and beyond', Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, vol. 15, no. 38, pp. 15695-15695. Devkota, KC, Regmi, AD, Pourghasemi, HR, Yoshida, K, Pradhan, B, Ryu, IC, Dhital, MR & Althuwaynee, OF 2013, 'Landslide susceptibility mapping using certainty factor, index of entropy and logistic regression models in GIS and their comparison at Mugling–Narayanghat road section in Nepal Himalaya', Natural Hazards, vol. 65, no. 1, pp. 135-165. Dietz, C, Richter, R & Deuse, J 2013, 'Variantenmanagement im Simultaneous Engineering', Zeitschrift für wirtschaftlichen Fabrikbetrieb, vol. 108, no. 5, pp. 325-329. Diffner, E, Beck, D, Gudgin, E, Thoms, JAI, Knezevic, K, Pridans, C, Foster, S, Goode, D, Lim, WK, Boelen, L, Metzeler, KH, Micklem, G, Bohlander, SK, Buske, C, Burnett, A, Ottersbach, K, Vassiliou, GS, Olivier, J, Wong, JWH, Göttgens, B, Huntly, BJ & Pimanda, JE 2013, 'Activity of a heptad of transcription factors is associated with stem cell programs and clinical outcome in acute myeloid leukemia', Blood, vol. 121, no. 12, pp. 2289-2300. Ding, G 2013, 'Demolish or refurbish – Environmental benefits of housing conservation', Construction Economics and Building, vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 18-34. Ding, G & Forsythe, PJ 2013, 'Sustainable construction: life cycle energy analysis of construction on sloping sites for residential buildings', Construction Management and Economics, vol. 31, no. 3, pp. 254-265. In 2010, the Australian residential construction sector contributed about 28% of the value of all construction and was responsible for 8% of the total energy consumption. Residential construction will continue to increase to cope with the demand due to population growth. Owing to land scarcity, construction on sloping sites has become a common construction method for residential development in Australia. This method has economic benefits but poses environmental issues as it damages topsoil, disturbs natural drainage and groundwater pathways and imposes additional stress on soil under fill. The life cycle energy consumption of the construction process is examined in relation to residential projects on sloping sites on a range of slopes and soil types in New South Wales, Australia. Forty-one detached dwellings were selected and a service life of 60 years assumed for the study. The research findings reveal that the slope for each type of soil has a positive correlation with life cycle energy consumption. As part of the onsite construction process, the results also show that the energy consumption of construction on sloping sites plays a significant factor in the life cycle energy analysis of a building. © 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC. Dinh, HT, Lee, C, Niyato, D & Wang, P 2013, 'A survey of mobile cloud computing: architecture, applications, and approaches', Wireless Communications and Mobile Computing, vol. 13, no. 18, pp. 1587-1611. Diyaljee, V 2013, 'Discussion of “Stress-Strain Degradation Response of Railway Ballast Stabilized with Geosynthetics” by Buddhima Indraratna and Sanjay Nimbalkar', Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, vol. 139, no. 12, pp. 2232-2233. Do, QNT & Hussain, FK 2013, 'A hybrid approach for the personalisation of cloud-based e-governance services', International Journal of High Performance Computing and Networking, vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 205-205. Cloud computing is a new and promising paradigm for service delivery including computing resources over the internet. Cloud computing standards and architecture play an important role in benefiting governments by reducing operating costs and increasing governance effectiveness. Cloud-based e-governance contributes to managing security, reducing cost based on a pay-as-you-go method, IT labour cost reduction, and increasing scalability. Given the importance of cloud computing in the today's emerging technologies, personalisation in cloud computing is also significant in supporting users to obtain what they need without being required to request it explicitly. This research will focus mainly on a personalisation algorithm to for cloud computing. A case study in which a user can suggest the language they want to use without making an explicit request will be provided to assist further understanding of the new algorithm, which is a combination of the TOPSIS and Pearson correlation coefficient methods. Dom, NC, Ahmad, AH, Latif, ZA, Ismail, R & Pradhan, B 2013, 'Coupling of remote sensing data and environmental-related parameters for dengue transmission risk assessment in Subang Jaya, Malaysia', Geocarto International, vol. 28, no. 3, pp. 258-272. Dong, H & Hussain, FK 2013, 'SOF: a semi-supervised ontology-learning-based focused crawler', CONCURRENCY AND COMPUTATION-PRACTICE & EXPERIENCE, vol. 25, no. 12, pp. 1755-1770. The rapid increase in the volume of data available on the Internet makes it increasingly impractical for a crawler to index the whole Web. Instead, many intelligent crawlers, known as ontology-based semantic focused crawlers, have been designed by making use of Semantic Web technologies for topic-centered Web information crawling. Ontologies, however, have constraints of validity and time, which may influence the performance of the crawlers. Ontology-learning-based focused crawlers are therefore designed to automatically evolve ontologies by integrating ontology learning technologies. Nevertheless, surveys indicate that the existing ontology-learning-based focused crawlers do not have the capability to automatically enrich the content of ontologies, which makes these crawlers unreliable in the open and heterogeneous Web environment. Hence, in this paper, we propose a framework for a novel semi-supervised ontology-learning-based focused (SOF) crawler, the SOF crawler, which embodies a series of schemas for ontology generation and Web information formatting, a semi-supervised ontology learning framework, and a hybrid Web page classification approach aggregated by a group of support vector machine models. A series of tests are implemented to evaluate the technical feasibility of this proposed framework. The conclusion and the future work are summarized in the final section Dong, H, Hussain, FK & Chang, E 2013, 'Semantic Web Service matchmakers: state of the art andchallenges', CONCURRENCY AND COMPUTATION-PRACTICE & EXPERIENCE, vol. 25, no. 7, pp. 961-988. Web services provide a standard means for the interoperable operations between electronic devices in a network. The mission of Web service discovery is to seek an appropriate Web service for a service requester on the basis of the service descriptions in Web service advertisements and the service requesterâs requirements. Nevertheless, the standard language used for encoding service descriptions does not have the capacity to specify the capabilities of a Web service, leading to the problem of ambiguity in the service discovery process. This brings up the vision of SemanticWeb Services and SemanticWeb Service discovery, which make use of the SemanticWeb technologies to enrich the semantics of service descriptions for service discovery. Semantic Web Service matchmakers are the programs or frameworks designed to implement the task of Semantic Web Service discovery and have drawn a significant amount of attention from both academia and industry from the start of this century. In this paper, we conduct a survey of the contemporary Semantic Web Service matchmakers in order to obtain an overview of the state of the art in this research area. We summarize six technical dimensions from the past literature and analyze the typical Semantic Web Service matchmakers mostly developed during the past 4 or 5 years in terms of the six dimensions. By means of this analysis, we gain an understanding of the current research and summarize a series of potential issues to that would provide the foundation for future research in this area. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd Dong, Y, Hong, W-C, Xu, Y & Yu, S 2013, 'Numerical scales generated individually for analytic hierarchy process', European Journal of Operational Research, vol. 229, no. 3, pp. 654-662. Dong, Y, Zhang, G, Hong, W-C & Yu, S 2013, 'Linguistic Computational Model Based on 2-Tuples and Intervals', IEEE Transactions on Fuzzy Systems, vol. 21, no. 6, pp. 1006-1018. Doss, R, Zhou, W & Yu, S 2013, 'Secure RFID Tag Ownership Transfer Based on Quadratic Residues', IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 390-401. Dragos, J & Wu, C 2013, 'A new general approach to derive normalised pressure impulse curves', International Journal of Impact Engineering, vol. 62, pp. 1-12. Dragos, J, Wu, C & Oehlers, DJ 2013, 'Simplification of fully confined blasts for structural response analysis', Engineering Structures, vol. 56, pp. 312-326. Dragos, J, Wu, C & Vugts, K 2013, 'Pressure-Impulse Diagrams for an Elastic-Plastic Member under Confined Blasts', International Journal of Protective Structures, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 143-162. Dragos, J, Wu, C, Haskett, M & Oehlers, D 2013, 'Derivation of Normalized Pressure Impulse Curves for Flexural Ultra High Performance Concrete Slabs', Journal of Structural Engineering, vol. 139, no. 6, pp. 875-885. Du, J, Zhang, T, Guo, YJ & Sun, XW 2013, 'A high-temperature superconducting monolithic microwave integrated Josephson down-converter with high conversion efficiency', Applied Physics Letters, vol. 102, no. 21, pp. 212602-212602. Du, R, Wu, Q, He, X & Yang, J 2013, 'MIL-SKDE: Multiple-instance learning with supervised kernel density estimation', Signal Processing, vol. 93, no. 6, pp. 1471-1484. Multiple-instance learning (MIL) is a variation on supervised learning. Instead of receiving a set of labeled instances, the learner receives a set of bags that are labeled. Each bag contains many instances. The aim of MIL is to classify new bags or instances. In this work, we propose a novel algorithm, MIL-SKDE (multiple-instance learning with supervised kernel density estimation), which addresses MIL problem through an extended framework of KDE (kernel density estimation)+mean shift. Since the KDE+mean shift framework is an unsupervised learning method, we extend KDE to its supervised version, called supervised KDE (SKDE), by considering class labels of samples. To seek the modes (local maxima) of SKDE, we also extend mean shift to a supervised version by taking into account sample labels. SKDE is an alternative of the well-known diverse density estimation (DDE) whose modes are called concepts. Comparing to DDE, SKDE is more convenient to learn multi-modal concepts and robust to labeling noise (mistakenly labeled bags). Finally, each bag is mapped into a concept space where the multi-class SVM classifiers are learned. Experimental results demonstrate that our approach outperforms the state-of-the-art MIL approaches. © 2012 Elsevier B.V. Du, Y, Lu, DD-C, James, G & Cornforth, DJ 2013, 'Modeling and analysis of current harmonic distortion from grid connected PV inverters under different operating conditions', Solar Energy, vol. 94, pp. 182-194. Du, ZS & Watterson, PA 2013, 'Design and implementation of a radial magnetic bearing with permanent magnet bias', Australian Journal of Electrical & Electronics Engineering, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 167-174. A new yoke winding for a radial magnetic bearing with permanent magnet bias fl ux is investigated and shown to reduce the copper loss and copper cost, by 32% in the prototype built. Magnetic circuit analysis neglecting fringing was found to give a poor estimate of the permanent magnet bias fl ux and 3D fi nite element analysis (FEA) would be needed to model it. However, 2D FEA was suffi cient to model the magnetic fi eld and force in the plane of the stator laminations, providing that the correct bias fl ux was imposed as a boundary condition. Solutions for the axial magnetic vector potential component Az were obtained, with a discontinuity prescribed across a cut from the inner to outer domain boundary. A small prototype was built and tested on a shaft whose other end was supported by a ball bearing race with free angular movement. For each of the horizontal and vertical directions, closed loop control was applied with Hall elements providing the shaft position signal. A lead-lag controller, designed using Matlab Simulink and implemented in Turbo Pascal 6, levitated the rotor Duc, H, Azzi, M, Wahid, H & Ha, QP 2013, 'Background ozone level in the Sydney basin: assessment and trend analysis', INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CLIMATOLOGY, vol. 33, no. 10, pp. 2298-2308. It has been recognized that the background ozone concentration in urban areas is changing over the years. This article aims to determine the background ozone level (BOL) using ambient air quality data measurements collected at some monitoring stations in the Sydney basin, Australia. A definition of background ozone in the context of the Sydney region is proposed. With this definition, it is possible to estimate the background ozone using ambient measurements of ozone and its precursors. The trend of the BOL is also estimated from the temporal ambient monitoring records as of early 1998-2005. These ozone level changes at different monitoring stations are assessed using the linear regression method. The results are shown to vary between different monitoring sites. This demonstrates that the local conditions at each site are important in determining as to whether an air quality management plan for reducing the ozone level to below the exceedance level is effective and achievable or not. Furthermore, the results obtained are compared with those obtained by the ClappJenkin method, which is based on the relationship between oxidant and nitrogen oxides, assuming a stationary state of photochemical smog function. Düntsch, I & Li, S 2013, 'On the homogeneous countable Boolean contact algebra', Logic and Logical Philosophy, vol. 22, no. 2, pp. 213-251. In a recent paper, we have shown that the class of Boolean contact algebras (BCAs) has the hereditary property, the joint embedding property and the amalgamation property. By Fraïssé's theorem, this shows that there is a unique countable homogeneous BCA. This paper investigates this algebra and the relation algebra generated by its contact relation. We first show that the algebra can be partitioned into four sets {0}, {1}, K, and L, which are the only orbits of the group of base automorphisms of the algebra, and then show that the contact relation algebra of this algebra is finite, which is the first non-trivial extensional BCA we know which has this property. © Nicolaus Copernicus University (Toruń) 2013. Dzeng, R-J, Lin, C-T & Hsiao, F-Y 2013, 'An Integrated Model for Simulating Activities and Optimizing Space Function in Educational Facility', International Journal of Information and Education Technology, vol. 3, no. 6, pp. 582-586. Determining the function for each space in a building plays an important role for assessing the service level of an educational facility. The function layout affects how users move between spaces during their participation of activities in the facility. This research describes the integration of an activity-based simulation model and a space-function assignment optimization model with six phases, including data collection, data preparation, data mining, optimization, verification, and refinement. The paper also uses a real case to demonstrate the use of the proposed model, and has shown a 4.96% improvement on the objective value compared to the contracted architect’s original plan. Eager, DB, Scarrott, C, Nixon, J & Alexander, K 2013, 'Injury survey of a non-traditional 'soft-edged' trampoline designed to lower equipment hazards', INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INJURY CONTROL AND SAFETY PROMOTION, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 42-49. In Australia trampolines contribute one quarter of all childhood play equipment injuries. The objective of this study was to gather and evaluate injury data from a non-traditional, 'soft-edged', consumer trampoline, where the design aimed to minimise injuries from the equipment and from falling off. The manufacturer of the non-traditional trampoline provided the University of Technology Sydney with their Australian customer database. The study involved surveys in Queensland and New South Wales, between May 2007 and March 2010. Initially injury data was gathered by a phone interview pilot study, then in the full study, through an email survey. The 3817 respondents were the carers of child users of the 'soft-edge' trampolines. Responses were compared with Australian and US emergency department data. In both countries the proportion of injuries caused by the equipment and falling off was compared with the proportion caused by the jumpers to themselves or each other. The comparisons showed a significantly lower proportion resulted from falling-off or hitting the equipment for this design when compared to traditional trampolines, both in Australia and the US. This research concludes that equipment-induced and falling-off injuries, the more severe injuries on traditional trampolines, can be significantly reduced with appropriate trampoline design. © 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC. El Saliby, I, Erdei, L, Kim, J-H & Shon, HK 2013, 'Adsorption and photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue over hydrogen-titanate nanofibres produced by a peroxide method', WATER RESEARCH, vol. 47, no. 12, pp. 4115-4125. In this study, Degussa P25 TiO2 was partially dissolved in a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and sodium hydroxide at high pH. The fabrication of nanofibres proceeded by the hydrothermal treatment of the solution at 80 C. This was followed by acid wash in HCl at pH 2 for 60 min, which resulted in the formation of hydrogenetitanate nanofibres. The nanofibres were annealed at 550 C for 6 h to produce crystalline anatase nanofibres. The nanofibres were characterised for physico-chemical modifications and tested for the adsorption and photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue as a model water pollutant. An average specific surface area of 31.54 m2/g, average pore volume of 0.10 cm3/g and average pore size of 50 A were recorded. The nanofibres were effective adsorbents of the model pollutant and adsorbents and good photocatalysts under simulated solar light illumination. No reduction in photocatalytic activity was observed over three complete treatment cycles, and the effective separation of nanofibres was achieved by gravity settling resulting in low residual solution turbidity. Elsener, R, Dackermann, U, Li, J, Samali, B & Crews, K 2013, 'Experimental Investigations of Material Properties of Timber Utility Poles using various Material Testing Approaches', STRUCTURAL HEALTH ASSESSMENT OF TIMBER STRUCTURES, vol. 778, pp. 265-272. Emaus, N, Nguyen, ND, Almaas, B, Berntsen, GK, Center, JR, Christensen, M, Gjesdal, CG, Grimsgaard, AS, Nguyen, TV, Salomonsen, L, Eisman, JA & Fønnebø, VM 2013, 'Serum level of under-carboxylated osteocalcin and bone mineral density in early menopausal Norwegian women', European Journal of Nutrition, vol. 52, no. 1, pp. 49-55. Serum level of under-carboxylated osteocalcin (ucOC) is considered a sensitive measure of vitamin K status, and ucOC levels are associated with bone mineral density (BMD) and fracture risk in elderly persons. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between ucOC and BMD in early menopausal women. The data reported here come from the enrolment in a double-blinded placebo-controlled randomized trial comprising 334 healthy Norwegian women between 50 and 60 years, 1-5 years after menopause, not using warfarin or medication known to affect bone metabolism. Total hip, femoral neck, lumbar spine, and total body BMD and serum level of ucOC and total osteocalcin were measured, and information of lifestyle was collected through questionnaires. The association between ucOC and BMD at all measurement sites was assessed by multiple regression analyses adjusting for possible confounding variables. The absolute serum level of ucOC was significantly and negatively associated with BMD at all measurements sites, both in univariate analyses (p < 0.01) and in multivariate analyses adjusting for years since menopause, smoking status and weight (p < 0.01). However, serum ucOC, expressed as percentage of the total osteocalcin level, was not associated with BMD at any site. Achievement of adequate vitamin K nutritional intake is important, but ucOC expressed as percentage of total osteocalcin levels as reflection of vitamin K status does not seem to play a central role in determining BMD levels in early menopausal women. Esfijani, A, Hussain, FK & Chang, E 2013, 'University social responsibility ontology', Engineering Intelligent Systems, vol. 21, no. 4, pp. 271-281. This paper draws on the existing body of knowledge to develop an ontology for university social responsibility (USR). There are numerous terms and definitions for USR in the existing literature. However, there is no consensus among them. In order to address this issue, we used a semi-automated text mining approach for ontology engineering. The developed ontology covered USR and its associated terms by which social responsibilities of a university to its communities have been described in the existing literature. The developed ontology, which is an explicit specification of USR concept, its components and their relationships, can contribute to develop a unified understanding of the concept for measurement purposes. © 2013 CRL Publishing Ltd. Fam, W, Phuntsho, S, Lee, JH & Shon, HK 2013, 'Performance comparison of thin-film composite forward osmosis membranes', DESALINATION AND WATER TREATMENT, vol. 51, no. 31-33, pp. 6274-6280. Forward osmosis (FO) is an emerging low-energy technology. Much effort was given on developing a new membrane material and engineering membrane structure to improve the performance of FO membranes. The performances of two newly developed polyamide-based thin-film composite (TFC) FO membranes were tested and compared with the commercially available cellulose triacetate (CTA) FO membrane. The intrinsic properties of the two TFC FO membranes determined in RO experiments indicate superior performance of the membranes. When tested in FO experiments, TFC membranes delivered consistent results, confirming their outstanding permeability and selectivity properties. The study shows that future studies on membrane fouling will be necessary to have a better understanding of membrane performance and to further optimize membrane properties. © 2013 Copyright Balaban Desalination Publications. Fan, J, Wang, W, Zhang, B, Guo, Y, Ngo, HH, Guo, W, Zhang, J & Wu, H 2013, 'Nitrogen removal in intermittently aerated vertical flow constructed wetlands: Impact of influent COD/N ratios', BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY, vol. 143, no. 1, pp. 461-466. The performance response of eight vertical flow constructed wetlands (VFCWs) to different influent COD/N ratios and intermittent aeration in domestic wastewater treatment was investigated. Almost complete nitrification was obtained by intermittent aeration, which well developed alternate anaerobic and aerobic conditions for nitrification and denitrification. Sufficient carbon source supply resulted from influent COD/N ratio of 10 simultaneously obtained high removals of COD (96%), ammonia nitrogen (99%) and total nitrogen (90%) in intermittently aerated VFCWs. In all non-aerated VFCWs, poor nitrification was observed due to oxygen deficiency whilst high COD/N ratios further led to lower COD and nitrogen removal efficiency. The results suggest that intermittent aeration combined with high influent COD/N ratios could achieve high nitrogen removal in VFCWs. Fan, J, Zhang, B, Zhang, J, Ngo, HH, Guo, W, Liu, F, Guo, Y & Wu, H 2013, 'Intermittent aeration strategy to enhance organics and nitrogen removal in subsurface flow constructed wetlands', BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY, vol. 141, no. 1, pp. 117-122. In this study, an intermittent-aerated subsurface flow constructed wetland (SFCW) A was set up to assess its performance in decentralized rural sewage treatment. A conventional SFCW B and a subsurface wastewater infiltration system (SWIS C) were also constructed for comparison. Alternate anaerobic and aerobic conditions were well developed by intermittent aeration. High removal of organic pollutants (29.3 g m-2 d-1), ammonium nitrogen (3.5 g m-2 d-1) and total nitrogen (3.3 g m-2 d-1) were obtained simultaneously in SFCW A compared with SFCW B and SWIS C. Fluorescence in situ hybridization analysis proved that the intermittent aeration obviously enhanced the growth of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB) in SFCW A. These results suggest that intermittent aeration strategy is reliable to enhance the performance of SFCWs in decentralized rural sewage treatment. Fang, J, Gao, Y, Sun, G & Li, Q 2013, 'Multiobjective reliability-based optimization for design of a vehicledoor', Finite Elements in Analysis and Design, vol. 67, pp. 13-21. Fatahi, B 2013, 'PREDICTING SETTLEMENT OF CHEMICALLY STABILISED LANDFILLS', International Journal of Geomate, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 700-705. This paper presents the findings of numerical analyses to predict the vertical and horizontal displacements of closed landfills under surcharge load with and without treatment by chemical admixtures. The finite element program, PLAXIS, has been used to evaluate the settlement of a landfill model. The soft soil creep model is used for this analysis. Five layers of solid waste are considered for the landfill to evaluate the effect of depth of stabilisation on settlement of landfill model. Treated and untreated municipal solid waste (MSW) parameters are obtained from the results of an extensive laboratory program performed on MSW samples in this research. The settlement of the landfill model 10 and 20 years after applying the surcharge load for different fly ash-quicklime contents and various depths of improvement is estimated. Results indicate that treatment of MSW reduces the vertical displacement of the landfill model under surcharge load significantly. This reduction is more with higher depths of improvement. The finite element results have been validated based on results of triaxial tests conducted in the laboratory on the treated municipal solid waste. © 2013, International Journal of GEOMATE. Fatahi, B & Khabbaz, H 2013, 'Influence of fly ash and quicklime addition on behaviour of municipal solid wastes', JOURNAL OF SOILS AND SEDIMENTS, vol. 13, no. 7, pp. 1201-1212. Purpose: Many closed municipal solid waste landfill sites are near urban areas and there are high expectations to improve geotechnical properties of these sites for re-development. Construction on closed landfill sites is generally a challenging task due to complex behaviour of creep, settlement, high amount of moisture content and weak shear strength of waste. This study presents the experimental results for the use of fly ash and quicklime in improvement of the geotechnical properties of municipal solid wastes (MSW). Materials and methods: The waste materials were collected from a closed landfill in the southwest of Sydney. The samples were prepared by integrating MSW with a mixture of fly ash-quicklime with a ratio of 3:1 in percentages of 5, 10, 15 and 20 of fly ash by dry weight of the MSW. An array of experimental tests has been conducted on treated and untreated MSW samples including sieve analysis, Atterberg limits, compaction and consolidated-drained triaxial tests. Results and discussion: Results of this investigation showed a significant improvement in geotechnical properties of MSW. It has been found that by increasing fly ash-quicklime admixtures from 0 to 26.7 % (0 to 20 % fly ash), the internal friction angle increased from 29 to 39° and the cohesion intercept increased from 11 to 30 kPa. Under an effective confining pressure of 300 kPa, the peak strength, the brittleness index and the Young's modulus at failure increased from 600 to 1,150 kPa, 0.13 to 0.35 and 5.5 MPa to 28 MPa, by addition of 26.7 % fly ash-quicklime admixture, respectively. Moreover, the compression and the secondary compression indices decreased from 0.33 to 0.23 and 0.052 to 0.033, respectively. Conclusions: It is found that the chemical stabilisation effectively increases the compressive strength, the shear strength parameters, the stiffness and the brittleness index whilst decreases the settlement of the MSW layer. It will be beneficial and effective in re-developm... Fatahi, B & Khabbaz, H 2013, 'Optimising the pattern of semi-rigid columns to improve performance of rail tracks overlying soft soil formation', Australian Geomechanics Journal, vol. 48, no. 3, pp. 89-97. With Australia facing a rapid increase in population in the next 30 years, the government is being proactive in handling the forecasted growth. The release of 2010 Metropolitan Transport Plan by the New South Wales (NSW) Government shows that the State of NSW will see an increase in commuter travel by rail. The NSW rail system is one of the most complex networks in the world and due to population growth, the network will require further expansion with construction of new railway lines partly on weak and marginal ground and will also require more frequent train running on existing lines. This study seeks to identify the effectiveness of semi-rigid inclusion ground improvement techniques particularly stone columns and deep soil mixing in controlling settlement of soft soils when placed under the dead loads of the rail structure and the large live loads of freight trains. The employed numerical study assesses the relationship between the column position in the track cross section and the overall settlement of the ballasted rail formation. The numerical results show that the overall settlement of the track reduces significantly with the use of columns close to the centre of the track and not just under the rail. In addition, application of one layer of geogrids between sub-ballast and sub-grade assists to reduce the maximum settlement of track decreasing the future maintenance costs. Fatahi, B & Khabbaz, H 2013, 'PREDICTING SETTLEMENT OF CHEMICALLY STABILISED LANDFILLS', INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GEOMATE, vol. 5, no. 10, pp. 700-705. Fatahi, B, Fatahi, B, Le, TM & Khabbaz, H 2013, 'Small-strain properties of soft clay treated with fibre and cement', GEOSYNTHETICS INTERNATIONAL, vol. 20, no. 4, pp. 286-300. To improve the dynamic properties of soft soil, the cement treatment technique combined with fibre reinforcement can be employed. In this study, the effects of two types of fibres (polypropylene and recycled carpet) on the hardening process and small-strain properties of cement-treated kaolinite and bentonite clays are investigated. Cement-treated clay specimens were prepared using cement contents of 5%, 10% and 15% by weight of dry soil for the kaolinite samples, and 30%, 40% and 50% for the bentonite samples. To investigate and understand the influence of different fibre types and contents, three different percentages of fibre content were adopted: 0.1%, 0.2% and 0.5% polypropylene fibres, and 0.5%, 0.75% and 1% carpet fibres. The results of bender element tests on 126 cylindrical samples of cement-treated clay with various cement and fibre contents were analysed to discern the relationships between fibre and cement content and the small-strain mechanical properties, including the shear wave velocity and maximum small-strain shear modulus of the treated soil. The influence of fibres and cement contents on the hardening time of treated soil has also been investigated. © 2013 Thomas Telford Ltd. Fatahi, B, Le, TM, Fatahi, B & Khabbaz, H 2013, 'Shrinkage Properties of Soft Clay Treated with Cement and Geofibers', Geotechnical and Geological Engineering, vol. 31, no. 5, pp. 1421-1435. In this study, effects of two types of geofibers, namely polypropylene and recycled carpet, on three dimensional shrinkage properties of cement treated kaolinite and bentonite clays are investigated. Cement treated clay specimens were prepared with cement contents of 5, 10, and 15 % by weight of dry soil for kaolinite samples, and 30, 40 and 50 % for bentonite samples. To investigate and understand the influence of different fiber types and contents, three different percentages of fiber content (i.e. 0.1, 0.2 and 0.5 % polypropylene fibers; and 0.5, 0.75 and 1 % carpet fibers) were adopted. The results of shrinkage tests on 126 cylindrical samples of cement treated clay with various cement and fiber contents were analysed to understand the relationships between these parameters and the shrinkage percentage of treated soil. Results of this study indicate that combination of cement and fiber is effective in reducing the volume change of clayey soils undergoing drying process. In the applied ranges of cement and fiber contents, the influence of cement addition on the shrinkage reduction is more significant than the addition of fibers for the treated kaolinite. However, addition of fibers in curtailing the shrinkage of bentonite clay is more significant than the cement addition. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht. Fatahi, B, Le, TM, Le, MQ & Khabbaz, H 2013, 'Soil creep effects on ground lateral deformation and pore water pressure under embankments', Geomechanics and Geoengineering, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 107-124. Analysing the behaviour of the soft ground under embankments is a challenging task and is of significant interest to practising geotechnical engineers. This paper revisits a well known case study of an embankment of Boston Blue Clay, which was thoroughly instrumented and measured with piezometers, settlement rods and inclinometers over a long time period during and after construction. The soil parameters were very comprehensively collected by both in situ and laboratory tests in several major test programs. The behaviour of the ground considering the modified Cam-Clay model including and excluding soil creep is simulated using finite element method. The analysed data are verified with field measurements and a parametric study is conducted to evaluate the influence of creep index on excess pore water pressures generated and the displacement of the ground under the embankment. It is observed that both horizontal displacements and excess pore water pressures of the ground under the embankment increased by the creep index. Thus effects of soil creep should be precisely considered in predicting the ground performance under embankments. © 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC. Fauzi, H, Metselaar, HSC, Mahlia, TMI, Silakhori, M & Nur, H 2013, 'Phase change material: Optimizing the thermal properties and thermal conductivity of myristic acid/palmitic acid eutectic mixture with acid-based surfactants', Applied Thermal Engineering, vol. 60, no. 1-2, pp. 261-265. Fazal, A, Hussain, FK & Dillon, TS 2013, 'An innovative approach for automatically grading spelling in essays using rubric-based scoring', JOURNAL OF COMPUTER AND SYSTEM SCIENCES, vol. 79, no. 7, pp. 1040-1056. Automated Essay Grading (AEG) is defined as a computer technology that evaluates and scores written prose. A number of AEG systems have been developed since the 1960s and in most of them, an ad-hoc or generalized approach is used to grade spelling even though it is an important element of an essay-scoring rubric. Existing approaches do not therefore give an accurate representation or measure of spelling in essays. According to the rubric-based scoring method used in the National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) in Australia, spelling is marked in three steps first, by identifying the correct and incorrect words in the essay; second, by categorizing each word based on the difficulty level into one of four classes: Simple, Common, Difficult or Challenging, and counting the number of correct and incorrect words in each category; finally, by using the pre-defined NAPLAN rubric scale to assign the mark. Only a small number of existing AEG systems can be used for rubric-based scoring, and none can be used to grade spelling according to the NAPLAN rubric. In this paper, we address this shortcoming in the existing literature and present an innovative approach to automatically mark spelling using rubric based scoring. We develop two algorithms based on the rules and heuristics of the English language to formulize the rubric for spelling and then implement these algorithms in Java language and perform a series of evaluations of our system using an essay dataset. Our results are very promising, even though it is the first system of this kind. Felder, RM & Hadgraft, RG 2013, 'Educational Practice and Educational Research in Engineering: Partners, Antagonists, or Ships Passing in the Night?', Journal of Engineering Education, vol. 102, no. 3, pp. 339-345. Feng, Y, Yu, N & Ying, M 2013, 'Model checking quantum Markov chains', JOURNAL OF COMPUTER AND SYSTEM SCIENCES, vol. 79, no. 7, pp. 1181-1198. Although security of quantum cryptography is provable based on principles of quantum mechanics, it can be compromised by flaws in the design of quantum protocols. So, it is indispensable to develop techniques for verifying and debugging quantum cryptographic systems. Model-checking has proved to be effective in the verification of classical cryptographic protocols, but an essential difficulty arises when it is applied to quantum systems: the state space of a quantum system is always a continuum even when its dimension is finite. To overcome this difficulty, we introduce a novel notion of quantum Markov chain, especially suited for modelling quantum cryptographic protocols, in which quantum effects are encoded as super-operators labelling transitions, leaving the location information (nodes) being classical. Then we define a quantum extension of probabilistic computation tree logic (PCTL) and develop a model-checking algorithm for quantum Markov chains. © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Ferguson, S, Kenny, DT, Mitchell, HF, Ryan, M & Cabrera, D 2013, 'Change in Messa di Voce Characteristics During 3 Years of Classical Singing Training at the Tertiary Level', Journal of Voice, vol. 27, no. 4, pp. 523.e35-523.e48. A 3-year longitudinal study was conducted to investigate changes in vocal quality as a result of singing training at a tertiary level conservatorium in Australia. Singers performed a messa di voce (MDV) at intervals of 6 months over the 3-year period of training. The study investigated the evolving acoustic features of the singers' voices exhibited during the MDV, including sound pressure level (SPL), short-term energy ratio (STER), duration, and vibrato parameters of the fundamental frequency (F0), SPL, and STER. The maximum SPL exhibited a marginal systematic increase over the training period, but the maximum STER did not systematically change. F0 vibrato extent increased significantly, whereas the extent of SPL and STER vibrato did not change significantly. Ferrie, C 2013, 'High posterior density ellipsoids of quantum states', New J. Phys., vol. 16, p. 023006. Regions of quantum states generalize the classical notion of error bars. Highposterior density (HPD) credible regions are the most powerful of regionestimators. However, they are intractably hard to construct in general. Thispaper reports on a numerical approximation to HPD regions for the purpose oftesting a much more computationally and conceptually convenient class ofregions: posterior covariance ellipsoids (PCEs). The PCEs are defined via thecovariance matrix of the posterior probability distribution of states. Here itis shown that PCEs are near optimal for the example of Pauli measurements onmultiple qubits. Moreover, the algorithm is capable of producing accurate PCEregions even when there is uncertainty in the model. Ferrie, C & Combes, J 2013, 'Weak value amplification is suboptimal for estimation and detection', Phys. Rev. Lett., vol. 112, no. 4, p. 040406. We show using statistically rigorous arguments that the technique of weakvalue amplification (WVA) does not perform better than standard statisticaltechniques for the tasks of single parameter estimation and signal detection.Specifically we prove that post-selection, a necessary ingredient for WVA,decreases estimation accuracy and, moreover, arranging for anomalously largeweak values is a suboptimal strategy. In doing so, we explicitly provide theoptimal estimator, which in turn allows us to identify the optimal experimentalarrangement to be the one in which all outcomes have equal weak values (all assmall as possible) and the initial state of the meter is the maximal eigenvalueof the square of the system observable. Finally, we give precise quantitativeconditions for when weak measurement (measurements without post-selection oranomalously large weak values) can mitigate the effect of uncharacterizedtechnical noise in estimation. Ferrie, C & Granade, CE 2013, 'Likelihood-free methods for quantum parameter estimation', Phys. Rev. Lett., vol. 112, no. 13, pp. 130402-5. In this Letter, we strengthen and extend the connection between simulationand estimation to exploit simulation routines that do not exactly compute theprobability of experimental data, known as the likelihood function. Rather, weprovide an explicit algorithm for estimating parameters of physical modelsgiven access to a simulator which is only capable of producing sample outcomes.Since our algorithm does not require that a simulator be able to efficientlycompute exact probabilities, it is able to exponentially outperform standardalgorithms based on exact computation. In this way, our algorithm opens thedoor for the application of new insights and resources to the problem ofcharacterizing large quantum systems, which is exponentially intractable usingstandard simulation resources. Fis, AM & Çetindamar, D 2013, 'Start-Up Information Search Practices: The Case of Turkey', Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, vol. 49, no. 6, pp. 22-36. Information search may be especially crucial in an emerging economy context where gaps in knowledge are magnified due to the limited availability, accessibility, and quality of sources. Under the framework of social embeddedness, we observe the role of previous entrepreneurial experience in information search conducted during start-up. The impact of information search on future growth is also explored. Based on an empirical study of 172 Turkish entrepreneurs, the results indicate that (1) first-time entrepreneurs search more intensely, (2) first-time entrepreneurs utilize a greater number of formal resources, and (3) the intensity of information search is positively related with future growth. Fis, AM & Çetindamar, D 2013, 'Start-Up Information Search Practices: The Case of Turkey', Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, vol. 49, no. 6, pp. 22-36. Information search may be especially crucial in an emerging economy context where gaps in knowledge are magnified due to the limited availability, accessibility, and quality of sources. Under the framework of social embeddedness, we observe the role of previous entrepreneurial experience in information search conducted during start-up. The impact of information search on future growth is also explored. Based on an empirical study of 172 Turkish entrepreneurs, the results indicate that (1) first-time entrepreneurs search more intensely, (2) first-time entrepreneurs utilize a greater number of formal resources, and (3) the intensity of information search is positively related with future growth. Forsythe, P, Jupp, J & Sawhney, A 2013, 'Building Information Modelling in Tertiary Construction Project Management Education: A Programme-wide Implementation Strategy', Journal for Education in the Built Environment, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 16-34. This paper reports on the on-going development of teaching and learning supported by Building Information Modelling (BIM) in the undergraduate Construction Project Management Programme at the University of Technology Sydney. BIM is a model-driven approach to designing, constructing, operating and maintaining buildings and civil engineering facilities. The model that forms the core of the BIM approach is a smart, shared and computable three-dimensional model of the building or the civil engineering facility. At its heart, BIM and Virtual Construction Models (VCMs) are used to facilitate a more integrated and visual mode of teaching. The approach provides a new basis for developing problem based learning - one that has the potential to allow students to aggregate their learning around a central project whilst enabling problems to be scaled at different levels of complexity. This approach aims to better integrate and link individual subjects together as well as improve the development of core student attributes such as communication, understanding, decision making, collaboration and information gathering skills; very much mimicking the on-going technology driven transformation happening in industry. The VCMs aim to be regularly used in various formats as students progress through their undergraduate degree programme - and we adopt the term `vertical problems' to capture the way models and problem based learning are being utilised, where staff author `sub-plots' that utilise information models in a way that best suits their specific subjects, e.g. cost, time, quality, sustainability subject areas. To this end, the article reports on findings from the research, development and early implementation stages of a programme-wide teaching and learning proposition supported by BIM. This includes a typology that helps target varying degrees of model utilisation and diffusion in given subjects and transitional requirements for both staff and students. Fowler, AG, Devitt, SJ & Jones, C 2013, 'Surface code implementation of block code state distillation', Scientific Reports, vol. 3, no. 1. Frati, F, Gaspers, S, Gudmundsson, J & Mathieson, L 2013, 'Augmenting graphs to minimize the diameter', Lecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics), vol. 8283 LNCS, pp. 383-393. We study the problem of augmenting a weighted graph by inserting edges ofbounded total cost while minimizing the diameter of the augmented graph. Ourmain result is an FPT 4-approximation algorithm for the problem. Frost, SA, Nguyen, ND, Center, JR, Eisman, JA & Nguyen, TV 2013, 'Excess mortality attributable to hip-fracture: A relative survival analysis', Bone, vol. 56, no. 1, pp. 23-29. Introduction: Individuals with hip fracture are at substantially increased risk of mortality. The aim of this study was to estimate the excess mortality attributable to hip fracture in elderly men and women. Methods: The Dubbo Osteoporosis Epidemiology Study was designed as a prospective epidemiologic investigation, in which more than 2000 men and women aged 60+ as of 1989 had been followed for 21 years. During the follow-up period, the incidence of atraumatic hip fractures was ascertained by X-ray reports, and mortality was ascertained by the New South Wales Birth, Death and Marriage Registry. Relative survival ratios were estimated by taking into account the age-and-sex specific expected survival in the general Australian population from 1989 to 2010. Results: During the follow-up period 151 women and 55 men sustained a hip fracture. Death occurred in 86 (57%) women and 36 (66%) men. In women, the cumulative relative survival post hip-fracture at 1, 5 and 10 years was 0.83 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.76-0.89), 0.59 (95% CI 0.48-0.68), and 0.31 (95% Cl 0.20-0.43), respectively; in men, the corresponding estimates of relative survival were: 0.63 (95% CI 0.48-0.75), 0.48 (95% CI 0.32-0.63), and 0.36 (95% CI 0.18-0.56). On average post hip-fracture women died 4 years earlier (median: 4.1, inter-quartile range (IQR) 1.7-7.8) and men died 5 years earlier (median = 4.8, IQR 2.4-7.0) than expected. For every six women and for every three men with hip fracture one extra death occurred above that expected in the background population. Conclusion: Hip fracture is associated with reduced life expectancy, with men having a greater reduction than women, even after accounting for time-related changes in background mortality in the population. These data underscore that hip fracture is an independent clinical risk factor for mortality. Fu, Q, Halim, A, Kim, J, Scofield, JMP, Gurr, PA, Kentish, SE & Qiao, GG 2013, 'Highly permeable membrane materials for CO2 capture', Journal of Materials Chemistry A, vol. 1, no. 44, pp. 13769-13769. Fujioka, T & Nghiem, LD 2013, 'Modification of a polyamide reverse osmosis membrane by heat treatment for enhanced fouling resistance', Water Supply, vol. 13, no. 6, pp. 1553-1559. Fujioka, T, Khan, SJ, McDonald, JA, Roux, A, Poussade, Y, Drewes, JE & Nghiem, LD 2013, 'N-nitrosamine rejection by nanofiltration and reverse osmosis membranes: The importance of membrane characteristics', Desalination, vol. 316, pp. 67-75. Fujioka, T, Khan, SJ, McDonald, JA, Roux, A, Poussade, Y, Drewes, JE & Nghiem, LD 2013, 'N-nitrosamine rejection by reverse osmosis membranes: A full-scale study', Water Research, vol. 47, no. 16, pp. 6141-6148. Fujioka, T, Oshima, N, Suzuki, R, Khan, SJ, Roux, A, Poussade, Y, Drewes, JE & Nghiem, LD 2013, 'Rejection of small and uncharged chemicals of emerging concern by reverse osmosis membranes: The role of free volume space within the active skin layer', Separation and Purification Technology, vol. 116, pp. 426-432. FURQAN, F & HOANG, DB 2013, 'Wireless Fair Intelligent Congestion Control — A QoS Performance Evaluation', Journal of Interconnection Networks, vol. 14, no. 03, pp. 1360001-1360001. Furrer, F, Berta, M, Tomamichel, M, Scholz, VB & Christandl, M 2013, 'Position-Momentum Uncertainty Relations in the Presence of Quantum Memory', J. Math. Phys., vol. 55, no. 12, p. 122205. A prominent formulation of the uncertainty principle identifies thefundamental quantum feature that no particle may be prepared with certainoutcomes for both position and momentum measurements. Often the statisticaluncertainties are thereby measured in terms of entropies providing a clearoperational interpretation in information theory and cryptography. Recently,entropic uncertainty relations have been used to show that the uncertainty canbe reduced in the presence of entanglement and to prove security of quantumcryptographic tasks. However, much of this recent progress has been focused onobservables with only a finite number of outcomes not including Heisenberg'soriginal setting of position and momentum observables. Here we show entropicuncertainty relations for general observables with discrete but infinite orcontinuous spectrum that take into account the power of an entangled observer.As an illustration, we evaluate the uncertainty relations for position andmomentum measurements, which is operationally significant in that it impliessecurity of a quantum key distribution scheme based on homodyne detection ofsqueezed Gaussian states. Gad Mohsen, M & Dacko, S 2013, 'An extension of the benefit segmentation base for the consumption of organic foods: A time perspective', Journal of Marketing Management, vol. 29, no. 15-16, pp. 1701-1728. Benefit segmentation is a long-standing marketing approach that emphasises the 'what' and 'how' dimensions of consumer benefits; that is, what benefits consumers perceive in product/service consumption, and how such benefits are perceived. This research proposes a fresh time-based approach to benefit segmentation - namely, focusing on the 'when' element or when in time benefits take effect. Drawing upon a survey of UK consumers, it explains and discusses consumption motivations through examining antecedents of temporally dominated benefits in application to organic food. Specifically, the study investigates why some consumers predominantly seek present-based benefits vis-à-vis future-based benefits or vice versa in organic food purchase and consumption behaviour. Using correlation and regression analyses, the research findings establish significant associations of level of involvement, prior knowledge level, and product usage level, and some association of time orientation with the temporally emphasised consumption benefits consumers ultimately pursue. Overall, the research highlights the added contribution of a time perspective in a benefit segmentation approach which can assist marketers in understanding better and communicating more effectively with consumers through drawing up consumer profiles based on when in time their dominantly pursued benefit for an offering is perceived to take effect. © 2013 The Author(s). Published by Taylor & Francis. Gallego-Ortega, D, Oakes, SR, Lee, HJ, Piggin, CL & Ormandy, CJ 2013, 'ELF5, normal mammary development and the heterogeneous phenotypes of breast cancer', Breast Cancer Management, vol. 2, no. 6, pp. 489-498. Gandomi, A & Zolfaghari, S 2013, 'Profitability of loyalty reward programs: An analytical investigation', Omega, vol. 41, no. 4, pp. 797-807. Gandomi, AH, Alavi, AH, Shadmehri, DM & Sahab, MG 2013, 'An empirical model for shear capacity of RC deep beams using genetic-simulated annealing', Archives of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 354-369. Gandomi, AH, Fridline, MM & Roke, DA 2013, 'Decision Tree Approach for Soil Liquefaction Assessment', The Scientific World Journal, vol. 2013, no. 1, pp. 1-8. Gandomi, AH, Roke, DA & Sett, K 2013, 'Genetic programming for moment capacity modeling of ferrocement members', Engineering Structures, vol. 57, pp. 169-176. Gandomi, AH, Talatahari, S, Tadbiri, F & Alavi, AH 2013, 'Krill herd algorithm for optimum design of truss structures', International Journal of Bio-Inspired Computation, vol. 5, no. 5, pp. 281-281. Gandomi, AH, Talatahari, S, Yang, X & Deb, S 2013, 'Design optimization of truss structures using cuckoo search algorithm', The Structural Design of Tall and Special Buildings, vol. 22, no. 17, pp. 1330-1349. Gandomi, AH, Yang, X-S & Alavi, AH 2013, 'Cuckoo search algorithm: a metaheuristic approach to solve structural optimization problems', Engineering with Computers, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 17-35. Gandomi, AH, Yang, X-S & Alavi, AH 2013, 'Erratum to: Cuckoo search algorithm: a metaheuristic approach to solve structural optimization problems', Engineering with Computers, vol. 29, no. 2, pp. 245-245. Gandomi, AH, Yang, X-S, Alavi, AH & Talatahari, S 2013, 'Bat algorithm for constrained optimization tasks', Neural Computing and Applications, vol. 22, no. 6, pp. 1239-1255. Gandomi, AH, Yang, X-S, Talatahari, S & Alavi, AH 2013, 'Firefly algorithm with chaos', Communications in Nonlinear Science and Numerical Simulation, vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 89-98. Gandomi, AH, Yun, GJ & Alavi, AH 2013, 'An evolutionary approach for modeling of shear strength of RC deep beams', Materials and Structures, vol. 46, no. 12, pp. 2109-2119. Gandomi, AH, Yun, GJ, Yang, X-S & Talatahari, S 2013, 'Chaos-enhanced accelerated particle swarm optimization', Communications in Nonlinear Science and Numerical Simulation, vol. 18, no. 2, pp. 327-340. Gao, L, Li, M, Bonti, A, Zhou, W & Yu, S 2013, 'Multidimensional Routing Protocol in Human-Associated Delay-Tolerant Networks', IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing, vol. 12, no. 11, pp. 2132-2144. Gao, S, Tsang, IW-H & Chia, L-T 2013, 'Laplacian Sparse Coding, Hypergraph Laplacian Sparse Coding, and Applications', IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, vol. 35, no. 1, pp. 92-104. Sparse coding exhibits good performance in many computer vision applications. However, due to the overcomplete codebook and the independent coding process, the locality and the similarity among the instances to be encoded are lost. To preserve such locality and similarity information, we propose a Laplacian sparse coding (LSc) framework. By incorporating the similarity preserving term into the objective of sparse coding, our proposed Laplacian sparse coding can alleviate the instability of sparse codes. Furthermore, we propose a Hypergraph Laplacian sparse coding (HLSc), which extends our Laplacian sparse coding to the case where the similarity among the instances defined by a hypergraph. Specifically, this HLSc captures the similarity among the instances within the same hyperedge simultaneously, and also makes the sparse codes of them be similar to each other. Both Laplacian sparse coding and Hypergraph Laplacian sparse coding enhance the robustness of sparse coding. We apply the Laplacian sparse coding to feature quantization in Bag-of-Words image representation, and it outperforms sparse coding and achieves good performance in solving the image classification problem. The Hypergraph Laplacian sparse coding is also successfully used to solve the semi-auto image tagging problem. The good performance of these applications demonstrates the effectiveness of our proposed formulations in locality and similarity preservation. © 1979-2012 IEEE. Gao, XJ, Zhang, Q, Wei, DB, Jiao, SH & Jiang, ZY 2013, 'Dry Sliding Wear of As-Cast and Thermomechanically Processed Low Chromium White Cast Iron', Advanced Materials Research, vol. 797, pp. 725-730. Gao, XJ, Zhang, Q, Wei, DB, Jiao, SH & Jiang, ZY 2013, 'Effects of thermal and thermomechanical treatments on sliding wear of graphite crystallised white cast iron', Wear, vol. 301, no. 1-2, pp. 656-662. The effects of thermal and thermomechanical treatments on sliding wear of graphite crystallised white cast iron (GWCI) were studied. Due to the inherent embrittlement of GWCI, a laminated metal in which the GWCI is cladded by low carbon steel was prepared for this study. Three cylindrical samples (GWCI-A, GWCI-B and GWCI-C) were machined from the same laminate. GWCI-A was kept in as-cast state while GWCI-B and GWCI-C underwent the thermal and thermomechanical treatments, respectively. The pin-on-disc type sliding wear tests were performed on the GWCI layers at room temperature. The microstructures and wear mechanisms were analysed by optical microscope, scanning electron microscope and the Vickers hardness test. Experimental results demonstrated that the GWCI, after laminating with ductile steel, can be deformed at high temperature with crack-free. The thermomechanical treatment produced a finer microstructure and crushed primary carbides in GWCI-C. Both GWCI-B and GWCI-C displayed plenty of secondary carbides in supercooled austenitic matrix, which was more favourable to squeeze the graphite and form the oxide layers than the matrix of martensite plus retained austenite in GWCI-A. The wear resistance of GWCI-C was superior to that of GWCI-A and GWCI-B because the oxidational wear rather than delamination dominated the sliding wear process. Garde-Perik, EVD, Offermans, S, Boerdonk, KV, Lenssen, K-M & Hoven, EVD 2013, 'An analysis of input-output relations in interaction with smart tangible objects', ACM Transactions on Interactive Intelligent Systems, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 1-20. Gardner, A & Willey, K 2013, 'Editorial', European Journal of Engineering Education, vol. 38, no. 6, pp. 579-581. Ge, Y, Chen, M, Sun, Y, Li, Z, Wang, Y & Dutkiewicz, E 2013, 'QoS provisioning wireless multimedia transmission over cognitive radio networks', Multimedia Tools and Applications, vol. 67, no. 1, pp. 213-229. The rapid growing of wireless multimedia applications increases the needs of spectrum resources, but today's spectrum resources have become more and more scarce and large part of the assigned spectrum is in an inefficiency usage. Cognitive Radio (CR) technologies are proposed to solve current spectrum inefficiency problems and offer users a ubiquitous wireless accessing environment, relying on dynamic spectrum allocation. However, there are two unsolved problems in previous work: 1) based on the simplified Quality of Service (QoS) uniform assumption, specific requirements of different wireless multimedia applications cannot be sati sfied; 2) aiming at single-objective optimization of spectrum utilization or handoff rate, the co-optimization of these two necessary objectives in CR networks has not been achieved. In this paper, we propose a Two-tier Cooperative Spectrum Allocation method (TCSA) to solve these two problems. TCSA consists of two functional parts: one is a Spectrum Adjacency Ranking algorithm implemented at the secondary users' terminals to satisfy the QoS requirements for different wireless multimedia applications; and the other is a Max Hyper-weight Matching algorithm implemented at the cognitive engines of CR networks to co-optimize spectrum utilization and secondary users' spectrum handoff rate. Simulation results show that, compared with the other Random matching algorithm and Cost minimized algorithm, TCSA can significantly improve the performance of CR networks in terms of secondary users' throughput and spectrum handoff rate. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC. Gentile, C, Muise-Helmericks, RC & Drake, CJ 2013, 'VEGF-mediated phosphorylation of eNOS regulates angioblast and embryonic endothelial cell proliferation', Developmental Biology, vol. 373, no. 1, pp. 163-175. Gil-Lafuente, AM & Merigo, JM 2013, 'Modelling and Simulation in Enterprises – MS’10 Barcelona', Kybernetes, vol. 42, no. 5, pp. 251-269. Gil-Lafuente, AM & Merigo, JM 2013, 'Modelling and Simulation in Enterprises - MS'10 Barcelona', KYBERNETES, vol. 42, no. 5, pp. 671-673. Gluga, R, Kay, J, Lister, R, Simon & Kleitman, S 2013, 'Mastering cognitive development theory in computer science education', Computer Science Education, vol. 23, no. 1, pp. 24-57. Abstract: To design an effective computer science curriculum, educators require a systematic method of classifying the difficulty level of learning activities and assessment tasks. This is important for curriculum design and implementation and for communication between educators. Different educators must be able to use the method consistently, so that classified activities and assessments are comparable across the subjects of a degree, and, ideally, comparable across institutions. One widespread approach to supporting this is to write learning objects in terms of Blooms Taxonomy. This, or other such classifications, is likely to be more effective if educators can use them consistently, in the way experts would use them. To this end, we present the design and evaluation of our online interactive web-based tutorial system, which can be configured and used to offer training in different classification schemes. We report on results from three evaluations. First, 17 computer science educators complete a tutorial on using Blooms Taxonomy to classify programming examination questions. Second, 20 computer science educators complete a Neo-Piagetian tutorial. Third evaluation was a comparison of inter-rater reliability scores of computer science educators classifying programming questions using Blooms Taxonomy, before and after taking our tutorial. Based on the results from these evaluations, we discuss the effectiveness of our tutorial system design for teaching computer science educators how to systematically and consistently classify programming examination questions. We also discuss the suitability of Blooms Taxonomy and Neo-Piagetian theory for achieving this goal. The Blooms and Neo-Piagetian tutorials are made available as a community resource. The contributions of this paper are the following: the tutorial system for learning classification schemes for the purpose of coding the difficulty of computing learning materials; its evaluation; new insights into the consis... Goldberg, L, Tijssen, MR, Birger, Y, Hannah, RL, Kinston, SJ, Schütte, J, Beck, D, Knezevic, K, Schiby, G, Jacob-Hirsch, J, Biran, A, Kloog, Y, Marcucci, G, Bloomfield, CD, Aplan, PD, Pimanda, JE, Göttgens, B & Izraeli, S 2013, 'Genome-scale expression and transcription factor binding profiles reveal therapeutic targets in transgenic ERG myeloid leukemia', Blood, vol. 122, no. 15, pp. 2694-2703. Golsteijn, C & van den Hoven, E 2013, 'Facilitating parent-teenager communication through interactive photo cubes', PERSONAL AND UBIQUITOUS COMPUTING, vol. 17, no. 2, pp. 273-286. Because most teenagers strive for freedom and try to live autonomously, communication with their parents could be improved. It appeared from a literature review and a diary study that parent-teenager communication primarily addresses teenager-oriented everyday activities. However, it also showed teenagers have a substantial interest in getting to know their parents and their parents' past. The study described in this paper seeks to address this opportunity by designing a product for parents and teenagers that facilitates communication about the past of the parents. The resulting design, called Cueb, is a set of interactive digital photo cubes with which parents and teenagers can explore individual and shared experiences and are triggered to exchange stories. An evaluation of a prototype of Cueb with four families showed that the participants felt significantly more triggered and supported to share their experiences and tell stories with Cueb's full functionality (connecting cubes, switching, and locking photographs) than with limited functionality (shaking to display random photographs), similar to more traditional photo media. Goodswen, SJ, Kennedy, PJ & Ellis, JT 2013, 'A guide to in silico vaccine discovery for eukaryotic pathogens', BRIEFINGS IN BIOINFORMATICS, vol. 14, no. 6, pp. 753-774. In this article, a framework for an in silico pipeline is presented as a guide to high-throughput vaccine candidate discovery for eukaryotic pathogens, such as helminths and protozoa. Eukaryotic pathogens are mostly parasitic and cause some of the most damaging and difficult to treat diseases in humans and livestock. Consequently, these parasitic pathogens have a significant impact on economy and human health. The pipeline is based on the principle of reverse vaccinology and is constructed from freely available bioinformatics programs. There are several successful applications of reverse vaccinology to the discovery of subunit vaccines against prokaryotic pathogens but not yet against eukaryotic pathogens. The overriding aim of the pipeline, which focuses on eukaryotic pathogens, is to generate through computational processes of elimination and evidence gathering a ranked list of proteins based on a scoring system. These proteins are either surface components of the target pathogen or are secreted by the pathogen and are of a type known to be antigenic. No perfect predictive method is yet available; therefore, the highest-scoring proteins from the list require laboratory validation. Goodswen, SJ, Kennedy, PJ & Ellis, JT 2013, 'A novel strategy for classifying the output from an in silico vaccine discovery pipeline for eukaryotic pathogens using machine learning algorithms', BMC BIOINFORMATICS, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 315-327. An in silico vaccine discovery pipeline for eukaryotic pathogens typically consists of several computational tools to predict protein characteristics. The aim of the in silico approach to discovering subunit vaccines is to use predicted characteristics to identify proteins which are worthy of laboratory investigation. A major challenge is that these predictions are inherent with hidden inaccuracies and contradictions. This study focuses on how to reduce the number of false candidates using machine learning algorithms rather than relying on expensive laboratory validation. Proteins from Toxoplasma gondii, Plasmodium sp., and Caenorhabditis elegans were used as training and test datasets. Goodswen, SJ, Kennedy, PJ & Ellis, JT 2013, 'A review of the infection, genetics, and evolution of Neospora caninum: From the past to the present', INFECTION GENETICS AND EVOLUTION, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 133-150. This paper is a review of current knowledge on Neospora caninum in the context of other apicomplexan parasites and with an emphasis on: life cycle, disease, epidemiology, immunity, control and treatment, evolution, genomes, and biological databases and web resources. N. caninum is an obligate, intracellular, coccidian, protozoan parasite of the phylum Apicomplexa. Infection can cause the clinical disease neosporosis, which most notably is associated with abortion in cattle. These abortions are a major root cause of economic loss to both the dairy and beef industries worldwide. N. caninum has been detected in every country in which a study has been specifically conducted to detect this parasite in cattle. The major mode of transmission in cattle is transplacental (or vertical) transmission and several elements of the N. caninum life cycle are yet to be studied in detail. The outcome of an infection is inextricably linked to the precise timing of the infection coupled with the status of the immune system of the dam and foetus. There is no community consensus as to whether it is the dams pro-inflammatory cytotoxic response to tachyzoites that kills the foetus or the tachyzoites themselves. From economic analysis the most cost-effective approach to control neosporosis is a vaccine. The perfect vaccine would protect against both infection and the clinical disease, and this implies a vaccine is needed that can induce a non-foetopathic cell mediated immunity response. Researchers are beginning to capitalise on the vast potential of -omics data (e.g. genomes, transcriptomes, and proteomes) to further our understanding of pathogens but especially to identify vaccine and drug targets. The recent publication of a genome for N. caninum offers vast opportunities in these areas. Grassman, TJ, Ratcliff, C, Carlin, AM, Carlin, JA, Yang, L, Mills, MJ & Ringel, SA 2013, '(Invited) III-V/GaP Epitaxy on Si for Advanced Photovoltaics and Green Light Emitters', ECS Transactions, vol. 50, no. 9, pp. 321-332. Guadie, A, Xia, S, Zhang, Z, Guo, W, Ngo, HH & Hermanowicz, SW 2013, 'Simultaneous removal of phosphorus and nitrogen from sewage using a novel combo system of fluidized bed reactor-membrane bioreactor (FBR-MBR)', BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY, vol. 149, no. 1, pp. 276-285. A FBRMBR combo system was designed as a novel approach for simultaneous phosphorus and nitrogen removal from sewage. The combo system was evaluated more than 7 months under variable pH (7.5-9.5), hydraulic retention times (HRT = 2-10 h), intermittent aeration cycles (IAC) (on/off = 60/60-15/45 min) and sludge retention times (SRT = 1060 d). Prior recovery of phosphorus as struvite in the FBR enhanced nitrogen and COD removal efficiency in MBR. Under optimum operating conditions (pH = 9, HRT = 6 h and IAC = 45/15 min), PO43-P, NH4-N and COD removal efficiencies were 92.6 ± 4.2, 98.7 ± 1.2 and 99.3 ± 0.5%, respectively. Stable mixed liquor suspended solid concentration (3.0-5.0 g/L); enhanced nitrificationdenitrification activity (78-92%) and reduced transmembrane pressure were also achieved. Compared to soluble microbial products, extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) showed strong correlation with fast membrane fouling. Among EPS components, carbohydrate rather than protein was associated with membrane fouling. Except HRT, all parameters considered (pH, IAC, SRT) showed a significant effect on removal efficiency. Gupta, B, Zhu, Y, Guan, B, Reece, PJ & Gooding, JJ 2013, 'Functionalised porous silicon as a biosensor: emphasis on monitoring cells in vivo and in vitro', The Analyst, vol. 138, no. 13, pp. 3593-3593. Ha, QP, Nguyen, MT, Li, J & Kwok, NM 2013, 'Smart Structures With Current-Driven MR Dampers: Modeling and Second-Order Sliding Mode Control', IEEE-ASME TRANSACTIONS ON MECHATRONICS, vol. 18, no. 6, pp. 1702-1712. Smart structures are civil or mechanical structures that can automatically and intelligently react to external dynamic loadings such as vibration shocks, strong winds, destructive waves, and earthquakes. The use of magnetorheological (MR) dampers has been of increasing interest in smart structures as they have reliable, stable and fail-safe operations, small energy requirements, and fast responses. The challenges of MR damper structural control rest with the complex dynamics involved, high nonlinearity due to the force-velocity hysteresis, nonaffinity, and constraints of the control system with the magnetization current as its input. To address these problems, this paper presents the modeling and control design as well as the implementation results of a second-order sliding mode controller for the MR dampers embedded in the building structures subject to quake-induced vibrations. Based on the static hysteresis model of the MR damper using computationally tractable algebraic expressions, algorithms are proposed to control directly the magnetization current to the dampers, configured in a differential mode to counteract the offset force. The effectiveness of the proposed technique is verified in simulation by using a building model under quake-like excitations. The experimental results are provided on a laboratorial setup tested on a shake table. © 2013 IEEE. Hagare, D, Hagare, P & Borg, M 2013, 'Economic Evaluation of Stormwater Harvesting-A Case Study', JOURNAL OF THE INDIAN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE, vol. 93, no. 2, pp. 285-293. Harvesting Stormwater is gaining importance as it is viewed as a potential alternative source for meeting non-potable water demand from consumers. However, there are not many economic studies carried out on the cost of supplying stormwater to consumers. The study reported in this paper makes an effort to estimate the cost of supplying the stormwater to consumers using a case study from Gosford Local Government Area (GLGA). A significant finding of this study is that the larger urbanised catchments are the most suitable locations for stormwater harvesting projects. The results obtained indicate that the cost of supplying treated stormwater for non-potable purposes varied between $3/kL and $5/kL, which is significantly higher than the cost of town water supply. In depth analysis revealed that, the major component of the capital cost is attributed to the cost of distribution system. Therefore, in areas that are already serviced by dual reticulation, it is possible that the cost of supplying stormwater would be equal to or lower than that of the existing town water supply. In addition, further refinement of cost functions can lead to more realistic $/kL values for the water harvested from stormwater. Hagelstein, B, Abolhasan, M, Franklin, D & Safaei, F 2013, 'Improving fairness in IEEE 802.11 networks using MAC layer opportunistic retransmission', COMPUTER NETWORKS, vol. 57, no. 17, pp. 3410-3427. This paper introduces DAFMAC (Decode And Forward MAC), a scalable opportunistic cooperative retransmission enhancement for the IEEE 802.11 MAC protocol which operates without the need for additional explicit control signalling. Distributed opportunistic retransmission algorithms rely on selecting a single suitable relay without direct arbitration between nodes. Simulations show that DAFMAC offers a significant improvement in fairness for both throughput and jitter, giving multiple parallel data flows a more equal opportunity to utilise the channel. DAFMAC cooperative retransmissions are shown to reduce node energy consumption for a given throughput. Further, the DAFMAC relay selection algorithm is shown to scale very well in terms of complexity and memory requirements in comparison to other cooperative retransmission schemes. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Hai, FI, Yamamoto, K, Nakajima, F, Fukushi, K, Nghiem, LD, Price, WE & Jin, B 2013, 'Degradation of azo dye acid orange 7 in a membrane bioreactor by pellets and attached growth of Coriolus versicolour', Bioresource Technology, vol. 141, pp. 29-34. Hamed, A & Lee, T 2013, 'Rank and fooling set size'. Say that A is a Hadamard factorization of the identity I_n of size n if theentrywise product of A and the transpose of A is I_n. It can be easily seenthat the rank of any Hadamard factorization of the identity must be at leastsqrt{n}. Dietzfelbinger et al. raised the question if this bound can beachieved, and showed a boolean Hadamard factorization of the identity of rankn^{0.792}. More recently, Klauck and Wolf gave a construction of Hadamardfactorizations of the identity of rank n^{0.613}. Over finite fields, Friesenand Theis resolved the question, showing for a prime p and r=p^t+1 a Hadamardfactorization of the identity A of size r(r-1)+1 and rank r over F_p. Here we resolve the question for fields of zero characteristic, up to aconstant factor, giving a construction of Hadamard factorizations of theidentity of rank r and size (r+1)r/2. The matrices in our construction areblockwise Toeplitz, and have entries whose magnitudes are binomialcoefficients. Hammadi, A, Hussain, OK, Dillon, T & Hussain, FK 2013, 'A framework for SLA management in cloud computing for informed decision making', CLUSTER COMPUTING-THE JOURNAL OF NETWORKS SOFTWARE TOOLS AND APPLICATIONS, vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 961-977. In cloud computing, service providers offer cost-effective and on-demand IT services to service users on the basis of Service Level Agreements (SLAs). However the effective management of SLAs in cloud computing is essential for the service users to ensure that they achieve the desired outcomes from the formed service. In this paper, we introduce a SLA management framework that will enable service users to select the best available service provider on the basis of its reputation and then monitor the run time performance of the service provider to determine whether or not it will fulfill its promise defined in the SLA. Such analysis will assist the service user to make an informed decision about the continuation of service with the service provider. Han, M-F, Liao, S-H, Chang, J-Y & Lin, C-T 2013, 'Dynamic group-based differential evolution using a self-adaptive strategy for global optimization problems', Applied Intelligence, vol. 39, no. 1, pp. 41-56. This paper describes a dynamic group-based differential evolution (GDE) algorithm for global optimization problems. The GDE algorithm provides a generalized evolution process based on two mutation operations to enhance search capability. Initially, all individuals in the population are grouped into a superior group and an inferior group based on their fitness values. The two groups perform different mutation operations. The local mutation model is applied to individuals with better fitness values, i.e., in the superior group, to search for better solutions near the current best position. The global mutation model is applied to the inferior group, which is composed of individuals with lower fitness values, to search for potential solutions. Subsequently, the GDE algorithm employs crossover and selection operations to produce offspring for the next generation. In this paper, an adaptive tuning strategy based on the well-known 1/5th rule is used to dynamically reassign the group size. It is thus helpful to trade off between the exploration ability and the exploitation ability. To validate the performance of the GDE algorithm, 13 numerical benchmark functions are tested. The simulation results indicate that the approach is effective and efficient. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media New York. Han, MF, Lin, CT & Chang, JY 2013, 'Efficient differential evolution algorithm-based optimisation of fuzzy prediction model for time series forecasting', International Journal of Intelligent Information and Database Systems, vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 225-225. This paper proposes a differential evolution algorithm with efficient mutation strategy (DEEMS) for fuzzy prediction model (FPM) optimisation. The proposed DEEMS uses a modified mutation operation which considers local information nearby each individual to trade-off between the exploration ability and the exploitation ability. In the FPM design, we adopt an entropy measure method to determine the number of rules. Initially, there is no rule in the FPM. Fuzzy rules are automatically generated by entropy measure. Subsequently, the DEEMS algorithm is performed to optimise all the free parameters. During evolution process, the scale factor and crossover rate in the DEEMS algorithm are adjusted by adaptive parameter tuning strategy for each generation. It is thus helpful to enhance the robustness of the DEEMS algorithm. In the simulation, the proposed FPM with DEEMS model (FPM-DEEMS) is applied to two real world problems. Results show that the proposed FPM-DEEMS model obtains better performance than other algorithms. Copyright © 2013 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. Han, M-F, Lin, C-T & Chang, J-Y 2013, 'Differential evolution with local information for neuro-fuzzy systems optimisation', Knowledge-Based Systems, vol. 44, pp. 78-89. Han, MF, Lin, CT, Chang, JY & Li, DL 2013, 'Group-based differential evolution for numerical optimization problems', International Journal of Innovative Computing, Information and Control, vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 1357-1372. This paper proposes a group-based differential evolution (GDE) algorithm for numerical optimization problems. The proposed GDE algorithm provides a new process using two mutation strategies to effectively enhance the search for the globally optimal solution. Initially, all individuals in the population are partitioned into an elite group and an inferior group based on their fitness value. In the elite group, individuals with a better fitness value employ the local mutation operation to search for better solutions near the current best individual. The inferior group, which is composed of individuals with worse fitness values, uses a global mutation operation to search for potential solutions and to increase the diversity of the population. Subsequently, the GDE algorithm employs crossover and selection operations to produce offspring for the next generation. This paper also proposes two parameter-tuning strategies for the robustness of the GDE algorithm in the evolution process. To validate the performance of the GDE algorithm, 13 well-known numerical benchmark functions were tested on low- and high-dimensional problems. The simulation results indicate that our approach is efficient. © 2013 ICIC International. Hao, L, Di, HS, Gong, DY, Wei, DB & Jiang, ZY 2013, 'Advanced Flatness Control Strategies for Multivariable Optimisation Flatness Control System of Foil Rolling Mill', Advanced Materials Research, vol. 655-657, pp. 1450-1455. Hasan, MN, Saha, SC & Gu, YT 2013, 'Mixed Convection Over a Horizontal Plate With Streamwise Non-Uniform Surface Temperature Distribution', Journal of Heat Transfer, vol. 135, no. 7. Hassan Mohammed, A, Dai, B, Huang, B, Azhar, M, Xu, G, Qin, P & Yu, S 2013, 'A survey and tutorial of wireless relay network protocols based on network coding', Journal of Network and Computer Applications, vol. 36, no. 2, pp. 593-610. Hasselmann, V-R, Maschek, T, Bohnen, F & Deuse, J 2013, 'Taktgebundene Fließmontage in der Großgerätemontage', Zeitschrift für wirtschaftlichen Fabrikbetrieb, vol. 108, no. 1-2, pp. 32-36. Heitor, A, Indraratna, B & Rujikiatkamjorn, C 2013, 'Laboratory study of small-strain behavior of a compacted silty sand', Canadian Geotechnical Journal, vol. 50, no. 2, pp. 179-188. Herman, G, Zhang, B, Wang, Y, Ye, G & Chen, F 2013, 'Mutual information-based method for selecting informative feature sets', Pattern Recognition, vol. 46, no. 12, pp. 3315-3327. Hill, J, Kirby, R & Williams, P 2013, 'Improving the design of dissipative silencers used in HVAC and gas turbine applications', Acoustics Bulletin, vol. 38, no. 4, pp. 43-46. James Hill, AAF, Ray Kirby and Paul Williams from School of Engineering and Design, Brunel University, discuss how efforts are being made to improve the design of dissipative silencers used in HVAC and gas turbine applications. Two Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) projects have been undertaken jointly by Brunel University and Caice Acoustic Air Movement Ltd., and Brunel University and AAF Ltd., to assess the suitability of these traditional design methods in a modern engineering environment. AAF and Caice have commissioned test rigs in accordance with ISO 7235 to achieve these objectives. AAF has utilized a reverberation room as the termination condition and measurement location whereas Caice has used an in-duct measurement with anechoic termination. is a significant undertaking to design and construct a test rig conforming to ISO 7235, with many tests needing to be performed and a large amount of work tweaking the design to meet the criteria set out in ISO 7235. Hirabayashi, Y, Mahendran, R, Koirala, S, Konoshima, L, Yamazaki, D, Watanabe, S, Kim, H & Kanae, S 2013, 'Global flood risk under climate change', Nature Climate Change, vol. 3, no. 9, pp. 816-821. A warmer climate would increase the risk of floods. So far, only a few studies have projected changes in floods on a global scale. None of these studies relied on multiple climate models. A few global studies have started to estimate the exposure to flooding (population in potential inundation areas) as a proxy of risk, but none of them has estimated it in a warmer future climate. Here we present global flood risk for the end of this century based on the outputs of 11 climate models. A state-of-the-art global river routing model with an inundation scheme was employed to compute river discharge and inundation area. An ensemble of projections under a new high-concentration scenario demonstrates a large increase in flood frequency in Southeast Asia, Peninsular India, eastern Africa and the northern half of the Andes, with small uncertainty in the direction of change. In certain areas of the world, however, flood frequency is projected to decrease. Another larger ensemble of projections under four new concentration scenarios reveals that the global exposure to floods would increase depending on the degree of warming, but interannual variability of the exposure may imply the necessity of adaptation before significant warming. © 2013 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved. Ho-Pham, LT, Nguyen, ND & Nguyen, TV 2013, 'Quantification of the relative contribution of estrogen to bone mineral density in men and women', BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders, vol. 14, no. 1. Background: The study quantified the relative contributions of estrogen (E2) and total testosterone (TT) to variation in bone mineral density in men and women. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study which involved 200 men and 415 women aged 18 to 89 years. BMD at the lumbar spine (LS) and femoral neck (FN) was measured by DXA. Serum levels of E2 and TT were measured by electrochemiluminescence immunoassays. The association between E2, TT, and BMD was analyzed by the multiple linear regression model, adjusting for age and BMI. The contribution of each hormone to the variation in BMD was quantified by the bootstrap method. Results: In women, higher serum levels of E2, but not TT, were significantly associated with greater BMD at the FN (P = 0.001) and LS (P < 0.0001). In men, higher serum levels of E2 were independently associated with greater FNBMD (P = 0.008) and LSBMD (P = 0.086). In the multiple linear regression model, age, body weight and E2 accounted for 50-55% variance in FNBMD, and 25% (in men) and 48% (in women) variance in LSBMD. Variation in E2 accounted for 2.5% (95% CI 0.4 - 7.8%) and 11.3% (95% CI 8.1 - 15.3%) variation in FNBMD in men and women, respectively. Moreover, E2 contributed 1.2% (95% CI 0.1 - 5.8%) and 11.7% (95% CI 8.5 - 15.9%) variation in LSBMD in men and women, respectively. Conclusions: Estrogen is more important than testosterone in the determination of age-related bone mineral density men and women of Vietnamese background. However, the relative contributions of estrogen to bone mineral density in men are likely modest Hoque, MA-A, Saika, U, Sarder, BC & Biswas, KK 2013, 'Environmental and Socio-economic Impacts of Salinity Intrusion in the Coastal Area: A Case Study on Munshigong Union, Shymnagor, Satkhira', Jahangirnagar University Environmental Bulletin, vol. 2, pp. 41-49. Horanont, T, Phithakkitnukoon, S, Leong, TW, Sekimoto, Y & Shibasaki, R 2013, 'Weather Effects on the Patterns of People's Everyday Activities: A Study Using GPS Traces of Mobile Phone Users', PLOS ONE, vol. 8, no. 12, pp. 1-14. This study explores the effects that the weather has on people's everyday activity patterns. Temperature, rainfall, and wind speed were used as weather parameters. People's daily activity patterns were inferred, such as place visited, the time this took place, the duration of the visit, based on the GPS location traces of their mobile phones overlaid upon Yellow Pages information. Our analysis of 31,855 mobile phone users allowed us to infer that people were more likely to stay longer at eateries or food outlets, and (to a lesser degree) at retail or shopping areas when the weather is very cold or when conditions are calm (non-windy). When compared to people's regular activity patterns, certain weather conditions affected people's movements and activities noticeably at different times of the day. On cold days, people's activities were found to be more diverse especially after 10AM, showing greatest variations between 2PM and 6PM. A similar trend is observed between 10AM and midnight on rainy days, with people's activities found to be most diverse on days with heaviest rainfalls or on days when the wind speed was stronger than 4 km/h, especially between 10AM-1AM. Finally, we observed that different geographical areas of a large metropolis were impacted differently by the weather. Using data of urban infrastructure to characterize areas, we found strong correlations between weather conditions upon people's accessibility to trains. This study sheds new light on the influence of weather conditions on human behavior, in particular the choice of daily activities and how mobile phone data can be used to investigate the influence of environmental factors on urban dynamics. © 2013 Horanont et al. Hossain, J, Mahmud, A, Roy, NK & Pota, HR 2013, 'Enhancement of Transient Stability Limit and Voltage Regulation with Dynamic Loads Using Robust Excitation Control', International Journal of Emerging Electric Power Systems, vol. 14, no. 6, pp. 561-570. Hossain, MA, Saleem, M, Saha, SC & Nakayama, A 2013, 'Conduction-radiation effect on natural convection flow in fluid-saturated non-Darcy porous medium enclosed by non-isothermal walls', Applied Mathematics and Mechanics, vol. 34, no. 6, pp. 687-702. Hossain, MD, Ngo, H & Guo, W 2013, 'Introductory of Microsoft Excel SOLVER function-Spreadsheet method for isotherm and kinetics modelling of metals biosorption in water and wastewater', Journal of Water Sustainability, vol. 3, no. 4, pp. 223-237. This paper aims to introduce a simple method to run a complicated non-linear analysis of isotherm and kinetics models for metals biosorption based on input functions of spreadsheets. A robust method is demonstrated here to exploit the `SOLVER function available in Microsoft (MS) Excel spreadsheet. It is more economic and user friendly than specialized computer programmes. In this study, an iterative method was proposed to produce the optimal goodness of fit between experimental data and predicted data. This was described the implementing method of a set of real data (garden grass as biosorbent) and the predicted results were compared with linear analysis and MATLAB analysis. The R2 values found from MS Excel spreadsheet were 0.995, 0.999 and 0.996 while being 0.997, 1.000 and 0.999 by MATLAB for copper, lead and cadmium adsorption, respectively onto garden grass. The prediction of maximum adsorption, qm by excel (59.336, 63.663 and 42.310 mg/g) were very similar to MATLAB (59.889, 63.509 and 41.560 mg/g). The predictions of kinetics parameters were also close to MATLAB analysis. Hence, the MS Excel Spreadsheet method could be a handy tool for biosorption models. Hossain, MJ, Saha, TK, Mithulananthan, N & Pota, HR 2013, 'Control Strategies for Augmenting LVRT Capability of DFIGs in Interconnected Power Systems', IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, vol. 60, no. 6, pp. 2510-2522. Hou, HW, Warkiani, ME, Khoo, BL, Li, ZR, Soo, RA, Tan, DS-W, Lim, W-T, Han, J, Bhagat, AAS & Lim, CT 2013, 'Isolation and retrieval of circulating tumor cells using centrifugal forces', Scientific Reports, vol. 3, no. 1, p. 1259. Presence and frequency of rare circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in bloodstreams of cancer patients are pivotal to early cancer detection and treatment monitoring. Here, we use a spiral microchannel with inherent centrifugal forces for continuous, size-based separation of CTCs from blood (Dean Flow Fractionation (DFF)) which facilitates easy coupling with conventional downstream biological assays. Device performance was optimized using cancer cell lines (> 85% recovery), followed by clinical validation with positive CTCs enumeration in all samples from patients with metastatic lung cancer (n = 20; 5-88 CTCs per mL). The presence of CD133⁺ cells, a phenotypic marker characteristic of stem-like behavior in lung cancer cells was also identified in the isolated subpopulation of CTCs. The spiral biochip identifies and addresses key challenges of the next generation CTCs isolation assay including antibody independent isolation, high sensitivity and throughput (3 mL/hr); and single-step retrieval of viable CTCs. Hou, JJ, Wang, F, Han, N, Zhu, H, Fok, K, Lam, W, Yip, S, Hung, T, Lee, JE-Y & Ho, JC 2013, 'Diameter dependence of electron mobility in InGaAs nanowires', Applied Physics Letters, vol. 102, no. 9. Hu, H, Jiang, X, Li, Y, Wang, J & Qian, S 2013, 'Integrated design and controllability test of piezoelectric self-powered MR absorber', Zhendong Ceshi Yu Zhenduan/Journal of Vibration, Measurement and Diagnosis, vol. 33, no. 4, pp. 712-718. Aiming at the piezoelectric self-powered MR absorber, the feasibility of structure composite and function integration is studied, by combining the semi-active vibration control device based on MR technology with energy harvesting equipment based on piezoelectric vibrator. A theory model of piezoelectric self-powered MR absorber is established. Then, its magnetic circuit structure of MR absorber is optimized and designed by using the numerical simulation method, its influences of piezoelectric vibrator's geometric parameters on the outputting voltage of the vibration energy harvesting equipment are also analyzed, and the vibration energy harvesting circuit is simulated and tested, respectively. The simulation results show that the current of 1.67 A could be provided into the coil of MR absorber once the ring-shaped piezoelectric vibrator is excited by AC voltage source. Finally, an experimental platform is constructed in order to test its controllability of the piezoelectric self-powered MR absorber. The experimental results show that the ring-shaped piezoelectric vibrator could provide an enough amount of electrical energy for the piezoelectric self-powered MR absorber's semi-active vibration control, and its damping force achieves 2.4 times before and after the on-off controlling strategy. Hu, J, Zhu, J, Lei, G, Platt, G & Dorrell, DG 2013, 'Multi-Objective Model-Predictive Control for High-Power Converters', IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ENERGY CONVERSION, vol. 28, no. 3, pp. 652-663. This paper presents a multi-objective model-predictive control (MOMPC) strategy for controlling converters in high-power applications. The controller uses the system model to predict the system behavior in each sampling interval for each voltage vector, Hu, M, Fletcher, J, McCahon, E, Catchpoole, D, Zhang, GY, Wang, YM, Algar, EM & Alexander, SI 2013, 'Bilateral Wilms Tumor and Early Presentation in Pediatric Patients Is Associated with the Truncation of the Wilms Tumor 1 Protein', The Journal of Pediatrics, vol. 163, no. 1, pp. 224-229. Objectives: To investigate the frequency of constitutional Wilms tumor 1 gene (WT1) abnormalities in children with bilateral Wilms tumor (WT) and the age of tumor onset in patients with a mutation. Study design: Eight patients with bilateral WT were studied. High-resolution melting and direct sequencing were used to screen for the WT1 gene. Western blotting was performed to determine whether the identified mutations were associated with expressed truncated WT1 protein. Results: The median age of tumor onset in patients with a mutation in the WT1 was lower (10 months) than in those without a mutation (39 months). Three novel heterozygous nonsense mutations were identified in exon 8 in peripheral blood from 3 individuals, whereas all 3 tumor tissues lacked the wild-type allele. All mutations led to a premature stop codon with truncation of the WT1 protein. In 1 patient, a truncated form of WT1 protein was identified, suggesting that development of the WT may have resulted from expression of an abnormal protein. Four distinct silent single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were detected. All 3 patients with a pathogenic WT1 mutation had 2 synonymous SNPs, whereas only 1 of the remaining 5 patients had a single synonymous SNP (P <.05). Conclusions: Bilateral WT are associated with early presentation in pediatric patients and a high frequency of WT1 nonsense mutations in exon 8. Silent SNPs may also be involved in the development of WT. © 2013 Mosby Inc. All rights reserved. Huang, M, Wang, H, Sheng, D & Liu, Y 2013, 'Rotational–translational mechanism for the upper bound stability analysis of slopes with weak interlayer', Computers and Geotechnics, vol. 53, pp. 133-141. Huang, W & Alem, L 2013, 'Gesturing in the air: Supporting full mobility in remote collaboration on physical tasks', Journal of Universal Computer Science, vol. 19, no. 8, pp. 1158-1174. Many collaborative situations require that a remote helper guides a local worker in performing manipulations of physical objects in the real world (physical tasks). Existing systems supporting such collaboration often confine collaborators in fixed desktop settings. Therefore they have limited usefulness in situations in which collaborators are mobile and/or desktop settings are not feasible. In this paper, we present HandsInAir, a wearable system for remote guidance. This system is designed to support mobility of the collaborators and provide easy access to remote expertise. HandsInAir draws on the richness of hand gestures for remote guiding and implements a novel approach that supports unmediated remote gestures and allows the helper to perform natural gestures by hands without the need of a physical support. We review related work, describe technical implementation, and present a usability study demonstrating the usefulness and usability of HandsInAir. © J.UCS. Huang, Y & Huang, X 2013, 'Detection of Temporally Correlated Signals over Multipath Fading Channels', IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 1290-1299. An optimal detection method along with two reduced-complexity methods, modified energy detection (MED) and equal gain detection (EGD), under low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) condition are proposed in this paper for detection of temporally correlated signals over multipath fading channels. By incorporating resolvable multipaths and multiple antennas into system model, these detection methods are derived based on maximum log-likelihood ratio (LLR) test principal and using the same low SNR LLR approximation. Analytical performance expressions for MED and EGD are also given. Simulation results show that, when signal exhibits temporal correlation, the proposed optimal detection and EGD achieve better performance than conventional generalized likelihood ratio test through utilizing multipath propagation. Further, the proposed MED is superior to conventional energy detection if it a priori signal temporal correlation information is exploited. It is also revealed that multipath tap correlation can have either constructive or destructive effect to spectrum sensing. The proposed EGD is proven to be a practical technique for reliable spectrum sensing over multipath fading channels as it approaches optimal performance with low complexity. © 2002-2012 IEEE. Huang, Z, Eagles, M, Porter, S, Sorte, EG, Billet, B, Corey, RL, Conradi, MS & Zhao, J-C 2013, 'Thermolysis and solid state NMR studies of NaB3H8, NH3B3H7, and NH4B3H8', Dalton Trans., vol. 42, no. 3, pp. 701-708. Huang, Z, Lingam, HK, Chen, X, Porter, S, Du, A, Woodard, PM, Shore, SG & Zhao, J-C 2013, 'Synthesis, structural analysis, and thermal decomposition studies of [(NH3)2BH2]B3H8', RSC Advances, vol. 3, no. 20, pp. 7460-7460. Hussain, S, Basu, A, Wang, R & Hamilton, TJ 2013, 'Delay Learning Architectures for Memory and Classification', Neurocomputing, vol. 138, pp. 14-26. We present a neuromorphic spiking neural network, the DELTRON, that canremember and store patterns by changing the delays of every connection asopposed to modifying the weights. The advantage of this architecture overtraditional weight based ones is simpler hardware implementation withoutmultipliers or digital-analog converters (DACs) as well as being suited totime-based computing. The name is derived due to similarity in the learningrule with an earlier architecture called Tempotron. The DELTRON can remembermore patterns than other delay-based networks by modifying a few delays toremember the most 'salient' or synchronous part of every spike pattern. Wepresent simulations of memory capacity and classification ability of theDELTRON for different random spatio-temporal spike patterns. The memorycapacity for noisy spike patterns and missing spikes are also shown. Finally,we present SPICE simulation results of the core circuits involved in areconfigurable mixed signal implementation of this architecture. Hussan, MJ, Hassan, MH, Kalam, MA & Memon, LA 2013, 'Tailoring key fuel properties of diesel–biodiesel–ethanol blends for diesel engine', Journal of Cleaner Production, vol. 51, pp. 118-125. Iacopi, F, Brock, RE, Iacopi, A, Hold, L & Dauskardt, RH 2013, 'Evidence of a highly compressed nanolayer at the epitaxial silicon carbide interface with silicon', Acta Materialia, vol. 61, no. 17, pp. 6533-6540. Iacopi, F, Walker, G, Wang, L, Malesys, L, Ma, S, Cunning, BV & Iacopi, A 2013, 'Orientation-dependent stress relaxation in hetero-epitaxial 3C-SiC films', Applied Physics Letters, vol. 102, no. 1, pp. 011908-011908. Iji, A, Zhu, X & Heimlich, M 2013, 'A 4.5 mW 3–5 GHz low‐noise amplifier in 0.25‐μm silicon‐on‐insulator CMOS process for power‐constraint application', Microwave and Optical Technology Letters, vol. 55, no. 1, pp. 89-93. Iji, A, Zhu, X & Heimlich, M 2013, 'Low power, high gain, low noise amplifier (LNA) for ultra wide‐band applications', Microwave and Optical Technology Letters, vol. 55, no. 6, pp. 1399-1401. Imran, A, Masjuki, HH, Kalam, MA, Varman, M, Hasmelidin, M, Mahmud, KAHA, Shahir, SA & Habibullah, M 2013, 'Study of Friction and Wear Characteristic of Jatropha Oil Blended Lube Oil', Procedia Engineering, vol. 68, pp. 178-185. Imran, A, Varman, M, Masjuki, HH & Kalam, MA 2013, 'Review on alcohol fumigation on diesel engine: A viable alternative dual fuel technology for satisfactory engine performance and reduction of environment concerning emission', Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 26, pp. 739-751. Indraratna, B & Nimbalkar, S 2013, 'Closure to “Stress-Strain Degradation Response of Railway Ballast Stabilized with Geosynthetics” by Buddhima Indraratna and Sanjay Nimbalkar', Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, vol. 139, no. 12, pp. 2233-2233. Indraratna, B & Nimbalkar, S 2013, 'Stress-Strain Degradation Response of Railway Ballast Stabilized with Geosynthetics', Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, vol. 139, no. 5, pp. 684-700. Indraratna, B, Athukorala, R & Vinod, J 2013, 'Estimating the Rate of Erosion of a Silty Sand Treated with Lignosulfonate', Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, vol. 139, no. 5, pp. 701-714. Indraratna, B, Basack, S & Rujikiatkamjorn, C 2013, 'Numerical Solution of Stone Column–Improved Soft Soil Considering Arching, Clogging, and Smear Effects', Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, vol. 139, no. 3, pp. 377-394. Indraratna, B, Hussaini, SKK & Vinod, JS 2013, 'The lateral displacement response of geogrid-reinforced ballast under cyclic loading', Geotextiles and Geomembranes, vol. 39, pp. 20-29. Indraratna, B, Kianfar, K & Rujikiatkamjorn, C 2013, 'Laboratory Evaluation of Coefficient of Radial Consolidation Based on Pore-Water-Pressure Dissipation and Settlement', GEOTECHNICAL TESTING JOURNAL, vol. 36, no. 1, pp. 107-118. Indraratna, B, Ngo, NT & Rujikiatkamjorn, C 2013, 'Deformation of Coal Fouled Ballast Stabilized with Geogrid under Cyclic Load', Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, vol. 139, no. 8, pp. 1275-1289. This paper presents the results of laboratory investigations into the deformation of coal fouled ballast stabilized with geogrid at various degrees of fouling. A novel track process simulation apparatus was used to simulate realistic rail track conditions subjected to cyclic loading, and the void contamination index (VCI) was used to evaluate the level of ballast fouling. The experimental results show that coal fines act as a lubricant, causing grains of ballast to displace and rotate, and as a result, accelerate its deformation. However, coal fines also reduce ballast breakage because of a cushioning effect, that is, by reducing interparticle attrition. The inclusion of geogrid at the interface between the layer of ballast and subballast provides additional internal confinement and particle interlocking via geogrid apertures, which reduces deformation. A threshold value of VCI540% is proposed to assist practitioners for conducting track maintenance. If the level of fouling exceeds this threshold, the geogrid reinforcement significantly decreases its effectiveness and the fouled ballast exhibits a premature dilation. Based on the experimental results, an equation incorporating the VCI was proposed to predict the deformation of fresh and fouled ballast. This equation improves track design and assists in favorable decision support for track maintenance. Additionally, the discrete element method (DEM) was also used to capture the deformation of fouled ballast subjected to cyclic loading, whereas the DEM results were compared with experimental observations © 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers. Indraratna, B, Nimbalkar, S & Rujikiatkamjorn, C 2013, 'Modernisation of Rail Tracks for Higher Speeds and Greater Freight', International Journal of Railway Technology, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 1-20. INDRARATNA, B, PREMADASA, W & BROWN, ET 2013, 'Shear behaviour of rock joints with unsaturated infill', Géotechnique, vol. 63, no. 15, pp. 1356-1360. INDRARATNA, B, TENNAKOON, N, NIMBALKAR, S & RUJIKIATKAMJORN, C 2013, 'Behaviour of clay-fouled ballast under drained triaxial testing', Géotechnique, vol. 63, no. 5, pp. 410-419. Ismail, MS, Moghavvemi, M & Mahlia, TMI 2013, 'Analysis and evaluation of various aspects of solar radiation in the Palestinian territories', Energy Conversion and Management, vol. 73, pp. 57-68. Ismail, MS, Moghavvemi, M & Mahlia, TMI 2013, 'Characterization of PV panel and global optimization of its model parameters using genetic algorithm', Energy Conversion and Management, vol. 73, pp. 10-25. Ismail, MS, Moghavvemi, M & Mahlia, TMI 2013, 'Current utilization of microturbines as a part of a hybrid system in distributed generation technology', Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 21, pp. 142-152. Ismail, MS, Moghavvemi, M & Mahlia, TMI 2013, 'Design of an optimized photovoltaic and microturbine hybrid power system for a remote small community: Case study of Palestine', Energy Conversion and Management, vol. 75, pp. 271-281. Ismail, MS, Moghavvemi, M & Mahlia, TMI 2013, 'Energy trends in Palestinian territories of West Bank and Gaza Strip: Possibilities for reducing the reliance on external energy sources', Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 28, pp. 117-129. Ismail, MS, Moghavvemi, M & Mahlia, TMI 2013, 'Techno-economic analysis of an optimized photovoltaic and diesel generator hybrid power system for remote houses in a tropical climate', Energy Conversion and Management, vol. 69, pp. 163-173. Iwaizumi, H, Yoshizawa, S & Miyanaga, Y 2013, 'A High-Speed and Low-Energy-Consumption Processor for SVD-MIMO-OFDM Systems', VLSI Design, vol. 2013, pp. 1-10. Jamalipour, A, Oppermann, I, Ansari, N & Woodward, G 2013, 'Special Issue on: Cooperative and Distributed Wireless Communications', International Journal of Wireless Information Networks, vol. 20, no. 3, pp. 167-169. Jamdagni, A, Tan, Z, He, X, Nanda, P & Liu, RP 2013, 'RePIDS: A multi tier Real-time Payload-based Intrusion Detection System', Computer Networks, vol. 57, no. 3, pp. 811-824. Intrusion Detection System (IDS) deals with huge amount of network traffic and uses large feature set to discriminate normal pattern and intrusive pattern. However, most of existing systems lack the ability to process data for real-time anomaly detection. In this paper, we propose a 3-Tier Iterative Feature Selection Engine (IFSEng) for feature subspace selection. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) technique is used for the pre-processing of data. Mahalanobis Distance Map (MDM) is used to discover hidden correlations between the features and between the packets. We also propose a novel Real-time Payload-based Intrusion Detection System (RePIDS) that integrates a 3-Tier IFSEng and the MDM approach. Mahalanobis Distance (MD) dissimilarity criterion is used to classify each packet as either a normal or an attack packet. The effectiveness of the proposed RePIDS is evaluated using DARPA 99 dataset and Georgia Institute of Technology attack dataset. The traffic for Web-based application is considered for validating our model. F-value, a criterion, is used to evaluate the detection performance of RePIDS. Experimental results show that RePIDS achieves better performance (high F-values, 0.9958 for DARPA 99 dataset and 0.976 for Georgia Institute of Technology attack dataset respectively, with only 0.85% false alarm rate) and lower computational complexity when compared against two state-of-the-art payload-based intrusion detection systems. Additionally, it has 1.3 time higher throughput in comparison with real scenario of medium sized enterprise network. © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Janjua, NK, Hussain, FK & Hussain, OK 2013, 'Semantic information and knowledge integration through argumentative reasoning to support intelligent decision making', INFORMATION SYSTEMS FRONTIERS, vol. 15, no. 2, pp. 167-192. The availability of integrated, high quality information is a pre-requisite for a decision support system (DSS) to aid in the decision-making process. The introduction of semantic web ensures the seamless integration of information derived from diverse sources and transforms the DSS to an adoptable and flexible Semantic Web-DSS (Web-DSS). However, due to the monotonic nature of the layered development of semantic web, it lacks the capability to represent, reason and integrate incomplete and conflicting information. This, in turn, renders an enterprise incapable of knowledge integration; that is, integration of information about a subject that could potentially be incomplete, inconsistent and distributed among different Web-DSS within or across enterprises. In this article, we address the issues of incomplete and inconsistent semantic information and knowledge integration by using argumentation and argumentation schemes. We discuss the Argumentation-enabled Information Integration Web-DSS (Web@IDSS) along with its syntax and semantics for semantic information integration, and devise a methodology for sharing the results of Web@IDSS in Argument Interchange Format (AIF) format. We also discuss Argumentation-enabled Knowledge Integration Web-DSS (Web@KIDSS) for semantic knowledge integration. We provide formal syntax and semantics for the Web@KIDSS, propose a conceptual framework, and describe it in detail. We present the algorithms for knowledge integration and the prototype application for validation of results Jayawardhana, M, Zhu, X & Liyanapathirana, R 2013, 'Damage detection of reinforced concrete structures based on the Wiener Filter', Australian Journal of Structural Engineering, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 57-70. This paper presents a novel decentralised structural damage detection method based on the Wiener filter. The Wiener filter is customarily used for filtering out the noise that has corrupted a signal, and it is also used for system identification by matching the output of the filter with that of the unknown system. In this study, a damage index based on the mean square error of the Wiener filter is proposed to indicate the damage in structures. The current measurement is the input of the filter and the response of the undamaged structure is the design signal. Another index calculated from the cross correlation responses of neighbouring sensors is used to determine the damage location. An experimental study has been carried out on a reinforced concrete structure. The results show that this method is effective and reliable for structural damage detection and localization. © Institution of Engineers Australia, 2013. Jayawardhana, M, Zhu, XQ & Liyanapathirana, R 2013, 'An Experimental Study on Damage Detection of Concrete Structures Using Decentralized Algorithms', Advances in Structural Engineering, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 33-50. Jayawardhana, M, Zhu, XQ, Liyanapathirana, R & Gunawardana, U 2013, 'Compressive Sensing for Structural Damage Detection of Reinforced Concrete Structures', Key Engineering Materials, vol. 569-570, pp. 742-750. Jebelli Javan, A, Saberi, M, Javaheri Vayeghan, A, Ghaffari Khaligh, S, Rezaian, H & Nejabat, N 2013, 'The effect of dietary Aloe vera gel extract supplementation on lipid peroxidation of broiler breast fillets during frozen storage', Journal of Veterinary Research, vol. 68, no. 3, pp. 233-240. BACKGROUND: To improve the oxidative stability of meat products, the use of the dietary form of natural additives, especially those with plant origin is increasing. Aloe vera plant, the in vitro antioxidant effect of which has been previously discussed, is a potential candidate for this purpose. OBJECTIVES: This study was designed to evaluate the effects of feed supplementation with Aloe vera gel extract on lipid peroxidation of broiler breast fillets during frozen storage. METHODS: Fifty-four 1-day old broilers were allocated into three groups (basal diet as control, basal diet supplemented with 100 and 300 mg/kg methanol extract of Aloe vera gel) and fed for 6 weeks. In the term, chicks were slaughtered and their breast fillets were stored at -20°C for 9 months. Lipid peroxidation was assessed after 1, 3, 6 and 9 months of frozen storage using chemical (PV and TBARS) and sensory evaluations. RESULTS: Results indicated that incorporation of 300 mg/kg Aloe vera gel methanol extract in broiler diets caused the delay of lipid peroxidation in raw breast meat (with 9.6 meq/kg, 92.67 μg/kg and 6.3 in PV, TBARS and Sensory evaluations, respectively) in comparison with control sample (with 15.2 meq/kg, 139.33 μg/kg and 3 in mentioned evaluations) at the last day of the experiment (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that methanol extract of Aloe vera gel can be considered as a dietary supplementation substance in chicken diet and can delay the oxidative spoilage of chicken breast fillets during frozen spoilage. Jeong, S & Vigneswaran, S 2013, 'Assessment of biological activity in contact flocculation filtration used as a pretreatment in seawater desalination', Chemical Engineering Journal, vol. 228, no. 1, pp. 976-983. Contact flocculation filtration (CFF) is a promising pretreatment method to improve feed water quality prior to seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO). CFF is the combination of deep bed filtration and in-line flocculation. To date, CFF has been used mainly as a barrier for particle removal in the filter bed itself with hydrophobic organic compounds removal by flocculation. In this study, the potential of CFF was investigated as a biofilter in addition to its major function of flocculation and particle/floc separation. Two different media (sand; S-CFF and anthracite; A-CFF) were tested on CFF. Bacterial activity in the filter bed was assessed in terms of cell number and adenosine tri-phosphate (ATP) measurement. The microbial community test in the filtration bed was carried out over 50 d in case of sand filter (S-CFF) and 90 d for anthracite filter (A-CFF) filtration periods. With the growth of an active microbial population on the filter bed medium, significant removal of organic compounds, especially low molecular weight (LMW) organics, from the seawater was achieved. The results indicated that CFF functions both as flocculation and separation unit and also as biofilter with moderate efficiency in reducing biofouling potential. The results also showed that A-CFF needed longer time to achieve bio-stabilization but it showed more effective biofiltration potential than S-CFF. Jeong, S, Bae, H, Naidu, G, Jeong, D, Lee, S & Vigneswaran, S 2013, 'Bacterial community structure in a biofilter used as a pretreatment for seawater desalination', Ecological Engineering, vol. 60, no. 1, pp. 370-381. In this study, two biofilters with different media, anthracite and granular activated carbon (GAC), were used to pre-treat seawater for desalination. Both biofilters had the same operating conditions that lasted for 75 days. The bacterial community struc Jeong, S, Kim, S-J, Kim, CM, Vigneswaran, S, Nguyen, TV, Shon, H-K, Kandasamy, J & Kim, IS 2013, 'A detailed organic matter characterization of pretreated seawater using low pressure microfiltration hybrid systems', JOURNAL OF MEMBRANE SCIENCE, vol. 428, pp. 290-300. In this study, two different submerged membrane hybrid systems (SMHSs) namely (i) submerged membrane coagulation hybrid system (SMCHS) and (ii) submerged membrane coagulation-adsorption hybrid system (SMCAHS) were investigated as pretreatment options for seawater reverse osmosis. Organic matters in seawater before and after pretreatment were characterized in terms of XAD fractionation, molecular weight distribution (MWD) and fluorescence. A detailed study on the seawater organic matter (SWOM) structure was made through 1H-nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR), pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry-ion trap-time of fright (LC/MS-IT-TOF). The seawater investigated in this study is mainly composed of hydrophilic matter (57±3.2%). SMHSs removed a significant amount of organic matter. The EEM fluorescence showed a removal of humic-like materials by SMHSs. In addition, humic-like materials relative to protein-like compounds were reduced significantly but the aromaticity of humic-like materials increased. After pretreatment by SMHSs, humics and biopolymers of over 900Da. were found to be reduced and their structure associated with element composition was also changed. The transformation of the SWOM structure after SMHSs pretreatment may have been due to hydrolyzation or oxidization of the organic compounds such as humics and biopolymers resulting in poly-conjugation to aromatic compounds. SMHSs were effective in improving the RO performance leading to higher RO permeate flux and lower permeate flux decline. The pretreatment reduced the amount of foulants on the RO membrane. © 2012 Elsevier B.V. Jeong, S, Kim, S-J, Kim, LH, Shin, MS, Vigneswaran, S, Nguyen, TV & Kim, IS 2013, 'Foulant analysis of a reverse osmosis membrane used pretreated seawater', JOURNAL OF MEMBRANE SCIENCE, vol. 428, pp. 434-444. This study focused on the characterization of organic and biological foulants on reverse osmosis (RO) membrane and fouled RO membrane characterization with seawater pretreated by submerged membrane hybrid systems (SMHSs). New low pressure membrane based pretreatments namely submerged membrane coagulation hybrid system (SMCHS) and submerged membrane coagulation-adsorption hybrid system (SMCAHS) were investigated. Organic foulants on RO membrane were characterized in terms of molecular weight distribution (MWD), fluorescence and extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) analyses. The organic foulants were mainly composed of high molecular weight matters representing biopolymers in the foulants. The fluorescence excitation-emission matrix (F-EEM) analysis showed that protein-like materials were dominant with samples pretreated by SMHSs. Humic-like materials which have lower aromaticity were also present in the foulant. Biological foulants were investigated in terms of total direct cell (TDC) count, cell viability and biomass activity (adenosine tri-phosphate; ATP). Biological fouling was found to be reduced by organic removal with SMHSs. The fouled membranes were characterized using environmental scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive spectroscopy, attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectrometry, zeta-potential measurement, atomic force microscopy, and contact angle measurement. © 2012 Elsevier B.V. Jeong, S, Naidu, G & Vigneswaran, S 2013, 'Submerged membrane adsorption bioreactor as a pretreatment in seawater desalination for biofouling control', Bioresource Technology, vol. 141, no. 1, pp. 57-64. Submerged membrane adsorption bioreactor (SMABR) was investigated as a pretreatment to reverse osmosis (RO). SMABR removed organic matter by adsorption and biological degradation. At a powder activated carbon (PAC) residence time of 66 d (1.5% of PAC replacement daily), higher organic removal was achieved with removal of a majority of biopolymers (9497%) and humics (7176%). A continuous MBR operation with the optimal PAC residence time of 66 d was conducted and compared with MBR with no PAC replenishment in terms of the removal of organic and microbes. High removal of organics of up to 72% was maintained with only a marginal increment of trans-membrane pressure and stable bioactivity (total cell number and adenosine tri-phosphate) during the 50 d of operation. The SMABR was found to be a sustainable biological pretreatment to RO with only a small amount of PAC requirement (2.14 g of PAC/m3 of seawater treated). Jeong, S, Naidu, G, Vigneswaran, S, Ma, CH & Rice, SA 2013, 'A rapid bioluminescence-based test of assimilable organic carbon for seawater', Desalination, vol. 317, pp. 160-165. The accumulation of biological materials and bacteria on water purification membranes, termed biofouling, is associated with decreased membrane performance and increased cost of operation. One strategy to minimize biofouling is pretreatment of the influent water. In this regard, tools and indicators that can assess the influent water are required, enabling an optimum selection of pretreatment methods. One parameter directly linked to biofouling potential is the concentration of assimilable organic carbon (AOC) in the feed-water. High AOC levels are associated with increased growth potential of the microbial fouling community. This work focused on the development of a new method for rapid and accurate quantification of AOC concentration in seawater. The method is based on the quantification of the bioluminescence response of the marine bacterium Vibrio fischeri MJ-1. Compared to previous methods, this new V. fischeri method was rapid (within 1. h), sensitive (detection limit. = 0.1. μg-C glucose equivalents/L) and highly suitable for seawater samples. V. fischeri method was evaluated using real seawater samples. The results showed positive reproductive AOC values. The new V. fischeri AOC method developed has a highly promising potential to be practically adopted as a rapid indicator of AOC concentration and hence biofouling potential of influent marine water. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. Jeong, S, Okour, Y, Nguyen, TV, Shon, HK & Vigneswaran, S 2013, 'Ti-salt flocculation for dissolved organic matter removal in seawater', DESALINATION AND WATER TREATMENT, vol. 51, no. 16-18, pp. 3591-3596. In this study, the removal of different fractions of organic matter in seawater was investigated using titanium tetrachloride (TiCl4) flocculation and compared with ferric chloride (FeCl3) flocculation. The organic matter fractions were characterised using liquid chromatography-organic carbon detector (LC-OCD). Results showed the hydrophobic compounds removal was dominant by both flocculants. However, the removal of hydrophilic organic compounds, such as humics and low-molecular weight neutral compounds of seawater, was superior by TiCl4 flocculation compared to FeCl3 flocculation and this removal increased considerably with the increase of TiCl4 doses. The flocculated sludge after TiCl4 flocculation was incinerated to produce titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticle. TiO2 from seawater sludge characterised by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope/energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDS) showed predominant anatase phase with Si as a main dopant. © 2013 Copyright Balaban Desalination Publications. Jia, W, Liang, S, Ngo, HH, Guo, W, Zhang, J, Wang, R & Zou, Y 2013, 'Effect of phosphorus load on nutrients removal and N2O emission during low-oxygen simultaneous nitrification and denitrification process', BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY, vol. 141, no. 1, pp. 123-130. Three laboratory scale anaerobicaerobic (low-oxygen) SBRs (R1, R2 and R3) were conducted at different influent phosphorus concentration to evaluate the impacts of phosphorus load on nutrients removal and nitrous oxide (N2O) emission during low-oxygen simultaneous nitrification and denitrification (SND) process. The results showed that TP and TN removals were enhanced simultaneously with the increase in phosphorus load. It was mainly caused by the enrichment of polyphosphate accumulating organisms (PAOs) under high phosphorus load and low COD/P ratio (<50), which could use nitrate/nitrite as electron acceptors to take up the phosphorus. N2O emission was reduced with increasing phosphorus load. N2O-N emission amount per cycle of R3 was 24.1% lower than that of R1. It was due to the decrease of N2O yield by heterotrophic denitrification. When the phosphorus load increased from R1 to R3, heterotrophic denitrification (D) ranged from 42.6% to 36.6% of the N2O yield. Jia, W, Liang, S, Zhang, J, Ngo, HH, Guo, W, Yan, Y & Zou, Y 2013, 'Nitrous oxide emission in low-oxygen simultaneous nitrification and denitrification process: Sources and mechanisms', BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY, vol. 136, no. 1, pp. 444-451. This study attempts to elucidate the emission sources and mechanisms of nitrous oxide (N2O) during simultaneous nitrification and denitrification (SND) process under oxygen-limiting condition. The results indicated that N2O emitted during low-oxygen SND process was 0.8 ± 0.1 mg N/gMLSS, accounting for 7.7% of the nitrogen input. This was much higher than the reported results from conventional nitrification and denitrification processes. Batch experiments revealed that nitrifier denitrification was attributed as the dominant source of N2O production. This could be well explained by the change of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) community caused by the low-oxygen condition. It was observed that during the lowoxygen SND process, AOB species capable of denitrification, i.e., Nitrosomonas europaea and Nitrosomonas-like, were enriched whilst the composition of denitrifiers was only slightly affected. N2O emission by heterotrophic denitrification was considered to be limited by the presence of oxygen and unavailability of carbon source. Jiang, F, Daoyi Dong, Longbing Cao & Frater, MR 2013, 'Agent-Based Self-Adaptable Context-Aware Network Vulnerability Assessment', IEEE Transactions on Network and Service Management, vol. 10, no. 3, pp. 255-270. Immunology inspired computer security has attracted enormous attention as its potential impacts on the next generation service-oriented network operation system. In this paper, we propose a new agent-based threat awareness assessment strategy inspired by the human immune system to dynamically adapt against attacks. Specifically, this approach is based on the dynamic reconfiguration of the file access right for system calls or logs (e.g., file rewritability) with balanced adaptability and vulnerability. Based on an information-theoretic analysis on the coherently associations of adaptability, autonomy as well as vulnerability, a generic solution is suggested to break down their coherent links. The principle is to maximize context-situation awared systems' adaptability and reduce systems' vulnerability simultaneously. Experimental results show the efficiency of the proposed biological behaviour-inspired vulnerability awareness system. Johir, MA, Shanmuganathan, S, Vigneswaran, S & Kandasamy, J 2013, 'Performance of submerged membrane bioreactor (SMBR) with and without the addition of the different particle sizes of GAC as suspended medium', BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY, vol. 141, pp. 13-18. In this study the effect of different particle sizes of granular activated carbon (GAC) on the performance of a submerged membrane bioreactor (SMBR) was investigated. The sizes of GAC used were 150-300, 300-600 and 600-1200μm. The SMBR was operated at a filtration flux of 20L/m2h. The removal of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) with the addition of GAC was 95%. The concentration of biopolymers, humic, building block and low molecular weight neutral and acids in the SMBR effluent was reduced by 20%, 66-76%, 20-50%, 30-56%, respectively. It helped to reduce the sludge volume index (SVI) and transmembrane pressure (TMP) development by 30-40% and 58%, respectively. However, the removal of NH4+ and PO43- was relatively low of 35-45% and 34-43%, respectively. The SMBR effluent was rich in PO43- and was removed/recovered using hydrated ferric oxide (HFO). The removal of PO43- was almost 90%. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. Johir, MAH, Vigneswaran, S, Kandasamy, J & Sleigh, R 2013, 'Coupling of physico-chemical treatment and steel membrane filtration to enhanced organic removal in wastewater treatment', DESALINATION AND WATER TREATMENT, vol. 51, no. 13-15, pp. 2695-2701. In this study, the application of steel membrane filtration was tested with the pre-treated wastewater. The pre-treatment methods tested before membrane filtration application were flocculation using FeCl3, Powdered Activated Carbon (PAC) adsorption, purolite ion-exchange column and purolite ion-exchange column followed by flocculation (FeCl3). The effect of two different modes of membrane application (cross-flow and dead-end modes) was examined. The ability of these filters in removing organic matters and solids were examined. It was found that the decline of flux was slightly lower for dead-end mode of operation to that of cross-flow mode of operation. Pre-treatment increased the performance of membrane filtration. The flux decline of raw water (without pre-treatment) was 31-10%, whereas after pre-treatment, it was about 2.5-21%. Pre-treatment followed by microfiltration (MF) showed 68-91% removal efficiency of dissolved organic carbon Johir, MAH, Vigneswaran, S, Kandasamy, J, BenAim, R & Grasmick, A 2013, 'Effect of salt concentration on membrane bioreactor (MBR) performances: Detailed organic characterization', Desalination, vol. 322, no. 1, pp. 13-20. The gradual increase of salt concentration (0 to 35g-NaCl/L) on the performance of membrane bioreactor (MBR) was studied. The uptake rate of dissolved organic carbon and ammonia decreased from around 17.0mg-DOC/g-MLVSS.d to 1.8mg-DOC/g-MLVSS.d and from 8.2mg-NH4-N/g-MLVSS.d to 0mg-NH4-N/g-MLVSS.d respectively when salt concentration reached to 35g-NaCl/L. Similarly the specific oxygen uptake rate (SOUR) reduced from 8 to 9 to around 0.3mg-O2/g-MLVSS.h. The removal of bio-polymers, humic acids, building blocks and low molecular weight neutral decreased with increase in salt concentration. The concentration of dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) in bio-polymer increased from 0.05 to 3.31mg/L when the salt concentration reached to 35g-NaCl/L. This study provides good information for understanding the effect of continuous increase of salt concentration in treating saline wastewater in a MBR process. © 2013. Jupp, JR & Awad, R 2013, 'Developing Digital Literacy in Construction Management Education: A Design Thinking Led Approach', Journal of Pedagogic Development, vol. 3, no. 3, pp. 24-30. Alongside the digital innovations in AEC (Architectural, Engineering and Construction) practice, are calls for a new type of digital literacy, including a new information-based literacy informed by creativity, critical analysis and the theoretical and practical knowledge of the construction profession. This paper explores the role of design thinking and the promotion of abductive problem situations when developing digital literacies in construction education. The impacts of advanced digital modelling technologies on construction management practices and education are investigated before an examination of design thinking, the role of abductive reasoning and the rise of normative models of design thinking workflows. The paper then explores the role that design thinking can play in the development of new digital literacies in contemporary construction studies. A three-part framework for the implementation of a design thinking approach to construction is presented. The paper closes with a discussion of the importance of models of design thinking for learning and knowledge production, emphasising how construction management education can benefit from them. Kabir, SMR, Rahman, BMA, Agrawal, A & Grattan, KTV 2013, 'ELIMINATION OF NUMERICAL DISPERSION FROM ELECTROMAGNETIC TIME DOMAIN ANALYSIS BY USING RESOURCE EFFICIENT FINITE ELEMENT TECHNIQUE', Progress In Electromagnetics Research, vol. 137, pp. 487-512. Kabiri, K, Pradhan, B, Samimi-Namin, K & Moradi, M 2013, 'Detecting coral bleaching, using QuickBird multi-temporal data: A feasibility study at Kish Island, the Persian Gulf', Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, vol. 117, pp. 273-281. Kabiri, K, Pradhan, B, Shafri, HZM, Mansor, SB & Samimi-Namin, K 2013, 'A Novel Approach to Estimate Diffuse Attenuation Coefficients for QuickBird Satellite Images: A Case Study at Kish Island, the Persian Gulf', Journal of the Indian Society of Remote Sensing, vol. 41, no. 4, pp. 797-806. Kale, A, Chaczko, Z & Rudas, I 2013, 'Managing Dynamism of Multimodal Detection in Machine Vision Using Selection of Phenotypes', Computer Aided Systems Theory -- EUROCAST 2013, vol. 8112, no. 1, pp. 483-490. Multimodal Sensor Vision is a technique for detecting objects in dynamic and uncertain environmental conditions. In this research, a new approach for automated feature subset selection-mechanism is proposed that combines a set of features acquired from multiple sensors. Based on changing environmental conditions, the merits of respective sensory data can be assessed and the feature subset optimized, using genetic operators. Genetic Algorithms (GAs) with problem specific modifications improve reliability and adaptability of the detection process. In the new approach, a traditional GA is customized by combining the problem profiled encoding with a specialized operator. Application of an additional operator prioritizes and switches within the feature subsets of the algorithm, allowing a feature level aggregation that uses the most prominent features. The approach offers a more robust and a better performing Machine Vision processing. Kang, S-J, Tijing, LD, Hwang, B-S, Jiang, Z, Kim, HY & Kim, CS 2013, 'Fabrication and photocatalytic activity of electrospun nylon-6 nanofibers containing tourmaline and titanium dioxide nanoparticles', Ceramics International, vol. 39, no. 6, pp. 7143-7148. Karadag, Y, Aas, M, Jonáš, A, Anand, S, McGloin, D & Kiraz, A 2013, 'Dye lasing in optically manipulated liquid aerosols', Optics Letters, vol. 38, no. 10, pp. 1669-1669. Kardani, M, Nazem, M, Sheng, D & Carter, JP 2013, 'Large deformation analysis of geomechanics problems by a combined rh-adaptive finite element method', Computers and Geotechnics, vol. 49, pp. 90-99. Karsa, M, Dalla Pozza, L, Venn, NC, Law, T, Shi, R, Giles, JE, Bahar, AY, Cross, S, Catchpoole, D, Haber, M, Marshall, GM, Norris, MD & Sutton, R 2013, 'Improving the Identification of High Risk Precursor B Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia Patients with Earlier Quantification of Minimal Residual Disease', PLoS ONE, vol. 8, no. 10, pp. e76455-e76455. The stratification of patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) into treatment risk groups based on quantification of minimal residual disease (MRD) after induction therapy is now well accepted but the relapse rate of about 20% in intermediate risk patients remains a challenge. The purpose of this study was to further improve stratification by MRD measurement at an earlier stage. MRD was measured in stored day 15 bone marrow samples for pediatric patients enrolled on ANZCHOG ALL8 using Real-time Quantitative PCR to detect immunoglobulin and T-cell receptor gene rearrangements with the same assays used at day 33 and day 79 in the original MRD stratification. MRD levels in bone marrow at day 15 and 33 were highly predictive of outcome in 223 precursor B-ALL patients (log rank Mantel-Cox tests both P<0.001) and identified patients with poor, intermediate and very good outcomes. The combined use of MRD at day 15 (≥1×10-2) and day 33 (≥5×1-5) identified a subgroup of medium risk precursor B-ALL patients as poor MRD responders with 5 year relapse-free survival of 55% compared to 84% for other medium risk patients (log rank Mantel-Cox test, P = 0.0005). Risk stratification of precursor B-ALL but not T-ALL could be improved by using MRD measurement at day 15 and day 33 instead of day 33 and day 79 in similar BFM-based protocols for children with this disease. © 2013 Karsa et al. Kazem, A, Sharifi, E, Hussain, FK, Saberi, M & Hussain, OK 2013, 'Support vector regression with chaos-based firefly algorithm for stock market price forecasting', APPLIED SOFT COMPUTING, vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 947-958. Due to the inherent non-linearity and non-stationary characteristics of financial stock market price time series, conventional modeling techniques such as the Box-Jenkins autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) are not adequate for stock market price forecasting. In this paper, a forecasting model based on chaotic mapping, firefly algorithm, and support vector regression (SVR) is proposed to predict stock market price. The forecasting model has three stages. In the first stage, a delay coordinate embedding method is used to reconstruct unseen phase space dynamics. In the second stage, a chaotic firefly algorithm is employed to optimize SVR hyperparameters. Finally in the third stage, the optimized SVR is used to forecast stock market price. The significance of the proposed algorithm is 3-fold. First, it integrates both chaos theory and the firefly algorithm to optimize SVR hyperparameters, whereas previous studies employ a genetic algorithm (GA) to optimize these parameters. Second, it uses a delay coordinate embedding method to reconstruct phase space dynamics. Third, it has high prediction accuracy due to its implementation of structural risk minimization (SRM). To show the applicability and superiority of the proposed algorithm, we selected the three most challenging stock market time series data from NASDAQ historical quotes, namely Intel, National Bank shares and Microsoft daily closed (last) stock price, and applied the proposed algorithm to these data. Compared with genetic algorithm-based SVR (SVR-GA), chaotic genetic algorithm-based SVR (SVR-CGA), firefly-based SVR (SVR-FA), artificial neural networks (ANNs) and adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference systems (ANFIS), the proposed model performs best based on two error measures, namely mean squared error (MSE) and mean absolute percent error (MAPE). Copyright © 2012 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Kazienko, P, Musial, K & Kajdanowicz, T 2013, 'Multidimensional Social Network in the Social Recommender System', Kazienko, P.; Musial, K.; Kajdanowicz, T.;, 'Multidimensional Social Network in the Social Recommender System,' Systems, Man and Cybernetics, Part A: Systems and Humans, IEEE Transactions on, vol.41, no.4, pp.746-759, July 2011, vol. 41, no. 4, pp. 746-759. All online sharing systems gather data that reflects users' collectivebehaviour and their shared activities. This data can be used to extractdifferent kinds of relationships, which can be grouped into layers, and whichare basic components of the multidimensional social network proposed in thepaper. The layers are created on the basis of two types of relations betweenhumans, i.e. direct and object-based ones which respectively correspond toeither social or semantic links between individuals. For better understandingof the complexity of the social network structure, layers and their profileswere identified and studied on two, spanned in time, snapshots of the Flickrpopulation. Additionally, for each layer, a separate strength measure wasproposed. The experiments on the Flickr photo sharing system revealed that therelationships between users result either from semantic links between objectsthey operate on or from social connections of these users. Moreover, thedensity of the social network increases in time. The second part of the studyis devoted to building a social recommender system that supports the creationof new relations between users in a multimedia sharing system. Its main goal isto generate personalized suggestions that are continuously adapted to users'needs depending on the personal weights assigned to each layer in themultidimensional social network. The conducted experiments confirmed theusefulness of the proposed model. Kelly (Letcher), RA, Jakeman, AJ, Barreteau, O, Borsuk, ME, ElSawah, S, Hamilton, SH, Henriksen, HJ, Kuikka, S, Maier, HR, Rizzoli, AE, van Delden, H & Voinov, AA 2013, 'Selecting among five common modelling approaches for integrated environmental assessment and management', Environmental Modelling & Software, vol. 47, pp. 159-181. Kersten, W, Skirde, H & Lammers, T 2013, 'Komplexitätscontrolling in Logistiksystemen', Controlling, vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 90-95. In this paper we show a methodology to derive recommendations for the optimization and controlling of complexity in logistics systems, taking the example of the distribution. Based on an assessment and a visualization of the complexity, a structured deduction of multiple approaches is conducted and subsequently applied in the case study of a 3rd party logistics provider. Keshavarz, R & Movahhedi, M 2013, 'A compact and wideband coupled-line coupler with high coupling level using shunt periodic stubs', Radioengineering, vol. 22, no. 1, pp. 323-327. A wideband microstrip forward-wave coupledline coupler with high coupling value is presented. Compared with the conventional edge-coupled microstrip forward-wave coupler, this symmetrical structure, consisting periodic shunt stubs between the two coupled-lines, achieves wider operating bandwidth and larger coupling level. To characterize this structure, the equivalent circuit model is established and verified by measurement and fullwave results. The designed and fabricated prototype is a 0-dB forward-wave coupler with 0.6 mm stub length. This coupler exhibits a coupled amplitude balance of ±2 dB, good matching (15 dB) and at least 15dB isolation between adjacent ports over a wide bandwidth of 66% from 2 GHz to 4 GHz centered at 3 GHz. The coupled-line length and width of the proposed structure are approximately λg/2 and λg/13, respectively, which makes it more compact than the conventional forward coupled-line couplers. Keshavarz, R, Mohammadi, A & Abdipour, A 2013, 'A Quad-Band Distributed Amplifier With E-CRLH Transmission Line', IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, vol. 61, no. 12, pp. 4188-4194. Kha, HH, Tuan, HD & Nguyen, HH 2013, 'Joint Optimization of Source Power Allocation and Cooperative Beamforming for SC-FDMA Multi-User Multi-Relay Networks', IEEE Transactions on Communications, vol. 61, no. 6, pp. 2248-2259. This paper is concerned with design problems of joint source power allocation and relay beamforming in multiuser multi-relay networks that use single-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) and amplify-and-forward relaying. Examined are the Kha, HH, Tuan, HD, Nguyen, HH & Pham, TT 2013, 'Optimization of Cooperative Beamforming for SC-FDMA Multi-User Multi-Relay Networks by Tractable D.C. Programming', IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing, vol. 61, no. 2, pp. 467-479. This paper addresses the optimal cooperative beamforming design for multi-user multi-relay wireless networks in which the single-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) technique is employed at the terminals. The problem of interest is to find the beamforming weights across relays to maximize the minimum signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) among source users subject to individual power constraints at each relay. Such a beamforming design is shown to be a hard nonconvex optimization problem and therefore it is mathematically challenging to find the optimal solution. By exploring its partial convex structures, we recast the design problem as minimization of a d.c. (difference of two convex) objective function subject to convex constraints and develop an effective iterative algorithm of low complexity to solve it. Simulation results show that our optimal cooperative beamforming scheme realizes the inherent diversity order of the relay network and it performs significantly better than the equal-power beamforming weights. Khalilpour, R, Abbas, A, Lai, Z & Pinnau, I 2013, 'Analysis of hollow fibre membrane systems for multicomponent gas separation', Chemical Engineering Research and Design, vol. 91, no. 2, pp. 332-347. Kheirkhah, A, Azadeh, A, Saberi, M, Azaron, A & Shakouri, H 2013, 'Improved estimation of electricity demand function by using of artificial neural network, principal component analysis and data envelopment analysis', Computers & Industrial Engineering, vol. 64, no. 1, pp. 425-441. Khorsandnia, N, Valipour, HR & Crews, K 2013, 'Nonlinear finite element analysis of timber beams and joints using the layered approach and hypoelastic constitutive law', ENGINEERING STRUCTURES, vol. 46, no. 1, pp. 606-614. This paper focuses on development and application of finite element models for nonlinear analysis of timber, timberâconcrete composite (TCC) beams and joints. A new piecewise continuous orthotropic failure envelope in the bi-axial stress space is proposed for modelling timber behaviour. The proposed orthotropic surface is simplified based on isotropic behaviour of timber along the grains and the model is formulated within the framework of hypoelastic constitutive law. The developed constitutive law and finite element (FE) models are verified by examples taken from the literature including timber beams with and without notches and holes subject to three- and four-point bending as well as push-out test results of TCC connections. Further, the accuracy and performance of the proposed constitutive law for capturing nonlinear behaviour and failure load of timber beams and connections is compared with orthotropic Hashin damage model. The FE results show good agreement with experimental results in terms of loadâdisplacement response and ultimate loading capacity of members and it is concluded that the developed timber model can adequately capture the global as well as the local behaviour of timber beams and TCC connections. Khushaba, RN, Kodagoda, S, Lal, S & Dissanayake, G 2013, 'Uncorrelated fuzzy neighborhood preserving analysis based feature projection for driver drowsiness recognition', FUZZY SETS AND SYSTEMS, vol. 221, no. 1, pp. 90-111. Driver drowsiness is reported as one of the main causal factors in many traffic accidents as it progressively impairs the driver's awareness about external events. Drowsiness detection can be approached through monitoring physiological signals while driving to correlate drowsiness with the change in the corresponding patterns of the Electroencephalogram (EEG), Electrooculogram (EOG), and Electrocardiogram (ECG) signals. The main challenge in such an approach is to extract a set of features that can highly discriminate between the different drowsiness levels. This paper proposes a new Fuzzy Neighborhood Preserving Analysis (FNPA) feature projection method that is used to extract the discriminant information relevant to the loss of attention caused by drowsiness. Unlike existing methods, FNPA considers the fuzzy memberships of the input measurements into the different classes while constructing the graph Laplacian. Thus, it is able to identify both the discriminant and the geometrical structure of the input data while accounting for the overlapping nature of the drowsiness patterns. Furthermore, in order to address the singularity problem that occurs in many real world problems, the singular value decomposition (SVD), and later the QR-Decomposition, are utilized to extract a set of statistically uncorrelated features presenting the Uncorrelated FNPA (UFNPA). In the current preliminary study with datasets collected from 31 subjects only, while performing a driving simulation task, the proposed method is capable of accurately classifying the drowsiness levels using a small number of features with an average accuracy of 93%93%. On the other hand, the possibility of developing a subject-independent drowsiness recognition system is also investigated when the problem is converted into a binary classification task, as imposed by the number of drowsiness levels exhibited by the drivers, with accuracies ranging from 82%-to-84%. Khushaba, RN, Kodagoda, S, Liu, D & Dissanayake, G 2013, 'Muscle computer interfaces for driver distraction reduction', COMPUTER METHODS AND PROGRAMS IN BIOMEDICINE, vol. 110, no. 2, pp. 137-149. Driver distraction is regarded as a significant contributor to motor-vehicle crashes. One of the important factors contributing to driver distraction was reported to be the handling and reaching of in-car electronic equipment and controls that usually requires taking the drivers' hands off the wheel and eyes off the road. To minimize the amount of such distraction, we present a new control scheme that senses and decodes the human muscles signals, denoted as Electromyogram (EMG), associated with different fingers postures/pressures, and map that to different commands to control external equipment, without taking hands off the wheel. To facilitate such a scheme, the most significant step is the extraction of a set of highly discriminative feature set that can well separate between the different EMG-based actions and to do so in a computationally efficient manner. In this paper, an accurate and efficient method based on Fuzzy Neighborhood Discriminant Analysis (FNDA), is proposed for discriminant feature extraction and then extended to the channel selection problem. Unlike existing methods, the objective of the proposed FNDA is to preserve the local geometrical and discriminant structures, while taking into account the contribution of the samples to the different classes. The method also aims to efficiently overcome the singularity problems of classical LDA by employing the QR-decomposition. Practical real-time experiments with eight EMG sensors attached on the human forearm of eight subjects indicated that up to fourteen classes of fingers postures/pressures can be classified with <7% error on average, proving the significance of the proposed method. © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. Khushaba, RN, Wise, C, Kodagoda, S, Louviere, J, Kahn, BE & Townsend, C 2013, 'Consumer neuroscience: Assessing the brain response to marketing stimuli using electroencephalogram (EEG) and eye tracking', EXPERT SYSTEMS WITH APPLICATIONS, vol. 40, no. 9, pp. 3803-3812. Ki, S-K & Lu, DD-C 2013, 'A High Step-Down Transformerless Single-Stage Single-Switch AC/DC Converter', IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 36-45. Kianfar, K, Indraratna, B & Rujikiatkamjorn, C 2013, 'Radial consolidation model incorporating the effects of vacuum preloading and non-Darcian flow', GEOTECHNIQUE, vol. 63, no. 12, pp. 1060-1073. Kim, HJ, Pant, HR, Park, CH, Tijing, LD, Choi, NJ & Kim, CS 2013, 'Hydrothermal growth of mop-brush-shaped ZnO rods on the surface of electrospun nylon-6 nanofibers', Ceramics International, vol. 39, no. 3, pp. 3095-3102. Kim, HJ, Pant, HR, Park, CH, Tijing, LD, Hwang, BS, Choi, NJ & Kim, CS 2013, 'Electrical properties of ZnO/nylon-6 spider-wave-like nanonets prepared via electrospinning', Digest Journal of Nanomaterials and Biostructures, vol. 8, pp. 385-393. In this work, ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) incorporated electrospun nylon-6 spider-wave-like nanonets with improved electrical properties were successfully fabricated by simple blending of ZnO NPs with nylon-6 solution. Proper dispersion of ZnO NPs with nylon-6 solution not only produce well distributed ZnO NPs on/into the fibres but also accelerate the formation of large number of thin fibres in the form of spider-wave-like nanonets. The incorporation of ZnO NPs through spider-wave-like nylon-6 nanonets was verified by FESEM, EDX, TEM, TGA, FT-IR analysis. The electrical properties of pristine nylon-6 and ZnO/nylon-6 composite fibres was investigated by current-voltage (I-V) characteristic measurement. It was found that ZnO incorporated nylon-6 composite mats had better electrical conductivity than pristine nylon-6 mat. This result was due to the influence of ultrathin nanofibers and well incorporated ZnO NPs through electrospun nylon-6 fibers. The significant enhanced electrical properties of composite mat may open a new direction for future polymer electronics. Kim, JB, Lee, KW, Park, SM, Shon, HK, Shahid, M, Saliby, IE, Lee, WE, Kim, G-J & Kim, J-H 2013, 'Preparation of Iron-Doped Titania from Flocculated Sludge with Iron-Titanium Composite Coagulant', Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, vol. 13, no. 6, pp. 4106-4109. The main drawback of flocculation process with dye wastewater is the large amount of unrecyclable sludge which needs disposal. A novel process using Ti-salt flocculation to purify wastewater was developed to produced sludge that can be calcined to produce titania. In this study, irondoped TiO2 nanomaterial was successfully produced from sludge obtained by the flocculation of dye wastewater with a composite floculant including TiCl4 and FeSO4. The titania was characterised using scanning electron microscopy (SEM/EDX), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and the photodecomposition of acetaldehyde. The XDR results showed that the anatase and rutile structures were found after sludge calcination at 550 C and 640 C respectively. The elemental analyses were carried out using EDX. The rutile titania sample consisted of Ti (35.7 wt.%), Fe (14.7 wt.%), O (42.3 wt.%), P (2.6 wt.%) and Ca (4.7 wt.%). The photocatalytic activity was monitored for the photodecomposition of gas acetaldehyde. Iron-doped titania seems to play an important role in increasing the photocatalytic activity under UV light irradiation. Kim, JB, Park, H-J, Lee, KW, Jo, AR, Kim, MW, Lee, YJ, Park, SM, Lee, KY, Shon, HK & Kim, J-H 2013, 'Application of Ti-salt Coagulant and Sludge Recycling for Phosphorus Removal in Biologically Treated Sewage Effluent', Korean Chemical Engineering Research, vol. 51, no. 2, pp. 257-262. Kim, JE, Phuntsho, S & Shon, HK 2013, 'Pilot-scale nanofiltration system as post-treatment for fertilizer-drawn forward osmosis desalination for direct fertigation', DESALINATION AND WATER TREATMENT, vol. 51, no. 31-33, pp. 6265-6273. The integration of the fertilizer-drawn forward osmosis with nanofiltration (NF) has been investigated to evaluate the performance of NF process as a post-treatment. The primary objective of this study is to optimize the operating conditions such as feed flow rate and feed concentration, while producing fresh water including low nutrient (N) concentration can be directly used for irrigation. Investigation of operating parameters at the pilot-scale level focused on specific water flux and ammonium sulphate rejection. Results from this study showed that NF process applied as the post-treatment can effectively reject the N concentration more than 90%. Although other factors such as the applied pressure and the cross-flow rates played a certain role in the performance of the pilot-scale NF process, the influence of the feed concentration was more significant on the specific water flux and N rejection. © 2013 Copyright Balaban Desalination Publications. Kim, TH, Hwang, BS, Kang, HY, Kim, JH, Tijing, LD, Kim, CS & Lim, JK 2013, 'Enhanced wetting and adhesion of polycarbonate by ultraviolet light surface treatment', Digest Journal of Nanomaterials and Biostructures, vol. 8, no. 4, pp. 1415-1421. In this study, polycarbonate (PC) surfaces were treated with ultraviolet (UV) light irradiation at different treatment times (0 to 48 h) and at two UV wavelengths, i.e., at 365 nm (UVA) and at 254 nm (UVC). Morphological and surface properties were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and contact angle (CA) measurements. To check the shear strength of the treated polycarbonates, single-lap shear test was carried out. Both UVA and UVC treatment produced rougher PC surface compared to untreated PC, however, UVA did not affect much the wettability of PC. But for UVC treatment, the CA of PC decreased with increasing treatment time to a maximum reduction of 23% after 48 h. The shear strength of UVC-treated PC increased by 63% than that of untreated PC, which is attributed to the formation of functional groups at the surface making it hydrophilic and the rougher surface topography that gives more surface area for adhesion. Klejsa, J, Zhang, G, Li, M & Kleijn, WB 2013, 'Multiple Description Distribution Preserving Quantization', IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing, vol. 61, no. 24, pp. 6410-6422. Komkhao, M, Lu, J, Li, Z & Halang, WA 2013, 'Incremental collaborative filtering based on Mahalanobis distance and fuzzy membership for recommender systems', INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GENERAL SYSTEMS, vol. 42, no. 1, pp. 41-66. Recommender systems, as an effective personalization approach, can suggest best-suited items (products or services) to particular users based on their explicit and implicit preferences by applying information filtering technology. Collaborative filtering (CF) method is currently the most popular and widely adopted recommendation approach. It works by collecting user ratings for items in a given domain and by computing the similarity between the profiles of several users in order to recommend items. Current similarity measures and models updated by traditional model-based CF have, however, shortcomings with respect to accuracy of prediction and scalability of recommender systems. To overcome these problems, here an incremental CF algorithm based on the Mahalanobis distance is presented. The algorithm has two phases: the learning phase, in which models of similar users are constructed incrementally, and the prediction phase, in which interested users are clustered by measuring their similarity to existing clusters in a model. To handle confusion of decision making on overlapping clusters, fuzzy sets are employed, and the degree of membership to them is expressed by the Mahalanobis radial basis function. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm leads to improved prediction accuracy and prevents the scalability problem in recommendation systems. Kong, Q, Zhang, J, Ngo, HH, Ni, S, Fu, R, Guo, W, Guo, N & Tian, L 2013, 'Nitrous oxide emission in an aerobic granulation sequencing batch airlift reactor at ambient temperatures', INTERNATIONAL BIODETERIORATION & BIODEGRADATION, vol. 85, no. 1, pp. 533-538. This study aims to investigate the nitrous oxide (N2O) emission in an aerobic granulation sequencing batch airlift reactor (SBAR) and the associated microbial community of aerobic granular sludge at ambient temperature (18+-3)0C. After 48 days of operation, 1-2 mm granules were obtained and excellent chemical oxygen demand (COD) and ammonium NH4-N removal efficiencies were stably achieved. N2O concentration in the off gas was maximal at the beginning of the aerobic period and stabilized at a lower concentration after an initial peak. (0.60+-0.17, n=3) % of the total nitrogen load to the SBAR was emitted as N2O. A dramatic change in the microbial community structure was noted between the initial seed sludge and the final mature aerobic granular sludge. Nitrosospira was identified to be the dominant ammonium oxidizing bacteria (AOB) which was attributed as the dominant source of N2O production in aerobic granular sludge by analysis of 16S rDNA sequences. Konyagin, SV, Luca, F, Mans, B, Mathieson, L, Sha, M & Shparlinski, IE 2013, 'Functional Graphs of Polynomials over Finite Fields', Journal of Combinatorial Theory. Series B, vol. 116, pp. 87-122. Given a function $f$ in a finite field ${\mathbb F}_q$ of $q$ elements, wedefine the functional graph of $f$ as a directed graph on $q$ nodes labelled bythe elements of ${\mathbb F}_q$ where there is an edge from $u$ to $v$ if andonly if $f(u) = v$. We obtain some theoretic estimates on the number ofnon-isomorphic graphs generated by all polynomials of a given degree. We thendevelop a simple and practical algorithm to test the isomorphism of quadraticpolynomials that has linear memory and time complexities. Furthermore, weextend this isomorphism testing algorithm to the general case of functionalgraphs, and prove that, while its time complexity increases only slightly, itsmemory complexity remains linear. We exploit this algorithm to provide an upperbound on the number of functional graphs corresponding to polynomials of degree$d$ over ${\mathbb F}_q$. Finally, we present some numerical results andcompare function graphs of quadratic polynomials with those generated by randommaps and pose interesting new problems. Kouretzis, GP, Sheng, D & Sloan, SW 2013, 'Sand–pipeline–trench lateral interaction effects for shallow buried pipelines', Computers and Geotechnics, vol. 54, pp. 53-59. Krami, LK, Amiri, F, Sefiyanian, A, Shariff, ARBM, Tabatabaie, T & Pradhan, B 2013, 'Spatial patterns of heavy metals in soil under different geological structures and land uses for assessing metal enrichments', Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, vol. 185, no. 12, pp. 9871-9888. Krunz, M, Siam, MZ & Nguyen, DN 2013, 'Clustering and power management for virtual MIMO communications in wireless sensor networks', Ad Hoc Networks, vol. 11, no. 5, pp. 1571-1587. Multi-input multi-output (MIMO) is a well-established technique for increasing the link throughput, extending the transmission range, and/or reducing energy consumption. In the context of wireless sensor networks (WSNs), even if each node is equipped with a single antenna, it is possible to group several nodes to form a virtual antenna array, which can act as the transmitting or receiving end of a virtual MIMO (VMIMO) link. In this paper, we propose energy-efficient clustering and power management schemes for virtual MIMO operation in a multi-hop WSN. Our schemes are integrated into a comprehensive protocol, called cooperative MIMO (CMIMO), which involves clustering the WSN into several clusters, each managed by up to two cluster heads (CHs); a master CH (MCH) and a slave CH (SCH). The MCH and SCH collect data from their cluster members during the intra-cluster communications phase and communicate these data to neighboring MCHs/SCHs via an inter-cluster VMIMO link. CMIMO achieves energy efficiency by proper selection of the MCHs and SCHs, adaptation of the antenna elements and powers in the inter-cluster communications phase, and using a cross-layer MIMO-aware route selection algorithm for multi-hop operation. We formally establish the conditions on the transmission powers of CHs and non-CHs that ensure the connectivity of the inter-cluster topology. Simulations are used to study the performance of CMIMO. The simulation results indicate that our proposed protocol achieves significant reduction in energy consumption and longer network life time, compared with non-adaptive clustered WSNs. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. Kuhlang, P, Hempen, S, Edtmayr, T, Sihn, W & Deuse, J 2013, 'Systematische Verbesserung von Wertströmen', Zeitschrift für wirtschaftlichen Fabrikbetrieb, vol. 108, no. 1-2, pp. 15-19. Kuhlang, P, Hempen, S, Sihn, W & Deuse, J 2013, 'Systematic improvement of value streams - fundamentals of value stream oriented process management', International Journal of Productivity and Quality Management, vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 1-1. Improving processes is a daily base challenge for enterprises. In particular improvement attempts occur in various different levels of detail and are commonly not linked methodically. Process management systems in general are suitable approaches to manage process improvements. A systematic routine to improve processes and value stream mapping (VSM) are integrated into the organisational framework of process management in order to enable a methodically fostered improvement of value streams in different levels of detail. The outlined approach to systematise the application of VSM is the conjunction of volatile and short-cyclic improvements of a value stream and the determination of target-conditions in order to develop the value stream towards an ideal-state which is specified by productivity and quality criteria. Copyright © 2013 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. Kus, B, Kandasamy, J, Vigneswaran, S, Shon, HK & Moody, G 2013, 'Gravity driven membrane filtration system to improve the water quality in rainwater tanks', WATER SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY-WATER SUPPLY, vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 479-485. The characterisation of rainwater in metropolitan Sydney and in rural New South Wales was undertaken. The results showed that factors such as the lack of vehicular traffic, air pollution and urban contamination meant that rural rainwater water quality was better. The rain water collected in both metropolitan and rural areas generally complied with the 2004 Australian Drinking Water Guidelines except for parameters such as the pH in both the metropolitan and rural rainwater tanks and the turbidity, and lead levels from the metropolitan tanks. This paper also reports the results of a laboratory and a pilot scale study with a deep bed filter (granular activated carbon, GAC) and microfiltration (MF) hollow fibre membrane filter system used to treat raw rainwater collected from a metropolitan rainwater tank. The results of the laboratory experiment and pilot scale systems focus on the non-compliant parameters of the sampling program, i.e. turbidity, lead and dissolved organic carbon (DOC). It was found that rainwater treated by the GAC filter removed the majority of the turbidity and organic substances. The treatment system reduced the concentration of turbidity, lead and DOC to below the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines limits. The pilot plant experiment demonstrated that a GAC filter system and gravity driven membrane could result in low cost and low maintenance operation. Kus, B, Kandasamy, J, Vigneswaran, S, Shon, HK & Moody, G 2013, 'Household rainwater harvesting system - pilot scale gravity driven membrane-based filtration system', WATER SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY-WATER SUPPLY, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 790-797. This paper presents the results of a pilot scale study consisting of pre-treatment with a granular activated carbon (GAC) filter followed by membrane filtration. Detailed characterisation of rainwater tanks has highlighted that turbidity, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and heavy metals, in particular lead, were not compliant with the 2004 Australian Drinking Water Guidelines (ADWG). Further, organic matter present in the water causes membrane fouling and leads to carcinogenic compounds upon chlorination. A GAC filter was used as a first step to remove dissolved organic matter (measured in terms of DOC) in particular and also to reduce the concentration, of turbidity and lead. Membrane filtration can remove any remaining solids reducing the concentrations of turbidity and microorganisms. In this study a pilot scale rainwater treatment system consisting of a gravity fed GAC filter and membrane filter (Ultra Flo) was operated for a period of 120 days. The performance of this system was assessed in terms of membrane flux and improvement in water quality measured against the 2004 Australian Drinking Water Guidelines. Determination of the flux especially in the later stages of membrane operation was important to be able to size the filters in a manner that meets the expected demand. The treatment system of GAC filter and membrane filter was effective in reducing the turbidity, DOC and heavy metals. The system reduced the turbidity to levels of 0.30.4 NTU, below the ADWG limit of 1 NTU. Kusakunniran, W, Wu, Q, Zhang, J, Ma, Y & Li, H 2013, 'A New View-Invariant Feature for Cross-View Gait Recognition', IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security, vol. 8, no. 10, pp. 1642-1653. Human gait is an important biometric feature which is able to identify a person remotely. However, change of view causes significant difficulties for recognizing gaits. This paper proposes a new framework to construct a new view-invariant feature for cross-view gait recognition. Our view-normalization process is performed in the input layer (i.e., on gait silhouettes) to normalize gaits from arbitrary views. That is, each sequence of gait silhouettes recorded from a certain view is transformed onto the common canonical view by using corresponding domain transformation obtained through invariant low-rank textures (TILTs). Then, an improved scheme of procrustes shape analysis (PSA) is proposed and applied on a sequence of the normalized gait silhouettes to extract a novel view-invariant gait feature based on procrustes mean shape (PMS) and consecutively measure a gait similarity based on procrustes distance (PD). Comprehensive experiments were carried out on widely adopted gait databases. It has been shown that the performance of the proposed method is promising when compared with other existing methods in the literature. Kwok, NM, Shi, HY, Ha, QP, Fang, G, Chen, SY & Jia, X 2013, 'Simultaneous image color correction and enhancement using particle swarm optimization', ENGINEERING APPLICATIONS OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, vol. 26, no. 10, pp. 2356-2371. Color images captured under various environments are often not ready to deliver the desired quality due to adverse effects caused by uncontrollable illumination settings. In particular, when the illuminate color is not known a priori, the colors of the objects may not be faithfully reproduced and thus impose difficulties in subsequent image processing operations. Color correction thus becomes a very important pre-processing procedure where the goal is to produce an image as if it is captured under uniform chromatic illumination. On the other hand, conventional color correction algorithms using linear gain adjustments focus only in color manipulations and may not convey the maximum information contained in the image. This challenge can be posed as a multi-objective optimization problem that simultaneously corrects the undesirable effect of illumination color cast while recovering the information conveyed from the scene. A variation of the particle swarm optimization algorithm is further developed in the multi-objective optimization perspective that results in a solution achieving a desirable color balance and an adequate delivery of information. Experiments are conducted using a collection of color images of natural objects that were captured under different lighting conditions. Results have shown that the proposed method is capable of delivering images with higher quality. Lai, JCY, Leung, FHF, Ling, SH & Nguyen, HT 2013, 'Hypoglycaemia detection using fuzzy inference system with multi-objective double wavelet mutation Differential Evolution', APPLIED SOFT COMPUTING, vol. 13, no. 5, pp. 2803-2811. In this paper, a fuzzy inference system (FIS) is developed to recognize hypoglycaemic episodes. Hypoglycaemia (low blood glucose level) is a common and serious side effect of insulin therapy for patients with diabetes. We measure some physiological parameters continuously to provide hypoglycaemia detection for Type 1 diabetes mellitus (TIDM) patients. The FIS captures the relationship between the inputs of heart rate (HR), corrected QT interval of the electrocardiogram (ECG) signal (QTc), change of HR, change of QTc and the output of hypoglycaemic episodes to perform the classification. An algorithm called Differential Evolution with Double Wavelet Mutation (DWM-DE) is introduced to optimize the FIS parameters that govern the membership functions and fuzzy rules. DWM-DE is an improved Differential Evolution algorithm that incorporates two wavelet-based operations to enhance the optimization performance. To prevent the phenomenon of overtraining (over-fitting), a validation approach is proposed. Moreover, in this problem, two targets of sensitivity and specificity should be met in order to achieve good performance. As a result, a multi-objective optimization using DWM-DE is introduced to perform the training of the FIS. Experiments using the data of 15 children with TIDM (569 data points) are studied. The data are randomly organized into a training set with 5 patients (l99 data points), a validation set with 5 patients (177 data points) and a testing set with 5 patients (193 data points). The result shows that the proposed FIS tuned by the multi-objective DWM-DE can offer good performance of doing classification. Laird, I & Lu, DD-C 2013, 'High Step-Up DC/DC Topology and MPPT Algorithm for Use With a Thermoelectric Generator', IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, vol. 28, no. 7, pp. 3147-3157. Langston, C 2013, 'The role of coordinate-based decision-making in the evaluation of sustainable built environments', Construction Management and Economics, vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 62-77. Existing environmental performance assessment approaches focus on the overall performance to reflect sustainability of built projects. However, the impacts caused by construction activities on the environment occur throughout a project's life cycle which may be different at different stages. Similarly, the economic benefits and social impacts from implementing a construction project may be different in different project stages. This paper presents a model of the sustainable development value (SDV), which integrates sustainability assessment into the building process. SDV measures the significance of the concerned project to the attainment of sustainable development values at different stages of a building life cycle, and the SDV at each stage will be amalgamated into the model of sustainable development ability (SDA). SDA is used as a prototype to demonstrate the extent of sustainable performance to aid decision making. This paper presents the methodological framework of SDV and SDA, and the implementation was demonstrated using a case study. Laniak, GF, Olchin, G, Goodall, J, Voinov, A, Hill, M, Glynn, P, Whelan, G, Geller, G, Quinn, N, Blind, M, Peckham, S, Reaney, S, Gaber, N, Kennedy, R & Hughes, A 2013, 'Integrated environmental modeling: A vision and roadmap for the future', Environmental Modelling & Software, vol. 39, pp. 3-23. Laniak, GF, Rizzoli, AE & Voinov, A 2013, 'Thematic Issue on the Future of Integrated Modeling Science and Technology', Environmental Modelling & Software, vol. 39, pp. 1-2. Law, SS, Zhu, XQ, Tian, YJ, Li, XY & Wu, SQ 2013, 'Statistical damage classification method based on wavelet packet analysis', Structural Engineering and Mechanics, vol. 46, no. 4, pp. 459-486. Lawrence*, CG 2013, 'The urgency of monitoring salt consumption and its effects in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians', Medical Journal of Australia, vol. 198, no. 7, pp. 365-366. Le, LB, Niyato, D, Hossain, E, Kim, DI & Hoang, DT 2013, 'QoS-Aware and Energy-Efficient Resource Management in OFDMA Femtocells', IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 180-194. Lee, HJ, Gallego-Ortega, D, Ledger, A, Schramek, D, Joshi, P, Szwarc, MM, Cho, C, Lydon, JP, Khokha, R, Penninger, JM & Ormandy, CJ 2013, 'Progesterone drives mammary secretory differentiation via RankL-mediated induction of Elf5 in luminal progenitor cells', Development, vol. 140, no. 7, pp. 1397-1401. Lee, J, Blumenstein, M, Guan, H & Loo, Y 2013, 'Minimising uncertainty in long‐term prediction of bridge element', Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 127-142. Lee, T & Roland, J 2013, 'A strong direct product theorem for quantum query complexity', computational complexity, vol. 22, no. 2, pp. 429-462. Lee, Y-C, Hsieh, M-H, Flammia, ST & Lee, R-K 2013, 'Local PT symmetry violates the no-signaling principle', Phys. Rev. Lett., vol. 112, no. 13, p. 130404. Bender et al. have developed PT-symmetric quantum theory as an extension ofquantum theory to non-Hermitian Hamiltonians. We show that when this model hasa local PT symmetry acting on composite systems it violates the non-signalingprinciple of relativity. Since the case of global PT symmetry is known toreduce to standard quantum mechanics, this shows that the PT-symmetric theoryis either a trivial extension or likely false as a fundamental theory. Lei, G, Zhu, JG, Guo, YG, Hu, JF, Xu, W & Shao, KR 2013, 'Robust Design Optimization of PM-SMC Motors for Six Sigma Quality Manufacturing', IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON MAGNETICS, vol. 49, no. 7, pp. 3953-3956. In our previous work, soft magnetic composite (SMC) material was employed to design cores for two kinds of permanent magnet (PM) motors, namely transverse flux machine (TFM) and claw pole motor. Compared with motors designed by traditional silicon steel Leijdekkers, P & Gay, V 2013, 'Mobile apps for chronic disease management: lessons learned from myFitnessCompanion®', Health and Technology, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 111-118. Nowadays, many health and fitness applications (apps) can be downloaded from app stores, changing the way people manage their health and chronic diseases. This paper reflects on 7 years of experience in mobile health and fitness app development. It analyzes the uptake of a health and fitness app, myFitnessCompanion®, by the healthcare industry and end-users dealing with chronic disease management. The use of myFitnessCompanion® is analyzed from an end-user perspective. The app is available via Google Play since February 2011 and the research presented is based on data collected from 5500+ users over a period of 7 months. The paper also discusses how mHealth apps could be distributed in the near future, as well as, the use of Personal Health Record (PHR) systems such as Microsoft HealthVault, and the impact of regulations on the future of mHealth apps. The conclusion highlights the challenges and opportunities for app developers in the mHealth industry Lek, HS, Morrison, VL, Conneely, M, Campbell, PA, McGloin, D, Kliche, S, Watts, C, Prescott, A & Fagerholm, SC 2013, 'The Spontaneously Adhesive Leukocyte Function-associated Antigen-1 (LFA-1) Integrin in Effector T Cells Mediates Rapid Actin- and Calmodulin-dependent Adhesion Strengthening to Ligand under Shear Flow', Journal of Biological Chemistry, vol. 288, no. 21, pp. 14698-14708. Lemke, C, Riedel, S & Gabrys, B 2013, 'Evolving forecast combination structures for airline revenue management', Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management, vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 221-234. Forecasting is at the heart of every revenue management system, providing necessary input to capacity control, pricing and overbooking functionalities. For airlines, the key to efficient capacity control is determining the time of when to restrict bookings in a lower-fare class to leave space for later booking high-fare customers. This work presents findings of a collaboration project between Bournemouth University and Lufthansa Systems AG, a company providing revenue management software for airline carriers. The main aim is to increase net booking forecast accuracy by modifying one of its components, the cancellation forecast. Complementing an available set of three traditional individual algorithms, an additional method is presented and added to the method pool. Furthermore, diversification of model parameters and level of learning is discussed to increase the number of individual forecasts even further. Finally, the evolution of forecast combination structures is investigated and shown to be beneficial on an airline data set. © 2013 Macmillan Publishers Ltd. Leyendekkers, JV & Shannon, AG 2013, 'On the golden ratio', Advanced Studies in Contemporary Mathematics (Kyungshang), vol. 23, no. 1, pp. 195-201. The structure of the decimal expansion of the Golden Ratio is examined in decimal and modular forms through the use of various properties of the Fibonacci numbers, particularly the roots of the associated polynomial and the golden ratio. While the ratio Fn+1/Fn approaches the golden ratio it cannot have both terms even, whereas the ratio Fn+6/Fn can. The decimal string of the golden ratio is given in ratio and binomial forms and analysed with the modular ring Z4 and the sequential structure. The decimal part of the golden ratio is also related to pi. Li, AD, Sun, ZZ, Zhou, M, Xu, XX, Ma, JY, Zheng, W, Zhou, HM, Li, L & Zheng, YF 2013, 'Electrospun Chitosan-graft-PLGA nanofibres with significantly enhanced hydrophilicity and improved mechanical property', Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces, vol. 102, pp. 674-681. Li, B, Chen, L, Zhu, X & Zhang, C 2013, 'Noisy but non-malicious user detection in social recommender systems', World Wide Web, vol. 16, no. 5-6, pp. 677-699. Social recommender systems largely rely on user-contributed data to infer users' preference. While this feature has enabled many interesting applications in social networking services, it also introduces unreliability to recommenders as users are allowed to insert data freely. Although detecting malicious attacks from social spammers has been studied for years, little work was done for detecting Noisy but Non-Malicious Users (NNMUs), which refers to those genuine users who may provide some untruthful data due to their imperfect behaviors. Unlike colluded malicious attacks that can be detected by finding similarly-behaved user profiles, NNMUs are more difficult to identify since their profiles are neither similar nor correlated from one another. In this article, we study how to detect NNMUs in social recommender systems. Based on the assumption that the ratings provided by a same user on closely correlated items should have similar scores, we propose an effective method for NNMU detection by capturing and accumulating user's 'self-contradictions', i.e., the cases that a user provides very different rating scores on closely correlated items. We show that self-contradiction capturing can be formulated as a constrained quadratic optimization problem w.r.t. a set of slack variables, which can be further used to quantify the underlying noise in each test user profile. We adopt three real-world data sets to empirically test the proposed method. The experimental results show that our method (i) is effective in real-world NNMU detection scenarios, (ii) can significantly outperform other noisy-user detection methods, and (iii) can improve recommendation performance for other users after removing detected NNMUs from the recommender system. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC. Li, C, Liang, S, Zhang, J, Ngo, HH, Guo, W, Zheng, N & Zou, Y 2013, 'N2O reduction during municipal wastewater treatment using a two-sludge SBR system acclimatized with propionate', CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL, vol. 222, pp. 353-360. A two-sludge denitrifying phosphorus removal process (A2N-SBR), acclimatized with propionate, was proposed as an efficient method for nitrous oxide (N2O) reduction during municipal wastewater treatment. Compared with the conventional nitrification-denitrification process (AO-SBR) operated in parallel, the A2N-SBR not only significantly improved total nitrogen and soluble phosphorus removal efficiencies by around 32.3% and 23.5%, respectively, but also greatly reduced N2O generation by around 31.5%. Moreover, like the anoxic stage of AO-SBR, nearly zero N2O (merely 0.054% of the removed nitrogen) was generated during the anoxic stage of A2N-SBR. The substantial N2O reduction achieved in the proposed A2N-SBR can be reasonably explained by: (i) the use of independent nitrification reactor resulting in higher activity of nitrifying bacteria and no occurrence of heterotrophic denitrification in aerobic stage, and (ii) the use of propionate as carbon source decreasing nitrite accumulation in anoxic stage. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. Li, C, Wang, T, Zheng, N, Zhang, J, Ngo, HH, Guo, W & Liang, S 2013, 'Influence of organic shock loads on the production of N2O in denitrifying phosphorus removal process', BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY, vol. 141, no. 1, pp. 160-166. In this work, the influences of short-term organic shock loads on N2O production during denitrifying phosphorus removal were investigated by changing the influent COD concentrations (100, 200, 350, and 500mg/L). After switching the COD concentrations from 200 to 350 or 500mg/L, N2O-N production amount increased from 1.62% to 7.12% or 3.29% of the TN removal, respectively, while the corresponding effluent phosphorus concentrations increased from 1.84 to 16.55 and 56.08mg/L, respectively, which were higher than the influent phosphorus concentration (4.93mg/L). Furthermore, when the COD concentration was decreased to 100mg/L, N2O-N production amount was only 1.20%. All results suggested that higher organic shock loads increased N2O production. The main reason was that higher organic shock loads increased anaerobic poly-β-hydroxyalkanoates (PHA) synthesis, which resulted in higher nitrite accumulation. The influences of higher organic shock loads on N2O production could be minimized by adopting continuous nitrate addition strategy. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. Li, C, Zhang, J, Liang, S, Ngo, HH, Guo, W, Zhang, Y & Zou, Y 2013, 'Nitrous oxide generation in denitrifying phosphorus removal process: main causes and control measures', ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH, vol. 20, no. 8, pp. 5353-5360. Despite the many benefits of denitrifying phosphorus removal process, the significant generation of nitrous oxide (N2O), a potent greenhouse gas, remains a problem for this innovative and promising process. To better understand and more effectively control N2O generation in denitrifying phosphorus removal process, batch experiments were carried out to investigate the main causes of N2O generation, based on which the control measures were subsequently proposed. The results showed that N2O generation accounted for 0.41 % of the total nitrogen removal in denitrifying phosphorus removal process, whereas, in contrast, almost no N2O was generated in conventional denitrification process. It was further demonstrated that the weak competition of N2O reductase for electrons and the high nitrite accumulation were the two main causes for N2O generation, evidenced by N2O production and reduction rates under different conditions. Accordingly, the reduction of N2O generation was successfully achieved via two control measures: (1) the use of continuous nitrate addition reducing N2O generation by around 91.4 % and (2) the use of propionate as the carbon source reducing N2O generation by around 69.8 %. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. Li, F, Luo, Z, Rong, J & Hu, L 2013, 'A Non-Probabilistic reliability-Based optimization of structures using convex models', CMES - Computer Modeling in Engineering and Sciences, vol. 95, no. 6, pp. 453-482. This paper aims to propose a non-probabilistic reliability-based multi-objective optimization method for structures with uncertain-but-bounded parameters. A combination of the interval and ellipsoid convex models is used to account for the different groups of uncertain parameters, in which the interval model accounts for uncorrelated parameters, while the ellipsoid model is applied to correlated parameters. The design is then formulated as a nested double-loop optimization problem. A multi-objective genetic algorithm is used in the out loop optimization to optimize the design vector for evaluating the objectives, and the Sequential Quadratic Programming (SQP) algorithm is applied in the inner loop to evaluate the uncertain vector and non-probabilistic reliability index. Since the double-loop process for most engineering problems is computationally prohibitive, the polynomial response surface method (RSM) is applied to construct a surrogate model for the approximation of the objective functions and constraints, in order to improve the computational efficiency. In this way, a new reliability-based optimization method is established as a nature combination of the non-probabilistic multi-objective optimization method using convex models with the surrogate model. Typical numerical examples and a practical engineering application are used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed optimization method. © 2013 Tech Science Press. Li, F, Luo, Z, Rong, J & Zhang, N 2013, 'Interval multi-objective optimisation of structures using adaptive Kriging approximations', Computers & Structures, vol. 119, no. 1, pp. 68-84. This paper proposes an interval uncertain multi-objective optimisation (IUMOO) method for structures with uncertain-but-bounded parameters. An adaptive Kriging model is established to improve the computational efficiency and numerical accuracy in the approximation of design functions. Latin Hypercube Design (LHD) is applied to achieve a set of sampling points both in the design and uncertain spaces for calibrating the Kriging surrogate model. The interval number programming method is used to transform the uncertain optimisation into a corresponding deterministic multi-objective optimisation. Typical numerical examples are used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methodology. Li, H, Jiang, Z, Wei, D & Zhang, X 2013, 'Microtexture based analysis of surface asperity flattening behavior of annealed aluminum alloy in uniaxial planar compression', Tribology International, vol. 66, pp. 282-288. During the uniaxial planar compression of annealed aluminum alloy, a novel approach to determine surface asperity flattening (roughness R-a) is employed by analyzing the evolution of surface microtexture. With an increase in gauged reduction, surface asperity tends to be flattened, and strain hardening increases. Lubrication can constrain the surface asperity flattening process. Development of surface asperity features shows the obvious dependency on [111] orientation. In-grain slips contribute significantly to the evolution of surface microtexture. Influence of deformation twins (brass orientation) on the evolution of microtexture is not obvious under our current experimental conditions. Li, HJ, Jiang, ZY & Wei, DB 2013, 'Study on effect of strain rate on 3D surface asperity flattening in uniaxial planar compression by crystal plasticity finite element modelling', Wear, vol. 301, no. 1-2, pp. 11-18. As an important parameter of surface quality for metal manufacturing products, surface roughness is affected by the following parameters: original roughness, friction, grain size, grain orientation, stress-strain state, and work hardening. Previously, effects of friction and gauged reduction and wavelength on surface roughness have already been studied by a 2D surface asperity model in uniaxial planar compression. On the basis of previous results, a 3D surface asperity model is developed by employing rate-dependent crystal plasticity constitutive model in finite element software ABAQUS. Results from electron back scatter diffraction(EBSD) and atomic force microscope(AFM) experiments have also been input into the 3D model. Influences of strain rate and texture have been discussed in this paper. The calculated results show a good agreement with experimental results. With an increase of reduction, the surface asperity flattening under a lower strain rate tends to accelerate; grain size and roughness decrease while hardness and stress increase. Under the same reduction, surface roughness with higher strain rate 0.01 s(-1) has a larger flattening rate (lower roughness R-a) than that of surface roughness with lower strain rate 0.001 s(-1). In this study, increased strain rate has no obvious effect on texture. Li, J & Hao, H 2013, 'Influence of brittle shear damage on accuracy of the two-step method in prediction of structural response to blast loads', International Journal of Impact Engineering, vol. 54, pp. 217-231. A two-step numerical approach, which substantially reduces the modelling and computational effort in analysing structural responses to blast loads, was recently proposed. The method solves the responses of the equivalent SDOF system of a structural component during the blast loading phase to obtain the structural displacement and velocity at the end of the blast loading duration. Using these displacements and velocities as initial conditions, a detailed FE model is developed to solve the free-vibration response of the structure. It has been demonstrated that this approach yields very good predictions of structural displacement and longitudinal reinforcement stress at the mid span of RC beams. The accuracy in predicting the stresses in hoop reinforcements near the supports however varies from case to case. One possible reason for this inconsistency in predicting the stresses in hoop reinforcements near the supports is because of the brittle shear damage occurring near the structure supports during the loading phase, which is not considered in the second step free-vibration analysis in the proposed two-step method. To further improve the accuracy of the two-step method, in this paper, the influence of possible brittle shear damage during the blast loading phase is estimated, which will be included in the second step free-vibration analysis to improve the prediction accuracy of the two-step method. Pressure-Impulse diagrams for generic RC beams are generated for straightforward evaluation of the initial damage and the width of the initial damage zone at the end of the blast loading phase for inclusion in the second-step analysis. It is demonstrated that including damage caused by blast loads in the loading phase in the second step free-vibration analysis improves the prediction accuracy of the beam responses to blast loadings. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Li, J & Hao, H 2013, 'Numerical study of structural progressive collapse using substructure technique', Engineering Structures, vol. 52, pp. 101-113. During their service life, modern structures may experience extreme loading conditions. Large loads generated from bomb explosion may have catastrophic consequences with a large number of casualties as well as great economical loss. Ever since the terrorist attack of 2001, great safety concerns have been raised for urban areas where more and more high-rise buildings have been erected and thus are more prone to suffer the potential threat. Among all the structural responses to blast loads, the catastrophic progressive collapse has attracted great attention around the world. Experimental studies on this topic are not only expensive but also are often prohibited due to safety concerns. With the advancement of computational mechanics techniques and computer power, reliable computer simulations of structural response and collapse to blast loads become possible. However, even with modern computer power, such computer simulations are still extremely time and resource consuming. In this paper, a new numerical approach that incorporates static condensation into the FE model is presented to simulate blast load induced structural response and progressive collapse. Two 6-story RC frame buildings are used as examples to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed method. For comparison, direct finite element modeling of the same example frame structure is also carried out. Comparing the results from both approaches, it is found that the proposed method is efficient and reliable in simulating the structural response and progressive collapse with substantially less computational effort as compared to the direct FE model simulations. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. Li, J & Tao, D 2013, 'A Bayesian Hierarchical Factorization Model for Vector Fields.', IEEE Trans. Image Process., vol. 22, no. 11, pp. 4510-4521. Factorization-based techniques explain arrays of observations using a relatively small number of factors and provide an essential arsenal for multi-dimensional data analysis. Most factorization models are, however, developed on general arrays of scalar values. For a class of practical data arising from observing spatial signals including images, it is desirable for a model to consider general observations, e.g., handling a vector field and non-exchangeable factors, e.g., handling spatial connections between the columns and the rows of the data. In this paper, a probabilistic model for factorization is proposed. We adopt Bayesian hierarchical modeling and treat the factors as latent random variables. A Markov structure is imposed on the distribution of factors to account for the spatial connections. The model is designed to represent vector arrays sampled from fields of continuous domains. Therefore, a tailored observation model is developed to represent the link between the factor product and the data. The proposed technique has been shown effective in analyzing optical flow fields computed on both synthetic images and real-life videoclips. © 2013 IEEE. Li, J & Tao, D 2013, 'Exponential Family Factors for Bayesian Factor Analysis.', IEEE Trans. Neural Networks Learn. Syst., vol. 24, no. 6, pp. 964-976. Expressing data as linear functions of a small number of unknown variables is a useful approach employed by several classical data analysis methods, e.g., factor analysis, principal component analysis, or latent semantic indexing. These models represent the data using the product of two factors. In practice, one important concern is how to link the learned factors to relevant quantities in the context of the application. To this end, various specialized forms of the factors have been proposed to improve interpretability. Toward developing a unified view and clarifying the statistical significance of the specialized factors, we propose a Bayesian model family. We employ exponential family distributions to specify various types of factors, which provide a unified probabilistic formulation. A Gibbs sampling procedure is constructed as a general computation routine. We verify the model by experiments, in which the proposed model is shown to be effective in both emulating existing models and motivating new model designs for particular problem settings. © 2012 IEEE. Li, J & Tao, D 2013, 'Simple Exponential Family PCA.', IEEE Trans. Neural Networks Learn. Syst., vol. 24, no. 3, pp. 485-497. Principal component analysis (PCA) is a widely used model for dimensionality reduction. In this paper, we address the problem of determining the intrinsic dimensionality of a general type data population by selecting the number of principal components for a generalized PCA model. In particular, we propose a generalized Bayesian PCA model, which deals with general type data by employing exponential family distributions. Model selection is realized by empirical Bayesian inference of the model. We name the model as simple exponential family PCA (SePCA), since it embraces both the principal of using a simple model for data representation and the practice of using a simplified computational procedure for the inference. Our analysis shows that the empirical Bayesian inference in SePCA formally realizes an intuitive criterion for PCA model selection - a preserved principal component must sufficiently correlate to data variance that is uncorrelated to the other principal components. Experiments on synthetic and real data sets demonstrate effectiveness of SePCA and exemplify its characteristics for model selection. © 2013 IEEE. Li, J, Bian, W, Tao, D & Zhang, C 2013, 'Learning colours from textures by sparse manifold embedding.', Signal Process., vol. 93, no. 6, pp. 1485-1495. The capability of inferring colours from the texture (grayscale contents) of an image is useful in many application areas, when the imaging device/environment is limited. Traditional manual or limited automatic colour assignment involves intensive human effort. In this paper, we have developed a user-friendly colourisation technique, where the algorithm learns the relation between textures and colours in a user-provided example image and applies the relation to predict the colours in the target image. The key contribution of the proposed technique is trifold. First, we have explicitly built a linear model for the texture-colour relation. Second, we have considered the global non-linear structure of the data distribution by applying the linear model locally; and the local area is determined automatically by sparsity constraints. Third, we have introduced semantic information to further improve the colourisation. Examples demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed techniques. Moreover, we have conducted a subjective study, where user experience supports the superiority of our method over existing techniques. © 2012 Elsevier B.V. Li, J, Li, J, Wang, H, Cheng, B, He, B, Yan, F, Yang, Y, Guo, W & Ngo, HH 2013, 'ChemInform Abstract: Electrocatalytic Oxidation of n‐Propanol to Produce Propionic Acid Using an Electrocatalytic Membrane Reactor.', ChemInform, vol. 44, no. 37, pp. no-no. Li, J, Li, J, Wang, H, Cheng, B, He, B, Yan, F, Yang, Y, Guo, W & Ngo, HH 2013, 'Electrocatalytic oxidation of n-propanol to produce propionic acid using an electrocatalytic membrane reactor', CHEMICAL COMMUNICATIONS, vol. 49, no. 40, pp. 4501-4503. An electrocatalytic membrane reactor assembled using a nano-MnO2 loading microporous Ti membrane as an anode and a tubular stainless steel as a cathode was used to oxidize n-propanol to produce propionic acid. The high efficiency and selectivity obtained is related to the synergistic effect between the reaction and separation in the reactor. Li, J, Wang, C, Wei, W, Li, M & Liu, C 2013, 'Efficient Mining of Contrast Patterns on Large Scale Imbalanced Real-Life Data', Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 7818, no. 1, pp. 62-73. Contrast pattern mining has been studied intensively for its strong discriminative capability. However, the state-of-the-art methods rarely consider the class imbalanced problem, which has been proved to be a big challenge in mining large scale data. This paper introduces a novel pattern, i.e. converging pattern, which refers to the itemsets whose supports contrast sharply from the minority class to the majority one. A novel algorithm, ConvergMiner, which adopts T*-tree and branch bound pruning strategies to mine converging patterns efficiently, is proposed. Substantial experiments in online banking fraud detection show that the ConvergMiner greatly outperforms the existing cost-sensitive classification methods in terms of predicative accuracy. In particular, the efficiency improves with the increase of data imbalance. Li, JJ, Gil, ES, Hayden, RS, Li, C, Roohani-Esfahani, S-I, Kaplan, DL & Zreiqat, H 2013, 'Multiple Silk Coatings on Biphasic Calcium Phosphate Scaffolds: Effect on Physical and Mechanical Properties and In Vitro Osteogenic Response of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells', Biomacromolecules, vol. 14, no. 7, pp. 2179-2188. Ceramic scaffolds such as biphasic calcium phosphate (BCP) have been widely studied and used for bone regeneration, but their brittleness and low mechanical strength are major drawbacks. We report the first systematic study on the effect of silk coating in improving the mechanical and biological properties of BCP scaffolds, including (1) optimization of the silk coating process by investigating multiple coatings, and (2) in vitro evaluation of the osteogenic response of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) on the coated scaffolds. Our results show that multiple silk coatings on BCP ceramic scaffolds can achieve a significant coating effect to approach the mechanical properties of native bone tissue and positively influence osteogenesis by hMSCs over an extended period. The silk coating method developed in this study represents a simple yet effective means of reinforcement that can be applied to other types of ceramic scaffolds with similar microstructure to improve osteogenic outcomes. Li, K, Safavi-Naeini, M, Franklin, DR, Petasecca, M, Guatelli, S, Rosenfeld, AB, Hutton, BF & Lerch, MLF 2013, 'A feasibility study of PETiPIX: an ultra high resolution small animal PET scanner', JOURNAL OF INSTRUMENTATION, vol. 8, no. 12, pp. 1-15. PETiPIX is an ultra high spatial resolution positron emission tomography (PET) scanner designed for imaging mice brains. Four Timepix pixellated silicon detector modules are placed in an edge-on configuration to form a scanner with a field of view (FoV) 15 mm in diameter. Each detector module consists of 256 × 256 pixels with dimensions of 55 × 55 × 300 µm3. Monte Carlo simulations using GEANT4 Application for Tomographic Emission (GATE) were performed to evaluate the feasibility of the PETiPIX design, including estimation of system sensitivity, angular dependence, spatial resolution (point source, hot and cold phantom studies) and evaluation of potential detector shield designs. Initial experimental work also established that scattered photons and recoil electrons could be detected using a single edge-on Timepix detector with a positron source. Simulation results estimate a spatial resolution of 0.26 mm full width at half maximum (FWHM) at the centre of FoV and 0.29 mm FWHM overall spatial resolution with sensitivity of 0.01%, and indicate that a 1.5 mm thick tungsten shield parallel to the detectors will absorb the majority of non-coplanar annihilation photons, significantly reducing the rates of randoms. Results from the simulated phantom studies demonstrate that PETiPIX is a promising design for studies demanding high resolution images of mice brains. Li, L, Xu, G, Yang, Z, Dolog, P, Zhang, Y & Kitsuregawa, M 2013, 'An efficient approach to suggesting topically related web queries using hidden topic model', World Wide Web, vol. 16, no. 3, pp. 273-297. Keyword-based Web search is a widely used approach for locating information on the Web. However, Web users usually suffer from the difficulties of organizing and formulating appropriate input queries due to the lack of sufficient domain knowledge, which greatly affects the search performance. An effective tool to meet the information needs of a search engine user is to suggest Web queries that are topically related to their initial inquiry. Accurately computing query-to-query similarity scores is a key to improve the quality of these suggestions. Because of the short lengths of queries, traditional pseudo-relevance or implicit-relevance based approaches expand the expression of the queries for the similarity computation. They explicitly use a search engine as a complementary source and directly extract additional features (such as terms or URLs) from the top-listed or clicked search results. In this paper, we propose a novel approach by utilizing the hidden topic as an expandable feature. This has two steps. In the offline model-learning step, a hidden topic model is trained, and for each candidate query, its posterior distribution over the hidden topic space is determined to re-express the query instead of the lexical expression. In the online query suggestion step, after inferring the topic distribution for an input query in a similar way, we then calculate the similarity between candidate queries and the input query in terms of their corresponding topic distributions; and produce a suggestion list of candidate queries based on the similarity scores. Our experimental results on two real data sets show that the hidden topic based suggestion is much more efficient than the traditional term or URL based approach, and is effective in finding topically related queries for suggestion. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC. Li, Q, Wang, XC, Zhang, HH, Shi, HL, Hu, T & Ngo, HH 2013, 'Characteristics of nitrogen transformation and microbial community in an aerobic composting reactor under two typical temperatures', BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY, vol. 137, pp. 270-277. Batch experiments were conducted for feces composting using an aerobic composting reactor with sawdust as bulky matrix. In the 14-day composting processes at 35 ± 2 and 55 ± 2 C, compost samples were collected daily and chemical analyses and PCR-DGGE were carried out for investigating the influence of composting temperature on organic decomposition, nitrogen transformation, and microbial communities. At 55 ± 2 C, in addition to a slightly higher COD removal, nitrogen loss was greatly restrained. As organic nitrogen took about 85% of the total nitrogen originated from human feces, the suppression of ammonification process under thermophilic environment might be the main reason for less nitrogen loss at 55 ± 2 C. By PCR-DGGE analysis, the microbial community was found to undergo successions differently at 35 ± 2 and 55 ± 2 C. Certain sequences identified from the compost at 55 ± 2 C represented the microbial species which could perform nitrogen-fixation or sustain a lower pH in the compost so that gaseous ammonia emission was suppressed. Li, S, Liu, W & Wang, S 2013, 'Qualitative constraint satisfaction problems: An extended framework with landmarks', Artificial Intelligence, vol. 201, no. 1, pp. 32-58. Dealing with spatial and temporal knowledge is an indispensable part of almost all aspects of human activity. The qualitative approach to spatial and temporal reasoning, known as Qualitative Spatial and Temporal Reasoning (QSTR), typically represents spatial/temporal knowledge in terms of qualitative relations (e.g., to the east of, after), and reasons with spatial/temporal knowledge by solving qualitative constraints. When formulating qualitative constraint satisfaction problems (CSPs), it is usually assumed that each variable could be 'here, there and everywhere'.1 Practical applications such as urban planning, however, often require a variable to take its value from a certain finite domain, i.e. it is required to be 'here or there, but not everywhere'. Entities in such a finite domain often act as reference objects and are called 'landmarks' in this paper. The paper extends the classical framework of qualitative CSPs by allowing variables to take values from finite domains. The computational complexity of the consistency problem in this extended framework is examined for the five most important qualitative calculi, viz. Point Algebra, Interval Algebra, Cardinal Relation Algebra, RCC5, and RCC8. We show that all these consistency problems remain in NP and provide, under practical assumptions, efficient algorithms for solving basic constraints involving landmarks for all these calculi. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. Li, S-Y, Yang, C-H, Chen, S-A, Ko, L-W & Lin, C-T 2013, 'Fuzzy adaptive synchronization of time-reversed chaotic systems via a new adaptive control strategy', Information Sciences, vol. 222, pp. 486-500. A novel adaptive control strategy is proposed herein to increase the efficiency of adaptive control by combining Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy modeling and the Ge-Yao-Chen (GYC) partial region stability theory. This approach provides two major contributions: (1) increased synchronization efficiency, especially for parameters tracing and (2) a simpler controller design. Two simulated cases are presented for comparison: Case 1 utilizes normal adaptive synchronization, whereas Case 2 utilizes the Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy model-based Lorenz systems to realize adaptive synchronization via the new adaptive scheme. The simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness and feasibility of our new adaptive strategy. © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Li, S-Y, Yang, C-H, Ko, L-W, Lin, C-T & Ge, Z-M 2013, 'Implementation on Electronic Circuits and RTR Pragmatical Adaptive Synchronization: Time-Reversed Uncertain Dynamical Systems' Analysis and Applications', Abstract and Applied Analysis, vol. 2013, pp. 1-10. Li, S-Y, Yang, C-H, Lin, C-T, Ko, L-W & Chiu, T-T 2013, 'Chaotic Motions in the Real Fuzzy Electronic Circuits', Abstract and Applied Analysis, vol. 2013, pp. 1-8. Li, Y, Jia, W, Shen, C & Hengel, AVD 2013, 'Characterness: An Indicator of Text in the Wild', IEEE Transactions on Image Processing, vol. 23, no. 4, pp. 1666-1677. Text in an image provides vital information for interpreting its contents,and text in a scene can aide with a variety of tasks from navigation, toobstacle avoidance, and odometry. Despite its value, however, identifyinggeneral text in images remains a challenging research problem. Motivated by theneed to consider the widely varying forms of natural text, we propose abottom-up approach to the problem which reflects the `characterness' of animage region. In this sense our approach mirrors the move from saliencydetection methods to measures of `objectness'. In order to measure thecharacterness we develop three novel cues that are tailored for characterdetection, and a Bayesian method for their integration. Because text is made upof sets of characters, we then design a Markov random field (MRF) model so asto exploit the inherent dependencies between characters. We experimentally demonstrate the effectiveness of our characterness cues aswell as the advantage of Bayesian multi-cue integration. The proposed textdetector outperforms state-of-the-art methods on a few benchmark scene textdetection datasets. We also show that our measurement of `characterness' issuperior than state-of-the-art saliency detection models when applied to thesame task. Li, Y, Li, J & Samali, B 2013, 'On the magnetic field and temperature monitoring of a solenoid coil for a novel magnetorheological elastomer base isolator', 13TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ELECTRORHEOLOGICAL FLUIDS AND MAGNETORHEOLOGICAL SUSPENSIONS (ERMR2012), vol. 412, no. 1, pp. 1-7. Following a successful experimental validation of a magnetorheological elastomer (MRE) base isolator, this study presents one of the major concerns, the heating of the magnetic coil, in the design and development of the adaptive MRE based isolator. In this research, the MRE materials, with a total thickness of nearly 150 mm, are placed as the magnetic core of the device to best utilize the magnetic energy provided by the coil. A series of tests are undertaken to investigate the magnetic fields inside the coil with or without the MRE materials. Thermocouples are used to monitoring the surface temperature of the coil when it is applied with various currents for 10 min. It is shown that the measurement of field inside the solenoid when no MRE is placed inside agrees with the theoretical analysis. It is also shown that the temperature of the coil increase dramatically when a current is applied. Cooling of the coil may takes even longer, about 4 h, till down to the room temperature. Dropping of the magnetic field is observed when the temperature goes high. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd. Li, Y, Li, J, Li, W & Samali, B 2013, 'Development and characterization of a magnetorheological elastomer based adaptive seismic isolator', SMART MATERIALS AND STRUCTURES, vol. 22, no. 3, pp. 1-12. One of the main shortcomings in current base isolation design/practice is lack of adaptability. As a result, a base isolation system that is effective for one type earthquake may become ineffective or may have adverse effect for other earthquakes. The vulnerability of traditional base isolation systems can be exaggerated by two types of earthquakes, i.e. near-field earthquakes and far-field earthquakes. This paper addresses the challenge facing current base isolation design/practice by proposing a new type of seismic isolator for the base isolation system, namely an adaptive seismic isolator. The novel adaptive seismic isolator utilizes magnetorheological elastomer (MRE) for its field-sensitive material property. Traditional seismic isolator design with a unique laminated structure of steel and MRE layers has been adopted in the novel MRE seismic isolator. To evaluate and characterize the behavior of the MRE seismic isolator, experimental testing was conducted on a shake table facility under harmonic cycling loading. Experimental results show that the proposed adaptive seismic isolator can successfully alter the lateral stiffness and damping force in real time up to 37% and 45% respectively. Based on the successful development of the novel adaptive seismic isolator, a discussion is also extended to the impact and potential applications of such a device in structural control applications in civil engineering. © 2013 IOP Publishing Ltd. Li, Y, Li, J, Tian, T & Li, W 2013, 'A highly adjustable magnetorheological elastomer base isolator for applications of real-time adaptive control', SMART MATERIALS AND STRUCTURES, vol. 22, no. 9, pp. 1-18. Inspired by its controllable and field-dependent stiffness/damping properties, there has been increasing research and development of magnetorheological elastomer (MRE) for mitigation of unwanted structural or machinery vibrations using MRE isolators or absorbers. Recently, a breakthrough pilot research on the development of a highly innovative prototype adaptive MRE base isolator, with the ability for real-time adaptive control of base isolated structures against various types of earthquakes including near- or far-fault earthquakes, has been reported by the authors. As a further effort to improve the proposed MRE adaptive base isolator and to address some of the shortcomings and challenges, this paper presents systematic investigations on the development of a new highly adjustable MRE base isolator, including experimental testing and characterization of the new isolator. A soft MR elastomer has been designed, fabricated and incorporated in the laminated structure of the new MRE base isolator, which aims to obtain a highly adjustable shear modulus under a medium level of magnetic field. Comprehensive static and dynamic testing was conducted on this new adaptive MRE base isolator to examine its characteristics and evaluate its performance. The experimental results show that this new MRE base isolator can remarkably change the lateral stiffness of the isolator up to 1630% under a medium level of magnetic field. Such highly adjustable MRE base isolator makes the design and implementation of truly real-time adaptive (e.g. semi-active or smart passive) seismic isolation systems become feasible. © 2013 IOP Publishing Ltd. Li, Y-F, Tsang, IW, Kwok, JT & Zhou, Z-H 2013, 'Convex and Scalable Weakly Labeled SVMs', Journal of Machine Learning Research, vol. 2013, no. 1, pp. 14-2188. In this paper, we study the problem of learning from weakly labeled data,where labels of the training examples are incomplete. This includes, forexample, (i) semi-supervised learning where labels are partially known; (ii)multi-instance learning where labels are implicitly known; and (iii) clusteringwhere labels are completely unknown. Unlike supervised learning, learning withweak labels involves a difficult Mixed-Integer Programming (MIP) problem.Therefore, it can suffer from poor scalability and may also get stuck in localminimum. In this paper, we focus on SVMs and propose the WellSVM via a novellabel generation strategy. This leads to a convex relaxation of the originalMIP, which is at least as tight as existing convex Semi-Definite Programming(SDP) relaxations. Moreover, the WellSVM can be solved via a sequence of SVMsubproblems that are much more scalable than previous convex SDP relaxations.Experiments on three weakly labeled learning tasks, namely, (i) semi-supervisedlearning; (ii) multi-instance learning for locating regions of interest incontent-based information retrieval; and (iii) clustering, clearly demonstrateimproved performance, and WellSVM is also readily applicable on large datasets. Li, Z, He, Y, Liu, Q, Zhao, L, Wong, L, Kwoh, CK, Nguyen, H & Li, J 2013, 'Structural analysis on mutation residues and interfacial water molecules for human TIM disease understanding', BMC BIOINFORMATICS, vol. 14, no. SUPPL16, pp. 1-15. Background: Human triosephosphate isomerase (HsTIM) deficiency is a genetic disease caused often by the pathogenic mutation E104D. This mutation, located at the side of an abnormally large cluster of water in the inter-subunit interface, reduces the thermostability of the enzyme. Why and how these water molecules are directly related to the excessive thermolability of the mutant have not been investigated in structural biology.Results: This work compares the structure of the E104D mutant with its wild type counterparts. It is found that the water topology in the dimer interface of HsTIM is atypical, having a 'wet-core-dry-rim' distribution with 16 water molecules tightly packed in a small deep region surrounded by 22 residues including GLU104. These water molecules are co-conserved with their surrounding residues in non-archaeal TIMs (dimers) but not conserved across archaeal TIMs (tetramers), indicating their importance in preserving the overall quaternary structure. As the structural permutation induced by the mutation is not significant, we hypothesize that the excessive thermolability of the E104D mutant is attributed to the easy propagation of atoms' flexibility from the surface into the core via the large cluster of water. It is indeed found that the B factor increment in the wet region is higher than other regions, and, more importantly, the B factor increment in the wet region is maintained in the deeply buried core. Molecular dynamics simulations revealed that for the mutant structure at normal temperature, a clear increase of the root-mean-square deviation is observed for the wet region contacting with the large cluster of interfacial water. Such increase is not observed for other interfacial regions or the whole protein. This clearly suggests that, in the E104D mutant, the large water cluster is responsible for the subunit interface flexibility and overall thermolability, and it ultimately leads to the deficiency of this enzyme.Conclusions: O... Li, Z, Wang, W, Wang, Y, Chen, F & Wang, Y 2013, 'Visual tracking by proto-objects', Pattern Recognition, vol. 46, no. 8, pp. 2187-2201. Liang, Z, Zhuang, Y, Yang, Y & Xiao, J 2013, 'Retrieval-based cartoon gesture recognition and applications via semi-supervised heterogeneous classifiers learning', Pattern Recognition, vol. 46, no. 1, pp. 412-423. Liao, L-D & Lin, C-T 2013, '<I>Journal of Neuroscience and Neuroengineering</I> Best Paper Award 2012', Journal of Neuroscience and Neuroengineering, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 1-2. Liao, L-D, Chen, B-W, Tseng, KC, Ko, L-W, Wang, I-J, Chen, S-A, Chang, J-Y & Lin, C-T 2013, 'Design and Implementation of Wearable and Wireless Multi-Channel Brain-Computer Interface with the Novel Dry Sensors', Journal of Neuroscience and Neuroengineering, vol. 2, no. 5, pp. 477-484. Liao, SH, Han, MF, Chang, JY & Lin, CT 2013, 'Study on adaptive least trimmed squares fuzzy neural network', International Journal of Fuzzy Systems, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 338-346. In the largest samplings of data, outliers are observations that are well separated from the major samples. To deal with outlier problems, a least trimmed squares (LTS) estimator is developed for robust linear regression problems. It is meaningful to generalize the LTS estimator to fuzzy neural network (FNN) for robust nonlinear regression problems. In addition, the determination of the trimming constant is important when using the LTS estimator. In this paper, we propose the use of an adaptive least trimmed squares fuzzy neural network (ALTS-FNN), which applies a scale estimate to a LTS-FNN. This paper particularly emphasizes the robustness of the proposed network against outliers and an automatic determination of the trimming percentage. Simulation problems are provided to compare the performance of the proposed ALTS-FNN, with an LTS-FNN and typical FNN. Simulation results show that the proposed ALTS-FNN is highly robust against outliers. © 2013 TFSA. Liaquat, AM, Masjuki, HH, Kalam, MA, Fattah, IMR, Hazrat, MA, Varman, M, Mofijur, M & Shahabuddin, M 2013, 'Effect of Coconut Biodiesel Blended Fuels on Engine Performance and Emission Characteristics', Procedia Engineering, vol. 56, pp. 583-590. Liaquat, AM, Masjuki, HH, Kalam, MA, Fazal, MA, Khan, AF, Fayaz, H & Varman, M 2013, 'Impact of palm biodiesel blend on injector deposit formation', Applied Energy, vol. 111, pp. 882-893. Lieber, D, Erohin, O & Deuse, J 2013, 'Wissensentdeckung im industriellen Kontext', Zeitschrift für wirtschaftlichen Fabrikbetrieb, vol. 108, no. 6, pp. 388-393. Lin, C-L, Jung, T-P, Chuang, S-W, Duann, J-R, Lin, C-T & Chiu, T-W 2013, 'Self-adjustments may account for the contradictory correlations between HRV and motion-sickness severity', International Journal of Psychophysiology, vol. 87, no. 1, pp. 70-80. This study investigates the relationship between heart rate variability (HRV) and the level of motion sickness (MS) induced by simulated tunnel driving. The HRV indices, normalized low frequency (NLF, 0.04-0.15 Hz), normalized high frequency (NHF, 0.15-0.4 Hz), and LF/HF ratio were correlated with the subjectively and continuously rated MS levels of 20 participants. The experimental results showed that for 13 of the subjects, the MS levels positively correlated with the NLF and the LF/HF ratio and negatively correlated with the NHF. The remaining seven subjects had negative correlations between the MS levels and the NLF and the LF/HF ratio and a positive correlation between the MS levels and the NHF. To clarify this contradiction, this study also inspected the effects of subjects' self-adjustments on the correlations between the MS levels and the HRV indices and showed that the variations in the relationship might be attributed to the subjects' self-adjustments, which they used to relieve the discomfort of MS. © 2012 Elsevier B.V. Lin, C-T, Hsu, S-C, Lee, J-F & Yang, C-T 2013, 'Boosted Vehicle Detection Using Local and Global Features', Journal of Signal and Information Processing, vol. 04, no. 03, pp. 243-252. This study presents a boosted vehicle detection system. It first hypothesizes potential locations of vehicles to reduce the computational costs by a statistic of the edge intensity and symmetry, then verifies the accuracy of the hypotheses using AdaBoost and Probabilistic Decision-Based Neural Network (PDBNN) classifiers, which exploit local and global features of vehicles, respectively. The combination of 2 classifiers can be used to learn the complementary relationship between local and global features, and it gains an extremely low false positive rate while maintaining a high detection rate. For the MIT Center for Biological & Computational Learning (CBCL) database, a 96.3% detection rate leads to a false alarm rate of approximately 0.0013%. The objective of this study is to extract the characteristic of vehicles in both local- and global-orientation, and model the implicit invariance of vehicles. This boosted approach provides a more effective solution to handle the problems encountered by conventional background-based detection systems. The experimental results of this study prove that the proposed system achieves good performance in detecting vehicles without background information. The implemented system also extract useful traffic information that can be used for further processing, such as tracking, counting, classification, and recognition. Lin, C-T, Huang, K-C, Chuang, C-H, Ko, L-W & Jung, T-P 2013, 'Can arousing feedback rectify lapses in driving? Prediction from EEG power spectra', Journal of Neural Engineering, vol. 10, no. 5, pp. 056024-056024. Objective. This study explores the neurophysiological changes, measured using an electroencephalogram (EEG), in response to an arousing warning signal delivered to drowsy drivers, and predicts the efficacy of the feedback based on changes in the EEG. Approach. Eleven healthy subjects participated in sustained-attention driving experiments. The driving task required participants to maintain their cruising position and compensate for randomly induced lane deviations using the steering wheel, while their EEG and driving performance were continuously monitored. The arousing warning signal was delivered to participants who experienced momentary behavioral lapses, failing to respond rapidly to lane-departure events (specifically the reaction time exceeded three times the alert reaction time). Main results. The results of our previous studies revealed that arousing feedback immediately reversed deteriorating driving performance, which was accompanied by concurrent EEG theta- and alpha-power suppression in the bilateral occipital areas. This study further proposes a feedback efficacy assessment system to accurately estimate the efficacy of arousing warning signals delivered to drowsy participants by monitoring the changes in their EEG power spectra immediately thereafter. The classification accuracy was up 77.8% for determining the need for triggering additional warning signals. Significance. The findings of this study, in conjunction with previous studies on EEG correlates of behavioral lapses, might lead to a practical closed-loop system to predict, monitor and rectify behavioral lapses of human operators in attention-critical settings. © 2013 IOP Publishing Ltd. Lin, Q, Zhang, Y, Zhang, W & Lin, X 2013, 'Efficient general spatial skyline computation', World Wide Web, vol. 16, no. 3, pp. 247-270. With the emergence of location-aware mobile device technologies, communication technologies and GPS systems, the location based queries have attracted great attentions in the database literature. In many user recommendation web services, the spatial preference query is used to suggest the objects based on their spatial proximity with the facilities. In this paper, we study the problem of general spatial skyline (GSSKY) which can provide the minimal candidate set of the optimal solutions for any monotonic distance based spatial preference query. Efficient progressive algorithm called P-GSSKY is proposed to significantly reduce the number of non-promising objects in the computation. Moreover, we also propose spatial join based algorithm, called J-GSSKY, which can compute GSSKY efficiently in terms of I/O cost. The paper conducts a comprehensive performance study of the proposed techniques based on both real and synthetic data. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC. Listowski, A, Ngo, HH & Guo, WS 2013, 'Establishment of an economic evaluation model for urban recycled water', RESOURCES CONSERVATION AND RECYCLING, vol. 72, pp. 67-75. This study aimed at establishing an economic evaluation model to encourage continuing improvement in performance analysis and applying for any infrastructure system of urban recycled water. A thorough study towards characterization and economic performance assessment of urban water reuse scheme were carried out. An integrated evaluation technique was developed by synthesizing the quantitative and qualitative performance indicators related to the water recycled technology and urban water cycle system. Specific performance indicators and indexes were aggregated into an economic analytical modelling for effective evaluation of the water reuse scheme and technology using uniform economic performance standards. Detailed economic analyses were successfully applied to enable determination of economic lifetime of the technology and the whole water reuse scheme. This research confirmed that productivity, efficiency and reliability measurements and factors could be successfully deployed for determining the scheme performance during various life cycle stages (e.g. design development, operational and functional verification, or comparison with other reuse projects). The economic assessment model was applied to improve uniformity of analytical process and performance measure. This article demonstrates benefits associated with the application of a standardized methodology for performing economic assessment and by maintaining strong correlation between multi-parameter approach and adopted performance criteria in terms of productivity, efficiency and reliability. However, to ensure effectiveness of this assessment, the process would require systematic and perpetual inventory of the scheme performance data, consideration of variable factors such as capital and recurrent costs. Liu, B, Ray, A & Thomas, PS 2013, 'Investigation of autoclaved cement systems with reactive MgO and Al2O3-SiO2 rich fired clay brick', Advances in Cement Research, vol. 25, no. 5, pp. 281-287. Liu, B, Rong, B, Hu, R & Qian, Y 2013, 'Neighbor discovery algorithms in directional antenna based synchronous and asynchronous wireless ad hoc networks', IEEE Wireless Communications, vol. 20, no. 6, pp. 106-112. Liu, B, Xiao, Y, Cao, L, Hao, Z & Deng, F 2013, 'SVDD-based outlier detection on uncertain data', Knowledge and Information Systems, vol. 34, no. 3, pp. 597-618. Outlier detection is an important problem that has been studied within diverse research areas and application domains. Most existing methods are based on the assumption that an example can be exactly categorized as either a normal class or an outlier. However, in many real-life applications, data are uncertain in nature due to various errors or partial completeness. These data uncertainty make the detection of outliers far more difficult than it is from clearly separable data. The key challenge of handling uncertain data in outlier detection is how to reduce the impact of uncertain data on the learned distinctive classifier. This paper proposes a new SVDD-based approach to detect outliers on uncertain data. The proposed approach operates in two steps. In the first step, a pseudo-training set is generated by assigning a confidence score to each input example, which indicates the likelihood of an example tending normal class. In the second step, the generated confidence score is incorporated into the support vector data description training phase to construct a global distinctive classifier for outlier detection. In this phase, the contribution of the examples with the least confidence score on the construction of the decision boundary has been reduced. The experiments show that the proposed approach outperforms state-of-art outlier detection techniques. Liu, H, Derawi, D, Kim, J & Zhong, Y 2013, 'Robust optimal attitude control of hexarotor robotic vehicles', Nonlinear Dynamics, vol. 74, no. 4, pp. 1155-1168. Liu, J, Ding, GKC & Samali, B 2013, 'Building Sustainable Score (BSS)—A Hybrid Process Approach for Sustainable Building Assessment in China', Journal of Power and Energy Engineering, vol. 01, no. 05, pp. 58-62. Sustainable building in China has gained attention both domestically and abroad. Despite the fast increase in sustainable assessment tools developed locally or adopted from overseas, there are still criticisms about the current situation of weak implementation and lack of comprehensive consideration. The lack of consideration of economic and social as-pects or building performance on whole building life cycle all lead to departure from the true meaning of sustainable development. And lack of participation on the part of stakeholders makes it too theoretical to be carried out. This re-search aims to develop a model to address this problem. This research started with review of current sustainable as-sessment tools applied in China. As the assessment indicators have clear regional disparities, and almost no current tool considers all three pillars of environmental, economic and social in building life cycle. An industry survey was therefore designed for generation of indicators at different building stages, and personal interviews relevant to different occupa-tion in building industry were conducted to complement the questionnaire survey. After that, the model Building Sus-tainable Score (BSS) was developed based on the stakeholders participation. Finally, the model is verified by a case study. Liu, J, Esselle, KP, Hay, SG & Zhong, SS 2013, 'Compact super‐wideband asymmetric monopole antenna with dual‐branch feed for bandwidth enhancement', Electronics Letters, vol. 49, no. 8, pp. 515-516. Liu, J, Esselle, KP, Hay, SG, Sun, Z & Zhong, S 2013, 'A Compact Super-Wideband Antenna Pair With Polarization Diversity', IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters, vol. 12, pp. 1472-1475. Liu, JJ, Esselle, KP, Hay, SG & Zhong, SS 2013, 'Planar ultra‐wideband antenna with five notched stop bands', Electronics Letters, vol. 49, no. 9, pp. 579-580. Liu, L, Chen, X, Luo, D, Lu, Y, Xu, G & Liu, M 2013, 'HSC: A SPECTRAL CLUSTERING ALGORITHM COMBINED WITH HIERARCHICAL METHOD', Neural Network World, vol. 23, no. 6, pp. 499-521. Most of the traditional clustering algorithms are poor for clustering more complex structures other than the convex spherical sample space. In the past few years, several spectral clustering algorithms were proposed to cluster arbitrarily shaped data in various real applications. However, spectral clustering relies on the dataset where each cluster is approximately well separated to a certain extent. In the case that the cluster has an obvious inflection point within a non-convex space, the spectral clustering algorithm would mistakenly recognize one cluster to be different clusters. In this paper, we propose a novel spectral clustering algorithm called HSC combined with hierarchical method, which obviates the disadvantage of the spectral clustering by not using the misleading information of the noisy neighboring data points. The simple clustering procedure is applied to eliminate the misleading information, and thus the HSC algorithm could cluster both convex shaped data and arbitrarily shaped data more efficiently and accurately. The experiments on both synthetic data sets and real data sets show that HSC outperforms other popular clustering algorithms. Furthermore, we observed that HSC can also be used for the estimation of the number of clusters Liu, Q, Kwoh, CK & Li, J 2013, 'Binding Affinity Prediction for Protein–Ligand Complexes Based onβContacts and B Factor', Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling, vol. 53, no. 11, pp. 3076-3085. Accurate determination of proteinligand binding affinity is a fundamental problem in biochemistry useful for many applications including drug design and proteinligand docking. A number of scoring functions have been proposed for the prediction of proteinligand binding affinity. However, accurate prediction is still a challenging problem because poor performance is often seen in the evaluation under the leave-one-cluster-out cross-validation (LCOCV). We introduce a new scoring function named B2BScore to improve the prediction performance. B2BScore integrates two physicochemical properties for proteinligand binding affinity prediction. One is the property of ß contacts. A ß contact between two atoms requires no other atoms to interrupt the atomic contact and assumes that the two atoms should have enough direct contact area. The other is the property of B factor to capture the atomic mobility in the dynamic proteinligand binding process. Liu, RP, Hedley, M & Yang, X 2013, 'WLAN Location Service with TXOP', IEEE Transactions on Computers, vol. 62, no. 3, pp. 589-598. The provision of location-based services with high positional accuracy requires the use of Time of Arrival (TOA)-based techniques. However, existing TOA-based WLAN location service schemes are inefficient due to the individual query and response ranging method employed. We present a highly efficient WLAN location service architecture which includes a modification to the Transmit Opportunity (TXOP) technique in the IEEE 802.11e standard. Our Location Service with TXOP (LSOP) scheme achieves high efficiency by minimizing the number of TOA transmissions and eliminating the contention overhead for TOA messages. The adaptation of TXOP technique also improves location accuracy by protecting TOA messages from collision and by grouping the TOA messages into one compact burst. Our analysis shows that the LSOP scheme achieves the highest location update rate compared to previous schemes. Our simulation results show that the LSOP scheme has minimum impact on data traffic and achieves higher accuracy than the previous schemes. Experimental results demonstrate the degradation in localization performance caused by packet collisions. These results validate that our LSOP scheme, which implements contention-free broadcast of TOA messages with a modified TXOP, provides the best combination of high location update rate, low network load, and high location accuracy compared to other schemes. © 1968-2012 IEEE. Liu, X & Wang, J 2013, 'Bogdanov-Takens and Triple Zero Bifurcations of a Delayed Modified Leslie-Gower Predator Prey System', Abstract and Applied Analysis, vol. 2013, pp. 1-8. Liu, Z, Yang, L, Dai, N, Chu, Y, Chen, Q & Li, J 2013, 'Intense ultra-broadband down-conversion in co-doped oxide glass by multipolar interaction process', Optics Express, vol. 21, no. 10, pp. 12635-12635. Loganathan, P, Vigneswaran, S & Kandasamy, J 2013, 'Enhanced removal of nitrate from water using surface modification of adsorbents - A review', JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, vol. 131, no. 1, pp. 363-374. Elevated concentration of nitrate results in eutrophication of natural water bodies affecting the aquatic environment and reduces the quality of drinking water. This in turn causes harm to people's health, especially that of infants and livestock. Adsorbents with the high capacity to selectively adsorb nitrate are required to effectively remove nitrate from water. Surface modifications of adsorbents have been reported to enhance their adsorption of nitrate. The major techniques of surface modification are: protonation, impregnation of metals and metal oxides, grafting of amine groups, organic compounds including surfactant coating of aluminosilicate minerals, and heat treatment. This paper reviews current information on these techniques, compares the enhanced nitrate adsorption capacities achieved by the modifications, and the mechanisms of adsorption, and presents advantages and drawbacks of the techniques. Most studies on this subject have been conducted in batch experiments. These studies need to include continuous mode column trials which have more relevance to real operating systems and pilot-plant trials. Reusability of adsorbents is important for economic reasons and practical treatment applications. However, only limited information is available on the regeneration of surface modified adsorbents, © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. Loganathan, P, Vigneswaran, S & Kandasamy, J 2013, 'Road-Deposited Sediment Pollutants: A Critical Review of their Characteristics, Source Apportionment, and Management', CRITICAL REVIEWS IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, vol. 43, no. 13, pp. 1315-1348. Road-deposited sediments (RDS) often contain elevated concentrations of inorganic and organic pollutants such as heavy metals, metalloids, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The authors trace new developments and trends on RDS pollutant characteristics with respect to their distribution in time and space, total and labile fractions in the different particle size and density fractions, source apportionment, and chemical speciation, as well as on the management of the pollutants. Recent research provides more reliable information to understand pollutants origin, bioavailability, transport pathways, and methods to minimize their risks. Use of special chemical, physical, mineralogical, and statistical methods has contributed to a better understanding of source apportionment of many of the pollutants but more research is needed on others. The degree of accumulation of pollutants in RDS that are derived from roads and vehicles has been quantified by using enrichment factors. Many of the studies on RDS pollutant management dealt with reducing pollutants by road sweeping and water flushing but these have not been found to be very effective. Pollutants that enter the water bodies through stormwater runoff need to be removed to protect the aquatic environment in the receiving water. The current knowledge on stormwater treatment methods to remove pollutants is also presented. © 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC. Loganathan, P, Vigneswaran, S, Kandasamy, J & Naidu, R 2013, 'Defluoridation of drinking water using adsorption processes', JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS, vol. 248, no. 1, pp. 1-19. Excessive intake of fluoride (F), mainly through drinking water, is a serious health hazard affecting humans worldwide. There are several methods used for the defluoridation of drinking water, of which adsorption processes are generally considered attractive because of their effectiveness, convenience, ease of operation, simplicity of design, and for economic and environmental reasons. In this paper, we present a comprehensive and a critical literature review on various adsorbents used for defluoridation, their relative effectiveness, mechanisms and thermodynamics of adsorption, and suggestions are made on choice of adsorbents for various circumstances. Effects of pH, temperature, kinetics and co-existing anions on F adsorption are also reviewed. Because the adsorption is very weak in extremely low or high pHs, depending on the adsorbent, acids or alkalis are used to desorb F and regenerate the adsorbents. However, adsorption capacity generally decreases with repeated use of the regenerated adsorbent. Future research needs to explore highly efficient, low cost adsorbents that can be easily regenerated for reuse over several cycles of operations without significant loss of adsorptive capacity and which have good hydraulic conductivity to prevent filter clogging during the fixed-bed treatment process. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. Long, Z & Li, S 2013, 'A complete classification of spatial relations using the Voronoi-based nine-intersection model', International Journal of Geographical Information Science, vol. 27, no. 10, pp. 2006-2025. In this article we show that the Voronoi-based nine-intersection (V9I) model proposed by Chen et al. (2001, A Voronoi-based 9-intersection model for spatial relations. International Journal of Geographical Information Science, 15 (3), 201-220) is more expressive than what has been believed before. Given any two spatial entities A and B, the V9I relation between A and B is represented as a 3 × 3 Boolean matrix. For each pair of types of spatial entities that is, points, lines, and regions, we first show that most Boolean matrices do not represent a V9I relation by using topological constraints and the definition of Voronoi regions. Then, we provide illustrations for all the remaining matrices. This guarantees that our method is sound and complete. In particular, we show that there are 18 V9I relations between two areas with connected interior, while there are only nine four-intersection relations. Our investigations also show that, unlike many other spatial relation models, V9I relations are context or shape sensitive. That is, the existence of other entities or the shape of the entities may affect the validity of certain relations. © 2013 Taylor & Francis. López-Mariscal, C & McGloin, D 2013, 'Introduction: Optical trapping and applications feature issue', Biomedical Optics Express, vol. 4, no. 11, pp. 2710-2710. Lu, DD-C & Ki, S-K 2013, 'Light-Load Efficiency Improvement in Buck-Derived Single-Stage Single-Switch PFC Converters', IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, vol. 28, no. 5, pp. 2105-2110. Lu, HN, Wei, DB, Jiang, ZY, Liu, XH & Manabe, K 2013, 'Modelling of size effects in microforming process with consideration of grained heterogeneity', Computational Materials Science, vol. 77, no. 1, pp. 44-52. Size effect is a special phenomenon in metal micro-forming process. As the deformation process is scale down to micro/mesoscale, the characteristics of single grain involved in the deformed region play a significant role on the material mechanical behaviours resulting in the invalidation of classical theories in microforming. This paper presents a newly developed material model in microscale on the basis of the grained heterogeneity (e.g. grain size, shape and deformability) and specimen dimension. Voronoi tessellation has been employed to describe the polycrystalline aggregate. The grain shape is controlled by the centroidal-voronoi algorithm to drive grains into steady state. Hardness of the grains obtained from Nano-indentation is used to identify the scatter of the grained deformability. Applying the new material model, the micro-compression test of pure copper is numerically simulated by finite element method (FEM). The influences of grain size and feature size on the deformation behaviours are discussed. The numerical simulation results are in good agreement with the experimental results in terms of the flow stress curves and profile of deformed parts. Based on the novel material model, a FE model of microcross wedge rolling is established and the obtained results show the strain of specimen core region increases with the magnification of grain size. LU, J, GUO, S-L, FENG, J-J, WANG, Y-L, ZHU, H-Q & LIN, P 2013, 'Time-Resolved Fluoroimmunoassay for Detecting Klebsiella Oxytoca in Anguilla Janponica', CHINESE JOURNAL OF ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY (CHINESE VERSION), vol. 40, no. 11, pp. 1709-1714. Lu, J, Niu, L & Zhang, G 2013, 'A Situation Retrieval Model for Cognitive Decision Support in Digital Business Ecosystems', IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, vol. 60, no. 3, pp. 1059-1069. This paper presents a novel situation retrieval (SR) model for supporting cognition-driven decision processes in digital business ecosystems. Cognitive decision support in digital ecosystems is concerned with decision makers' cognitive processes. This study aims to facilitate cognitive decision support to decision makers on the basis of current business intelligence (BI) platform. Underlying foundations of the SR model are two types of mental constructs: situation awareness (SA) and mental models of decision makers and the model of naturalistic decision making (NDM). These mental constructs and NDM are integrated into the BI application framework. Our experiments showed that the SR model was playing a nontrivial role to help decision makers develop enhanced SA and reuse their past experience to make better decisions. © 2012 IEEE. Lu, J, Shambour, Q, Xu, Y, Lin, Q & Zhang, G 2013, 'A WEB-BASED PERSONALIZED BUSINESS PARTNER RECOMMENDATION SYSTEM USING FUZZY SEMANTIC TECHNIQUES', COMPUTATIONAL INTELLIGENCE, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 37-69. The web provides excellent opportunities to businesses in various aspects of development such as finding a business partner online. However, with the rapid growth of web information, business users struggle with information overload and increasingly find it difficult to locate the right information at the right time. Meanwhile, small and medium businesses (SMBs), in particular, are seeking 'one-to-one' e-services from government in current highly competitive markets. How can business users be provided with information and services specific to their needs, rather than an undifferentiated mass of information? An effective solution proposed in this study is the development of personalized e-services. Recommender systems is an effective approach for the implementation of Personalized E-Service which has gained wide exposure in e-commerce in recent years. Accordingly, this paper first presents a hybrid fuzzy semantic recommendation (HFSR) approach which combines item-based fuzzy semantic similarity and item-based fuzzy collaborative filtering (CF) similarity techniques. This paper then presents the implementation of the proposed approach into an intelligent recommendation system prototype called Smart BizSeeker, which can recommend relevant business partners to individual business users, particularly for SMBs. Experimental results show that the HFSR approach can help overcome the semantic limitations of classical CF-based recommendation approaches, namely sparsity and new 'cold start' item problems. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Lu, S, Zhang, J, Wang, Z & Feng, DD 2013, 'Fast human action classification and VOI localization with enhanced sparse coding', Journal of Visual Communication and Image Representation, vol. 24, no. 2, pp. 127-136. Sparse coding which encodes the natural visual signal into a sparse space for visual codebook generation and feature quantization, has been successfully utilized for many image classification applications. However, it has been seldom explored for many video analysis tasks. In particular, the increased complexity in characterizing the visual patterns of diverse human actions with both the spatial and temporal variations imposes more challenges to the conventional sparse coding scheme. In this paper, we propose an enhanced sparse coding scheme through learning discriminative dictionary and optimizing the local pooling strategy. Localizing when and where a specific action happens in realistic videos is another challenging task. By utilizing the sparse coding based representations of human actions, this paper further presents a novel coarse-to-fine framework to localize the Volumes of Interest (VOIs) for the actions. Firstly, local visual features are transformed into the sparse signal domain through our enhanced sparse coding scheme. Secondly, in order to avoid exhaustive scan of entire videos for the VOI localization, we extend the Spatial Pyramid Matching into temporal domain, namely Spatial Temporal Pyramid Matching, to obtain the VOI candidates. Finally, a multi-level branch-and-bound approach is developed to refine the VOI candidates. The proposed framework is also able to avoid prohibitive computations in local similarity matching (e.g., nearest neighbors voting). Experimental results on both two popular benchmark datasets (KTH and YouTube UCF) and the widely used localization dataset (MSR) demonstrate that our approach reduces computational cost significantly while maintaining comparable classification accuracy to that of the state-of-the-art methods. © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Lu, Y, Li, J, Ye, L & Wang, D 2013, 'Guided waves for damage detection in rebar-reinforced concrete beams', Construction and Building Materials, vol. 47, no. 1, pp. 370-378. The propagation properties of ultrasonic waves in rebar-reinforced concrete beams were investigated for the purpose of damage detection. Two types of piezoelectric (PZT) elements were used in experiments in which PZT disks were attached on the surfaces of concrete beams to observe wave propagation in concrete before and after a four-point bending test, while rectangular PZT patches were attached at the exposed ends of the rebar to monitor wave transmission along the rebar with and without simulated corrosion in the form of partial material removal from the rebar. Experimental testing demonstrated that the surface-attached PZT disks were capable of detecting the change in material properties due to the existence of cracking. In consideration of the inevitable discrepancies in different concrete beams due to specimen preparation and sensor installation, principal component analysis based on statistical parameters extracted from wave signals was applied to highlight the difference between benchmark and damaged rebar. The results show the potential of the principal components as damage indices for quantifying integrity conditions of concrete structures. Lunghi, T, Kaniewski, J, Bussieres, F, Houlmann, R, Tomamichel, M, Kent, A, Gisin, N, Wehner, S & Zbinden, H 2013, 'Experimental bit commitment based on quantum communication and special relativity', Phys. Rev. Lett., vol. 111, no. 18, p. 180504. Bit commitment is a fundamental cryptographic primitive in which Bob wishesto commit a secret bit to Alice. Perfectly secure bit commitment has beenproven impossible through asynchronous exchange of classical and quantuminformation. Perfect security is however possible by restraining the exchangeof classical and quantum information to suitably chosen relativisticconstraints. This requires Alice (and Bob) to split into two remote agentsperforming space-like separated classical communication, and in one agentexchanging quantum bits with the other party. The duration of the commitment isgiven by the distance between the two remote agents. The original protocolrequires the quantum communication to happen at a precise location and timewith respect to the classical communication. We show how the protocol can bemodified to relax this constraint such that the quantum part of the protocolcan be performed at any time before the actual commitment, making it much morepractical. Finally, we present an experimental demonstration of this protocolrealized with a commercial quantum key distribution system and withsynchronized classical agents located in Geneva and Singapore, yielding acommitment time of 15 ms. Our work includes a complete security analysis,accounting for experimental imperfections (multi-photon emission, transmissionloss, detector inefficiency and dark counts) and finite statistics. Luo, Q & Tong, L 2013, 'Adaptive pressure-controlled cellular structures for shape morphing I: design and analysis', Smart Materials and Structures, vol. 22, no. 5, pp. 055014-055014. Luo, Q & Tong, L 2013, 'Adaptive pressure-controlled cellular structures for shape morphing: II. Numerical and experimental validation', Smart Materials and Structures, vol. 22, no. 5, pp. 055015-055015. Luo, T, Qin, Z, Feng, X, Xia, F, Yao, Y & Sheng, D 2013, 'A symmetrisation method for non-associated unified hardening model', Computers and Geotechnics, vol. 52, pp. 38-45. Luo, Z, Hu, Z, Song, Y, Xu, Z & Lu, H 2013, 'Optimal Coordination of Plug-In Electric Vehicles in Power Grids With Cost-Benefit Analysis—Part I: Enabling Techniques', IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, vol. 28, no. 4, pp. 3546-3555. Plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) appear to offer a promising option for mitigating greenhouse emission. However, uncoordinated PEV charging can weaken the reliability of power systems. The proper accommodation of PEVs in a power grid imposes many challenges on system planning and operations. This work aims to investigate optimal PEV coordination strategies with cost-benefit analysis. In Part I, we first present a new method to calculate the charging load of PEVs with a modified Latin hypercube sampling (LHS) method for handling the stochastic property of PEVs. We then propose a new two-stage optimization model to discover the optimal charging states of PEVs in a given day. Using this model, the peak load with charging load of PEVs is minimized in the first stage and the load fluctuation is minimized in the second-stage with peak load being fixed as the value obtained in the first stage. An algorithm based on linear mixed-integer programming is provided as a suitable solution method with fast computation. Finally, we present a new method to calculate the benefit and cost for a PEV charging and discharging coordination strategy from a social welfare approach. These methods are useful for developing PEV coordination strategies in power system planning and supporting PEV-related policy making. Luo, Z, Hu, Z, Song, Y, Xu, Z & Lu, H 2013, 'Optimal Coordination of Plug-in Electric Vehicles in Power Grids With Cost-Benefit Analysis—Part II: A Case Study in China', IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, vol. 28, no. 4, pp. 3556-3565. Continuing with a set of enabling techniques for the optimal coordination of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) in Part I, we present a case study in this paper using techniques based on the data collected in the BeijingTianjinTangshan Region (BTTR) China to discover optimal PEV coordination strategies and assess the attractiveness of these strategies. In Part II, we first present the charging characteristics for different categories of PEVs in BTTR and predict the optimal seasonal daily loads with PEVs under different PEV penetration levels using a two-stage optimization model in both 2020 and 2030. The simulation results indicate that optimal PEV coordination effectively reduces the peak load and smooths the load curve. Finally, we present a cost-benefit analysis of optimal coordination strategies by taking a social welfare approach. The analysis shows that the optimal coordination strategies are beneficial in terms of the reduction in capital investment in power grid expansion and that the attractiveness of a coordination strategy is related to the coordination level. The results also show that the fully coordinated charging and vehicle to grid are not the most attractive strategies. This case study is useful for better understanding the costs and benefits of PEV coordination strategies and for supporting PEV-related decision and policy making from a power system planning perspective. Luo, Z, Zhang, N, Wang, Y & Gao, W 2013, 'Topology optimization of structures using meshless density variable approximants', International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering, vol. 93, no. 4, pp. 443-464. Ma, S, Wang, S, Iacopi, F & Huang, H 2013, 'A resonant method for determining the residual stress and elastic modulus of a thin film', Applied Physics Letters, vol. 103, no. 3, pp. 031603-031603. Ma, XY, Wang, XC, Ngo, HH, Guo, W, Wu, MN & Wang, N 2013, 'Reverse osmosis pretreatment method for toxicity assessment of domestic wastewater using Vibrio qinghaiensis sp.-Q67', ECOTOXICOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY, vol. 97, no. 1, pp. 248-254. Luminescent bacterial test is a fast and sensitive method for acute toxicity assessment of water and wastewater. In this study, an improved toxicity testing method was developed using the freshwater luminescent bacteria Vibrio qinghaiensis sp.-Q67 that involved pretreatment of water samples with reverse osmosis (RO) to eliminate the interferences caused by nutrients in concentrated samples and to improve the reliability and sensitivity of the analysis. Because water samples contain low concentrations of several target toxic substances, rapid acute toxicity testing method that is commonly employed does not achieve enough sensitivity. The proposed RO pretreatment could effectively enrich organic and inorganic substances in water samples to enable a more effective and sensitive toxicity evaluation. The kinetic characteristics of toxicity of raw sewage and secondary effluent were evaluated based on the relative luminescence unit (RLU) curves and timeconcentration-effect surfaces. It was observed that when the exposure time was prolonged to 8-h or longer, the bacteria reached the logarithmic growth stage. Hence, the stimulating effects of the coexisting ions (such as Na+, K+, NO3-) in the concentrated samples could be well eliminated. A 10-h exposure time in proposed Q67 test was found to quantitatively evaluate the toxicity of the organic and inorganic pollutants in the RO-concentrated samples. Mahler, DH, Rozema, LA, Darabi, A, Ferrie, C, Blume-Kohout, R & Steinberg, AM 2013, 'Adaptive Quantum State Tomography Improves Accuracy Quadratically', Physical Review Letters, vol. 111, no. 18. Mahlia, TMI, Tohno, S & Tezuka, T 2013, 'International experience on incentive program in support of fuel economy standards and labelling for motor vehicle: A comprehensive review', Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 25, pp. 18-33. Mahmud, MA, Hossain, MJ & Pota, HR 2013, 'Effects of large dynamic loads on power system stability', International Journal of Electrical Power & Energy Systems, vol. 44, no. 1, pp. 357-363. Mahmud, MA, Pota, HR & Hossain, MJ 2013, 'Nonlinear DSTATCOM controller design for distribution network with distributed generation to enhance voltage stability', International Journal of Electrical Power & Energy Systems, vol. 53, pp. 974-979. Mainali, B, Pham, TTN, Ngo, HH & Guo, W 2013, 'Maximum allowable values of the heavy metals in recycled water for household laundry', SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT, vol. 452, no. 1, pp. 427-432. Household laundry as a new end use of recycled water in dual reticulation systems has a great potential as the significant amount of potable water from urban households can be saved. However, there is still no sufficient evidence and supporting recycled water quality guidelines for this particular use. A key gap in knowledge is the impact of heavy metals in recycled water on clothes and washing machines. Thus, this study aims to determine the maximum allowable values (MAVs) of the heavy metals iron (Fe), lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), and manganese (Mn) in recycled water for washing clothes in washing machines. Six different concentrations of each targeted metals were prepared in tap water for the washing machine experiments. The tearing/tensile strength tests were used for the assessment of cloth durability. MINITAB 16 as a statistical tool was used and ANOVA one way test was applied for the significance analysis (Turkey's test p. <. 0.05). The results show that the MAVs of the heavy metals Fe, Pb, Zn, Cu and Mn were found to be 1. mg/l, 1. mg/l, 10. mg/l, 5. mg/l and 1. mg/l respectively in terms of cloth durability. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. Mainali, B, Pham, TTN, Ngo, HH, Guo, W, Miechel, C, O'Halloran, K, Muthukaruppan, M & Listowski, A 2013, 'Vision and perception of community on the use of recycled water for household laundry: A case study in Australia', SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT, vol. 463, no. 1, pp. 657-666. This study investigates the community perception of household laundry as a new end use of recycled water in three different locations of Australia through a face to face questionnaire survey (n=478). The study areas were selected based on three categories of (1) non-user, (2) perspective user and (3) current user of recycled water. The survey results indicate that significantly higher number (70%) of the respondents supported the use of recycled water for washing machines (χ2=527.40, df=3; p=0.000). Significant positive correlation between the overall support for the new end use and the willingness of the respondents to use recycled water for washing machine was observed among all users groups (r=0.43, p=0.000). However, they had major concerns regarding the effects of recycled water on the aesthetic appearance of cloth, cloth durability, machine durability, odour of the recycled water and cost along with the health issues. The perspective user group had comparatively more reservations and concerns about the effects of recycled water on washing machines than the non-users and the current users (χ2=52.73, df=6; p=0.000). Overall, community from all three study areas are willing to welcome this new end use as long as all their major concerns are addressed and safety is assured. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. Malatji, EM, Zhang, J & Xia, X 2013, 'A multiple objective optimisation model for building energy efficiency investment decision', Energy and Buildings, vol. 61, pp. 81-87. Manap, MA, Sulaiman, WNA, Ramli, MF, Pradhan, B & Surip, N 2013, 'A knowledge-driven GIS modeling technique for groundwater potential mapping at the Upper Langat Basin, Malaysia', Arabian Journal of Geosciences, vol. 6, no. 5, pp. 1621-1637. Mao, L, Mo, D, Guo, Y, Fu, Q, Yang, J & Jia, Y 2013, 'Multivariate analysis of heavy metals in surface sediments from lower reaches of the Xiangjiang River, southern China', Environmental Earth Sciences, vol. 69, no. 3, pp. 765-771. Mao, Q & Tsang, IW-H 2013, 'A Feature Selection Method for Multivariate Performance Measures', IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, vol. 35, no. 9, pp. 2051-2063. Feature selection with specific multivariate performance measures is the key to the success of many applications such as image retrieval and text classification. The existing feature selection methods are usually designed for classification error. In this paper, we propose a generalized sparse regularizer. Based on the proposed regularizer, we present a unified feature selection framework for general loss functions. In particular, we study the novel feature selection paradigm by optimizing multivariate performance measures. The resultant formulation is a challenging problem for high-dimensional data. Hence, a two-layer cutting plane algorithm is proposed to solve this problem, and the convergence is presented. In addition, we adapt the proposed method to optimize multivariate measures for multiple-instance learning problems. The analyses by comparing with the state-of-the-art feature selection methods show that the proposed method is superior to others. Extensive experiments on large-scale and high-dimensional real-world datasets show that the proposed method outperforms ( -1)-SVM and SVM-RFE when choosing a small subset of features, and achieves significantly improved performances over ({\rm SVM}^{perf}) in terms of (F-1)-score. © 1979-2012 IEEE. Marcias, G, Pietroni, N, Panozzo, D, Puppo, E & Sorkine-Hornung, O 2013, 'Animation-Aware Quadrangulation.', Comput. Graph. Forum, vol. 32, no. 5, pp. 167-175. Geometric meshes that model animated characters must be designed while taking into account the deformations that the shape will undergo during animation. We analyze an input sequence of meshes with point-to-point correspondence, and we automatically produce a quadrangular mesh that fits well the input animation. We first analyze the local deformation that the surface undergoes at each point, and we initialize a cross field that remains as aligned as possible to the principal directions of deformation throughout the sequence. We then smooth this cross field based on an energy that uses a weighted combination of the initial field and the local amount of stretch. Finally, we compute a field-aligned quadrangulation with an off-the-shelf method. Our technique is fast and very simple to implement, and it significantly improves the quality of the output quad mesh and its suitability for character animation, compared to creating the quad mesh based on a single pose. We present experimental results and comparisons with a state-of-the-art quadrangulation method, on both sequences from 3D scanning and synthetic sequences obtained by a rough animation of a triangulated model. © 2013 The Author(s) Computer Graphics Forum © 2013 The Eurographics Association and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Marshall, P, Antle, A, Van Den Hoven, E & Rogers, Y 2013, 'Introduction to the Special Issue on the Theory and Practice of Embodied Interaction in HCI and Interaction Design', ACM TRANSACTIONS ON COMPUTER-HUMAN INTERACTION, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 1-3. Theories of embodiment focus on how practical engagement and the structure of the body shape perception, experience, and cognition. They typically reject a view of human cognition as grounded in abstract information processing. The concept of embodied in Masihpour, M, Franklin, DR & Abolhasan, M 2013, 'Multihop Relay Techniques for Communication Range Extension in Near-Field Magnetic Induction Communication Systems.', J. Networks, vol. 8, no. 5, pp. 999-1011. In this paper, multihop relaying in RF-based communications and near field magnetic induction communication (NFMIC) is discussed. Three multihop relay strategies for NFMIC are proposed: Non Line of Sight Magnetic Induction Relay (NLoS-MI Relay), Non Line of Sight Master/Assistant Magnetic Induction Relay1 (NLoS-MAMI Relay1) and Non Line of Sight Master/Assistant Magnetic Induction Relay2 (NLoSMAMI Relay2). In the first approach only one node contributes to the communication, while in the other two techniques (which are based on a master-assistant strategy), two relaying nodes are employed. This paper shows that these three techniques can be used to overcome the problem of dead spots within a body area network and extend the communication range without increasing the transmission power and the antenna size or decreasing receiver sensitivity. The impact of the separation distance between the nodes on the achievable RSS and channel data rate is evaluated for the three techniques. It is demonstrated that the technique which is most effective depends on the specific network topology. Optimum selection of nodes as relay master and assistant based on the location of the nodes is discussed. The paper also studies the impact of the quality factor on achievable data rate. It is shown that to obtain the highest data rate, the optimum quality factor needs to be determined for each proposed cooperative communication method. Masjuki, HH, Kalam, MA, Mofijur, M & Shahabuddin, M 2013, 'Biofuel: Policy, Standardization and Recommendation for Sustainable Future Energy Supply', Energy Procedia, vol. 42, pp. 577-586. Masum, BM, Masjuki, HH, Kalam, MA, Rizwanul Fattah, IM, Palash, SM & Abedin, MJ 2013, 'Effect of ethanol–gasoline blend on NOx emission in SI engine', Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 24, pp. 209-222. Mat, RC, Shariff, ARM, Pradhan, B, Mahmud, AR & Rahim, MSM 2013, 'An effective visualization and comparison of online terrain draped with multi-sensor satellite images', Arabian Journal of Geosciences, vol. 6, no. 12, pp. 4881-4889. Mathiesen, P, Bandara, W, Marjanovic, O & Delavari, H 2013, 'A Critical Analysis of Business Process Management Education and Alignment with Industry Demand: An Australian Perspective', Communications of the Association for Information Systems, vol. 33, no. 1, pp. 463-484. Business Process Management (BPM) is accepted globally as an organizational approach to enhance productivity and drive cost efficiencies. Studies confirm a shortage of BPM skilled professionals with limited opportunities to develop the required BPM expertise. This study investigates this gap starting from a critical analysis of BPM courses offered by Australian universities and training institutions. These courses were analyzed and mapped against a leading BPM capability framework to determine how well current BPM education and training offerings in Australia address the core capabilities required by BPM professionals globally. To determine the BPM skill-sets sought by industry, online recruitment advertisements were collated, analyzed, and mapped against this BPM capability framework. The outcomes provide a detailed overview on the alignment of available BPM education/training and industry demand. These insights are useful for BPM professionals and their employers to build awareness of the BPM capabilities required for a BPM mature organization. Universities and other training institutions will benefit from these results by understanding where demand is, where the gaps are, and what other BPM education providers are supplying. This structured comparison method could continue to provide a common ground for future discussion across university-industry boundaries and continuous alignment of their respective practices. © 2013 by the Association for Information Systems. Mathiesen, P, Bandara, W, Marjanovic, O & Delavari, H 2013, 'A Critical Analysis of Business Process Management Education and Alignment with Industry Demand: An Australian Perspective.', Commun. Assoc. Inf. Syst., vol. 33, pp. 27-27. McDonald, C, McPherson, M, McDougall, C & McGloin, D 2013, 'HoloHands: games console interface for controlling holographic optical manipulation', Journal of Optics, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 035708-035708. Mehrali, M, Latibari, ST, Mehrali, M, Indra Mahlia, TM & Cornelis Metselaar, HS 2013, 'Preparation and properties of highly conductive palmitic acid/graphene oxide composites as thermal energy storage materials', Energy, vol. 58, pp. 628-634. Mehrali, M, Latibari, ST, Mehrali, M, Indra Mahlia, TM, Cornelis Metselaar, HS, Naghavi, MS, Sadeghinezhad, E & Akhiani, AR 2013, 'Preparation and characterization of palmitic acid/graphene nanoplatelets composite with remarkable thermal conductivity as a novel shape-stabilized phase change material', Applied Thermal Engineering, vol. 61, no. 2, pp. 633-640. Meng, HD, Wu, PF, Song, YC & Xu, GD 2013, 'Research of Clustering Algorithm Based on Different Data Field Model', Advanced Materials Research, vol. 760-762, pp. 1925-1929. Merigo, JM 2013, 'The probabilistic weighted averaging distance and its application in group decision making', Kybernetes, vol. 42, no. 5, pp. 686-697. Merigó, JM & Gil-Lafuente, AM 2013, 'A Method for Decision Making Based on Generalized Aggregation Operators', International Journal of Intelligent Systems, vol. 28, no. 5, pp. 453-473. Merigó, JM & Gil-Lafuente, AM 2013, 'Induced 2-tuple linguistic generalized aggregation operators and their application in decision-making', Information Sciences, vol. 236, pp. 1-16. MERIGÓ, JM & YAGER, RR 2013, 'GENERALIZED MOVING AVERAGES, DISTANCE MEASURES AND OWA OPERATORS', International Journal of Uncertainty, Fuzziness and Knowledge-Based Systems, vol. 21, no. 04, pp. 533-559. Merigó, JM & Yager, RR 2013, 'Norm Aggregations and OWA Operators', AGGREGATION FUNCTIONS IN THEORY AND IN PRACTISE, vol. 228, pp. 141-151. Merigó, JM, Gil-Lafuente, AM & Xu, Y 2013, 'Decision making with induced aggregation operators and the adequacy coefficient', Economic Computation and Economic Cybernetics Studies and Research, vol. 47, no. 1, pp. 185-202. We present a method for decision making by using induced aggregation operators. This method is very useful for business decision making problems such as product management, investment selection and strategic management. We introduce a new aggregation operator that uses the induced ordered weighted averaging (IOWA) operator and the weighted average in the adequacy coefficient. We call it the induced ordered weighted averaging weighted averaging adequacy coefficient (IOWAWAAC) operator. The main advantage is that it is able to deal with complex attitudinal characters in the aggregation process. Thus, we are able to give a better representation of the problem considering the complex environment that affects the decisions. Moreover, it is able to provide a unified framework between the OWA and the weighted average. We generalize it by using generalized aggregation operators, obtaining the induced generalized OWAWAAC (IGOWAWAAC) operator. We study some of the main properties of this approach. We end the paper with a numerical example of the new approach in a group decision making problem in strategic management. Merigó, JM, Gil-Lafuente, AM & Xu, Y 2013, 'Decision making with induced aggregation operators and the adequacy coefficient', Economic Computation and Economic Cybernetics Studies and Research, vol. 9. We present a method for decision making by using induced aggregation operators. This method is very useful for business decision making problems such as product management, investment selection and strategic management. We introduce a new aggregation operator that uses the induced ordered weighted averaging (IOWA) operator and the weighted average in the adequacy coefficient. We call it the induced ordered weighted averaging weighted averaging adequacy coefficient (IOWAWAAC) operator. The main advantage is that it is able to deal with complex attitudinal characters in the aggregation process. Thus, we are able to give a better representation of the problem considering the complex environment that affects the decisions. Moreover, it is able to provide a unified framework between the OWA and the weighted average. We generalize it by using generalized aggregation operators, obtaining the induced generalized OWAWAAC (IGOWAWAAC) operator. We study some of the main properties of this approach. We end the paper with a numerical example of the new approach in a group decision making problem in strategic management. Merigó, JM, Rocha, C & Garcia-Agreda, S 2013, 'Entrepreneurial intervention in electronic markets: the influence of customer participation', International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, vol. 9, no. 4, pp. 521-529. Merigó, JM, Xu, Y & Zeng, S 2013, 'Group decision making with distance measures and probabilistic information', Knowledge-Based Systems, vol. 40, pp. 81-87. Mesgari, S, Poon, YF, Wang, Y, Thong, YX, Wang, J & Chan-Park, MB 2013, 'Polymer removal from electronic grade single-walled carbon nanotubes after gel electrophoresis', Journal of Materials Chemistry C, vol. 1, no. 41, pp. 6813-6813. Semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes (s-SWNTs) are attractive candidates for next-generation printable semiconductors. However, all current synthesis methods produce s-SWNTs which are co-mingled with metallic (m-) SWNTs. Agarose gel electrophoresis has been reported to be an effective technique for the separation of s-SWNTs from m-SWNTs but removal of the agarose gel after separation has proved to be non-trivial. To remove agarose and the organic dispersing agent, specifically chondroitin sulfate in this work, from sorted s-SWNTs obtained by agarose gel electrophoresis, we employ the multi-step process involving a chlorosulfonic acid (HSO Cl) wash, a base wash and thermal annealing. Herein, we report the detailed analysis of the effects of the various steps for gel removal from SWNTs by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), FTIR-TGA, scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. The polymer-contaminated s-SWNTs were dissolved in HSO Cl, then selectively precipitated in a large excess of water, then washed with a base (NaOH) and finally thermally annealed. A detailed analysis confirmed that the final annealed samples contained almost no residual polymers. Field effect transistors were also fabricated from the annealed s-SWNTs and they showed good performance metrics with on/off ratio and mobility in the ∼10 to 10 and ∼2.5-9.5 cm V s ranges, respectively. Our method of gel electrophoresis and chlorosulfonic acid treatment produces clean and defect-free tubes which may be used for electronic applications. © 2013 The Royal Society of Chemistry. 3 3 2 6 2 -1 -1 Milne, D & Witten, IH 2013, 'An open-source toolkit for mining Wikipedia', Artificial Intelligence, vol. 194, pp. 222-239. MIYANAGA, Y, TAKAHASHI, W & YOSHIZAWA, S 2013, 'A Robust Speech Communication into Smart Info-Media System', IEICE Transactions on Fundamentals of Electronics, Communications and Computer Sciences, vol. E96.A, no. 11, pp. 2074-2080. Mofijur, M, Atabani, AE, Masjuki, HH, Kalam, MA & Masum, BM 2013, 'A study on the effects of promising edible and non-edible biodiesel feedstocks on engine performance and emissions production: A comparative evaluation', Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 23, pp. 391-404. Mofijur, M, Masjuki, HH, Kalam, MA & Atabani, AE 2013, 'Evaluation of biodiesel blending, engine performance and emissions characteristics of Jatropha curcas methyl ester: Malaysian perspective', Energy, vol. 55, pp. 879-887. Mofijur, M, Masjuki, HH, Kalam, MA, Atabani, AE, Shahabuddin, M, Palash, SM & Hazrat, MA 2013, 'Effect of biodiesel from various feedstocks on combustion characteristics, engine durability and materials compatibility: A review', Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 28, pp. 441-455. Mohamed, AS, Lawal, B, Biswajeet, P, Shattri, M & Al-Sharif Abubakr, AA 2013, 'Modeling urban growth evolution and land-use changes using GIS based Cellular Automata and SLEUTH models: The case of Sana’a metropolitan city, Yemen', Environ Earth Sci, vol. 70, pp. 425-437. Mondal, RN, Islam, S, Uddin, K & Hossain, A 2013, 'Effects of aspect ratio on unsteady solutions through curved duct flow', Applied Mathematics and Mechanics, vol. 34, no. 9, pp. 1107-1122. The effects of the aspect ratio on unsteady solutions through the curved duct flow are studied numerically by a spectral based computational procedure with a temperature gradient between the vertical sidewalls for the Grashof number 100 ≤ Gr ≤ 2 000. The outer wall of the duct is heated while the inner wall is cooled and the top and bottom walls are adiabatic. In this paper, unsteady solutions are calculated by the time history analysis of the Nusselt number for the Dean numbers Dn = 100 and Dn = 500 and the aspect ratios 1 ≤ γ ≤ 3. Water is taken as a working fluid (Pr = 7.0). It is found that at Dn = 100, there appears a steady-state solution for small or large Gr. For moderate Gr, however, the steady-state solution turns into the periodic solution if γ is increased. For Dn = 500, on the other hand, it is analyzed that the steady-state solution turns into the chaotic solution for small and large Gr for any γ lying in the range. For moderate Gr at Dn = 500, however, the steady-state flow turns into the chaotic flow through the periodic oscillating flow if the aspect ratio is increased. © 2013 Shanghai University and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. Moreira, C & Wichert, A 2013, 'Finding academic experts on a multisensor approach using Shannon’s entropy', Expert Systems with Applications, vol. 40, no. 14, pp. 5740-5754. Mousavi, SM, Alavi, AH, Mollahasani, A, Gandomi, AH & Arab Esmaeili, M 2013, 'Formulation of soil angle of shearing resistance using a hybrid GP and OLS method', Engineering with Computers, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 37-53. Movassaghi, S, Abolhasan, M & Lipman, J 2013, 'A Review of Routing Protocols in Wireless Body Area Networks', Journal of Networks, vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 559-575. Recent technological advancements in wireless communication, integrated circuits and Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMs) has enabled miniaturized, low-power, intelligent, invasive/ non-invasive micro and nano-technology sensor nodes placed in or on the human body for use in monitoring body function and its immediate environment referred to as Body Area Networks (BANs). BANs face many stringent requirements in terms of delay, power, temperature and network lifetime which need to be taken into serious consideration in the design of different protocols. Since routing protocols play an important role in the overall system performance in terms of delay, power consumption, temperature and so on, a thorough study on existing routing protocols in BANs is necessary. Also, the specific challenges of BANs necessitates the design of new routing protocols specifically designed for BANs. This paper provides a survey of existing routing protocols mainly proposed for BANs. These protocols are further classified into five main categories namely, temperature based, cross-layer, cluster based, cost-effective and QoS-based routing, where each protocol is described under its specified category. Also, comparison among routing protocols in each category is given. © 2013 ACADEMY PUBLISHER. Mu, K, Jin, Z, Liu, W, Zowghi, D & Wei, B 2013, 'Measuring the significance of inconsistency in the Viewpoints framework', SCIENCE OF COMPUTER PROGRAMMING, vol. 78, no. 9, pp. 1572-1599. Measuring inconsistency is crucial to effective inconsistency management in software development. A complete measurement of inconsistency should focus on not only the degree but also the significance of inconsistency. However, most of the approaches available only take the degree of inconsistency into account. The significance of inconsistency has not yet been given much needed consideration. This paper presents an approach for measuring the significance of inconsistency arising from different viewpoints in the Viewpoints framework. We call an individual set of requirements belonging to different viewpoints a combined requirements collection in this paper. We argue that the significance of inconsistency arising in a combined requirements collection is closely associated with global priority levels of requirements involved in the inconsistency. Here we assume that the global priority level of an individual requirement captures the relative importance of every viewpoint including this requirement as well as the local priority level of the requirement within the viewpoint. Then we use the synthesis of global priority levels of all the requirements in a combined collection to measure the significance of the collection. Following this, we present a scoring matrix function to measure the significance of inconsistency in an inconsistent combined requirements collection, which describes the contribution made by each subset of the requirements collection to the significance of the set of requirements involved in the inconsistency. An ordering relationship between inconsistencies of two combined requirements collections, termed more significant than, is also presented by comparing their significance scoring matrix functions. Finally, these techniques were implemented in a prototype tool called IncMeasurer, which we developed as a proof of concept. © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Müller-Lennert, M, Dupuis, F, Szehr, O, Fehr, S & Tomamichel, M 2013, 'On quantum Renyi entropies: a new generalization and some properties', J. Math. Phys., vol. 54, no. 12, p. 122203. The Renyi entropies constitute a family of information measures thatgeneralizes the well-known Shannon entropy, inheriting many of its properties.They appear in the form of unconditional and conditional entropies, relativeentropies or mutual information, and have found many applications ininformation theory and beyond. Various generalizations of Renyi entropies tothe quantum setting have been proposed, most notably Petz's quasi-entropies andRenner's conditional min-, max- and collision entropy. Here, we argue thatprevious quantum extensions are incompatible and thus unsatisfactory. We propose a new quantum generalization of the family of Renyi entropies thatcontains the von Neumann entropy, min-entropy, collision entropy and themax-entropy as special cases, thus encompassing most quantum entropies in usetoday. We show several natural properties for this definition, includingdata-processing inequalities, a duality relation, and an entropic uncertaintyrelation. Musiał, K & Kazienko, P 2013, 'Social networks on the Internet', World Wide Web, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 31-72. Musial, K, Budka, M & Blysz, W 2013, 'Understanding the Other Side – The Inside Story of the INFER Project', Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies, vol. 18, pp. 1-9. In the last few years, the collaboration between research institutions and industry has become a well established process. Transfer of Knowledge (ToK) is required to accelerate the development of both sides and to enable them to unlock their full potential. European Commission within the Marie Curie Industry and Academia Partnerships & Pathways (IAPP) programme supports the cooperation between these two sectors at the international scale by funding research projects that as one of the objectives aim at enhancing human mobility. IAPP projects offer people from different institutions the possibility to move sector and country in order to provide, absorb and implement new knowledge in a professional industrial-academic environment. In this paper, one of such projects is presented and both academia and industry perspectives in regard to opportunities and challenges in Transfer of Knowledge are described. Computational Intelligence Platform for Evolving and Robust Predictive Systems (INFER) is the IAPP project that serves as a case study for this paper. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013. Musial, K, Budka, M & Juszczyszyn, K 2013, 'Creation and growth of online social network', World Wide Web, vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 421-447. Naidu, G, Jeong, S, Vigneswaran, S & Rice, SA 2013, 'Microbial activity in biofilter used as a pretreatment for seawater desalination', Desalination, vol. 309, pp. 254-260. Biofilters as a pretreatment process in seawater desalination can reduce biofoulants through adsorption and biodegradation. In this study, the performance of granular activated carbon (GAC) biofilter with three different filtration velocities was studied in terms of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) removal. This apart, the microbial activities in the biofilters were measured in terms of concentration of active biomass (adenosine tri-phosphate; ATP) and total cell count. Biofouling potential in biofilter effluents were assessed in terms of transparent exopolymer particles (TEP) and assimilable organic carbon (AOC) concentration. AOC was carried out using a new rapid bioluminescence method. Upon reaching mature stage, the GAC biofilters achieved high DOC removal efficiency of more than 60%, especially the low molecular weight organics. This organic removal was mostly attributed to active biomass on the GAC media. In addition, GAC biofilters led to significant reduction of the AOC and TEP concentration amounting to only 0.6. ±0.2. μg-C glucose/L and 5.3 ± 1.1. μg-C/L, respectively in effluents. Thus, GAC biofilter is an effective pretreatment in reducing biofouling potential. © 2012 Elsevier B.V. Neshat, M 2013, 'FAIPSO: fuzzy adaptive informed particle swarm optimization', Neural Computing and Applications, vol. 23, no. S1, pp. 95-116. Neshat, M, Sepidnam, G & Sargolzaei, M 2013, 'Swallow swarm optimization algorithm: a new method to optimization', Neural Computing and Applications, vol. 23, no. 2, pp. 429-454. Ngalim, SH, Magenau, A, Zhu, Y, Tønnesen, L, Fairjones, Z, Gooding, JJ, Böcking, T & Gaus, K 2013, 'Creating Adhesive and Soluble Gradients for Imaging Cell Migration with Fluorescence Microscopy', Journal of Visualized Experiments, no. 74. Nghiem, LTP, Soliman, T, Yeo, DCJ, Tan, HTW, Evans, TA, Mumford, JD, Keller, RP, Baker, RHA, Corlett, RT & Carrasco, LR 2013, 'Economic and Environmental Impacts of Harmful Non-Indigenous Species in Southeast Asia', PLoS ONE, vol. 8, no. 8, pp. e71255-e71255. Nguyen, DN & Krunz, M 2013, 'Cooperative MIMO in wireless networks: recent developments and challenges', IEEE Network, vol. 27, no. 4, pp. 48-54. Cooperative multiple-input multiple-output (CMIMO) is a form of cooperative communications. CMIMO emulates the functionality of multi-antenna systems by grouping wireless devices to operate as virtual multi-antenna nodes. Its main objectives are to boost network throughput, conserve energy, and improve network coverage. In this article, we discuss recent applications of CMIMO in contemporary wireless networks, including wireless sensor, mobile ad hoc, wireless LAN, cognitive, and cellular networks. We first review CMIMO techniques at the physical layer. We then focus on state-of-the-art approaches for realizing CMIMO at the network layer, and classify these approaches based on their objectives and application scenarios, and how they exploit CMIMO gains. We highlight several open issues that present challenges to practical deployment of CMIMO. © 1986-2012 IEEE. Nguyen, DN & Krunz, M 2013, 'Power Minimization in MIMO Cognitive Networks using Beamforming Games', IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications, vol. 31, no. 5, pp. 916-925. We consider a multi-channel multi-user cognitive radio MIMO network in which each node controls its antenna radiation directions and allocates power for each data stream by adjusting its precoding matrices. Under a noncooperative game, we optimize the set of precoding matrices (one per channel) at each node so as to minimize the total transmit power in the network. Using recession analysis and the theory of variational inequalities, we obtain sufficient conditions that guarantee the existence and uniqueness of the game's Nash Equilibrium (NE). Low-complexity distributed algorithms are also developed by exploiting the strong duality of the convex per-user optimization problem. To improve the efficiency of the NE, we introduce pricing policies that employ a novel network interference function. Existence and uniqueness of the new NE under pricing are studied. Simulations confirm the effectiveness of our joint optimization approach. © 1983-2012 IEEE. Nguyen, HB, Eshete, B, Lau, KHW, Sai, A, Villarin, M & Baylink, D 2013, 'Serum 1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D: An Outcome Prognosticator in Human Sepsis', PLoS ONE, vol. 8, no. 5, pp. e64348-e64348. In sepsis, the vitamin D active metabolite 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25(OH)2D) may play a crucial role by its action to produce cathelicidin and improve endothelial barrier function, such that a deficiency in 1,25(OH)2D is associated with poor outcome. To test our hypothesis, we performed analysis of stored plasma samples from a prospective observational study in 91 patients with sepsis, age of 59.1+/-2.0 years, 52.7% females, and 11.0% deaths at 30 days. Vitamin D status, including 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D), 1,25(OH)2D, 24,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (24,25(OH)2D), and parathyroid hormone (PTH), were measured daily over 3 days after hospital admission. At baseline, 1,25(OH)2D was significantly different between survivors vs. non-survivors. But there was no significant difference in 25(OH)D, 24,25(OH)2D, and PTH. In a multivariable binomial logistic regression model, age, total calcium and 1,25(OH)2D were significant predictors of 30-day mortality. Kaplan Meier analysis showed that patients with mean 1,25(OH)2D measured over 3 days of < = 13.6 pg/mL had 57.1% 30-day survival compared to 91.7% in patients with 1,25 (OH)2D level >13.6 pg/mL (p<0.01). From repeated measures regression analysis, there was significant increase in 1,25(OH)2D for increases in 25(OH)D in both survivors and non-survivors. However, compared to survivors, the low 25(OH)D in non-survivors was insufficient to account for the larger decrease in 1,25(OH)2D, indicating a dysfunctional 1α-hydroxylase. Additionally, there was a significant negative correlation between PTH and 1,25(OH)2D in both survivors and non-survivors, suggesting a severe impairment in the effect of PTH to increase renal 1α-hydroxylase activity. In conclusion, low 1,25(OH)2D levels are associated with increased 30-day mortality in sepsis patients, likely due to impaired 25(OH)D hydroxylation and PTH insensitivity. Our data also suggest that the active metabolite 1,25(OH)2D may be an important therapeutic target in the design of... Nguyen, LN, Hai, FI, Kang, J, Nghiem, LD, Price, WE, Guo, W, Ngo, HH & Tung, K-L 2013, 'Comparison between sequential and simultaneous application of activated carbon with membrane bioreactor for trace organic contaminant removal', BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY, vol. 130, pp. 412-417. The removal efficiency of 22 selected trace organic contaminants by sequential application of granular activated carbon (GAC) and simultaneous application of powdered activated carbon (PAC) with membrane bioreactor (MBR) was compared in this study. Both sequential application of GAC following MBR treatment (MBRâGAC) and simultaneous application of PAC within MBR (PACâMBR) achieved improved removal (over 95%) of seven hydrophilic and biologically persistent compounds, which were less efficiently removed by MBR-only treatment (negligible to 70%). However, gradual breakthrough of these compounds occurred over an extended operation period. Charged compounds, particularly, fenoprop and diclofenac, demonstrated the fastest breakthrough (complete and 50â70%, in MBRâGAC and PACâMBR, respectively). Based on a simple comparison from the long-term performance stability and activated carbon usage points of view, PACâMBR appears to be a better option than MBRâGAC treatment. Nguyen, LN, Hai, FI, Kang, J, Price, WE & Nghiem, LD 2013, 'Coupling granular activated carbon adsorption with membrane bioreactor treatment for trace organic contaminant removal: Breakthrough behaviour of persistent and hydrophilic compounds', Journal of Environmental Management, vol. 119, pp. 173-181. Nguyen, LN, Hai, FI, Kang, J, Price, WE & Nghiem, LD 2013, 'Removal of emerging trace organic contaminants by MBR-based hybrid treatment processes', International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation, vol. 85, pp. 474-482. Nguyen, LN, Hai, FI, Yang, S, Kang, J, Leusch, FDL, Roddick, F, Price, WE & Nghiem, LD 2013, 'Removal of trace organic contaminants by an MBR comprising a mixed culture of bacteria and white-rot fungi', Bioresource Technology, vol. 148, pp. 234-241. Nguyen, ND & Nguyen, TV 2013, 'Risks of complaints and adverse disciplinary findings against international medical graduates in Victoria and Western Australia', Medical Journal of Australia, vol. 198, no. 7, pp. 367-367. Nguyen, TAH, Ngo, HH, Guo, WS, Zhang, J, Liang, S & Tung, KL 2013, 'Feasibility of iron loaded 'okara' for biosorption of phosphorous in aqueous solutions', BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY, vol. 150, no. 1, pp. 42-49. This study investigated the feasibility of using soybean milk by-products (okara) as a sustainable biosorbent for phosphate removal in water and wastewater. The results show that raw okara could hardly decontaminate phosphate from aqueous solutions. Hence, in this work, okara was modified by being cationized using FeCl3 0.25M (namely iron loaded okara, ILO) to enhance the phosphorus adsorption capacity. The phosphate sorption onto ILO was well achieved under the conditions of pH 3, initial phosphorous concentration of 25mg/L, biosorbent dose of 20mg/L and contact time of 7h. Based on Langmuir model, the maximum adsorption capacity of phosphate by ILO was 4.785mg/g. The effects of interfering anions were in the order of CO32->SO42->NO3 It was also observed that Fe(III) was detached during operation. This problem can hinder the sustainable usability of ILO. Thus, further research would be necessary for improving the modification method. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. Nguyen, TAH, Ngo, HH, Guo, WS, Zhang, J, Liang, S, Yue, QY, Li, Q & Nguyen, TV 2013, 'Applicability of agricultural waste and by-products for adsorptive removal of heavy metals from wastewater', BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY, vol. 148, no. 1, pp. 574-585. This critical review discusses the potential use of agricultural waste based biosorbents (AWBs) for sequestering heavy metals in terms of their adsorption capacities, binding mechanisms, operating factors and pretreatment methods. The literature survey indicates that AWBs have shown equal or even greater adsorption capacities compared to conventional adsorbents. Thanks to modern molecular biotechnologies, the roles of functional groups in biosorption process are better understood. Of process factors, pH appears to be the most influential. In most cases, chemical pretreatments bring about an obvious improvement in metal uptake capacity. However, there are still several gaps, which require further investigation, such as (i) searching for novel, multi-function AWBs, (ii) developing cost-effective modification methods and (iii) assessing AWBs under multi-metal and real wastewater systems. Once these challenges are settled, the replacement of traditional adsorbents by AWBs in decontaminating heavy metals from wastewater can be expected in the future. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. Nguyen, TT, Ngo, HH & Guo, W 2013, 'Pilot scale study on a new membrane bioreactor hybrid system in municipal wastewater treatment', BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY, vol. 141, pp. 8-12. A pilot scale membrane bioreactor hybrid system (MBR-HS) was evaluated for municipal wastewater treatment. This novel system comprised of a granular activated carbon-sponge fluidized bed bioreactor (GACS-FBBR) followed by a submerge membrane bioreactor (MBR) with the capacity of 2L/min. The results indicated that the MBR-HS could effectively remove 90% DOC and 95% NH4-N. PO4-P removal efficiency was remained stable at about 70% throughout the experiment. Specific oxygen uptake rate (SOUR) of activated sludge increased from 0.72 to 2.21mg O2/gVSSh for the first 10days and then followed by a steady stage until the end of experiment. Sludge volume index (SVI) was always below 50mL/g, demonstrated an excellent settling properties of sludge. The system also showed an achievement in terms of low trans-membrane pressure (TMP) development rate. The TMP increasing rate was only 0.65kPa/day, suggesting GACS-FBBR can be a promising pre-treatment for MBR. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. Nguyen, TT, Ngo, HH & Guo, WS 2013, 'Effect of sponge volume fraction on the performance of a novel fluidized bed bioreactor', WATER SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, vol. 67, no. 11, pp. 2645-2650. A novel fluidized bed bioreactor (FBBR) was designed by integration of anaerobic granular activated carbon and aerobic sponge reactors. This FBBR was evaluated at different sponge volume fractions for treating a synthetic wastewater. Polyester urethane sponge with cube size of 1 × 1 × 1 cm and density of 28-30 kg/m3 with 90 cells per 25 mm was used as biomass carrier. The results indicate that the FBBR could remove more than 93% of dissolved organic carbon (DOC). The highest nutrient removal efficiencies (58.2% PO4 -P and 75.4% NH4-N) were achieved at 40% sponge volume fraction. The system could provide a good condition for biomass growth (e.g. 186.2 mg biomass/g sponge). No significant different performance in specific oxygen uptake rate was observed between 30, 40, and 50% sponge volume fractions. © IWA Publishing 2013 Water. Nguyen, TV & Eisman, JA 2013, 'Genetic profiling and individualized assessment of fracture risk', Nature Reviews Endocrinology, vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 153-161. Osteoporosis and its consequence of fragility fracture impose a considerable demand on health-care services because fracture is associated with a series of adverse events, including re-fracture and mortality. One of the major priorities in osteoporosis care is the development of predictive models to identify individuals at high risk of fracture for early intervention and management. Existing predictive models include clinical factors and anthropometric characteristics but have not considered genetic variants in the prediction. Genome-wide association studies conducted in the past decade have identified several genetic variants relevant to fracture risk. These genetic variants are common in frequency but have very modest effect sizes. A remaining challenge is to use these genetic data to individualize fracture risk assessment on the basis of an individual's genetic risk profile. Empirical and simulation studies have shown that the usefulness of a single genetic variant for fracture risk assessment is very limited, but a profile of 50 genetic variants, each with odds ratio ranging from 1.02 to 1.15, could improve the accuracy of fracture prediction beyond that obtained by use of existing clinical risk factors. Thus, genetic profiling when integrated with existing risk assessment models could inform a more accurate prediction of fracture risk in an individual. Nguyen, TV, Center, JR & Eisman, JA 2013, 'Individualized fracture risk assessment', Current Opinion in Rheumatology, vol. 25, no. 4, pp. 532-541. Purpose of review Fragility fracture is a major public health burden, because it is associated with a substantial morbidity and mortality. Risk prediction models, including the Fracture Risk Assessment Tool (FRAX) and Garvan Fracture Risk Calculator (GFR Nguyen, VT, Rujikiatkamjorn, C & Indraratna, B 2013, 'Analytical Solutions for Filtration Process Based on Constriction Size Concept', Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, vol. 139, no. 7, pp. 1049-1061. Ni, B, Yuan, Z, Chandran, K, Vanrolleghem, PA & Murthy, S 2013, 'Evaluating four mathematical models for nitrous oxide production by autotrophic ammonia‐oxidizing bacteria', Biotechnology and Bioengineering, vol. 110, no. 1, pp. 153-163. Ni, B-J, Ruscalleda, M, Pellicer-Nàcher, C & Smets, BF 2013, 'Reply to Comment on “Modeling Nitrous Oxide Production during Biological Nitrogen Removal via Nitrification and Denitrification: Extensions to the General ASM Models”', Environmental Science & Technology, vol. 47, no. 20, pp. 11910-11911. Ni, B-J, Smets, BF, Yuan, Z & Pellicer-Nàcher, C 2013, 'Model-based evaluation of the role of Anammox on nitric oxide and nitrous oxide productions in membrane aerated biofilm reactor', Journal of Membrane Science, vol. 446, pp. 332-340. Ni, B-J, Ye, L, Law, Y, Byers, C & Yuan, Z 2013, 'Mathematical Modeling of Nitrous Oxide (N2O) Emissions from Full-Scale Wastewater Treatment Plants', Environmental Science & Technology, vol. 47, no. 14, pp. 7795-7803. Ni, J, Indraratna, B, Geng, X-Y, Carter, JP & Rujikiatkamjorn, C 2013, 'Radial consolidation of soft soil under cyclic loads', Computers and Geotechnics, vol. 50, pp. 1-5. Ni, W & Collings, IB 2013, 'A New Adaptive Small-Cell Architecture', IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications, vol. 31, no. 5, pp. 829-839. Ni, W, Collings, IB & Liu, RP 2013, 'Decentralized User-Centric Scheduling with Low Rate Feedback for Mobile Small Cells', IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, vol. 12, no. 12, pp. 6106-6120. Small cells with wireless backhaul are promising, whereas challenges of severe overlapping coverage and strong interference are yet to be addressed. Coordinating small cells could resolve the challenges; however, existing multicell coordinated beamforming techniques involve high cost of communication overhead, synchronization and backhaul. Such problems may deteriorate in practical cellular applications, where there could be many users, each generating high channel feedback overhead to compete for an opportunity of being scheduled, and the downlink data signals of the coordinated cells need to be precisely synchronized at each of the users. We propose a new scheme, which cuts the overhead by 80% and enables the coordination to be practically implemented in a decentralized manner. Our scheme is a user-centric downlink scheduling approach, where mobile terminals trigger and participate in the scheduling decisions of small cells. We also develop a new recursive algorithm to optimize the quantization levels of mobile terminals' feedback, minimizing the feedback requirement. Analysis, confirmed by simulations, shows that our scheme is able to achieve 94.4% of the sum-rate upper-bound which can only be approached by idealized centralized coordination. In terms of throughput, given the 80% reduced overhead, our scheme is 139.5% better than the idealized centralized coordination approach. © 2013 IEEE. Niazi, M, Ikram, N, Gill, AQ & Ul Hassan, MR 2013, 'Special Issue on 'Empirical Studies in Software Engineering'', IET SOFTWARE, vol. 7, no. 6, pp. 295-297. Niu, L, Lu, J, Zhang, G & Wu, D 2013, 'FACETS: A cognitive business intelligence system', INFORMATION SYSTEMS, vol. 38, no. 6, pp. 835-862. A cognitive decision support system called FACETS was developed and evaluated based on the situation retrieval (SR) model. The aim of FACETS is to provide decision makers cognitive decision support in ill-structured decision situations. The design and development of FACETS includes novel concepts, models, algorithms and system architecture, such as ontology and experience representation, situation awareness parsing, data warehouse query construction and guided situation presentation. The experiments showed that FACETS is able to play a significant role in supporting ill-structured decision making through developing and enriching situation awareness. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. Noushini, A, Samali, B & Vessalas, K 2013, 'Effect of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fibre on dynamic and material properties of fibre reinforced concrete', CONSTRUCTION AND BUILDING MATERIALS, vol. 49, no. 1, pp. 374-383. The effect of uncoated polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fibre addition on dynamic properties of fibre reinforced concrete (FRC) has been investigated in the current study. PVA fibres of two geometric lengths (6 and 12 mm) with aspect ratio of 428 and 857, respectively, were utilised. Fly ash was also used as partial replacement of Portland cement in all mixes. Based on total concrete volume, two fibre fractions of 0.25% and 0.5% were evaluated for their effect on fundamental frequency, dynamic modulus of elasticity and damping ratio of FRC. 28-Day static mechanical properties are also measured. From the results, it can be stated that although PVA fibre addition in low volume fractions used in this study significantly enhance the mechanical properties of FRC, it has no considerable effect on concrete material damping characteristics. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. OBAIDULLAH, K, SIRITEANU, C, YOSHIZAWA, S & MIYANAGA, Y 2013, 'Effects of Channel Features on Parameters of Genetic Algorithm for MIMO Detection', IEICE Transactions on Fundamentals of Electronics, Communications and Computer Sciences, vol. E96.A, no. 10, pp. 1984-1992. Oberst, S, Lai, JCS & Marburg, S 2013, 'Guidelines for numerical vibration and acoustic analysis of disc brake squeal using simple models of brake systems', Journal of Sound and Vibration, vol. 332, no. 9, pp. 2284-2299. Ong, HC, Silitonga, AS, Masjuki, HH, Mahlia, TMI, Chong, WT & Boosroh, MH 2013, 'Production and comparative fuel properties of biodiesel from non-edible oils: Jatropha curcas, Sterculia foetida and Ceiba pentandra', Energy Conversion and Management, vol. 73, pp. 245-255. Ortiz-Padilla, C, Gallego-Ortega, D, Browne, BC, Hochgräfe, F, Caldon, CE, Lyons, RJ, Croucher, DR, Rickwood, D, Ormandy, CJ, Brummer, T & Daly, RJ 2013, 'Functional characterization of cancer-associated Gab1 mutations', Oncogene, vol. 32, no. 21, pp. 2696-2702. Othman, SH & Beydoun, G 2013, 'Model-driven disaster management', INFORMATION & MANAGEMENT, vol. 50, no. 5, pp. 218-228. Ou, G, Wang, Y, Hao, H & Zhu, XQ 2013, 'Identification of de-bonding between steel bars and concrete using wavelet techniques: Comparative study', Australian Journal of Structural Engineering, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 43-56. The interface between steel bar and concrete plays an important role in retaining the strength of reinforced concrete structures. When the interface is damaged by cracking, de-bonding between the two materials and/or other kinds of damage, significant degradation of the structural performances will occur owing to loss of composite actions. In this study, wave propagation on several steel bars embedded in two concrete plates with different de-bonding scenarios is tested. Piezoelectric actuators and sensors are attached to steel bars for recording input and response signals. This paper uses the wavelet transform combined with the wavelet packet decomposition, component energy and Shannon entropy to analyze the experimental results. The results demonstrate that both damage index and relative entropy are sensitive to the existence of de-bonding damage and change linearly with de-bonding length when there is only a single de-bonding damage, while energy and entropy distribution are largely influenced by the property of the excitation signal. When multiple de-bonding exists, however, both the damage index and relative entropy have no such clear tendency. © Institution of Engineers Australia, 2013. Pal, S, Pal, U & Blumenstein, M 2013, 'Off‐line verification technique for Hindi signatures', IET Biometrics, vol. 2, no. 4, pp. 182-190. Handwritten signature is one of the oldest biometric attributes used for authentication of an individual or a document. The purpose of this study is to present an empirical contribution towards the understanding of signature verification using a novel method involving off-line Hindi (Devnagari) signatures. Although research in the field of signature verification involving Western signatures has been well studied, there has been relatively little attention devoted to non-Western signatures such as Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, Persian etc. In this study, the performance of an off-line signature verification system involving Hindi signatures, whose style is distinct from Western scripts, was investigated. The gradient feature, Zernike moment features and SVMs were considered for verification. To the best of the authors' knowledge, Hindi signatures investigated as part of a large dataset have never been used for the task of signature verification, and this research work is only the second important report using Hindi signatures in this area. An encouraging accuracy of 90.69% was obtained using gradient feature. The Hindi signature database employed for experimentation consisted of 2400 (100 × 24) genuine signatures and 3000 (100 × 30) forgeries. The error rates of 11.50% FRR and 7.12% FAR were obtained through experimentation using gradient features. © The Institution of Engineering and Technology 2013. Palacios‐Marqués, D, Peris‐Ortiz, M & Merigó, JM 2013, 'The effect of knowledge transfer on firm performance', Management Decision, vol. 51, no. 5, pp. 973-985. Palash, SM, Kalam, MA, Masjuki, HH, Masum, BM, Rizwanul Fattah, IM & Mofijur, M 2013, 'Impacts of biodiesel combustion on NOx emissions and their reduction approaches', Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 23, pp. 473-490. Palash, SM, Masjuki, HH, Kalam, MA, Masum, BM, Sanjid, A & Abedin, MJ 2013, 'State of the art of NOx mitigation technologies and their effect on the performance and emission characteristics of biodiesel-fueled Compression Ignition engines', Energy Conversion and Management, vol. 76, pp. 400-420. Pan, Y, Ni, B-J & Yuan, Z 2013, 'Modeling Electron Competition among Nitrogen Oxides Reduction and N2O Accumulation in Denitrification', Environmental Science & Technology, vol. 47, no. 19, pp. 11083-11091. Pan, Y, Ni, B-J, Bond, PL, Ye, L & Yuan, Z 2013, 'Electron competition among nitrogen oxides reduction during methanol-utilizing denitrification in wastewater treatment', Water Research, vol. 47, no. 10, pp. 3273-3281. Pang, SC, Masjuki, HH, Kalam, MA & Hazrat, MA 2013, 'Correlation of Engine Cooling System Parameters and SegmentedHeat Exchangers’ Analysis', Journal of Applied Sciences, vol. 13, no. 11, pp. 2027-2032. Pang, SC, Masjuki, HH, Kalam, MA & Hazrat, MA 2013, 'Liquid absorption and solid adsorption system for household, industrial and automobile applications: A review', Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 28, pp. 836-847. Pant, HR, Pant, B, Park, CH, Kim, HJ, Lee, DS, Tijing, LD, Hwang, BS, Kim, HY & Kim, CS 2013, 'RGO/Nylon-6 composite mat with unique structural features and electrical properties obtained from electrospinning and hydrothermal process', Fibers and Polymers, vol. 14, no. 6, pp. 970-975. In this work, the reduced graphene oxide (RGO) sheets were effectively uploaded through nylon-6 fibers using combined process of electrospinning and hydrothermal treatment. Good dispersion of graphene oxide (GO) with nylon-6 solution could allow to upload GO sheets through nylon-6 fibers and facilitate the formation of spider-wave-like nano-nets during electrospinning. GO sheets present on/into nylon-6 spider-wave-like nano-nets were further reduced to RGO using hydrothermal treatment. The impregnated GO sheets into nylon-6 nanofibers and their reduction during hydrothermal treatment were confirmed by FE-SEM, TEM, FT-IR and Raman spectra. The electrical characteristics of pristine nylon-6, GO/nylon-6 and RGO/nylon-6 nanofibers were investigated and it was found that RGO/nylon-6 composite mat had better electrical conductivity than others. The formation of spider-wave-like nano-nets as well as indirect route of incorporation of RGO sheets on electrospun nylon-6 mat may open a new direction for future graphene/polymer electronics. Pant, HR, Pant, B, Pokharel, P, Kim, HJ, Tijing, LD, Park, CH, Lee, DS, Kim, HY & Kim, CS 2013, 'Photocatalytic TiO2–RGO/nylon-6 spider-wave-like nano-nets via electrospinning and hydrothermal treatment', Journal of Membrane Science, vol. 429, pp. 225-234. A new route for the formation of reusable photocatalytic TiO2 (P25)-reduced graphene oxide/nylon-6 (P25-RGO/nylon-6) composite filter membrane using electrospinning and hydrothermal techniques is being reported. Addition of small amount of graphene oxide (GO) into nylon-6 solution prior to electrospinning was able to cause the formation of a large-scale uniform bimodal fibers with distributed thick (≈200 nm) and thin (≈13 nm) fiber diameters in spider-wave-like nano-nets by electrospinning, and facilitated the deposition of P25 NPs during its reduction at the time of hydrothermal treatment. Different analyses confirmed that GO was successfully incorporated into the electrospun nylon-6 fibers and simultaneous reduction of GO as well as deposition of P25 NPs on the surface of fibers was possible during hydrothermal treatment. The photoactive property of the as-prepared nanocomposites was tested against methylene blue. The results showed that P25-RGO/nylon-6 nanocomposite mat is more effective than the TiO2/nylon-6 electrospun composite mat. The water flux at a given pressure of different mats was measured to find out the filter efficiency of the membranes. The as-prepared composite mat has great potentiality as an economically–friendly water filter media and reusable photocatalyst. Pant, HR, Pant, B, Sharma, RK, Amarjargal, A, Kim, HJ, Park, CH, Tijing, LD & Kim, CS 2013, 'Antibacterial and photocatalytic properties of Ag/TiO2/ZnO nano-flowers prepared by facile one-pot hydrothermal process', Ceramics International, vol. 39, no. 2, pp. 1503-1510. In this paper, a simple and efficient strategy of one-pot synthesis of Ag doped TiO2/ZnO photocatalyst was developed using hydrothermal process. Simultaneous crystallization of Ag and ZnO crystals from their precursor solution containing P25 (TiO2) NPs could form effectively bonded Ag/TiO2/ZnO composite photocatalyst during hydrothermal treatment. Several analytical techniques, including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), FT-IR spectroscopy, and photoluminescence spectroscopy have been used to characterize the resulting Ag/TiO2/ZnO photocatalyst. Results showed that ZnO nano-flowers doped with TiO2 and Ag NPs were formed by this simple facile one-step process. The unique properties of Ag NPs on binary semiconductor composite not only provide the decreased rate of electron-hole separation but also prevent from the loss of photocatalyst during recovery due to the fixed attachment of Ag and TiO2 NPs on the surface of flower shaped large ZnO particles. Therefore, as-synthesized composite is an economically and environmentally friendly photocatalyst. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l. Pant, HR, Park, CH, Pokharel, P, Tijing, LD, Lee, DS & Kim, CS 2013, 'ZnO micro-flowers assembled on reduced graphene sheets with high photocatalytic activity for removal of pollutants', Powder Technology, vol. 235, pp. 853-858. In this paper, a simple and efficient strategy was developed for preparing flower-shaped ZnO doped reduced graphene oxide (RGO) composite material by simultaneous crystal growth (of ZnO) and reduction (of graphene oxide) using hydrothermal process. Several analytical techniques, including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), FT-IR spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and photoluminescence spectroscopy have been used to characterize the resulting ZnO/RGO photocatalyst. Results showed that highly crystalline ZnO nano-flowers were effectively doped on the surface of RGO sheets. The unique properties of RGO sheets not only provide the decreased rate of electron–hole separation in ZnO but also prevent from the loss of photocatalyst during recovery due to the fixed attachment of ZnO NPs on the surface of high aspect ratio graphene sheets. Therefore, as-synthesized composite is an economically and environmentally friendly photocatalyst. Pant, HR, Risal, P, Park, CH, Tijing, LD, Jeong, YJ & Kim, CS 2013, 'Core–shell structured electrospun biomimetic composite nanofibers of calcium lactate/nylon-6 for tissue engineering', Chemical Engineering Journal, vol. 221, pp. 90-98. In this work, core-shell structured nylon-6/lactic acid (LA) nanofibers have been produced via single-spinneret electrospinning from the simple blending of LA and nylon-6 solution. The low evaporation rate and plasticizer property of LA was found to be responsible for the formation of point-bonded morphology whereas solvent degradation of nylon-6 with complex phase separation mechanism could give spider-wave-like architecture of the mat and core–shell structure of the composite fibers. The core–shell nanostructure and existence of LA on the shell layer of the fiber were confirmed by TEM and XPS analysis. These fibers were further treated with calcium base to convert surface LA into calcium lactate (CL) which could increase the biocompatibility of composite mat. The SBF incubation test not only confirmed the nucleation capacity of CL to accelerate the deposition of calcium compound on the surface of nanofibers but also facileated the formation of hollow calcium phosphate particles at biomimetic conditions. The adhesion, viability and proliferation properties of osteoblast cells on the composite nanofibers were analyzed by in vitro cell compatibility test. This study demonstrated the non-cytotoxic behavior and good proliferation capacity of calcium lactate/nylon-6 (CL/nylon-6) composite mat. Therefore, the novel nanofibrous composite mat may become a potential candidate for bone tissue engineering Pant, HR, Risal, P, Park, CH, Tijing, LD, Jeong, YJ & Kim, CS 2013, 'Synthesis, characterization, and mineralization of polyamide-6/calcium lactate composite nanofibers for bone tissue engineering', Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces, vol. 102, pp. 152-157. Park, C-H, Kang, S-J, Tijing, LD, Pant, HR & Kim, CS 2013, 'Inductive heating of electrospun Fe2O3/polyurethane composite mat under high-frequency magnetic field', Ceramics International, vol. 39, no. 8, pp. 9785-9790. Park, CH, Kim, C-H, Pant, HR, Tijing, LD, Yu, MH, Kim, Y & Kim, CS 2013, 'An angled robotic dual-nozzle electrospinning set-up for preparing PU/PA6 composite fibers', Textile Research Journal, vol. 83, no. 3, pp. 311-320. Park, C-H, Tijing, LD, Pant, HR, Kim, T-H, Amarjargal, A, Kim, HJ & Kim, CS 2013, 'Accelerated in vitro durability testing of nonvascular Nitinol stents based on the electrical potential sensing method', Applied Physics A, vol. 112, no. 4, pp. 919-926. Parr, WCH, Chamoli, U, Jones, A, Walsh, WR & Wroe, S 2013, 'Finite element micro-modelling of a human ankle bone reveals the importance of the trabecular network to mechanical performance: New methods for the generation and comparison of 3D models', Journal of Biomechanics, vol. 46, no. 1, pp. 200-205. Parvin, S, Hussain, FK & Hussain, OK 2013, 'Conjoint trust assessment for secure communication in cognitive radio networks', MATHEMATICAL AND COMPUTER MODELLING, vol. 58, no. 5-6, pp. 1340-1350. With the rapid development of wireless communication, the growth of Cognitive Radio (CR) is increasing day by day. Because CR is flexible and operates on the wireless network, there are more security threats to CR technology than to the traditional radio environment. In addition, there is no comprehensive framework for achieving security in Cognitive Radio Networks (CRNs), and the role of trust for achieving security in CRNs has not been explored previously. Security vulnerability in cognitive radio technology is unavoidable due to the intrinsic nature of the technology, so it is critical to ensure system security in CRNs. The issue of secure communication in CRNs thus becomes more important than it is in conventional wireless networks. In this paper, we propose a conjoint trust assessment approach (combining trust assessment from the Primary User Network and the Secondary User Network) in a CRN to solve the security threats brought about by untrustworthy entities, such as selfish, malicious, and faultless nodes, and to ensure secure spectrum sharing in CRNs. A numerical analysis shows the feasibility of our proposed approach. Paul, G, Kwok, N & Liu, D 2013, 'A novel surface segmentation approach for robotic manipulator-based maintenance operation planning', AUTOMATION IN CONSTRUCTION, vol. 29, pp. 136-147. This paper presents a novel approach to segmenting a three-dimensional surface map by considering the task requirements and the movements of an industrial robot manipulator. Maintenance operations, such as abrasive blasting, that are performed by a field robot manipulator can be made more efficient by exploiting surface segmentation. The approach in this paper utilises an aggregate of multiple connectivity graphs, with graph edges defined by task constraints, and graph vertices that correspond to small, maintenance-specific target surfaces, known as Scale-Like Discs (SLDs). The task constraints for maintenance operations are based on the characteristics of neighbouring SLDs. The combined connectivity graphs are analysed to find clusters of vertices, thus segmenting the surface map into groups of related SLDs. Experiments conducted in three typical bridge maintenance environments have shown that the approach can reduce garnet usage by 10%-40% and reduce the manipulator joint movements by up to 35%. © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Paul, M, Haque, SME & Chakraborty, S 2013, 'Human detection in surveillance videos and its applications - a review', EURASIP Journal on Advances in Signal Processing, vol. 2013, no. 1. Peng, P, Blamires, SJ, Agnarsson, I, Lin, H-C & Tso, I-M 2013, 'A Color-Mediated Mutualism between Two Arthropod Predators', Current Biology, vol. 23, no. 2, pp. 172-176. Peng, S, Wang, G & Yu, S 2013, 'Modeling the dynamics of worm propagation using two-dimensional cellular automata in smartphones', Journal of Computer and System Sciences, vol. 79, no. 5, pp. 586-595. Pham, HN, Fujita, H, Ozaki, K & Uchida, N 2013, 'Dynamic Analysis and Control for Resonant Currents in a Zone-Control Induction Heating System', IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, vol. 28, no. 3, pp. 1297-1307. This paper presents a quick and accurate power control method for a zone-control induction heating (ZCIH) system consisting of multiple working coils connected to multiple H-bridge inverters. A uniform temperature profile can be achieved by adjusting the current in each working coil. This paper proposes a new current control method based on a circuit model using real and imaginary (Re-Im) current/voltage components. The method detects and controls the Re-Im components of the coil current instead of the current amplitude and phase angle. As a result, the proposed method enables the inverters to control the coil current independently from the others. Experiments using a six-coil ZCIH system are conducted to verify the validity of the proposed method. The experimental results confirmed that the proposed method makes it possible to improve the stability of the current feedback control, not only in steady states but also in transient states. Pham, TT, Nguyen, HH & Tuan, HD 2013, 'Optimization of Hierarchical Modulation for Decode-and-Forward Wireless Relay Networks', IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, vol. 62, no. 9, pp. 4484-4493. This paper presents two designs of optimal nonuniformed constellations for decode-and-forward wireless relay networks with an orthogonal space-time block code (STBC). The first design is concerned with the unequal error protection issue, in which two dat Phan, AH, Tuan, HD, Kha, HH & Nguyen, HH 2013, 'Iterative D.C. Optimization of Precoding in Wireless MIMO Relaying', IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, vol. 12, no. 4, pp. 1617-1627. Optimizations of precoding matrices in precode-and-forward (PF) MIMO relaying are nonconvex programs in precoding matrix variables. The semidefinite relaxation (SDR) technique, which relaxes the concerned nonconvex quadratic constraints by (convex) semi-definite ones, can locate the optimal solutions, provided that the numbers of relaying antennas and users are very small. The computational complexity of the SDR grows explosively even with a very moderate increase in the numbers of relaying antennas and/or users, making the existing semidefinite programming (SDP) solvers incapable. In this paper, much more efficient problem formulations of precoding matrix design that exploit the spectral matrix optimization are developed. Such formulations have a low dimensionality and are computationally-tractable nonconvex matrix programs. Furthermore, by exploiting their partial convex structures in the d.c. (difference of two convex functions) framework, new effective iterative solutions are obtained. Extensive simulation results are presented to support the computational advantage of the proposed approach and show that the proposed approach can effectively handle all three considered optimization problems of precoding matrices in MIMO PF relaying, while the SDR approach either is computationally impractical or fails. Phuntsho, S, Hong, S, Elimelech, M & Shon, HK 2013, 'Forward osmosis desalination of brackish groundwater: Meeting water quality requirements for fertigation by integrating nanofiltration', JOURNAL OF MEMBRANE SCIENCE, vol. 436, no. 1, pp. 1-15. The concept of fertiliser drawn forward osmosis (FDFO) desalination lies in the premise that fertilisers that serve as draw solutions (DS) add value to the FDFO product water for fertigation. However, because FDFO desalination is concentration based, the process cannot continue beyond the concentration equilibrium, one of the major limitations of the forward osmosis (FO) process. This results in final FDFO product water that, unless subjected to substantial dilution with fresh water, exceeds the acceptable nutrient concentrations for direct fertigation. In this study, nanofiltration (NF) has been assessed as an integrated process to FDFO desalination, either as a pre-treatment or post-treatment, to reduce the nutrient concentrations in the final product water and thereby allow direct use of the product water for fertigation without further dilution. NF as pre-treatment or post-treatment was found effective in reducing the nutrient concentrations using brackish groundwater (BGW) sources with relatively low total dissolved solid (TDS). However, when using higher TDS BGW sources, the product water still required further dilution or post-treatment before fertigation. NF as post-treatment was found to be more advantageous both in terms of reduced nutrient concentrations in the final product water and energy consumption. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. Phuntsho, S, Kim, J, Lotfi, F & Shon, HK 2013, 'MONO/DI-ammonium phosphate fertilizers as draw solutions for forward osmosis desalination', IDA Journal of Desalination and Water Reuse, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 34-39. Forward osmosis (FO) can be suitably used to desalinate water for irrigation using fertilizer as draw agent due to the desalinated water containing diluted draw solution. Mono-ammonium hydrogen phosphate (MAP) and di-ammonium hydrogen phosphate (DAP) are the important group of the most concentrated soluble fertilizer materials containing both N and P, essential fertilizer elements needed by the plants. The comparative assessment of these two fertilizers as draw solution (DS) for FO desalination was conducted. The results indicate that both MAP and DAP can be used as a DS for FO desalination and for direct fertigation although concentration polarization significantly affected the water flux. MAP performed slightly better in terms of pure water flux. However, the performance ratio of DAP was comparable to MAP when saline feed water was used. Furthermore, DAP was seen as a better DS candidate for desalination and fertigation due to significantly lower reverse solute flux. Phuntsho, S, Sahebi, S, Majeed, T, Lotfi, F, Kim, JE & Shon, HK 2013, 'Assessing the major factors affecting the performances of forward osmosis and its implications on the desalination process', CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL, vol. 231, pp. 484-496. This study evaluates the influence of some of the major factors affecting the performances of forward osmosis (FO) desalination and assessed their potential implications on the overall process. The major factors assessed include membrane properties, draw solution (DS) properties, feed solution (FS) properties and the operating conditions. The influence of the membrane properties was evaluated using three types of membranes and in doing so we have also introduced one newly synthesized proprietary thin film composite FO (TFC-FO) membrane. The performances of TFC-FO membrane in terms of water flux and reverse solute flux were significantly higher than the commercial cellulose triacetate FO membrane and TFC reverse osmosis membrane in FO process. Although adequate osmotic pressure of DS is desirable for FO process, the influence of DS osmotic pressure was less significant at higher DS osmotic pressure and therefore selecting an optimum initial osmotic pressure is essential for FO process to minimize pumping energy. A critical DS concentration has been hypothesized to minimize the implications of DS concentrations on the capital and operational cost of the FO desalination plant. Total dissolved solids (TDS) of the FS play a significant role in the performance of FO process however the influence of feed TDS was less significant for feed higher than 20,000. mg/L indicating that FO has a promising potential for use with high TDS feed water. Although, water flux decreased, the reverse solute flux (RSF) and specific RSF also decreased slightly at higher feed TDS. For operating parameters, the influence of crossflow velocity and the crossflow direction was also investigated. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. Pileggi, S & Amor, R 2013, 'Addressing Semantic Geographic Information Systems', Future Internet, vol. 5, no. 4, pp. 585-590. Pirasteh, S, Pradhan, B, Safari, HO & Ramli, MF 2013, 'Coupling of DEM and remote-sensing-based approaches for semi-automated detection of regional geostructural features in Zagros mountain, Iran', Arabian Journal of Geosciences, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 91-99. Pourghasemi, H, Pradhan, B, Gokceoglu, C & Moezzi, KD 2013, 'A comparative assessment of prediction capabilities of Dempster–Shafer and Weights-of-evidence models in landslide susceptibility mapping using GIS', Geomatics, Natural Hazards and Risk, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 93-118. POURGHASEMI, HR, JIRANDEH, AG, PRADHAN, B, XU, C & GOKCEOGLU, C 2013, 'Landslide susceptibility mapping using support vector machine and GIS at the Golestan Province, Iran', Journal of Earth System Science, vol. 122, no. 2, pp. 349-369. Pourghasemi, HR, Jirandeh, AG, Pradhan, B, Xu, C & Gokceoglu, C 2013, 'Landslide susceptibility mapping using support vector machine and GIS at the Golestan Province, Iran', Journal of Earth System Science, vol. 122, no. 2, pp. 349-369. Pourghasemi, HR, Pradhan, B, Gokceoglu, C, Mohammadi, M & Moradi, HR 2013, 'Application of weights-of-evidence and certainty factor models and their comparison in landslide susceptibility mapping at Haraz watershed, Iran', Arabian Journal of Geosciences, vol. 6, no. 7, pp. 2351-2365. Pourghasemi, HR, Pradhan, B, Moradi, HR, Mohammady, M & Bednarik, M 2013, 'A Comparative Assessment Between Index of Entropy, Logistic Regression, and Frequency Ratio Models for Landslide Susceptibility Mapping in Iran'. Power, R, Reid, JP, Anand, S, McGloin, D, Almohammedi, A, Mistry, NS & Hudson, AJ 2013, 'Correction to “Observation of the Binary Coalescence and Equilibration of Micrometer-Sized Droplets of Aqueous Aerosol in a Single-Beam Gradient-Force Optical Trap”', The Journal of Physical Chemistry A, vol. 117, no. 2, pp. 524-524. Pradhan, B 2013, 'A comparative study on the predictive ability of the decision tree, support vector machine and neuro-fuzzy models in landslide susceptibility mapping using GIS', Computers & Geosciences, vol. 51, pp. 350-365. Pradhan, B, Lee, S & Buchroithner, MF 2013, 'Pradhan et al. 2010-CEUS-FullCitation'. Pradhan, B, Mansor, S, Abdul-Hadi, A & Tan, CK 2013, 'Seasonal variability of chlorophyll-a and oceanographic conditions in Sabah waters in relation to Asian monsoona remote sensing study', Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, vol. 185, no. 2013, p. 3977. Pradhan, B, Mansor, S, Al-shalabi, M, Althuwaynee, OF & Billa, L 2013, 'Manifestation of Remote Sensing Data in Modeling Urban Sprawl Using the SLEUTH Model and Brute Force Calibration: A Case Study of Sanaa City, Yemen.', Journal of the Indian Society of Remote Sensing, vol. 41, no. 2, pp. 405-416. Pradhan, B, Tehrany, MS & Jebur, MN 2013, 'Spatial prediction of flood susceptible areas using rule based decision tree (DT) and ensemble bivariate and multivariate statistical models in GIS', Journal of Hydrology, vol. 504, no. 2013, pp. 69-79. Pugh, JE, Thommandram, A, McGregor, C, Eklund, M & James, A 2013, 'Classifying neonatal spells using real-time temporal analysis of physiological data streams—verification tests', Journal of Critical Care, vol. 28, no. 6, pp. e40-e41. Qadir, A, Mokhtar, M, Khalilpour, R, Milani, D, Vassallo, A, Chiesa, M & Abbas, A 2013, 'Potential for solar-assisted post-combustion carbon capture in Australia', APPLIED ENERGY, vol. 111, no. C, pp. 175-185. A techno-economic analysis has been performed for a coal-fired power plant retrofitted with Solvent-based Post-combustion Carbon Capture (PCC) technology which is partially supplied with thermal energy by solar thermal collectors. The plant is compared with a generic PCC plant where all the thermal energy is provided by steam bled from the steam cycle. The individual merits of a suite of solar collector technologies which includes Flat Plate Collectors (FPCs), Compound Parabolic Collectors (CPCs), Linear Fresnel Collectors (LFCs), Evacuated Tube Collectors (ETCs) and Parabolic Trough Collectors (PTCs) to supply thermal energy for the PCC plant have been studied. The plant has been simulated for three different locations in Australia: Sydney, Townsville and Melbourne. The overall system consists of three subsystems: power plant, PCC plant and solar collector field. A base case scenario is studied in which there is no heat integration between the three subsystems and is compared to a system with heat integration. Additionally incentives such as Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), carbon tax/credits and government subsidies have been added to the economic model and a sensitivity analysis performed for each scenario of incentives for all five solar collector technologies at the three locations. The ETC case performs best amongst solar collectors when the three subsystems have heat integration while PTCs perform best in the case with no heat integration. The best location for the solar-assisted PCC (SPCC) plant is Townsville. It was found that the addition of the solar field reduces the carbon tax in order to make carbon capture and storage viable in comparison with a conventional non-capturing coal fired plant. Qi Mao & Tsang, IW-H 2013, 'Efficient Multitemplate Learning for Structured Prediction', IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks and Learning Systems, vol. 24, no. 2, pp. 248-261. Conditional random fields (CRF) and structural support vector machines (structural SVM) are two state-of-the-art methods for structured prediction that captures the interdependencies among output variables. The success of these methods is attributed to the fact that their discriminative models are able to account for overlapping features on all input observations. These features are usually generated by applying a given set of templates on labeled data, but improper templates may lead to degraded performance. To alleviate this issue, in this paper we propose a novel multiple template learning paradigm to learn structured prediction and the importance of each template simultaneously, so that hundreds of arbitrary templates could be added into the learning model without caution. This paradigm can be formulated as a special multiple kernel learning problem with an exponential number of constraints. Then we introduce an efficient cutting-plane algorithm to solve this problem in the primal and present its convergence. We also evaluate the proposed learning paradigm on two widely studied structured prediction tasks, i.e., sequence labeling and dependency parsing. Extensive experimental results show that the proposed method outperforms CRFs and structural SVMs because of exploiting the importance of each template. Complexity analysis and empirical results also show that the proposed method is more efficient than Online multikernel learning on very sparse and high-dimensional data. We further extend this paradigm for structured prediction using generalized p-block norm regularization with p >; 1, and experiments show competitive performances when p ? [1,2) Qi Mao, Tsang, IW-H & Shenghua Gao 2013, 'Objective-Guided Image Annotation', IEEE Transactions on Image Processing, vol. 22, no. 4, pp. 1585-1597. Automatic image annotation, which is usually formulated as a multi-label classification problem, is one of the major tools used to enhance the semantic understanding of web images. Many multimedia applications (e.g., tag-based image retrieval) can greatly benefit from image annotation. However, the insufficient performance of image annotation methods prevents these applications from being practical. On the other hand, specific measures are usually designed to evaluate how well one annotation method performs for a specific objective or application, but most image annotation methods do not consider optimization of these measures, so that they are inevitably trapped into suboptimal performance of these objective-specific measures. To address this issue, we first summarize a variety of objective-guided performance measures under a unified representation. Our analysis reveals that macro-averaging measures are very sensitive to infrequent keywords, and hamming measure is easily affected by skewed distributions. We then propose a unified multi-label learning framework, which directly optimizes a variety of objective-specific measures of multi-label learning tasks. Specifically, we first present a multilayer hierarchical structure of learning hypotheses for multi-label problems based on which a variety of loss functions with respect to objective-guided measures are defined Qian, C, Yu, X, Chen, D-Y, Dodd, S, Bouraoud, N, Pothayee, N, Chen, Y, Beeman, S, Bennett, K, Murphy-Boesch, J & Koretsky, A 2013, 'Wireless Amplified Nuclear MR Detector (WAND) for High-Spatial-Resolution MR Imaging of Internal Organs: Preclinical Demonstration in a Rodent Model', Radiology, vol. 268, no. 1, pp. 228-236. Qiao, M, Cheng, H, Qin, L, Yu, JX, Yu, PS & Chang, L 2013, 'Computing weight constraint reachability in large networks', VLDB JOURNAL, vol. 22, no. 3, pp. 275-294. Reachability is a fundamental problem on large-scale networks emerging nowadays in various application domains, such as social networks, communication networks, biological networks, road networks, etc. It has been studied extensively. However, little existing work has studied reachability with realistic constraints imposed on graphs with real-valued edge or node weights. In fact, such weights are very common in many real-world networks, for example, the bandwidth of a link in communication networks, the reliability of an interaction between two proteins in PPI networks, and the handling capacity of a warehouse/storage point in a distribution network. In this paper, we formalize a new yet important reachability query in weighted undirected graphs, called weight constraint reachability (WCR) query that asks: is there a path between nodes a and b, on which each real-valued edge (or node) weight satisfies a range constraint. We discover an interesting property of WCR, based on which, we design a novel edge-based index structure to answer the WCR query in O(1) time. Furthermore, we consider the case when the index cannot entirely fit in the memory, which can be very common for emerging massive networks. An I/O-efficient index is proposed, which provides constant I/O (precisely four I/Os) query time with O({pipe}V{pipe} log {pipe}V{pipe}) disk-based index size. Extensive experimental studies on both real and synthetic datasets demonstrate the efficiency and scalability of our solutions in answering the WCR query. © 2012 Springer-Verlag. Qin, P-Y, Guo, YJ & Ding, C 2013, 'A Beam Switching Quasi-Yagi Dipole Antenna', IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, vol. 61, no. 10, pp. 4891-4899. A high gain beam switching pattern reconfigurable quasi-Yagi dipole antenna is presented for wireless local area network (WLAN) systems at 5.2 GHz. The antenna consists of a microstrip-to-coplanar stripline (CPS) balun, the length of which can be controlled by using PIN diodes. The change of the length of the balun allows the currents on the two arms of the dipole to have different phase differences, thereby making the antenna operate at three states with the E-plane maximum beam direction towards 20°, -20°, and 0°, respectively. In order to validate the design method, a prototype of the proposed antenna with a practical biasing network was fabricated and measured. Measured results on the reflection coefficients, radiation patterns, and realized gains for three operating states are provided, which agree well with the numerical simulations. © 1963-2012 IEEE. Qin, P-Y, Guo, YJ & Ding, C 2013, 'A Dual-Band Polarization Reconfigurable Antenna for WLAN Systems', IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ANTENNAS AND PROPAGATION, vol. 61, no. 11, pp. 5706-5713. A new microstrip dual-band polarization reconfigurable antenna is presented for wireless local area network (WLAN) systems operating at 2.4 and 5.8 GHz. The antenna consists of a square microstrip patch that is aperture coupled to a microstrip line located along the diagonal line of the patch. The dual-band operation is realized by employing the TM10 and TM30 modes of the patch antenna. Four shorting posts are inserted into the patch to adjust the frequency ratio of the two modes. The center of each edge of the patch is connected to ground via a PIN diode for polarization switching. By switching between the different states of PIN diodes, the proposed antenna can radiate either horizontal, vertical, or 45° linear polarization in the two frequency bands. Measured results on reflection coefficients and radiation patterns agree well with numerical simulations. © 1963-2012 IEEE. Qu, Z, Wang, J, Xu, M & Lu, H 2013, 'Context-Aware Video Retargeting via Graph Model', IEEE Transactions on Multimedia, vol. 15, no. 7, pp. 1677-1687. Video retargeting is a crowded but challenging research area. In order to maximally comfort the viewers' watching experience, the most challenging issue is how to retain the spatial shape of important objects while ensure temporal smoothness and coherence. Existing retargeting techniques deal with these spatialoral requirements individually, which preserve the spatial geometry and temporal coherence for each region. However, the spatialoral property of the video content should be context-relevant, i.e., the regions belonging to the same object are supposed to undergo uniform spatialoral transformation. Regardless of the contextual information, the divide-and-rule strategy of existing techniques usually incurs various spatialoral artifacts. In order to achieve satisfactory spatialoral coherent video retargeting, in this paper, a novel context-aware solution is proposed via graph model. First, we employ a grid-based warping framework to preserve the spatial structure and temporal motion trend at the unit of grid cell. Second, we propose a graph-based motion layer partition algorithm to estimate motions of different regions, which simultaneously provides the evaluation of contextual relationship between grid cells while estimating the motions of regions. Third, complementing the salience-based spatialoral information preservation, two novel context constraints are encoded for encouraging the grid cells of the same object to undergo uniform spatial and temporal transformation, respectively. Finally, we formulate the objective function as a quadratic programming problem. Our method achieves a satisfactory spatialoral coherence while maximally avoiding the influence of artifacts. In addition, the grid-cell-wise motion estimation could be calculated every few frames, which obviously improves the speed. Experimental results and comparisons with state-of-the-art methods demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of our approach. © 2013 IEEE. Qumer Gill, A & Bunker, D 2013, 'Towards the development of a cloud‐based communication technologies assessment tool', VINE, vol. 43, no. 1, pp. 57-77. Radmanesh, N & Burnett, IS 2013, 'Generation of Isolated Wideband Sound Fields Using a Combined Two-stage Lasso-LS Algorithm', IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON AUDIO SPEECH AND LANGUAGE PROCESSING, vol. 21, no. 2, pp. 378-387. Rahman, SMA, Masjuki, HH, Kalam, MA, Abedin, MJ, Sanjid, A & Sajjad, H 2013, 'Impact of idling on fuel consumption and exhaust emissions and available idle-reduction technologies for diesel vehicles – A review', Energy Conversion and Management, vol. 74, pp. 171-182. Rahman, SMA, Masjuki, HH, Kalam, MA, Abedin, MJ, Sanjid, A & Sajjad, H 2013, 'Production of palm and Calophyllum inophyllum based biodiesel and investigation of blend performance and exhaust emission in an unmodified diesel engine at high idling conditions', Energy Conversion and Management, vol. 76, pp. 362-367. Raj Pant, H, Pant, B, Joo Kim, H, Amarjargal, A, Hee Park, C, Tijing, LD, Kyo Kim, E & Sang Kim, C 2013, 'A green and facile one-pot synthesis of Ag–ZnO/RGO nanocomposite with effective photocatalytic activity for removal of organic pollutants', Ceramics International, vol. 39, no. 5, pp. 5083-5091. In this study, Ag-ZnO/reduced graphene oxide (Ag-ZnO/RGO) composite was synthesized by a green and facile one-step hydrothermal process. Aqueous suspension containing Ag and ZnO precursors with graphene oxide (GO) sheets was heated at 140 °C for 2 h. The morphology and structure of as-synthesized particles were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, and Photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy which revealed the formation of composite of metal, metal oxide and RGO. It was observed that the presence of Ag precursor and GO sheets in the hydrothermal solution could sufficiently decrease the size of ZnO flowers. The hybrid nanostructure, with unique morphology, obtained from this convenient method (low temperature, less time, and less number of reagents) was found to have good photocatalytic and antibacterial activity. The perfect recovery of catalyst after reaction and its unchanged efficiency for cyclic use showed that it will be an economically and environmentally friendly photocatalyst. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd and Techna Group S.r.l. Ran, NHM, Yuliati, L, Lee, SL, Mahlia, TMI & Nur, H 2013, 'Liquid–gas boundary catalysis by using gold/polystyrene-coated hollow titania', Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, vol. 394, pp. 490-497. Ranga, Y, Matekovits, L, Weily, AR & Esselle, KP 2013, 'A CONSTANT GAIN ULTRA-WIDEBAND ANTENNA WITH A MULTI-LAYER FREQUENCY SELECTIVE SURFACE', Progress In Electromagnetics Research Letters, vol. 38, pp. 119-125. An ultra-wideband (UWB) antenna with a novel multi-layer frequency selective surface (FSS) reflector is presented. A significant enhancement in the gain has been achieved in a low profile design while maintaining the excellent impedance bandwidth of the UWB antenna. The average peak gain of the antenna has been increased from 4dBi to 9.3 dBi as a consequence of the use of the FSS reflector. More importantly the gain variation within the frequency range from 3 GHz to 15 GHz is only ±0.5 dB. This is a significant improvement from ±2dB gain variation of the UWB slot antenna without the reflector. This optimized FSS reflector provides the flexibility of mounting a planar antenna close to conducting bodies, including screens and cases. Ranga, Y, Matekovits, L, Weily, AR & Esselle, KP 2013, 'A low‐profile dual‐layer ultra‐wideband frequency selective surface reflector', Microwave and Optical Technology Letters, vol. 55, no. 6, pp. 1223-1227. Rashid, U, Tuan, HD & Nguyen, HH 2013, 'Relay Beamforming Designs in Multi-User Wireless Relay Networks Based on Throughput Maximin Optimization', IEEE Transactions on Communications, vol. 61, no. 5, pp. 1739-1749. Beamforming design for multi-user wireless relay networks under the criterion of maximin information throughput is an important but also very hard optimization problem due to its nonconvex nature. The existing approach to reformulate the design as a matrix rank-one constrained optimization problem is highly inefficient. This paper exploits the d.c. (difference of two convex functions) structure of the objective function and the convex structure of the constraints in such a global optimization problem to develop efficient iterative algorithms of very low complexity to find the solutions. Both cases of concurrent and orthogonal transmissions from sources to relays are considered. Numerical results indicate that the proposed algorithms provide solutions that are very close to the upper bound on the solution of the non-orthogonal source transmissions case and are almost equal to the optimal solution of the orthogonal source transmissions case. This demonstrates the ability of the developed algorithms to locate approximations close to the global optimal solutions in a few iterations. Moreover, the proposed methods are superior to other methods in both performance and computation complexity. Rehman, ZU, Hussain, FK & Hussain, OK 2013, 'Frequency-based similarity measure for multimedia recommender systems', MULTIMEDIA SYSTEMS, vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 95-102. Personalized recommendation has become a pivotal aspect of online marketing and e-commerce as a means of overcoming the information overload problem. There are several recommendation techniques but collaborative recommendation is the most effective and widely used technique. It relies on either item-based or user-based nearest neighborhood algorithms which utilize some kind of similarity measure to assess the similarity between different users or items for generating the recommendations. In this paper, we present a new similarity measure which is based on rating frequency and compare its performance with the current most commonly used similarity measures. The applicability and use of this similarity measure from the perspective of multimedia content recommendation is presented and discussed Reidsema, CA, Hadgraft, R, Cameron, I & King, R 2013, 'Change strategies for educational transformation', Australasian Journal of Engineering Education, vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 101-108. The authors present a position paper suggesting that while there is evidence for change within engineering curricula towards best practice, there are significant barriers primarily at the operational level, which bring into question the likelihood of more widespread adoption of hard won gains. It is argued that transformational change is required which (i) alters the culture of the institution by changing select underlying assumptions and institutional behaviours, processes, and products; (ii) is deep and pervasive, affecting the whole institution; (iii) is intentional; and (iv) occurs over time (Kezar & Eckel, 2002). It is also argued that change leadership of this nature must be distributed, not solely laid at the feet of Deans and Vice Chancellors. A strategy for change is presented based on observations and evidence from the Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) project "Design based curriculum reform within engineering education" and the recently completed ALTC Discipline Scholars' Survey of Engineering Academics grounded in the research for transformational change within businesses, universities and teaching and learning. This model for change proposes the development of a network of change agents built on a brokerage model to improve best practice and leadership capacity through systematically and directly engaging with the strategic/tactical and operational levels of engineering faculties Remenyi, J, van den Bosch, MWM, Palygin, O, Mistry, RB, McKenzie, C, Macdonald, A, Hutvagner, G, Arthur, JSC, Frenguelli, BG & Pankratov, Y 2013, 'miR-132/212 Knockout Mice Reveal Roles for These miRNAs in Regulating Cortical Synaptic Transmission and Plasticity', PLoS ONE, vol. 8, no. 4, pp. e62509-e62509. miR-132 and miR-212 are two closely related miRNAs encoded in the same intron of a small non-coding gene, which have been suggested to play roles in both immune and neuronal function. We describe here the generation and initial characterisation of a miR-132/212 double knockout mouse. These mice were viable and fertile with no overt adverse phenotype. Analysis of innate immune responses, including TLR-induced cytokine production and IFNβ induction in response to viral infection of primary fibroblasts did not reveal any phenotype in the knockouts. In contrast, the loss of miR-132 and miR-212, while not overtly affecting neuronal morphology, did affect synaptic function. In both hippocampal and neocortical slices miR-132/212 knockout reduced basal synaptic transmission, without affecting paired-pulse facilitation. Hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP) induced by tetanic stimulation was not affected by miR-132/212 deletion, whilst theta burst LTP was enhanced. In contrast, neocortical theta burst-induced LTP was inhibited by loss of miR-132/212. Together these results indicate that miR-132 and/or miR-212 play a significant role in synaptic function, possibly by regulating the number of postsynaptic AMPA receptors under basal conditions and during activity-dependent synaptic plasticity. © 2013 Remenyi et al. Rismanchi, B, Saidur, R, Masjuki, HH & Mahlia, TMI 2013, 'Modeling and simulation to determine the potential energy savings by implementing cold thermal energy storage system in office buildings', Energy Conversion and Management, vol. 75, pp. 152-161. Rizwanul Fattah, IM, Masjuki, HH, Liaquat, AM, Ramli, R, Kalam, MA & Riazuddin, VN 2013, 'Impact of various biodiesel fuels obtained from edible and non-edible oils on engine exhaust gas and noise emissions', Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 18, pp. 552-567. Rofael, R & Kang, K 2013, 'Use of Micro Blogging Services in Mass Emergency Situations in Different Countries', Journal of Internet Social Networking and Virtual Communities, vol. 2012, no. ID 748268, pp. 1-10. This paper presents how people use the Micro blogging (MB) services in emergency situations, and proposing a methodology for investigating if and how cultural differences affect communications broadcasted by people who were on the ground during emergency events. This paper addresses issues of the attributes in micro-blog posts generated during different emergency situations, and the recent political incidents in Syria, Libya, and Egypt are examined, analyzed, and studied in depth detail. The current investigation, approach and methodology were described. The method will help to build for the future awareness detection in social networks. MB services through Social Networking (SN) sites by people in different countries are a common communication channel. Roohani-Esfahani, SI, Dunstan, CR, Li, JJ, Lu, Z, Davies, B, Pearce, S, Field, J, Williams, R & Zreiqat, H 2013, 'Unique microstructural design of ceramic scaffolds for bone regeneration under load', Acta Biomaterialia, vol. 9, no. 6, pp. 7014-7024. During the past two decades, research on ceramic scaffolds for bone regeneration has progressed rapidly; however, currently available porous scaffolds remain unsuitable for load-bearing applications. The key to success is to apply microstructural design strategies to develop ceramic scaffolds with mechanical properties approaching those of bone. Here we report on the development of a unique microstructurally designed ceramic scaffold, strontium-hardystonite-gahnite (Sr-HT-gahnite), with 85% porosity, 500μm pore size, a competitive compressive strength of 4.1±0.3MPa and a compressive modulus of 170±20MPa. The in vitro biocompatibility of the scaffolds was studied using primary human bone-derived cells. The ability of Sr-HT-gahnite scaffolds to repair critical-sized bone defects was also investigated in a rabbit radius under normal load, with β-tricalcium phosphate/hydroxyapatite scaffolds used in the control group. Studies with primary human osteoblast cultures confirmed the bioactivity of these scaffolds, and regeneration of rabbit radial critical defects demonstrated that this material induces new bone defect bridging, with clear evidence of regeneration of original radial architecture and bone marrow environment. Ross, P & Blumenstein, M 2013, 'Cloud computing: the nexus of strategy and technology', Journal of Business Strategy, vol. 34, no. 4, pp. 39-47. Roy, NK, Pota, HR & Hossain, MJ 2013, 'Reactive power management of distribution networks with wind generation for improving voltage stability', Renewable Energy, vol. 58, pp. 85-94. Roy, NK, Pota, HR, Mahmud, MA & Hossain, MJ 2013, 'Key factors affecting voltage oscillations of distribution networks with distributed generation and induction motor loads', International Journal of Electrical Power & Energy Systems, vol. 53, pp. 515-528. Ruelo, MTG, Tijing, LD, Amarjargal, A, Park, C-H, Kim, HJ, Pant, HR, Lee, DH & Kim, CS 2013, 'Assessing the effect of catalytic materials on the scaling of carbon steel', Desalination, vol. 313, pp. 189-198. The present study investigated the efficacy of catalytic materials, i.e., tourmaline, zinc and aluminum, in mitigating calcium carbonate scaling of carbon steel material. Artificial hard water (480 ± 20 mg/l) was used to re-circulate in the system loop for 3 days of fouling test. Tests were carried out at various solution temperatures (27, 40, and 70 °C) and flow rates (800, 1200, and 1600 ml/min). Different measurements and characterization methods were carried out. The results showed consistently lower deposition of scales when the catalytic materials were incorporated in the system (i.e., treatment case), with as much as 21% reduction compared to the no-treatment case, depending on the solution temperature and flow rate. There was more corrosion activity observed in the no-treatment case compared to the treatment case. Furthermore, the scales at the no-treatment case showed pointed, sea-urchin-like structure, while those of the treatment case were dull, star-like structures and with thicker crystals than those at no-treatment case. In this study, we have shown the potential of catalytic materials in reducing scaling formation on non-heated carbon steel surface. Rujikiatkamjorn, C & Indraratna, B 2013, 'Current state of the art in vacuum preloading for stabilising soft soil', Geotechnical Engineering, vol. 44, no. 4, pp. 77-87. In this paper the analytical solutions for radial consolidation that include time dependent surcharge loading and vacuum pressure are proposed, whilst also considering the impact of the parabolic variation of permeability in the smear zone. The use of the spectral method for multilayered soil consolidation is introduced and verified. The Elliptical Cavity Expansion Theory is used to predict the extent of soil disturbance (smear zone) caused by the installation of mandrel driven vertical drains. The predicted smear zone is then compared to the data obtained from large-scale radial consolidation tests. Furthermore, the advantages and limitations of applying a vacuum through vertical drains are discussed using the proposed solutions. The vacuum pressure applied generates a negative pore water pressure that increases the effective stress within the soil, which leads to an accelerated consolidation. Vacuum pressure is modelled as a distributed negative pressure (suction) along the length of the drain and across the surface of the soil. Analytical and numerical analyses that incorporate the Authors' equivalent plane strain solution are conducted to predict the excess pore pressures, lateral and vertical displacement. The application of the theoretical models for selected case histories at the site of the 2nd Bangkok International Airport and the Port of Brisbane, are discussed and analysed. The predictions are compared with the available field data and show that the proposed model can be confidently used to predict the performance with acceptable accuracy through rigorous mathematical modelling and numerical analysis. The research findings verify that the role of the smear zone and vacuum distribution can significantly affect the consolidation of soil, but these aspects need to be modelled appropriately to obtain reliable. RUJIKIATKAMJORN, C, ARDANA, MDW, INDRARATNA, B & LEROUEIL, S 2013, 'Conceptual model describing smear zone caused by mandrel action', Géotechnique, vol. 63, no. 16, pp. 1377-1388. Rujikiatkamjorn, C, Indraratna, B & Chiaro, G 2013, 'Compaction of coal wash to optimise its utilisation as water-front reclamation fill', Geomechanics and Geoengineering, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 36-45. The coal mining industry in and around Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia, is responsible for producing an ever growing quantity of coal washery reject materials and other mine waste aggregates. Considerable effort is being undertaken to reuse, beneficially, these waste products in the immediate suburbs of Wollongong. In this paper, detailed laboratory investigations carried out on coal wash (i.e. coarse coal washery reject), produced at Dendrobium coal mine near Wollongong, are presented. Geotechnical tests were conducted to determine the particle size distribution, compaction characteristics, shear resistance and collapse potential. Compaction tests were performed under dry and submerged conditions to examine comprehensively the compactability and the strength properties of coal wash. The laboratory tests show that, if properly compacted, Dendrobium coal wash has a good potential as effective low-porosity fill for embankments and port reclamation. © 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC. Ruppert, MG & Moheimani, SOR 2013, 'A novel self-sensing technique for tapping-mode atomic force microscopy', Review of Scientific Instruments, vol. 84, no. 12, pp. 125006-125006. Saberi, M, Mirtalaie, MS, Hussain, FK, Azadeh, A, Hussain, OK & Ashjari, B 2013, 'A granular computing-based approach to credit scoring modeling', NEUROCOMPUTING, vol. 122, no. 1, pp. 100-115. The credit card industry has been growing rapidly and thus huge numbers of consumers' credit data are collected by the credit department of the banks. The credit scoring managers often evaluate the consumer's credit with intuitive experience. However, with the support of the credit classification models, the managers can accurately evaluate the applicants' credit score. In this study, a neurocomputing-based granular approach is proposed to model credit scoring. Granular computing is used to compute the size of training and testing groups. Artificial neural networks (ANN) and data envelopment analysis (DEA) are used to model credit lending decisions in the online and offline manner, respectively. Proposed method is composed of three distinct stages based on trust and credibility concept. Trust is introduced and modeled via ANN in online module. Also credibility is modeled via DEA in offline module in present study. This paper is a pioneer in examining the concept of granularity for selecting the optimum size of testing and training group in machine learning area. In addition, proposing flexible trust ranges comparing to the current constant ones will support the importance of customers with higher credit scores to financial markets. To show the applicability and superiority of the proposed algorithm, it is applied to a credit-card data set obtained from the UCI repository. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. Saco, PM & Moreno‐de las Heras, M 2013, 'Ecogeomorphic coevolution of semiarid hillslopes: Emergence of banded and striped vegetation patterns through interaction of biotic and abiotic processes', Water Resources Research, vol. 49, no. 1, pp. 115-126. Safari, HO, Pirasteh, S, Pradhan, B & Amid, H 2013, 'Geohazards analysis of Pisa tunnel in a fractured incompetent rocks in Zagros Mountains, Iran', Arabian Journal of Geosciences, vol. 6, no. 4, pp. 1101-1112. Safavi-Naeini, M, Han, Z, Cutajar, D, Guatelli, S, Petasecca, M, Lerch, MLF, Franklin, DR, Jakubek, J, Pospisil, S, Bucci, J, Zaider, M & Rosenfeld, AB 2013, 'BrachyView, A novel inbody imaging system for HDR prostate brachytherapy: Design and Monte Carlo feasibility study', MEDICAL PHYSICS, vol. 40, no. 7. Samal, PB, Soh, PJ & Vandenbosch, GAE 2013, 'A SYSTEMATIC DESIGN PROCEDURE FOR MICROSTRIP-BASED UNIDIRECTIONAL UWB ANTENNAS', Progress In Electromagnetics Research, vol. 143, pp. 105-130. Samarin, A 2013, 'New method of pavement construction and encapsulation of hazardous wastes', Concrete in Australia, vol. 39, no. 1, pp. 51-55. the difficulty of safe disposal of hazardous wastes and particularly of low and intermediate level radioactive wastes is well recognized. In most cases it involves relocation of waste from one residential or industrial site to another, which is usually located in close proximity to the built -up areas. The paper proposes a new method of 'highway construction-waste disposal' of hazardous wastes, which should guarantee not only a long term safe removal of harmful materials, but also a significant improvement in the long term maintenance with defect-free surfaces of highway pavements. The history and practical development of special high durable concrete is founded on the principle of thermodynamic systems far from equilibrium. It should ensure safe long term encapsulation of hazardous wastes, including low and intermediate level radioactive wastes. Although the initial cost of highway construction using this method is somewhat higher than the conventional technique, if the cost of waste disposal is taken into consideration, the total expenditure, in most cases, should be actually lower than the combined cost of individual construction and disposal. Samarin, A 2013, 'Use of Concrete as a Biological Shield from Ionising Radiation', Energy and Environmental Engineering, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 90-97. The controversy over the use of nuclear energy fundamentally comes down to three main considerations: its safety of use, ability of nuclear energy generation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and finally its long term sustainability. The paper addressed the problem of safety in the industrial and medical use of nuclear energy, as it is affected by the design and construction of light and heavy weight concrete biological shields from ionising radiation. San, PP, Ling, SH & Nguyen, HT 2013, 'Hybrid PSO-based variable translation wavelet neural network and its application to hypoglycemia detection system', NEURAL COMPUTING & APPLICATIONS, vol. 23, no. 7-8, pp. 2177-2184. To provide the detection of hypoglycemic episodes in Type 1 diabetes mellitus, hypoglycemia detection system is developed by the use of variable translation wavelet neural network (VTWNN) in this paper. A wavelet neural network with variable translation San, PP, Ling, SH & Nguyen, HT 2013, 'Industrial Application of Evolvable Block-Based Neural Network to Hypoglycemia Monitoring System', IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, vol. 60, no. 12, pp. 5892-5901. Insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus is classified as type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), and it can be further classified as immune-mediated or idiopathic. It is dangerous and can result in unconsciousness, seizures, and even sudden death. The most common physiological parameters to be effected from a hypoglycemic reaction are heart rate and corrected QT interval of the electrocardiogram (ECG) signal. Considering the correlation between physiological parameters of an ECG signal and the status of hypoglycemia, a noninvasive hypoglycemia monitoring system is tested and introduced by proposing a hybrid particle-swarm-optimization-based block-based neural network (BBNN) algorithm. The proposed BBNN model offers advantages over conventional neural networks by performing the simultaneous optimization of both structure and weights. The hybrid particle swarm optimization with wavelet mutation searches for optimized structure and network parameters through particle information over a search space. All the actual data sets of 15 T1DM children were collected at the Department of Health, Government of Western Australia. Several experiments showed that the proposed BBNN performed well in terms of better sensitivity and specificity. Sanjid, A, Masjuki, HH, Kalam, MA, Rahman, SMA, Abedin, MJ & Palash, SM 2013, 'Impact of palm, mustard, waste cooking oil and Calophyllum inophyllum biofuels on performance and emission of CI engine', Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 27, pp. 664-682. SAURET, E, SAHA, SC & GU, Y 2013, 'NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS OF PARTICLE DEPOSITION IN METAL FOAM HEAT EXCHANGERS', International Journal of Computational Materials Science and Engineering, vol. 02, no. 03n04, pp. 1350016-1350016. Schneider, S, Bellmann, A, Fallböhmer, M, Sousanabady, RJ & Deuse, J 2013, 'Agiler Ansatz für eine globale Prozessplanung', Zeitschrift für wirtschaftlichen Fabrikbetrieb, vol. 108, no. 5, pp. 310-314. Schuba, C, Elsässer, G, Eickelmann, M & Deuse, J 2013, 'Investitionsermittlung für hochflexible Verbundfertigungssysteme', Zeitschrift für wirtschaftlichen Fabrikbetrieb, vol. 108, no. 6, pp. 421-425. Schwitter, BK, Parker, AE, Fattorini, AP, Mahon, SJ & Heimlich, MC 2013, 'Study of Gate Junction Temperature in GaAs pHEMTs Using Gate Metal Resistance Thermometry', IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, vol. 60, no. 10, pp. 3358-3364. Seah, C-W, Ong, Y-S & Tsang, IW 2013, 'Combating Negative Transfer From Predictive Distribution Differences', IEEE Transactions on Cybernetics, vol. 43, no. 4, pp. 1153-1165. Domain adaptation (DA), which leverages labeled data from related source domains, comes in handy when the label information of the target domain is scarce or unavailable. However, as the source data do not come from the same origin as that of the target domain, the predictive distributions of the source and target domains are likely to differ in reality. At the extreme, the predictive distributions of the source domains can differ completely from that of the target domain. In such case, using the learned source classifier to assist in the prediction of target data can result in prediction performance that is poorer than that with the omission of the source data. This phenomenon is established as negative transfer with impact known to be more severe in the multiclass context. To combat negative transfer due to differing predictive distributions across domains, we first introduce the notion of positive transferability for the assessment of synergy between the source and target domains in their prediction models, and we also propose a criterion to measure the positive transferability between sample pairs of different domains in terms of their prediction distributions. With the new measure, a predictive distribution matching (PDM) regularizer and a PDM framework learn the target classifier by favoring source data with large positive transferability while inferring the labels of target unlabeled data. Extensive experiments are conducted to validate the performance efficacy of the proposed PDM framework using several commonly used multidomain benchmark data sets, including Sentiment, Reuters, and Newsgroup, in the context of both binary-class and multiclass domains Seppelt, R, Bankamp, D, Voinov, AA & Rizzoli, A 2013, '6th International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software (iEMSs): “Managing Resources of a Limited Planet: Pathways and Visions under Uncertainty”: A congress report', Environmental Modelling & Software, vol. 43, pp. 160-162. Sezer, EA, Pradhan, B & Gokceoglu, C 2013, 'Erratum to', Expert Systems with Applications: An International Journal, vol. 40, no. 6, p. 2360. Sezer, EA, Pradhan, B & Gokceoglu, C 2013, 'Erratum to: “Manifestation of an adaptive neuro-fuzzy model on landslide susceptibility mapping: Klang valley, Malaysia” [Expert Systems with Applications 38 (2011) 8208–8219]', Expert Systems with Applications, vol. 40, no. 6, pp. 2360-2360. Shafie, SM, Mahlia, TMI & Masjuki, HH 2013, 'Life cycle assessment of rice straw co-firing with coal power generation in Malaysia', Energy, vol. 57, pp. 284-294. Shahabuddin, M, Liaquat, AM, Masjuki, HH, Kalam, MA & Mofijur, M 2013, 'Ignition delay, combustion and emission characteristics of diesel engine fueled with biodiesel', Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 21, pp. 623-632. Shahabuddin, M, Masjuki, HH & Kalam, MA 2013, 'Experimental Investigation into Tribological Characteristics of Bio-Lubricant Formulated from Jatropha Oil', Procedia Engineering, vol. 56, pp. 597-606. Shahabuddin, M, Masjuki, HH, Kalam, MA, Bhuiya, MMK & Mehat, H 2013, 'Comparative tribological investigation of bio-lubricant formulated from a non-edible oil source (Jatropha oil)', Industrial Crops and Products, vol. 47, pp. 323-330. Shang-Lin Wu, Lun-De Liao, Shao-Wei Lu, Wei-Ling Jiang, Shi-An Chen & Chin-Teng Lin 2013, 'Controlling a Human–Computer Interface System With a Novel Classification Method that Uses Electrooculography Signals', IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, vol. 60, no. 8, pp. 2133-2141. Electrooculography (EOG) signals can be used to control human-computer interface (HCI) systems, if properly classified. The ability to measure and process these signals may help HCI users to overcome many of the physical limitations and inconveniences in daily life. However, there are currently no effective multidirectional classification methods for monitoring eye movements. Here, we describe a classification method used in a wireless EOG-based HCI device for detecting eye movements in eight directions. This device includes wireless EOG signal acquisition components, wet electrodes and an EOG signal classification algorithm. The EOG classification algorithm is based on extracting features from the electrical signals corresponding to eight directions of eye movement (up, down, left, right, up-left, down-left, up-right, and down-right) and blinking. The recognition and processing of these eight different features were achieved in real-life conditions, demonstrating that this device can reliably measure the features of EOG signals. This system and its classification procedure provide an effective method for identifying eye movements. Additionally, it may be applied to study eye functions in real-life conditions in the near future. © 1964-2012 IEEE. Shannon, AG 2013, 'The sequences of Horadam, Williams and Philippou as generalized Lucas sequences', Advanced Studies in Contemporary Mathematics (Kyungshang), vol. 23, no. 3, pp. 525-532. Horadam extended the Lucas recursive sequences of order 2 in a series of influential papers. Williams further generalized some of the Lucas properties for order 3, and Williams and Philippou separately developed analogous results for the arbitrary order case. This paper inter-relates and generalizes some of the major results of these authors in so far as they are clearly analogous to some well-known second order cases. Shannon, AG & Nguyen, HT 2013, 'Empirical approaches to the application of mathematical techniques in health technologies', International Journal Bioautomation, vol. 17, no. 3, pp. 125-150. Mathematical modeling of ageing is built in this paper around research and development activities in cooperation with pharmaceutical companies and hospitals. The interaction of 'dirty data' with appropriate mathematical techniques is exemplified mainly with applications to health technologies in endocrinology and oncology. The emphasis is more on old techniques in new situations than on new techniques, though there are references to some novel approaches to modeling. Shannon, AG, Cook, CK & Hillman, RA 2013, 'Some aspects of Fibonacci polynomial congruences', Annales Mathematicae et Informaticae, vol. 41, no. 1, pp. 211-217. This paper formulates a definition of Fibonacci polynomials which is slightly different from the traditional definitions, but which is related to the classical polynomials of Bernoulli, Euler and Hermite. Some related congruence properties are developed and some unanswered questions are outlined. Shekarchian, M, Zarifi, F, Moghavvemi, M, Motasemi, F & Mahlia, TMI 2013, 'Energy, exergy, environmental and economic analysis of industrial fired heaters based on heat recovery and preheating techniques', Energy Conversion and Management, vol. 71, pp. 51-61. Sheng, D, Cui, L & Ansari, Y 2013, 'Interpretation of Cone Factor in Undrained Soils via Full-Penetration Finite-Element Analysis', International Journal of Geomechanics, vol. 13, no. 6, pp. 745-753. Sheng, D, Zhang, S & Yu, Z 2013, 'Unanswered questions in unsaturated soil mechanics', Science China Technological Sciences, vol. 56, no. 5, pp. 1257-1272. Sheng, D, Zhang, S, Yu, Z & Zhang, J 2013, 'Assessing frost susceptibility of soils using PCHeave', Cold Regions Science and Technology, vol. 95, pp. 27-38. Sheng, DC, Zhang, S & Li, X 2013, 'Effects of train loads on frost heave of embankments', Yantu Gongcheng Xuebao/Chinese Journal of Geotechnical Engineering, vol. 35, no. 12, pp. 2186-2191. Substantial frost heave is observed in coarse fills in high-speed railway embankment. These coarse fills have very low water content and are located above the groundwater. In an attempt to explain the unexpected frost heave, it is proposed that the cyclic train loads cause the development of the excess pore water pressure in the underlying subgrade soils and hence 'pump' up the water to the frost front, which in turn feeds the formation of ice and results in continuous frost heave. A simple quantitative model is developed to simulate the pumping-enhanced frost heave. The numerical results show that the proposed mechanism can indeed provide a legitimate explanation for the otherwise unexpected frost heave. The engineering implications of this new frost heave mechanism are also discussed, in the context of designing frost heave mitigation measures in seasonally frozen regions. Shenghua Gao, Tsang, IW & Liang-Tien Chia 2013, 'Sparse Representation With Kernels', IEEE Transactions on Image Processing, vol. 22, no. 2, pp. 423-434. Recent research has shown the initial success of sparse coding (Sc) in solving many computer vision tasks. Motivated by the fact that kernel trick can capture the nonlinear similarity of features, which helps in finding a sparse representation of nonlinear features, we propose kernel sparse representation (KSR). Essentially, KSR is a sparse coding technique in a high dimensional feature space mapped by an implicit mapping function. We apply KSR to feature coding in image classification, face recognition, and kernel matrix approximation. More specifically, by incorporating KSR into spatial pyramid matching (SPM), we develop KSRSPM, which achieves a good performance for image classification. Moreover, KSR-based feature coding can be shown as a generalization of efficient match kernel and an extension of Sc-based SPM. We further show that our proposed KSR using a histogram intersection kernel (HIK) can be considered a soft assignment extension of HIK-based feature quantization in the feature coding process. Besides feature coding, comparing with sparse coding, KSR can learn more discriminative sparse codes and achieve higher accuracy for face recognition. Moreover, KSR can also be applied to kernel matrix approximation in large scale learning tasks, and it demonstrates its robustness to kernel matrix approximation, especially when a small fraction of the data is used. Extensive experimental results demonstrate promising results of KSR in image classification, face recognition, and kernel matrix approximation. All these applications prove the effectiveness of KSR in computer vision and machine learning tasks. Shi, L & Kodagoda, S 2013, 'Towards generalization of semi-supervised place classification over generalized Voronoi graph', Robotics and Autonomous Systems, vol. 61, no. 8, pp. 785-796. With the progress of humanrobot interaction (HRI), the ability of a robot to perform high-level tasks in complex environments is fast becoming an essential requirement. To this end, it is desirable for a robot to understand the environment at both geometric and semantic levels. Therefore in recent years, research towards place classification has been gaining in popularity. After the era of heuristic and rulebased approaches, supervised learning algorithms have been extensively used for this purpose, showing satisfactory performance levels. However, most of those approaches have only been trained and tested in the same environments and thus impede a generalized solution. In this paper, we have proposed a semisupervised place classification over a generalized Voronoi graph (SPCoGVG) which is a semi-supervised learning framework comprised of three techniques: support vector machine (SVM), conditional random field (CRF) and generalized Voronoi graph (GVG), in order to improve the generalizability. The inherent problem of training CRF with partially labeled data has been solved using a novel parameter estimation algorithm. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithm is validated through extensive analysis of data collected in international university environments. SHIMAZAKI, K, YOSHIZAWA, S, HATAKAWA, Y, MATSUMOTO, T, KONISHI, S & MIYANAGA, Y 2013, 'A VLSI Design of a Tomlinson-Harashima Precoder for MU-MIMO Systems Using Arrayed Pipelined Processing', IEICE Transactions on Fundamentals of Electronics, Communications and Computer Sciences, vol. E96.A, no. 11, pp. 2114-2119. Shon, HK, Phuntsho, S, Chaudhary, DS, Vigneswaran, S & Cho, J 2013, 'Nanofiltration for water and wastewater treatment – a mini review', Drinking Water Engineering and Science Discussions, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 59-77. Shon, HK, Phuntsho, S, Chaudhary, DS, Vigneswaran, S & Cho, J 2013, 'Nanofiltration for water and wastewater treatment – a mini review', Drinking Water Engineering and Science, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 47-53. Sick, N, Golembiewski, B & Leker, J 2013, 'The influence of raw material prices on renewables diffusion', Foresight, vol. 15, no. 6, pp. 477-491. Purpose: There are several approaches trying to explain the diffusion of renewable energy technologies (RET). The most commonly used instruments are learning and experience curves, followed by further economic, policy- and barrier-related analyses. In order to gain a more comprehensive understanding, additional influence factors on RET diffusion have to be studied. This paper aims to contribute to research on RET diffusion by adding the raw material price perspective. Design/methodology/approach: The authors develop a regression model to test the influence of raw material prices on RET diffusion, using investments in RET capacities as indicators of diffusion, and crude oil and natural gas prices as well as public R&D subsidies as main independent variables. The model is then applied to emerging RET (wind and solar power) for electricity generation in 18 OECD-countries. Findings: In the case of wind power, the model shows an adequate fit and a highly significant impact of oil as well as gas prices on investments in RET capacity. In the case of solar power, the impact of raw material prices proves to be highly significant as well, but the weak model fit demands further adjustments of the parameters. Originality/value: Theoretical implications include the expansion of existing RET diffusion models to a raw material price component. From a practical point of view, the authors provide a starting basis for the systematic integration of raw material price developments into companies' planning and forecasting processes. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Siddiqa, S, Hossain, MA & Saha, SC 2013, 'Natural Convection Flow in a Strong Cross Magnetic Field With Radiation', Journal of Fluids Engineering, vol. 135, no. 5. Siddiqa, S, Hossain, MA & Saha, SC 2013, 'Natural Convection Flow with Surface Radiation Along a Vertical Wavy Surface', Numerical Heat Transfer, Part A: Applications, vol. 64, no. 5, pp. 400-415. Silakhori, M, Naghavi, M, Metselaar, H, Mahlia, T, Fauzi, H & Mehrali, M 2013, 'Accelerated Thermal Cycling Test of Microencapsulated Paraffin Wax/Polyaniline Made by Simple Preparation Method for Solar Thermal Energy Storage', Materials, vol. 6, no. 5, pp. 1608-1620. Silitonga, AS, Masjuki, HH, Mahlia, TMI, Ong, HC & Chong, WT 2013, 'Experimental study on performance and exhaust emissions of a diesel engine fuelled with Ceiba pentandra biodiesel blends', Energy Conversion and Management, vol. 76, pp. 828-836. Silitonga, AS, Masjuki, HH, Mahlia, TMI, Ong, HC, Atabani, AE & Chong, WT 2013, 'A global comparative review of biodiesel production from jatropha curcas using different homogeneous acid and alkaline catalysts: Study of physical and chemical properties', Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 24, pp. 514-533. Silitonga, AS, Masjuki, HH, Mahlia, TMI, Ong, HC, Chong, WT & Boosroh, MH 2013, 'Overview properties of biodiesel diesel blends from edible and non-edible feedstock', Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 22, pp. 346-360. Silitonga, AS, Ong, HC, Mahlia, TMI, Masjuki, HH & Chong, WT 2013, 'Characterization and production of Ceiba pentandra biodiesel and its blends', Fuel, vol. 108, pp. 855-858. Silitonga, AS, Ong, HC, Masjuki, HH, Mahlia, TMI, Chong, WT & Yusaf, TF 2013, 'Production of biodiesel from Sterculia foetida and its process optimization', Fuel, vol. 111, pp. 478-484. Simon, A, McDonald, JA, Khan, SJ, Price, WE & Nghiem, LD 2013, 'Effects of caustic cleaning on pore size of nanofiltration membranes and their rejection of trace organic chemicals', Journal of Membrane Science, vol. 447, pp. 153-162. Simon, A, Price, WE & Nghiem, LD 2013, 'Changes in surface properties and separation efficiency of a nanofiltration membrane after repeated fouling and chemical cleaning cycles', Separation and Purification Technology, vol. 113, pp. 42-50. Simon, A, Price, WE & Nghiem, LD 2013, 'Impact of chemical cleaning on the nanofiltration of pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs): The role of cleaning temperature', Journal of the Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers, vol. 44, no. 5, pp. 713-723. Simon, A, Price, WE & Nghiem, LD 2013, 'Influence of formulated chemical cleaning reagents on the surface properties and separation efficiency of nanofiltrationmembranes', Journal of Membrane Science, vol. 432, pp. 73-82. Simpson, CA & Cheng, E 2013, 'Noise cancellation: disrupting audio perception', International Journal of Arts and Technology, vol. 6, no. 2, pp. 123-123. Noise cancellation: disrupting audio perception is an interactive sound and visual art installation that explores the creation of new technology - open-air active signal cancellation - and how it can be incorporated into interactive art installations. As an ongoing collaborative project between artist and engineer, noise cancellation engages signal processing research issues in a creative application space. This paper describes the collaborative installation work in progress and discusses why this active signal cancellation technology is important in relation to changing modes of listening and hearing, altering spatial perception and encouraging audiences to fully interact with art installations within art galleries (and related spaces). Copyright © 2013 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. Skinner, B, Yuan, S, Huang, S, Liu, D, Cai, B, Dissanayake, G, Lau, H, Bott, A & Pagac, D 2013, 'Optimisation for job scheduling at automated container terminals using genetic algorithm', COMPUTERS & INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING, vol. 64, no. 1, pp. 511-523. Abstract This paper presents a genetic algorithm (GA)-based optimisation approach to improve container handling operations at the Patrick AutoStrad container terminal located in Brisbane Australia. In this paper we focus on scheduling for container transfers and encode the problem using a two-part chromosome approach which is then solved using a modified genetic algorithm. In simulation experiments, the performance of the GA-based approach and a sequential job scheduling method are evaluated and compared with different scheduling scenarios. The experimental results show that the GA-based approach can find better solutions which improve the overall performance. The GA-based approach has been implemented in the terminal scheduling system and the live testing results show that the GA-based approach can reduce the overall time-related cost of container transfers at the automated container terminal. Crown Copyright © 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Sleap, SB, Turner, BD, Krabbenhøft, K & Sloan, SW 2013, 'Effects of pCO2 on the Removal of Fluoride from Wastewater by Calcite', Journal of Environmental Engineering, vol. 139, no. 8, pp. 1053-1061. Sobala, A & Hutvagner, G 2013, 'Small RNAs derived from the 5′ end of tRNA can inhibit protein translation in human cells', RNA Biology, vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 553-563. Recently, it has been shown that tRNA molecules can be processed into small RNAs that are derived from both the 5′ and 3′ termini. To date, the function of these tRNA fragments (tRFs) derived from the 5′ end of tRNAs has not been investigated in depth. We present evidence that conserved residues in tRNAs, present in all 5′ tRFs, can inhibit the process of protein translation without the need for complementary target sites in the mRNA. These results implicate 5′ tRFs in a new mechanism of gene regulation by small RNAs in human cells. © 2013 Landes Bioscience. Soh, PJ, Van den Bergh, B, Xu, H, Aliakbarian, H, Farsi, S, Samal, P, Vandenbosch, GAE, Schreurs, DMM-P & Nauwelaers, BKJC 2013, 'A smart wearable textile array system for biomedical telemetry applications', IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, vol. 61, no. 5, pp. 2253-2261. Sojoudi, A & C. Saha, S 2013, 'Shear Thinning and Shear Thickening Non- Newtonian Confined Fluid Flow over Rotating Cylinder', American Journal of Fluid Dynamics, vol. 2, no. 6, pp. 117-121. Sojoudi, A, Saha, SC, Gu, YT & Hossain, MA 2013, 'Steady Natural Convection of Non-Newtonian Power-Law Fluid in a Trapezoidal Enclosure', Advances in Mechanical Engineering, vol. 5, pp. 653108-653108. Soohwan Kim & Jonghyuk Kim 2013, 'Occupancy Mapping and Surface Reconstruction Using Local Gaussian Processes With Kinect Sensors', IEEE Transactions on Cybernetics, vol. 43, no. 5, pp. 1335-1346. Stahl, F, Gabrys, B, Gaber, MM & Berendsen, M 2013, 'An overview of interactive visual data mining techniques for knowledge discovery', WIREs Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery, vol. 3, no. 4, pp. 239-256. Stauss, S, Mori, S, Muneoka, H, Terashima, K & Iacopi, F 2013, 'Ashing of photoresists using dielectric barrier discharge cryoplasmas', Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology B, Nanotechnology and Microelectronics: Materials, Processing, Measurement, and Phenomena, vol. 31, no. 6, pp. 061202-061202. Steffen, M, Frye, S & Deuse, J 2013, 'Diversity learning factory', WT Werkstattstechnik, vol. 103, no. 3, pp. 233-239. Learning factories are innovative learning environments for education and training in Industrial Engineering. Participants create work systems in realistic production environments in order to gain practical experience and knowledge. Besides universities, this opportunity is used by manufacturing enterprises or consulting firms who also establish learning factories. Most previous publications describe individual implementation concepts. Therefore, this paper presents the morphology to compare learning factories. Stewart, MG & Mueller, J 2013, 'Aviation Security, Risk Assessment, and Risk Aversion for Public Decisionmaking', Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 615-633. This paper estimates risk reductions for each layer of security designed to prevent commercial passenger airliners from being commandeered by terrorists, kept under control for some time, and then crashed into specific targets. Probabilistic methods are used to characterize the uncertainty of rates of deterrence, detection, and disruption, as well as losses. Since homeland security decisionmakers tend to be risk-averse because of the catastrophic or dire nature of the hazard or event, utility theory and Monte Carlo simulation methods are used to propagate uncertainties in calculations of net present value, expected utility, and probabilities of net benefit. We employ a 'break-even' cost-benefit analysis to determine the minimum probability of an otherwise successful attack that is required for the benefit of security measures to equal their cost. In this context, we examine specific policy options: including Improvised Physical Secondary Barriers (IPSBs) in the array of aircraft security measures, including the Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS), and including them both. Attack probabilities need to exceed 260 percent or 2.6 attacks per year to be 90 percent sure that FAMS is cost-effective, whereas IPSBs have more than 90 percent chance of being cost-effective even if attack probabilities are as low as 6 percent per year. A risk-neutral analysis finds a policy option of adding IPSBs but not FAMS to the other measures to be preferred for all attack probabilities. However, a very risk-averse decisionmaker is 48 percent likely to prefer to retain FAMS even if the attack probability is as low as 1 percent per year-a level of risk aversion exhibited by few, if any, government agencies. Overall, it seems that, even in an analysis that biases the consideration toward the opposite conclusion, far too much may currently be spent on security measures to address the problem of airline hijacking, and many spending reductions could likely be made with little or no consequent... Stewart, MG & Mueller, J 2013, 'Terrorism Risks and Cost‐Benefit Analysis of Aviation Security', Risk Analysis, vol. 33, no. 5, pp. 893-908. Stolar, MN, Lech, M, Sheeber, LB, Burnett, IS & Allen, NB 2013, 'Introducing Emotions to the Modeling of Intra- and Inter-Personal Influences in Parent-Adolescent Conversations', IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON AFFECTIVE COMPUTING, vol. 4, no. 4, pp. 372-385. An understanding of the dynamics underlying emotional interactions between speakers is essential to the design of effective conversational strategies for interviews, mental health therapies, teaching and counseling, as well as the design of naturalistic human-machine communication systems. The present study introduces a new approach to the modeling of emotional influences during parent-adolescent conversations. The proposed dynamic influence model (DIM) estimates the joint conditional probabilities of speaker's states as a linear combination of simpler inter-and intra-speaker conditional probabilities. Contrary to the previously existing influence models (IMs), the DIM's coefficients are given not as static, constant values but as dynamically changing functions of the time delay between the current and the previous state. The speaker's states were annotated using four labels (speech with positive emotion, speech with negative emotion, emotionally neutral speech and silence with undefined emotion). Experimental results based on the audio recordings of 63 different naturalistic (not acted) parent-adolescent conversations showed that the proposed method leads to psychologically plausible observations. It was also demonstrated that the proposed DIM can achieve up to 20 percent higher accuracy of discriminating between emotional influence patterns of parents and adolescents when compared to the previously used static IM. © 2010-2012 IEEE. Stone, A, Cowley, MJ, Valdes-Mora, F, McCloy, RA, Sergio, CM, Gallego-Ortega, D, Caldon, CE, Ormandy, CJ, Biankin, AV, Gee, JMW, Nicholson, RI, Print, CG, Clark, SJ & Musgrove, EA 2013, 'BCL-2 Hypermethylation Is a Potential Biomarker of Sensitivity to Antimitotic Chemotherapy in Endocrine-Resistant Breast Cancer', Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, vol. 12, no. 9, pp. 1874-1885. Styrkarsdottir, U, Thorleifsson, G, Sulem, P, Gudbjartsson, DF, Sigurdsson, A, Jonasdottir, A, Jonasdottir, A, Oddsson, A, Helgason, A, Magnusson, OT, Walters, GB, Frigge, ML, Helgadottir, HT, Johannsdottir, H, Bergsteinsdottir, K, Ogmundsdottir, MH, Center, JR, Nguyen, TV, Eisman, JA, Christiansen, C, Steingrimsson, E, Jonasson, JG, Tryggvadottir, L, Eyjolfsson, GI, Theodors, A, Jonsson, T, Ingvarsson, T, Olafsson, I, Rafnar, T, Kong, A, Sigurdsson, G, Masson, G, Thorsteinsdottir, U & Stefansson, K 2013, 'Nonsense mutation in the LGR4 gene is associated with several human diseases and other traits', Nature, vol. 497, no. 7450, pp. 517-520. Su, K, Ni, B & Yu, H 2013, 'Modeling and optimization of granulation process of activated sludge in sequencing batch reactors', Biotechnology and Bioengineering, vol. 110, no. 5, pp. 1312-1322. Su, Y, Wu, C & Oehlers, DJ 2013, 'Modelling of the concrete compressive failure mechanism', Australian Journal of Structural Engineering, vol. 14, no. 3, pp. 243-257. There has been an extensive amount of research into determining the compressive stress-strain properties of concrete for design. Difficulty has arisen in quantifying the softening or descending stress-strain relationship as it has been found to depend on the size and shape of the specimen being tested as well as on the confinement and eccentricity of compressive load applied to the specimen. This difficulty has restricted the development of design rules for reinforced concrete members not only for strength but also for ductility particularly for confined members. In this paper, a meso-scale model, which divides concrete into a three phase composite material consisting of the mortar matrix, aggregate and interfacial transition zone, is used to explain and quantify the softening mechanism of concrete specimens. It is shown that this meso-scale model can both simulate the cracking patterns and deformations which are seen to occur in concrete while softening and also quantify and explain the effects of size, shape, confinement and eccentricity of load. This realistic simulation of the softening mechanism should allow a better understanding and quantification of the compressive failure mechanism of concrete which should lead to the development of better design rules particularly for confined concrete. © Institution of Engineers Australia, 2013. Subhani, M, Li, J & Samali, B 2013, 'A comparative study of guided wave propagation in timber poles with isotropic and transversely isotropic material models', Journal of Civil Structural Health Monitoring, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 65-79. Subhani, M, Li, J, Samali, B & Yan, N 2013, 'Determination of the embedded lengths of electricity timber poles utilising flexural wave generated from impacts', Australian Journal of Structural Engineering, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 85-96. Round timbers are extensively used as utility poles in Australia for electricity distribution and communication. Lack of information on their conditions results in great difficulties on asset management for industries. Despite the development of various Subhani, M, Li, JC, Gravenkamp, H & Samali, B 2013, 'Effect of Elastic Modulus and Poisson's Ratio on Guided Wave Dispersion Using Transversely Isotropic Material Modelling', Advanced Materials Research, vol. 778, pp. 303-311. Sun, Y, Guo, Y, Ge, Y, Lu, S, Zhou, J & Dutkiewicz, E 2013, 'Improving the Transmission Efficiency by Considering Non-Cooperation in Ad Hoc Networks', The Computer Journal, vol. 56, no. 8, pp. 1034-1042. Sundramoorthy, AK, Mesgari, S, Wang, J, Kumar, R, Sk., MA, Yeap, SH, Zhang, Q, Sze, SK, Lim, KH & Chan-Park, MB 2013, 'Scalable and Effective Enrichment of Semiconducting Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes by a Dual Selective Naphthalene-Based Azo Dispersant', Journal of the American Chemical Society, vol. 135, no. 15, pp. 5569-5581. Semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes (s-SWNTs) have emerged as a promising class of electronic materials, but the metallic (m)-SWNTs present in all as-synthesized nanotube samples must be removed for many applications. A high selectivity and high yield separation method has remained elusive. A separation process based on selective chemistry appears to be an attractive route since it is usually relatively simple, but more effective chemicals are needed. Here we demonstrate the first example of a new class of dual selective compounds based on polycyclic aromatic azo compounds, specifically Direct Blue 71 (I), for high-purity separation of s-SWNTs at high yield. Highly enriched (∼93% purity) s-SWNTs are produced through the simple process of standing arc-discharge SWNTs with I followed by centrifugation. The s-SWNTs total yield is up to 41%, the highest yet reported for a solution-based separation technique that demonstrates applicability in actual transistors. 91% of transistor devices fabricated with these s-SWNTs exhibited on/off ratios of 10 to 10 with the best devices showing mobility as high as 21.8 cm /V s with on/off ratio of 10 . Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic shifts and ultraviolet-visible-near-infrared (UV-vis-NIR) show that I preferentially complexes with s-SWNTs and preferentially suspends them. Preferential reaction of naphthyl radicals (generated from I with ultrasonication) with m-SWNTs is confirmed by changes in the D-band in the Raman spectroscopy, matrix-assisted desorption-ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS), and molecular simulation results. The high selectivity of I stems from its unique dual action as both a selective dispersion agent and the generator of radicals which preferentially attack unwanted metallic species. © 2013 American Chemical Society. 3 5 2 4 Surawski, NC, Miljevic, B, Bodisco, TA, Brown, RJ, Ristovski, ZD & Ayoko, GA 2013, 'Application of Multicriteria Decision Making Methods to Compression Ignition Engine Efficiency and Gaseous, Particulate, and Greenhouse Gas Emissions', ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, vol. 47, no. 4, pp. 1904-1912. Compression ignition (CI) engine design is subject to many constraints, which present a multicriteria optimization problem that the engine researcher must solve. In particular, the modern CI engine must not only be efficient but must also deliver low gaseous, particulate, and life cycle greenhouse gas emissions so that its impact on urban air quality, human health, and global warming is minimized. Consequently, this study undertakes a multicriteria analysis, which seeks to identify alternative fuels, injection technologies, and combustion strategies that could potentially satisfy these CI engine design constraints. Three data sets are analyzed with the Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluations and Geometrical Analysis for Interactive Aid (PROMETHEE-GAIA) algorithm to explore the impact of (1) an ethanol fumigation system, (2) alternative fuels (20% biodiesel and synthetic diesel) and alternative injection technologies (mechanical direct injection and common rail injection), and (3) various biodiesel fuels made from 3 feedstocks (i.e., soy, tallow, and canola) tested at several blend percentages (20-100%) on the resulting emissions and efficiency profile of the various test engines. The results show that moderate ethanol substitutions (∼20% by energy) at moderate load, high percentage soy blends (60-100%), and alternative fuels (biodiesel and synthetic diesel) provide an efficiency and emissions profile that yields the most 'preferred' solutions to this multicriteria engine design problem. Further research is, however, required to reduce reactive oxygen species (ROS) emissions with alternative fuels and to deliver technologies that do not significantly reduce the median diameter of particle emissions. © 2013 American Chemical Society. Sutton, GJ, Liu, RP & Collings, IB 2013, 'Modelling IEEE 802.11 DCF Heterogeneous Networks with Rayleigh Fading and Capture', IEEE Transactions on Communications, vol. 61, no. 8, pp. 3336-3348. In practical radio transmissions, bit error and channel capture are two dominating factors that affect wireless network performance. Previous models have omitted the interaction between bit error and channel capture. We present a homogeneous-network performance-prediction model for a Rayleigh fading channel that incorporates both the capture effect and transmission error into a 3-D Markov Chain. We accurately characterise the interaction between packet error and capture by incorporating them both into the model of the receiver operations. We show how the model can be solved efficiently. The model provides quality of service measures, including packet delay and loss, which are difficult to achieve with other models. Simulation results confirm that our 3-D model accurately predicts the performance for practical SNRs and receiver sensitivities. We demonstrate that our model can be directly applied to call admission control of Voice over IP service with a QoS guarantee in a WiFi network. The model is then extended to heterogeneous networks, where different stations have different packet arrival rates and packet sizes. © 1972-2012 IEEE. Tabatabaiefar, SHR, Fatahi, B & Samali, B 2013, 'Lateral seismic response of building frames considering dynamic soil-structure interaction effects', STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING AND MECHANICS, vol. 45, no. 3, pp. 311-321. In this study, to have a better judgment on the structural performance, the effects of dynamic Soil-Structure Interaction (SSI) on seismic behaviour and lateral structural response of mid-rise moment resisting building frames are studied using Finite Difference Method. Three types of mid-rise structures, including 5, 10, and 15 storey buildings are selected in conjunction with three soil types with the shear wave velocities less than 600m/s, representing soil classes Ce, De and Ee, according to Australian Standard AS 1170.4. The above mentioned frames have been analysed under two different boundary conditions: (i) fixed-base (no soil-structure interaction), and (ii) flexible-base (considering soil-structure interaction). The results of the analyses in terms of structural lateral displacements and drifts for the above mentioned boundary conditions have been compared and discussed. It is concluded that the dynamic soil-structure interaction plays a considerable role in seismic behaviour of mid-rise building frames including substantial increase in the lateral deflections and inter-storey drifts and changing the performance level of the structures from life safe to near collapse or total collapse. Thus, considering soil-structure interaction effects in the seismic design of mid-rise moment resisting building frames, particularly when resting on soft soil deposit, is essential. Tabatabaiefar, SHR, Fatahi, B & Samali, B 2013, 'Seismic Behavior of Building Frames Considering Dynamic Soil-Structure Interaction', INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GEOMECHANICS, vol. 13, no. 4, pp. 409-420. The seismic excitation experienced by structures is a function of the earthquake source, travel path effects, local site effects, and soilstructure interaction (SSI) influences. The result of the first three of these factors is referred to as free-field ground motion. The structural response to free-field motion is influenced by the SSI. In particular, accelerations within structures are affected by the flexibility of the foundation support and variations between the foundation and free-field motions. Consequently, an accurate assessment of inertial forces and displacements in structures can require a rational treatment of SSI effects. In the current study, to depict these effects on the seismic response of moment-resisting building frames, a 10-story moment-resisting building frame resting on a shallow foundation was selected in conjunction with three soil types with shear-wave velocities of less than 600 m/s, representing Soil Classes Ce, De, and Ee according to an existing Australian Standard. The structural sections were designed after applying dynamic nonlinear time-history analysis, based on both the elastic method, and inelastic procedure using the elastic-perfectly plastic behavior of the structural elements. The frame sections were modeled and analyzed using the finite-difference method andthe FLAC 2D software under two different boundary conditions: (1) fixed-base (no SSI) and (2) considering the SSI. Fully nonlinear dynamic analysis under the influence of various earthquake records was conducted and the results of the two different cases for elastic and inelastic behavior of the structuralmodel were extracted, compared, and discussed. The results indicate that the performance level of themodel resting on Soil Class Ce does not change substantially and remains in the life safe level while the performance level of themodel resting on Soil Classes De and Ee substantially increase from the life safe level to near collapse for both elastic and ine... Tadkaew, N, McDonald, J, Khan, SJ & Nghiem, LD 2013, 'Effects of salinity on the removal of trace organic contaminants by membrane bioreactor treatment for water reuse', Desalination and Water Treatment, vol. 51, no. 25-27, pp. 5164-5171. Tafavogh, S, Navarro, KF, Catchpoole, DR & Kennedy, PJ 2013, 'Non-parametric and integrated framework for segmenting and counting neuroblastic cells within neuroblastoma tumor images', MEDICAL & BIOLOGICAL ENGINEERING & COMPUTING, vol. 51, no. 6, pp. 645-655. Neuroblastoma is a malignant tumor and a cancer in childhood that derives from the neural crest. The number of neuroblastic cells within the tumor provides significant prognostic information for pathologists. An enormous number of neuroblastic cells makes the process of counting tedious and error-prone. We propose a user interaction-independent framework that segments cellular regions, splits the overlapping cells and counts the total number of single neuroblastic cells. Our novel segmentation algorithm regards an image as a feature space constructed by joint spatial-intensity features of color pixels. It clusters the pixels within the feature space using mean-shift and then partitions the image into multiple tiles. We propose a novel color analysis approach to select the tiles with similar intensity to the cellular regions. The selected tiles contain a mixture of single and overlapping cells. We therefore also propose a cell counting method to analyse morphology of the cells and discriminate between overlapping and single cells. Ultimately, we apply watershed to split overlapping cells. The results have been evaluated by a pathologist. Our segmentation algorithm was compared against adaptive thresholding. Our cell counting algorithm was compared with two state of the art algorithms. The overall cell counting accuracy of the system is 87.65 %. © 2013 International Federation for Medical and Biological Engineering. Tahan Latibari, S, Mehrali, M, Mehrali, M, Indra Mahlia, TM & Cornelis Metselaar, HS 2013, 'Synthesis, characterization and thermal properties of nanoencapsulated phase change materials via sol–gel method', Energy, vol. 61, pp. 664-672. Talatahari, S, Kheirollahi, M, Farahmandpour, C & Gandomi, AH 2013, 'A multi-stage particle swarm for optimum design of truss structures', Neural Computing and Applications, vol. 23, no. 5, pp. 1297-1309. Tan, M, Tsang, IW & Wang, L 2013, 'Minimax Sparse Logistic Regression for Very High-Dimensional Feature Selection', IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks and Learning Systems, vol. 24, no. 10, pp. 1609-1622. Because of the strong convexity and probabilistic underpinnings, logistic regression (LR) is widely used in many real-world applications. However, in many problems, such as bioinformatics, choosing a small subset of features with the most discriminative power are desirable for interpreting the prediction model, robust predictions or deeper analysis. To achieve a sparse solution with respect to input features, many sparse LR models are proposed. However, it is still challenging for them to efficiently obtain unbiased sparse solutions to very high-dimensional problems (e.g., identifying the most discriminative subset from millions of features). In this paper, we propose a new minimax sparse LR model for very high-dimensional feature selections, which can be efficiently solved by a cutting plane algorithm. To solve the resultant nonsmooth minimax subproblems, a smoothing coordinate descent method is presented. Numerical issues and convergence rate of this method are carefully studied. Experimental results on several synthetic and real-world datasets show that the proposed method can obtain better prediction accuracy with the same number of selected features and has better or competitive scalability on very high-dimensional problems compared with the baseline methods, including the l1-regularized LR. Tan, VYF & Tomamichel, M 2013, 'The Third-Order Term in the Normal Approximation for the AWGN Channel', IEEE Trans. Inf. Theory, vol. 61, no. 5, pp. 2430-2438. This paper shows that, under the average error probability formalism, thethird-order term in the normal approximation for the additive white Gaussiannoise channel with a maximal or equal power constraint is at least $\frac{1}{2}\log n + O(1)$. This matches the upper bound derived byPolyanskiy-Poor-Verd\'{u} (2010). Tang, J, Chen, L, King, I & Wang, J 2013, 'Introduction to Special section on Large-scale Data Mining', Data & Knowledge Engineering, vol. 87, pp. 355-356. Tangaramvong, S, Tin-Loi, F, Wu, D & Gao, W 2013, 'Mathematical programming approaches for obtaining sharp collapse load bounds in interval limit analysis', Computers & Structures, vol. 125, pp. 114-126. The paper presents novel mathematical programming approaches for interval limit analysis that are guaranteed to furnish sharp (extreme) bounds to the collapse load of structures subjected to uncertain but bounded parameters. The formulation is cast as a pair of linear programs with interval coefficients. We discuss when sharp collapse load bounds occur when the interval parameters are at the extreme limits of their respective intervals. A mixed 0-1 programming approach is first proposed to compute the minimum collapse limit, and, more importantly, we then develop a pair of robust and efficient nonlinear programming schemes that capture maximum collapse loads in one case and minimum collapse loads in the other. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Tao, M, Li, X & Wu, C 2013, '3D numerical model for dynamic loading-induced multiple fracture zones around underground cavity faces', Computers and Geotechnics, vol. 54, pp. 33-45. Tao, X-F, Hou, Y-Z, Wang, K-D, He, H-Y & Guo, YJ 2013, 'GPP-Based Soft Base Station Designing and Optimization', Journal of Computer Science and Technology, vol. 28, no. 3, pp. 420-428. It is generally acknowledged that mobile communication base stations are composed of hardware components such as Field Programming Gate Array (FPGA), Digital Signal Processor (DSP), which promise reliable and fluent services for the mobile users. However, with the increasing demand for energy-efficiency, approaches of low power-consumption and high-flexibility are needed urgently. In this circumstance, General Purpose Processor (GPP) attracts people’s attention for its low-cost and flexibility. Benefited from the development of modern GPP in multi-core, Single Instruction Multiple Data (SIMD) instructions, larger cache, etc., GPPs are capable of performing high-density digital processing. In this paper, we compare several software-defined radio (SDR) prototypes and propose the general architecture of GPP-based soft base stations. Then, the schematic design of resource allocation and algorithm optimization in soft base station implementation are studied. As an application example, a prototype of GPP-based soft base station referring to the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE) is realized and evaluated. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first Soft-LTE prototype ever reported. In the end, we evaluate the timing performance of the LTE soft base station and a packet loss ratio of less than 0.003 is obtained. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York & Science Press, China. Tapson, J, Cohen, G, Afshar, S, Stiefel, K, Buskila, Y, Wang, R, Hamilton, TJ & Schaik, AV 2013, 'Synthesis of neural networks for spatio-temporal spike pattern recognition and processing', Frontiers in Neuroscience, no. 7 AUG. The advent of large scale neural computational platforms has highlighted thelack of algorithms for synthesis of neural structures to perform predefinedcognitive tasks. The Neural Engineering Framework offers one such synthesis,but it is most effective for a spike rate representation of neural information,and it requires a large number of neurons to implement simple functions. Wedescribe a neural network synthesis method that generates synaptic connectivityfor neurons which process time-encoded neural signals, and which makes verysparse use of neurons. The method allows the user to specify, arbitrarily,neuronal characteristics such as axonal and dendritic delays, and synaptictransfer functions, and then solves for the optimal input-output relationshipusing computed dendritic weights. The method may be used for batch or onlinelearning and has an extremely fast optimization process. We demonstrate its usein generating a network to recognize speech which is sparsely encoded as spiketimes. Tasouji, N, Nourinia, J, Ghobadi, C & Tofigh, F 2013, 'A Novel Printed UWB Slot Antenna With Reconfigurable Band-Notch Characteristics', IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters, vol. 12, pp. 922-925. Tavares, NAC & Vale, S 2013, 'A Model Driven Approach for the Development of Semantic RESTful Web Services', Proceedings of International Conference on Information Integration and Web-based Applications & Services, vol. 7167, pp. 12-19. Several metamodels have been proposed in the software engineering literature recently. For practical usage, it is important to ensure that these metamodels can be used in an interoperable fashion. In this paper we present an approach as a part of our PhD research in the same direction. Our methodology is based on the study of analogous characteristics among metamodels, ontologies and schemas. We have adopted ontology merging and schema matching techniques and apply them to the domain of metamodels to assist in creating interoperable metamodels. This methodology is applied and presented here with an illustrative example in which we show the results of merging two of the OMG metamodels: the Organization Structure Metamodel (OSM) and the Business Process Modelling Notation (BPMN). Tazvinga, H, Xia, X & Zhang, J 2013, 'Minimum cost solution of photovoltaic–diesel–battery hybrid power systems for remote consumers', Solar Energy, vol. 96, pp. 292-299. Tehrany, MS, Pradhan, B & Jebur, MN 2013, 'Remote Sensing Data Reveals Eco-Environmental Changes in Urban Areas of Klang Valley, Malaysia: Contribution from Object Based Analysis', Journal of the Indian Society of Remote Sensing, vol. 41, no. 4, pp. 981-991. Tehrany, MS, Pradhan, B & Jebur, MN 2013, 'Spatial prediction of flood susceptible areas using rule based decision tree (DT) and a novel ensemble bivariate and multivariate statistical models in GIS', Journal of Hydrology, vol. 504, pp. 69-79. ten Bhomer, M & van den Hoven, E 2013, 'Interaction design for supporting communication between Chinese sojourners', PERSONAL AND UBIQUITOUS COMPUTING, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 145-157. In our global village, distance is not a barrier anymore for traveling. People experience new cultures and face accompanying difficulties in order to live anywhere. Social support can help these sojourners to cope with difficulties, such as culture shock. In this paper, we investigate how computer-mediated communication (CMC) tools can facilitate social support when living physically separated from loved-ones in different cultures. The goal is to understand the design considerations necessary to design new CMC tools. We studied communication practices of Chinese sojourners living in the Netherlands and the use of a technology probe with a novel video communication system. These results led to recommendations which can help designers to design interactive communication tools that facilitate communication across cultures. We conclude the paper with an interactive communication device called Circadian, which was designed based on these recommendations. We experienced the design recommendations to be abstract enough to leave space for creativity while providing a set of clear requirements which we used to base design decisions upon. Teng, PSP, Leong, KF, Kong, PW, Halkon, BJ & Huang, PY 2013, 'The use of rapid prototyping in the design of a customised ankle brace structure for ACL injury risk reduction', Virtual and Physical Prototyping, vol. 8, no. 4, pp. 241-247. Rapid prototyping, or additive manufacturing, is becoming more useful in creating functional prototypes, especially when customisation is required. This paper explores the use of three-dimensional (3D) printing in designing a customised ankle brace structure for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury risk reduction. A new process is proposed to obtain ankle flexion angles and the corresponding foot surface strain associated with high ACL injury risks through motion analysis. This data is used in the design of the customised ankle brace structure and printed using rapid prototyping. One customised ankle brace structure was printed and tested to demonstrate this proposed framework. The ankle flexion range of motion (ROM) was significantly reduced in the high-risk ankle positions with the ankle brace structure. Rapid prototyping could thus be used to design customised ankle brace structures and this is useful in reducing fabrication time and complexity of customisation. © 2013 Taylor & Francis. THAKUR, PK, VINOD, JS & INDRARATNA, B 2013, 'Effect of confining pressure and frequency on the deformation of ballast', Géotechnique, vol. 63, no. 9, pp. 786-790. Thalakotuna, DNP, Esselle, KP, Matekovits, L, Heimlich, M & Hay, SG 2013, 'Changing the Electromagnetic Bandgap and Stopbands in a Multistate Periodic Circuit', Microwave and Optical Technology Letters, vol. 55, no. 8, pp. 1871-1874. That, ND, Nam, PT & Ha, QP 2013, 'Reachable Set Bounding for Linear Discrete-Time Systems with Delays and Bounded Disturbances', JOURNAL OF OPTIMIZATION THEORY AND APPLICATIONS, vol. 157, no. 1, pp. 96-107. This paper addresses the problem of reachable set bounding for linear discrete-time systems that are subject to state delay and bounded disturbances. Based on the Lyapunov method, a sufficient condition for the existence of ellipsoid-based bounds of reachable sets of a linear uncertain discrete system is derived in terms of matrix inequalities. Here, a new idea is to minimize the projection distances of the ellipsoids on each axis with different exponential convergence rates, instead of minimization of their radius with a single exponential rate. A smaller bound can thus be obtained from the intersection of these ellipsoids. A numerical example is given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media New York. Thollander, P, Backlund, S, Trianni, A & Cagno, E 2013, 'Beyond barriers – A case study on driving forces for improved energy efficiency in the foundry industries in Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, and Sweden', Applied Energy, vol. 111, pp. 636-643. Thomas, D, Ding, G & Crews, K 2013, 'Sustainable timber use in the Australian housing market: Are consumers willing to pay the price', International Journal for Housing Science and Its Applications, vol. 37, no. 3, pp. 187-196. A large proportion of traditional Australian homes contained timber floors and timber exterior cladding until the advent of the standard concrete slab/brick veneer house. Up to 95% of new homes are built by project home companies and the majority of these contain an external envelope consisting of concrete flooring, clay brick walls and concrete tile or steel sheet roofing. This design is currently driven by consumer's expectation of low cost, durable homes that are completed within restricted time limits. There is now a price premium on bespoke housing projects that differ materially or otherwise from a limited set of designs offered by project home firms. The adoption of concrete and brick homes originated from a perceived advantage of longevity, low maintenance and thermal comfort. Innovation in wood treatments, wood protection and insulation has provided solutions to these issues so that timber is now a viable option with added benefits such as environmental sustainability and erection speed. Australian consumers have a growing awareness and desire to live in a way that is sustainable and are making choices that reflect this attitude. This has been demonstrated through the high adoption rate of recent government-supported schemes such as subsidized insulation and solar panel installation. This paper aims at investigating homeowner's perception of timber as a sustainable building product, the desire of homeowners to use sustainable building products, and the willingness of homeowners to pay a premium to live sustainably. This paper highlights Australian homeowners reluctance to use the most sustainable building materials even when they are willing to pay for a more environmentally sustainable home. This paper presents the results of a questionnaire survey to homeowners in the city of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia and some strategies on how to increase the use of timber in new housing projects in Australia. © 2013 IAHS. Thomas, PS, Guerbois, J-P & Smallwood, A 2013, 'Low temperature DSC characterisation of water in opal', Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry, vol. 113, no. 3, pp. 1255-1260. A low temperature (-60 to +105 A degrees C) DSC characterisation of opal was carried out to determine the proportion of crystallisable water and to estimate the cavity size in which the crystallisable water is contained. Circa 10 % of the molecular water Tien Bui, D, Pradhan, B, Lofman, O, Revhaug, I & Dick, ØB 2013, 'Regional prediction of landslide hazard using probability analysis of intense rainfall in the Hoa Binh province, Vietnam', Natural Hazards, vol. 66, no. 2, pp. 707-730. Tijing, L, Ruelo, M, Park, C-H, Amarjargal, A, Kim, H, Pant, H, Lee, D-H & Kim, C 2013, 'Efficacy of zinc and tourmaline in mitigating corrosion of carbon steel in non-flow mode', Chemical Papers, vol. 67, no. 10, pp. 1304-1310. Tijing, LD, Amarjargal, A, Jiang, Z, Ruelo, MTG, Park, C-H, Pant, HR, Kim, D-W, Lee, DH & Kim, CS 2013, 'Antibacterial tourmaline nanoparticles/polyurethane hybrid mat decorated with silver nanoparticles prepared by electrospinning and UV photoreduction', Current Applied Physics, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 205-210. Tijing, LD, Choi, W, Jiang, Z, Amarjargal, A, Park, C-H, Pant, HR, Im, I-T & Kim, CS 2013, 'Two-nozzle electrospinning of (MWNT/PU)/PU nanofibrous composite mat with improved mechanical and thermal properties', Current Applied Physics, vol. 13, no. 7, pp. 1247-1255. Tijing, LD, Park, C-H, Choi, WL, Ruelo, MTG, Amarjargal, A, Pant, HR, Im, I-T & Kim, CS 2013, 'Characterization and mechanical performance comparison of multiwalled carbon nanotube/polyurethane composites fabricated by electrospinning and solution casting', Composites Part B: Engineering, vol. 44, no. 1, pp. 613-619. Multiwalled carbon nanotube/polyurethane (MWNT/PU) composites were prepared by electrospinning and solution casting. The morphological and thermal properties, and mechanical performance of the nanofiber and film composites were characterized and compared. The tensile strength of neat PU film was 9-fold higher than that of neat PU nanofibrous mat. The incorporation of MWNTs increased the tensile strength and modulus of the composite nanofibers by 69% and 140%, respectively, and 62% and 78%, respectively for composite films. The MWNT/PU composites showed an improved thermal degradation behavior, with the incorporation of low MWNT content in the composites. Tijing, LD, Park, C-H, Kang, S-J, Amarjargal, A, Kim, T-H, Pant, HR, Kim, HJ, Lee, DH & Kim, CS 2013, 'Improved mechanical properties of solution-cast silicone film reinforced with electrospun polyurethane nanofiber containing carbon nanotubes', Applied Surface Science, vol. 264, pp. 453-458. Tomamichel, M & Tan, VYF 2013, 'Second-Order Asymptotics for the Classical Capacity of Image-Additive Quantum Channels', Communication in Mathematical Physics, vol. 338, no. 1, pp. 103-137. We study non-asymptotic fundamental limits for transmitting classicalinformation over memoryless quantum channels, i.e. we investigate the amount ofclassical information that can be transmitted when a quantum channel is used afinite number of times and a fixed, non-vanishing average error is permissible.We consider the classical capacity of quantum channels that are image-additive,including all classical to quantum channels, as well as the product statecapacity of arbitrary quantum channels. In both cases we show that thenon-asymptotic fundamental limit admits a second-order approximation thatillustrates the speed at which the rate of optimal codes converges to theHolevo capacity as the blocklength tends to infinity. The behavior is governedby a new channel parameter, called channel dispersion, for which we provide ageometrical interpretation. Tomamichel, M & Tan, VYF 2013, 'Second-Order Coding Rates for Channels with State', IEEE Trans. Inf. Theory, vol. 60, no. 8, pp. 4427-4448. We study the performance limits of state-dependent discrete memorylesschannels with a discrete state available at both the encoder and the decoder.We establish the epsilon-capacity as well as necessary and sufficientconditions for the strong converse property for such channels when the sequenceof channel states is not necessarily stationary, memoryless or ergodic. We thenseek a finer characterization of these capacities in terms of second-ordercoding rates. The general results are supplemented by several examplesincluding i.i.d. and Markov states and mixed channels. Tomamichel, M, Berta, M & Hayashi, M 2013, 'Relating different quantum generalizations of the conditional Renyi entropy', J. Math. Phys. 55 (8), 082206 (2014), vol. 55, no. 8. Recently a new quantum generalization of the Renyi divergence and thecorresponding conditional Renyi entropies was proposed. Here we report on asurprising relation between conditional Renyi entropies based on this newgeneralization and conditional Renyi entropies based on the quantum relativeRenyi entropy that was used in previous literature. Our result generalizes thewell-known duality relation H(A|B) + H(A|C) = 0 of the conditional von Neumannentropy for tripartite pure states to Renyi entropies of two different kinds. As a direct application, we prove a collection of inequalities that relatedifferent conditional Renyi entropies and derive a new entropic uncertaintyrelation. Tran, N & Hutvagner, G 2013, 'Biogenesis and the regulation of the maturation of miRNAs', Essays in Biochemistry, vol. 54, no. 1, pp. 17-28. Tran, NH, Urase, T, Ngo, HH, Hu, J & Ong, SL 2013, 'Insight into metabolic and cometabolic activities of autotrophic and heterotrophic microorganisms in the biodegradation of emerging trace organic contaminants', BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY, vol. 146, no. 1, pp. 721-731. Many efforts have been made to understand the biodegradation of emerging trace organic contaminants (EOCs) in the natural and engineered systems. This review summarizes the current knowledge on the biodegradation of EOCs while having in-depth discussion on metabolism and cometabolism of EOCs. Biodegradation of EOCs is mainly attributed to cometabolic activities of both heterotrophic and autotrophic microorganisms. Metabolism of EOCs can only be observed by heterotrophic microbes. Autotrophic ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and ammonia oxidizing archaeal (AOA) cometabolize a variety of EOCs via the non-specific enzymes, such as ammonia monooxygenase (AMO). Higher biodegradation of EOCs is often noted under nitrification at high ammonia loading rate. The presence of a growth substrate promotes cometabolic biodegradation of EOCs. Potential strategies for enhancing the biodegradation of EOCs were also proposed in this review. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. Tran, TS, Hirst, JE, Do, MAT, Morris, JM & Jeffery, HE 2013, 'Early Prediction of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus in Vietnam', Diabetes Care, vol. 36, no. 3, pp. 618-624. Trianni, A, Cagno, E & Worrell, E 2013, 'Innovation and adoption of energy efficient technologies: An exploratory analysis of Italian primary metal manufacturing SMEs', Energy Policy, vol. 61, pp. 430-440. Trianni, A, Cagno, E, Thollander, P & Backlund, S 2013, 'Barriers to industrial energy efficiency in foundries: a European comparison', Journal of Cleaner Production, vol. 40, pp. 161-176. Trianni, A, Cagno, E, Worrell, E & Pugliese, G 2013, 'Empirical investigation of energy efficiency barriers in Italian manufacturing SMEs', Energy, vol. 49, pp. 444-458. Truong, BCQ, Hoang Duong Tuan, Ha Hoang Kha & Nguyen, HT 2013, 'Debye Parameter Extraction for Characterizing Interaction of Terahertz Radiation With Human Skin Tissue', IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, vol. 60, no. 6, pp. 1528-1537. This paper is concerned with parameter extraction for the double Debye model, which is used for analytically determining human skin permittivity. These parameters are thought to be the origin of contrast in terahertz (THz) images of skin cancer. The existing extraction methods could generate Debye models, which track their measurements accurately at frequencies higher than 1 THz but poorly at lower frequencies, where the majority of permittivity contrast between healthy and diseased skin tissues is actually observed.We propose a global optimization-based parameter extraction,which results in globally accurate tracking and thus supports the full validity of the Debye model for simulating human skin permittivity in the whole usable THz frequencies. Numerical results confirm viability of our novel methodology. Tsakonas, A & Gabrys, B 2013, 'A fuzzy evolutionary framework for combining ensembles', Applied Soft Computing, vol. 13, no. 4, pp. 1800-1812. Tu, C & Lee, JE-Y 2013, 'Ambient temperature and bias conditions induced frequency drifts in an uncompensated SOI piezoresistive resonator', Sensors and Actuators A: Physical, vol. 202, pp. 140-146. Tu, C & Lee, JE-Y 2013, 'Crystallographic Effects on Energy Dissipation in High- $Q$ Silicon Bulk-Mode Resonators', Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems, vol. 22, no. 2, pp. 262-264. Tu, KL, Fujioka, T, Khan, SJ, Poussade, Y, Roux, A, Drewes, JE, Chivas, AR & Nghiem, LD 2013, 'Boron as a Surrogate for N-Nitrosodimethylamine Rejection by Reverse Osmosis Membranes in Potable Water Reuse Applications', Environmental Science & Technology, vol. 47, no. 12, pp. 6425-6430. Tuan, HD, Son, TT, Tuy, H & Khoa, PT 2013, 'Monotonic optimization based decoding for linear codes', Journal of Global Optimization, vol. 55, no. 2, pp. 301-312. New efficient methods are developed for the optimal maximum-likelihood (ML) decoding of an arbitrary binary linear code based on data received from any discrete Gaussian channel. The decoding algorithm is based on monotonic optimization that is minimizing a difference of monotonic (d.m.) objective functions subject to the 01 constraints of bit variables. The iterative process converges to the global optimal ML solution after finitely many steps. The proposed algorithms computational complexity depends on input sequence length k which is much less than the codeword length n, especially for a codes with small code rate. The viability of the developed is verified through simulations on different coding schemes. Tuy, H & Tuan, HD 2013, 'Generalized S-Lemma and strong duality in nonconvex quadratic programming', Journal of Global Optimization, vol. 56, no. 3, pp. 1045-1072. On the basis of a new topological minimax theorem, a simple and unified approach is developed to Lagrange duality in nonconvex quadratic programming. Diverse generalizations as well as equivalent forms of the S-Lemma, providing a thorough study of dualit Vakiloroaya, V, Ha, QP & Samali, B 2013, 'Energy-efficient HVAC systems: Simulation-empirical modelling and gradient optimization', AUTOMATION IN CONSTRUCTION, vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 176-185. This paper addresses the energy saving problem of air-cooled central cooling plant systems using the model-based gradient projection optimization method. Theoretical-empirical system models including mechanistic relations between components are developed for operating variables of the system. Experimental data are collected to model an actual air-cooled mini chiller equipped with a ducted fan-coil unit of an office building located in hot and dry climate conditions. Both inputs and outputs are known and measured from field monitoring in one summer month. The development and algorithm resulting from the gradient projection, implemented on a transient simulation software package, are incorporated to solve the minimization problem of energy consumption and predict the system's optimal set-points under transient conditions. The chilled water temperature, supply air temperature and refrigerant mass flow rate are calculated based on the cooling load and ambient dry-bulb temperature profiles by using the proposed approach. The integrated simulation tool is validated by using a wide range of experimentally collected data from the chiller in operation. Simulation results are provided to show possibility of significant energy savings and comfort enhancement using the proposed strategy. © 2012 Elsevier B.V. Vakiloroaya, V, Ha, QP & Skibniewski, M 2013, 'Modeling and experimental validation of a solar-assisted direct expansion air conditioning system', ENERGY AND BUILDINGS, vol. 66, no. 1, pp. 524-536. Continuous increase in global electricity consumption, environmental hazards of pollution and deple-tion of fossil fuel resources have brought about a paradigm shift in the development of eco-friendly andenergy-efficient technologies. This paper reports on an experimental study to investigate the inherentoperational characteristics of a new direct-expansion air conditioning system combined with a vacuumsolar collector. Mathematical models of the system components are firstly derived and then validatedagainst experimental results. To investigate the potential of energy savings, the hybrid solar-assistedair-conditioner is installed and extensively equipped with a number of sensors and instrumentationdevices, for experimentation and data collection. The influence on the system energy usage of the aver-age water temperature, storage tank size and room set-point temperature are then analyzed. Once theair-conditioned room has achieved its desired temperature, the compressor turns off while the cool-ing process still continues until the refrigerant pressure no longer maintains the desired temperature.The advantages of the proposed hybrid system rest with the fact that the compressor can remain off in alonger period by heat impartation into the refrigerant via the water storage tank. Results show an averagemonthly energy saving of about between 25% and 42%. Van de Velde, S, Vander Stichele, R, Fauquert, B, Geens, S, Heselmans, A, Ramaekers, D, Kunnamo, I & Aertgeerts, B 2013, 'EBMPracticeNet: A Bilingual National Electronic Point-Of-Care Project for Retrieval of Evidence-Based Clinical Guideline Information and Decision Support', JMIR Research Protocols, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. e23-e23. van den Hoven, E, van de Garde-Perik, E, Offermans, S, van Boerdonk, K & Lenssen, K-MH 2013, 'Moving Tangible Interaction Systems to the Next Level', COMPUTER, vol. 46, no. 8, pp. 70-76. Understanding tangible interactions foundational concepts can lead to systems with direct, integrated, and meaningful data control and representation. VEITCH, D, GORST-RASMUSSEN, A & GEFFERTH, A 2013, 'WHY FARIMA MODELS ARE BRITTLE', Fractals, vol. 21, no. 02, pp. 1350012-1350012. Veitch, V, Ferrie, C, Gross, D & Emerson, J 2013, 'Corrigendum: Negative quasi-probability as a resource for quantum computation', New Journal of Physics, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 039502-039502. Verma, P, Singh, R & Singh, AK 2013, 'A framework to integrate speech based interface for blind web users on the websites of public interest', Human-centric Computing and Information Sciences, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 1-18. Visintin, P, Oehlers, DJ, Haskett, M & Wu, C 2013, 'Mechanics-Based Hinge Analysis for Reinforced Concrete Columns', Journal of Structural Engineering, vol. 139, no. 11, pp. 1973-1980. Visintin, P, Oehlers, DJ, Muhamad, R & Wu, C 2013, 'Partial-interaction short term serviceability deflection of RC beams', Engineering Structures, vol. 56, pp. 993-1006. Voinov, A & Shugart, HH 2013, '‘Integronsters’, integral and integrated modeling', Environmental Modelling & Software, vol. 39, pp. 149-158. Wahid, H, Ha, QP, Duc, H & Azzi, M 2013, 'Neural network-based meta-modelling approach for estimating spatial distribution of air pollutant levels', APPLIED SOFT COMPUTING, vol. 13, no. 10, pp. 4087-4096. Continuous measurements of the air pollutant concentrations at monitoring stations serve as a reliable basis for air quality regulations. Their availability is however limited only at locations of interest. In most situations, the spatial distribution beyond these locations still remains uncertain as it is highly influenced by other factors such as emission sources, meteorological effects, dispersion and topographical conditions. To overcome this issue, a larger number of monitoring stations could be installed, but it would involve a high investment cost. An alternative solution is via the use of a deterministic air quality model (DAQM), which is mostly adopted by regulatory authorities for prediction in the temporal and spatial domain as well as for policy scenario development. Nevertheless, the results obtained from a model are subject to some uncertainties and it requires, in general, a significant computation time. In this work, a meta-modelling approach based on neural network evaluation is proposed to improve the estimated spatial distribution of the pollutant concentrations. From a dispersion model, it is suggested that the spatially-distributed pollutant levels (i.e. ozone, in this study) across a region under consideration is a function of the grid coordinates, topographical information, solar radiation and the pollutant's precursor emission. Initially, for training the model, the input-output relationship is extracted from a photochemical dispersion model called The Air Pollution Model and Chemical Transport Model (TAPM-CTM), and some of those input-output data are correlated with the ambient measurements collected at monitoring stations. Here, improved radial basis function networks, incorporating a proposed technique for selection of the network centres, will be developed and trained by using the data obtained and the forward selection approach. The methodology is then applied to estimate the ozone concentrations in the Sydney basin, Austral... Wang, F, Toe, WJ, Lee, WM, McGloin, D, Gao, Q, Tan, HH, Jagadish, C & Reece, PJ 2013, 'Resolving Stable Axial Trapping Points of Nanowires in an Optical Tweezers Using Photoluminescence Mapping', Nano Letters, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 1185-1191. Axially resolved microphotoluminescence mapping of semiconductor nanowires held in an optical tweezers reveals important new experimental information regarding equilibrium trapping points and trapping stability of high aspect ratio nanostructures. In this study, holographic optical tweezers are used to scan trapped InP nanowires along the beam direction with respect to a fixed excitation source and the luminescent properties are recorded. It is observed that nanowires with lengths on the range of 3-15 μm are stably trapped near the tip of the wire with the long segment positioned below the focus in an inverted trapping configuration. Through the use of trap multiplexing we investigate the possibility of improving the axial stability of the trapped nanowires. Our results have important implication for applications of optically assisted nanowire assembly and optical tweezers based scanning probes microscopy. © 2013 American Chemical Society. Wang, G, Guo, L, Gandomi, AH, Cao, L, Alavi, AH, Duan, H & Li, J 2013, 'Lévy-Flight Krill Herd Algorithm', Mathematical Problems in Engineering, vol. 2013, pp. 1-14. Wang, G-G, Guo, L, Gandomi, AH, Alavi, AH & Duan, H 2013, 'Simulated Annealing-Based Krill Herd Algorithm for Global Optimization', Abstract and Applied Analysis, vol. 2013, pp. 1-11.
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View description>>Background
In Belgium, the construction of a national electronic point-of-care information service, EBMPracticeNet, was initiated in 2011 to optimize quality of care by promoting evidence-based decision-making. The collaboration of the government, health care providers, evidence-based medicine (EBM) partners, and vendors of electronic health records (EHR) is unique to this project. All Belgian health care professionals get free access to an up-to-date database of validated Belgian and nearly 1000 international guidelines, incorporated in a portal that also provides EBM information from other sources than guidelines, including computerized clinical decision support that is integrated in the EHRs.Objective
The objective of this paper was to describe the development strategy, the overall content, and the management of EBMPracticeNet which may be of relevance to other health organizations creating national or regional electronic point-of-care information services.Methods
Several candidate providers of comprehensive guideline solutions were evaluated and one database was selected. Translation of the guidelines to Dutch and French was done with translation software, post-editing by translators and medical proofreading. A strategy is determined to adapt the guideline content to the Belgian context. Acceptance of the computerized clinical decision support tool has been tested and a randomized controlled trial is planned to evaluate the effect on process and patient outcomes.Results
Currently, EBMPracticeNet is in "work in progress" state. Reference is made to the results of a pilot study and to further planned research including a randomized controlled trial.Conclusions
The collaboration of government, health care providers, EBM partners, and vendors of EHRs is unique. The potential value of the project is great. The link between all the EHRs from different vendors and a national database held on a single platform that is controlle...
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