PeerPigeon: A Web Application to Support Generalised Peer Review

Peer Review (also known as Peer Assessment) is an important technique in learning, but can be difficult to support through e-learning due to the complexity and variety of peer review processes. In this paper we present PeerPigeon, a Web 2.0 style application that supports generalised Peer Review by using a canonical model of Peer Review based on a Peer Review Pattern consisting of Peer Review Cycles, each defined in terms of Peer Review Transforms. We also demonstrate how PeerPigeon makes use of a Domain Specific Language based on Ruby to define these plans, and thus cope with the irreducible complexity of the flow of documents around a peer network

A new system for better employment and social outcomes: interim report

This report argues that fundamental reform of the architecture of Australia\u27s welfare system is needed to better capture evolving labour market and social changes, and proposes four pillars of reform. In December 2013, the Minister for Social Services, the Hon. Kevin Andrews MP, appointed an independent Reference Group to review Australia\u27s welfare system. This is the Reference Group’s Interim Report. Mr Patrick McClure AO chairs the Reference Group. The other members are Mr Wesley Aird and Ms Sally Sinclair. The Reference Group was supported by a Taskforce in the Department of Social Services in preparing this report. Executive summary Government cash transfer payments to individuals and families represent the most significant component of Australia’s social support system in expenditure terms. The Department of Social Services has policy responsibility for income support payments and supplements worth around $100 billion in 2012–13. This is a significant investment with a wide reach across the community. Changes to Australia’s income support system over time have resulted in unintended complexities, inconsistencies and disincentives for some people to work. The system is also out of step with today’s labour market realities and community expectations. The income support system is in need of major reform to deliver better outcomes for all Australians now and into the future. Long-term reliance on income support increases the risks of poor health, low self-esteem and social isolation. It can also have intergenerational effects. Children who grow up in households with long periods on income support are more likely to have poor education, employment and social outcomes. In contrast, employment generates clear financial, health and social benefits for individuals, families and communities. To maximise employment and social outcomes, and to remain sustainable over the longer term, Australia’s income support system needs to have a stronger employment focus. It should provide adequate support while encouraging more people to work to their capacity. It should also be simpler and more coherent. While reforms in recent decades have increased participation expectations for income support recipients, a more fundamental reform of the architecture of the system is needed to better capture evolving labour market and social changes such as the growth in part-time work and the increased labour force participation of women. The broader social support system should work in tandem with the income support system to assist those most in need. This includes well-functioning employment services, housing assistance, child care, and early intervention and integrated services for people and families with complex needs, such as homelessness, mental health conditions and drug or alcohol addiction. Reform needs to take account of recent developments such as the system of lifelong care and support for people with disability being introduced through the National Disability Insurance Scheme, the expansion of paid parental leave and the opportunities offered by new technology. It should also take account of effective interventions to support people who are vulnerable in the labour market, such as people with mental health conditions and people with disability. This report proposes four pillars of reform: Simpler and sustainable income support system Strengthening individual and family capability Engaging with employers Building community capacit

Giving order to image queries

Users of image retrieval systems often find it frustrating that the image they are looking for is not ranked near the top of the results they are presented. This paper presents a computational approach for ranking keyworded images in order of relevance to a given keyword. Our approach uses machine learning to attempt to learn what visual features within an image are most related to the keywords, and then provide ranking based on similarity to a visual aggregate. To evaluate the technique, a Web 2.0 application has been developed to obtain a corpus of user-generated ranking information for a given image collection that can be used to evaluate the performance of the ranking algorithm

The Synthesis and Characterization of New Triangular Lattice Compounds with Exotic Magnetic Ground States

The foundation of experimental condensed matter physics is comprised of two material processes, synthesis and characterization. For most measurements, single crystal samples are preferred as they allow spatially dependent information to be obtained. On the other hand, polycrystalline samples are also critical as they reveal bulk properties of the material and are generally much easier to produce. Material characterization then relies on accurately measuring a material\u27s physical, electrical, and magnetic properties using a variety of different techniques.In this dissertation, we focus on triangular lattice antiferromagnets (TLAFs) which have been studied because of their great potential to exhibit various intriguing magnetic properties related to strong geometrical frustration. Recent studies of TLAFs mainly explore four central themes: quantum spin liquid (QSL) states, exotic disordered states, the coplanar 120 degree state and the related field induced spin state transitions, and multiferroicity. Accordingly, we have investigated two materials which fall into these categories. The first is the magnetodielectric material RCr(BO3)2 (R = Y and Ho), and the second is a group of Mo-cluster compounds including the quantum spin liquid candidate Li2In1-xScxMo3O8 and the ferromagnets (Mg,Zn)ScMo3O8. Both materials have been investigated using x-ray diffraction, powder neutron diffraction, ac and dc susceptibility, and specific heat capacity measurements as well as other complementary techniques. A discussion of these results as well as potential future experiments are included

Semantic Web Integration of Cultural Heritage Sources

In this paper, we describe research into the use of ontologies to integrate access to cultural heritage and photographic archives. The use of the CIDOC CRM and CRM Core ontologies are described together with the metadata mapping methodology. A system integrating data from four content providers will be demonstrated

eCHASE: Exploiting Cultural Heritage using the Semantic Web

The eCHASE project is using semantic web technologies to demonstrate sustainable business models based on access and exploitation of digital cultural heritage content at a European level. In this paper we describe the eCHASE project and outline the system architecture

eCHASE: Sustainable Exploitation of Electronic Cultural Heritage

Europe’s digital cultural heritage content has tremendous exploitation potential in applications such as Education, Publishing, e-Commerce, Public Access and Tourism. Value is hugely amplified if the content can be aggregated, repurposed and distributed at a European level. The eCHASE project seeks to demonstrate that public-private partnerships between content holders and commercial service providers can create new services and a sustainable business based on access and exploitation of digital cultural heritage content. This paper describes these issues and introduces the eCHASE architecture that is being developed to showcase the business models created for the project

Modelling bacterial biofilms in spatially heterogeneous environments

Biofi lms are communities of one or more species of microorganism which have adhered both together and to a surface. Biofi lms are ubiquitous in nature, with up to 80% of bacterial life on earth estimated to be found in a biofi lm. Bacterial biofi lms are far more resilient to both chemical and physical methods of removal than their planktonic counterparts, which presents numerous challenges in both clinical and industrial scenarios. Therefore, further research into the underlying mechanisms of how these biofi lms develop and survive is essential. This thesis aims to do so via the implementation of various computational modelling techniques. Currently, most computational modelling of biofi lms is done under somewhat idealised conditions, such as uniform antibiotic concentrations and mono-species bio lms, which do not always reflect the complex conditions found in vivo. This thesis therefore also aims to address this problem by using computational models to understand how biofi lms proliferate and resist methods of removal in spatially heterogeneous environments, such as chemical gradients of nutrients and antibiotics, or non-uniform flow fi elds. The thesis takes the form of three distinct projects, which are linked together by this common theme of spatial non-uniformity. Presented fi rst is an investigation into the coupling between nutrient availability and growth-dependent antibiotic susceptibility. This project uses a simple 1D Monte-Carlo model to simulate the advancement of a bacterial population along a spatial antibiotic concentration gradient. Bacterial replication consumes nutrients which in turn lowers the local growth rate, altering the antibiotic susceptibility. The results highlight the differing outcomes for antibiotics which target either slow-growing or fast-growing cells. Following this, the next project investigates the initial stages of biofi lm formation on a surface. This chapter involves a pair of complementary models, a deterministic one, involving a system of differential equations; and a stochastic one, where the individual bacteria are simulated using a modifi ed Γ-leaping algorithm, both again in 1D. By modifying the rates for certain actions which the bacteria undertake, the models predict that under certain conditions biofi lm formation is highly predictable, but for other parameter regimes, bio lm formation becomes more stochastic. In the third project, the stochastic biofi lm formation model described above is extended to develop a model for the formation of biofi lms on a surface which leaches an antimicrobial compound into the surrounding environment, similar to current antifouling coatings used to prevent marine biofouling in the shipping industry. A key difference in this model is the inclusion of multiple bacterial species, each with differing resistances to the applied biocide, intended to represent the biodiversity found in a typical marine environment. Finally, a computational fluid dynamics model is presented, which is used to model the interaction between a micro-structured surface featuring shark skin-like riblets and an enveloping biofi lm, when exposed to an external flow fi eld of various incident flow angles. These riblets are a contemporary solution to reducing hydrodynamic drag, e.g., on ship hulls, but are only effective when their physical shape is unobstructed. Investigating how misaligned riblets can impede, or even prevent, the sloughing of bio lm matter is therefore crucial to optimising their performance

Bridging the Semantic Gap in Multimedia Information Retrieval: Top-down and Bottom-up approaches

Semantic representation of multimedia information is vital for enabling the kind of multimedia search capabilities that professional searchers require. Manual annotation is often not possible because of the shear scale of the multimedia information that needs indexing. This paper explores the ways in which we are using both top-down, ontologically driven approaches and bottom-up, automatic-annotation approaches to provide retrieval facilities to users. We also discuss many of the current techniques that we are investigating to combine these top-down and bottom-up approaches