Overview of project appraisal

This paper is the outcome of Australian, state and territory governments agreeing to consult to develop a more sophisticated and consistent framework to assess and evaluate major infrastructure projects. Introduction A project appraisal process helps a government make good choices in terms of its goals. It starts with a clear understanding of the role of the project in addressing the key problems preventing achievement of goals specified in a broader integrated transport and land use plan. Projects should ideally be targeted at addressing the most important problems identified in broader transport plans. Good project appraisal also requires the full exploration of reform and investment options to address the key problems to ensure that the project solution provides the best return for society’s scarce resources. Cost–benefit analysis (CBA) is the primary appraisal tool at the options assessment and project prioritisation stages of the appraisal process It is a rigorous, transparent, quantitative method that measures the degree to which individual projects generate net benefits (benefits minus costs) across Australia, and allows comparison and ranking of options and projects. CBA sits within a broader planning and appraisal framework designed to ensure that projects: Flow from good strategic-level planning and assessment Are closely aligned with high-level national, state and territory goals Are aimed at addressing priority problems that are preventing goals from being achieved, and Adopt the best solution, based on a sound assessment of a wide range of potential options for solving the identified problems. The best practice transport planning and appraisal framework in Australia is defined jointly by the National guidelines for transport system management in Australia (NGTSM 2006) and Infrastructure Australia’s Better infrastructure decision-making (IA 2013a). The NGTSM is currently being updated and revised to: Align with Infrastructure Australia’s framework and guidelines Incorporate the complementary Austroads Guide to Project Evaluation and Guide to Road Transport Planning Provide guidance on important recent developments in tools and techniques that have significant implications for future approaches to transport planning and project appraisal. These include: wider economic benefits (WEBs), productivity metrics, real options analysis, use of computable general equilibrium models, and CBA of active travel, climate change adaptation, maintenance and non-infrastructure initiatives. Non-infrastructure initiatives covers regulatory changes, intelligent transport system projects, and travel behaviour change programs, and be published as website. The NGTSM covers all land transport modes. It sets out a comprehensive framework for integrated transport and land use planning and analytical approaches to transport project appraisal (mostly CBA). The NGTSM update will build on the non-CBA aspects of transport appraisal contained in the current guidelines, particularly the upfront integrated transport and land use aspects of the framework. This paper outlines first the broader appraisal process in which CBA sits, and second CBA itself with the recent developments of wider economic benefits and productivity metrics. &nbsp

Evaluation of the Speech and Language Therapy Service of Tallaght West Childhood Development Initiative

A retrospective evaluation of the Childhood Development Initiative (CDI) Speech and Language Therapy Service was undertaken. The design consisted of two strands. The first was quantitative and examined the referral, uptake and outcomes of the service. The second was qualitative and looked at the implementation. The main research questions were organised according to implementation of the programme; uptake and accessibility; and outcomes.  The results of this evaluation suggest that the service succeeded in receiving referrals, assessing and intervening with 192 children in Tallaght West at an age when they were extremely unlikely to have been seen by any other local service and without waiting for a long period of time. Parents echoed these findings by reporting that their children were more ready for school as a result of the intervention. Parents and staff were in agreement that the model was a positive and welcome alternative to traditional clinic-based therapy delivery, in terms of its on-pre-school site location, which meant the SLTs were literally and figuratively accessible to children, parents, practitioners and teachers

A generic approach to behaviour-driven biochemical model construction

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Modelling of biochemical systems has received considerable attention over the last decade from bioengineering, biochemistry, computer science, and mathematics. This thesis investigates the applications of computational techniques to computational systems biology, for the construction of biochemical models in terms of topology and kinetic rates. Due to the complexity of biochemical systems, it is natural to construct models representing the biochemical systems incrementally in a piecewise manner. Syntax and semantics of two patterns are defined for the instantiation of components which are extendable, reusable and fundamental building blocks for models composition. We propose and implement a set of genetic operators and composition rules to tackle issues of piecewise composing models from scratch. Quantitative Petri nets are evolved by the genetic operators, and evolutionary process of modelling are guided by the composition rules. Metaheuristic algorithms are widely applied in BioModel Engineering to support intelligent and heuristic analysis of biochemical systems in terms of structure and kinetic rates. We illustrate parameters of biochemical models based on Biochemical Systems Theory, and then the topology and kinetic rates of the models are manipulated by employing evolution strategy and simulated annealing respectively. A new hybrid modelling framework is proposed and implemented for the models construction. Two heuristic algorithms are performed on two embedded layers in the hybrid framework: an outer layer for topology mutation and an inner layer for rates optimization. Moreover, variants of the hybrid piecewise modelling framework are investigated. Regarding flexibility of these variants, various combinations of evolutionary operators, evaluation criteria and design principles can be taken into account. We examine performance of five sets of the variants on specific aspects of modelling. The comparison of variants is not to explicitly show that one variant clearly outperforms the others, but it provides an indication of considering important features for various aspects of the modelling. Because of the very heavy computational demands, the process of modelling is paralleled by employing a grid environment, GridGain. Application of the GridGain and heuristic algorithms to analyze biological processes can support modelling of biochemical systems in a computational manner, which can also benefit mathematical modelling in computer science and bioengineering. We apply our proposed modelling framework to model biochemical systems in a hybrid piecewise manner. Modelling variants of the framework are comparatively studied on specific aims of modelling. Simulation results show that our modelling framework can compose synthetic models exhibiting similar species behaviour, generate models with alternative topologies and obtain general knowledge about key modelling features

Computer-aided modeling for efficient and innovative product-process engineering

Model baserede computer understøttet produkt process engineering har opnået øget betydning i forskelligste industrielle brancher som for eksampel farmaceutisk produktion, petrokemi, finkemikalier, polymerer, bioteknologi, fødevarer, energi og vand. Denne trend er forventet at fortsætte på grund af substantielle fordele, hvilke computer understøttede metoder medfører. Den primære forudsætning af computer understøttet produkt process engineering erselvfølgelig den tilgængelighed af modeller af forskellige typer, former og anvendelser. Udviklingen af den påkrævet modellen for de undersøgte systemer er normalt en tidskrævende udfordring og derfor mest også dyrt. Den involverer forskelligste trin, fagekspert viden og dygtighed og forskellige modellerings værktøjer. Formålet af dette projekt er at systematisere den model udviklings proces og anvendelse og dermed øge effektiviteten af modeller såvel somkvaliteten. Den væsentlige bidrag af denne PhD afhandling er en generisk metodologi for proces model udviklingen og anvendelse i kombination med grundige algoritmiske arbejdes diagrammer for de forskellige involverede modeller opgaver og udviklingen af computer understøttede modeller rammer hvilke er strukturbaseret på den generiske metodologi, delvis automatiseret i de forskellige arbejdstrin og kombinerer alle påkrævet værktøjer, understøttelseog vejledning for de forskellige arbejdstrin. Understøttede modelleringsopgaver er etableringen af modeller mål, indsamling af de nødvendige informationer, model formulering inklusive numeriske analyser, etablering af løsningsstrategier og forbinding med den passende løsningsmodul, model identificering og sondering såvel som model anvendelse for simulation og optimering. Den computer understøttede modeller ramme blev implementeret i en brugervenlig software. En række forskellige demonstrationseksempler fra forskellige områder i kemisk ogbiokemiske engineering blev løst for udvikling og validering af den generiske modellerings metodologi og den computer understøttet modeller ramme anvendt på den udviklet software værktøj.Model-based computer aided product-process engineering has attained increased importance in a number of industries, including pharmaceuticals, petrochemicals, fine chemicals, polymers, biotechnology, food, energy and water. This trend is set to continue due to the substantial benefits computer-aided methods provide. The key prerequisite of computer-aided productprocess engineering is however the availability of models of different types, forms andapplication modes. The development of the models required for the systems under investigation tends to be a challenging, time-consuming and therefore cost-intensive task involving numerous steps, expert skills and different modelling tools. The objective of this project is to systematize the process of model development and application thereby increasing the efficiency of the modeller as well as model quality.The main contributions of this thesis are a generic methodology for the process of model development and application, combining in-depth algorithmic work-flows for the different modelling tasks involved and the development of a computer-aided modelling framework. This framework is structured, is based on the generic modelling methodology, partially automates the involved work-flows by integrating the required tools and, supports and guides the userthrough the different work-flow steps. Supported modelling tasks are the establishment of the modelling objective, the collection of the required system information, model construction including numerical analysis, derivation of solution strategy and connection to appropriate solvers, model identification/ discrimination as well as model application for simulation and optimization. The computer-aided modelling framework has been implemented into an userfriendlysoftware.A variety of case studies from different areas in chemical and biochemical engineering have been solved to illustrate the application of the generic modelling methodology, the computeraided modelling framework and the developed software tool

Experimental and micromagnetic study of magnetisation behaviour in isolated ferromagnetic nanowires

A full understanding of the magnetism of isolated ferromagnetic nanowires is still an unresolved issue and presents a research challenge for researchers. Understanding the intrinsic magnetic properties of such nanowires is significant from a scientific point of view and will be an issue for potential applications. Therefore, the aim of the work presented here is to investigate the magnetic and magnetisation reversal behaviour of electrodeposited template released isolated ferromagnetic nanowires complemented by detailed micromagnetic simulations. To understand the fabrication techniques, characterisation systems and the materials used to fabricate the nanowires, the elemental composition, surface topography and magnetic properties of a range of electrodeposited thin films were investigated first. In order to emphasis the reasons behind studying the magnetic behaviour of such isolated nanowires, the statistical distribution of template pore size and spacing, nanowire dimension distributions, and the morphology of such nanowires have been measured using high resolution scanning electron microscope analysis. To determine the crystal structure and the crystallite sizes within these nanowires, which might have a great influence on their magnetic properties, both the template deposited and selected areas of individual nanowires have been studied using a combination of X-ray diffraction and high resolution transmission electron microscopy incorporating with electron diffraction, respectively. To align the template released nanowires with respect to the prefabricated micromarkers and electrical contact pads, magnetic field assisted alignment was developed. The effect of field strength, nanowire composition and aspect ratio on the percentage of aligned nanowires have been statistically analysed and the results explained. The surface and bulk magnetisation reversal behaviour of isolated individual, small bundles and clusters of nanowires is technically challenging but have been successfully measured here using magneto-optical Kerr effect magnetometry and magnetoresistance, respectively. The magnetic switching behaviour obtained from these techniques is compared with each other, the literature and analytical models. In addition, detailed micromagnetic simulations have been utilised to determine the magnetic behaviour of two wire geometries: cylindrical and planar Ni81Fe19 nanowires with a range of diameters and thicknesses, respectively. For both geometries, the effect of nanowire diameter and thickness on the magnetic properties such as switching fields, remanent magnetisation and magnetic state before and during the switching behaviour, have been analysed and compared. The switching field of the simulated nanowires are compared with their counterparts results obtained from both MOKE and MR measurements. The magnetisation reversal behaviour of these wires geometries was also investigated and compared with the classical analytical curling model of magnetisation reversal

Transparent Authentication Utilising Gait Recognition

Securing smartphones has increasingly become inevitable due to their massive popularity and significant storage and access to sensitive information. The gatekeeper of securing the device is authenticating the user. Amongst the many solutions proposed, gait recognition has been suggested to provide a reliable yet non-intrusive authentication approach – enabling both security and usability. While several studies exploring mobile-based gait recognition have taken place, studies have been mainly preliminary, with various methodological restrictions that have limited the number of participants, samples, and type of features; in addition, prior studies have depended on limited datasets, actual controlled experimental environments, and many activities. They suffered from the absence of real-world datasets, which lead to verify individuals incorrectly. This thesis has sought to overcome these weaknesses and provide, a comprehensive evaluation, including an analysis of smartphone-based motion sensors (accelerometer and gyroscope), understanding the variability of feature vectors during differing activities across a multi-day collection involving 60 participants. This framed into two experiments involving five types of activities: standard, fast, with a bag, downstairs, and upstairs walking. The first experiment explores the classification performance in order to understand whether a single classifier or multi-algorithmic approach would provide a better level of performance. The second experiment investigated the feature vector (comprising of a possible 304 unique features) to understand how its composition affects performance and for a comparison a more particular set of the minimal features are involved. The controlled dataset achieved performance exceeded the prior work using same and cross day methodologies (e.g., for the regular walk activity, the best results EER of 0.70% and EER of 6.30% for the same and cross day scenarios respectively). Moreover, multi-algorithmic approach achieved significant improvement over the single classifier approach and thus a more practical approach to managing the problem of feature vector variability. An Activity recognition model was applied to the real-life gait dataset containing a more significant number of gait samples employed from 44 users (7-10 days for each user). A human physical motion activity identification modelling was built to classify a given individual's activity signal into a predefined class belongs to. As such, the thesis implemented a novel real-world gait recognition system that recognises the subject utilising smartphone-based real-world dataset. It also investigates whether these authentication technologies can recognise the genuine user and rejecting an imposter. Real dataset experiment results are offered a promising level of security particularly when the majority voting techniques were applied. As well as, the proposed multi-algorithmic approach seems to be more reliable and tends to perform relatively well in practice on real live user data, an improved model employing multi-activity regarding the security and transparency of the system within a smartphone. Overall, results from the experimentation have shown an EER of 7.45% for a single classifier (All activities dataset). The multi-algorithmic approach achieved EERs of 5.31%, 6.43% and 5.87% for normal, fast and normal and fast walk respectively using both accelerometer and gyroscope-based features – showing a significant improvement over the single classifier approach. Ultimately, the evaluation of the smartphone-based, gait authentication system over a long period of time under realistic scenarios has revealed that it could provide a secured and appropriate activities identification and user authentication system