Constitutional Law - Criminal Procedure - Fourth Amendment - Knock and Announce Rule

The Supreme Court of the United States held that the common law , knock and announce rule was an indispensable component of the Fourth Amendment\u27s reasonableness requirement, and therefore, should not be subject to a per se blanket exception. Richards v. Wisconsin, 117 S. Ct. 1416 (1997)

Understanding and valuing the economic, social and environmental components of System Harmonisation

The aim of the Products and Markets component of the System Harmonisation project is to value the economic and environmental outcomes from an irrigation scheme that is operated by and in the interests of society. In this conceptual note the thinking underlying this component of the project are outlined. The aim of this note is to provide elements for debated. The nature and requirements of System Harmonisation demands that a 'systems approach' be taken throughout the project. What becomes important within this approach is how the different elements within a system are isolated and yet linked with one another. In many instances the extent and nature of irrigation systems are defined by the relevant Regional Irrigation Business Partnership (RIBP) under investigation. It is recognised that society has multiple uses for the water (agriculture, industry, households, recreation and the environment) as well as non-use (intrinsic) values for which it derives benefits from and incurs costs in distributing the water in any select manner. Further, it is assumed that the irrigation schemes are run for the benefit of society as a whole. Thus, there is a necessity to evaluate both the private and public costs and benefits associated with irrigation schemes. In order to identify what society values from an irrigation scheme, it is argued that a social matrix approach is needed. This analysis allows for a clustering of the issues people feel is important to them regarding the use of an irrigation scheme. Such an analysis will allow identification of the perceived most and least beneficial activities connected to water allocation, economic modelling of the most productive activities, evaluation of externalities and Cost Benefit Analysis. The net economic benefits that arise from irrigation need to be evaluated. The sectors where benefits are derived can be segregated into agriculture, households, the environment, recreation and industrial uses. The largest of these, by pure scale of the use of water, is agriculture. A gross margins approach is used to evaluate the returns for water in the agricultural sector. In the industrial and household sectors, a simple evaluation approach is used where the quantity of water demanded is multiplied by the price paid in each sector. Non-market valuation techniques are used to evaluate the recreational and environmental uses of water. The difficulty that arises in this analysis is how to evaluate the performance of irrigation schemes, where the outcomes are multifaceted. A 'meta' model approach is suggested in which the different elements from the project are brought together and assessed using a technique derived from the theory surrounding production possibility frontiers. This technique can be used to hypothesise a value for the ecosystem services derived from an irrigation scheme. The performance of an irrigation scheme is evaluated in terms of the suggestions raised to change it. Cost Effective Analysis is to be utilised to evaluate this performance. Then two issues need to be addressed. First, it is necessary to converse with those from other components, particularly those involved in the hydrological programs, to determine the nature of the schemes to be investigated. Second, it is necessary to implement the approach in each of the RIBPs. This work needs to commence with the evaluation of the social values in each region

Pothole Reporting System

The purpose of this project is to create a pothole detection device that can be attached to the underside of a commercial vehicle. Potholes cost motorists around 6.4 billion dollars annually, thus demonstrating the need for a system to aid with the detection and reporting of potholes. The four systems we needed to consider for the implementation of this project were the power system, the sensing system, the data processing system, and the reporting and logging system. Power pulled from the vehicle will enable the sensors and data processing module. The data processing module will analyze the readings from the sensors and output pothole data to the logging and reporting system. The logging and reporting system, located on an android mobile device, will store the pothole locations on a cloud server

Pothole Reporting System

The purpose of this project is to create a pothole detection device that can be attached to the underside of a commercial vehicle. Potholes cost motorists around 6.4 billion dollars annually, thus demonstrating the need for a system to aid with the detection and reporting of potholes. The four systems we needed to consider for the implementation of this project were the power system, the sensing system, the data processing system, and the reporting and logging system. Power pulled from the vehicle will enable the sensors and data processing module. The data processing module will analyze the readings from the sensors and output pothole data to the logging and reporting system. The logging and reporting system, located on an android mobile device, will store the pothole locations on a cloud server

The Effects of Management and Vegetation on Soil Carbon Stocks in Temperate Australian Grazing Systems

The natural spatial variability in soil organic carbon (SOC) found under perennial pasture systems can make it difficult to determine differences between contrasting agricultural management practices. Pasture composition in large, extensively grazed paddocks can give an indication of pasture growth, utilisation and fertility that influence SOC and are a result of management over the longer-term. This paper examines SOC stocks on the central and southern tablelands of NSW, Australia (average rainfall from 615 to 915 mm and average annual temperature from 10.6 to 15.6°C) at three scales (regional, between similar sites and within site) to determine the influence of management, pasture composition, herbage mass and root mass. After allowing for variability due to climate, landscape and soil properties there were no differences in management comparisons, e.g. high v low fertiliser input, introduced v native pastures and rotational grazing v set stocking. The total herbage mass measured at the time of sampling had a significant relationship with SOC between and within sites and the presence of some species was associated with lower SOC. Root mass measured at an intensively monitored site showed a significant relationship with SOC. These results reflect the complexity of grazing/pasture systems, with natural variability explaining most of the variability in SOC stock; and pasture productivity leading to higher root production explaining differences in SOC levels rather than grazing management

Vibration Fault Detection for Steam Generator Tubing

The detection of flaws within steam generator tubing is an important part of safety in a nuclear plant as it could potentially lead to release of radioactive material if unchecked. The current test method for testing these tubes is expensive and time consuming; however, as sound has been used to detect flaws successfully in other applications, an alternative method for using acoustics and accelerometers to detect flaws is what has been explored in this project. Preliminary results of testing with a simple hollow steel tube have given promising results of detecting a hole as small as 7.66% of the tube diameter. Testing of a model steam generator with four tubes led showed promising results using a motor to vibrate the system

The Empirical Analysis of Council Size, Council Performance and Council Amalgamation in Australian Local Government

Financial viability remains a matter of acute concern for Australian local government. Efforts to improve local government sustainability in Australian local government have focussed principally on structural change - primarily through forced amalgamation – which is directed at generating savings by exploiting economies of scale. However, empirical evidence on the existence of substantial scale economies across the range of municipal functions is mixed and inconclusive. In general, in debates over structural reform in Australian local government, claims by proponents of amalgamation that significant economies of scale will inevitably emerge as a consequence of larger merged councils are typically not accompanied by econometric modelling or indeed any other empirical evidence. This thesis argues that much of the existing empirical literature relating to the optimal size of local government is plagued by methodological flaws. Accordingly, it cannot be used to justify compulsory consolidation programs based on increasing the population size of local government entities. This conclusion is reached after examining the implications of these flaws on the question of optimal size in Australian local government. Recent innovations in the empirical analysis of municipal size and performance are considered. Using these developments, it is argued that future structural reform programs must be assessed by employing a range of techniques that take account of regulatory priorities, citizen preferences and projected outcomes