Step-changed long-period fiber gratings

Author name used in this publication: Chung-Loong ChoyAuthor name used in this publication: A-Ping ZhangAuthor name used in this publication: Muhtesem Süleyman DemokanAuthor name used in this publication: Xiao-Ming Tao2001-2002 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalVersion of RecordPublishe

Teaching 3-D geometry - the multi representational way

Sonja Kalbitzer and Esther Loong provide an excellent range of activities that promote geometric thinking through the exploration of three-dimensional objects. They also provide some discussion on assessing the tasks and providing student feedback

Health and community services for trafficked women: An exploratory study of policy and practice

The trafficking of women has attracted considerable international and national policy attention, particularly since the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (2000), of which the Australian Government has been a signatory since 2005. The provision of health and community services for trafficked women is a central feature of this Protocol, but in Australia service provision is made difficult by how trafficked women are understood and treated in policy and legal terms. This study aimed to explore the provision of health and community services for trafficked women in the Greater Sydney region through a series of interviews with government and non-government organisations. The findings reveal that services have been inaccessible as a result of sparse, uncoordinated, and poorly funded provision. The major obstacle to adequate and appropriate service provision has been a national policy approach focusing on 'border protection' and criminalisation rather than on trafficked women and their human rights. We conclude that further policy development needs to focus on the practical implications of how such rights can be translated into the delivery of health and community services that trafficked women can access and be supported by more effectively

Optimal waste stream discharge temperature selection for dryer operations using thermo-economic assessment

A typical drying process that has liquid and gas discharge streams has been analysed and the impact of selecting various combinations of soft temperatures on heat recovery, utility targets, area targets, capital cost and total cost is reported. The method is based on the plus-minus principle and traditional pinch analysis methods for utility, area and capital cost targeting with the modification of using a ΔT contribution. Results show that there is significant benefit from optimising discharge temperatures for total cost. To achieve minimum energy consumption and total cost, heat recovery from the dryer exhaust air is necessary. Heat recovery from liquid heat sources is shown to be preferable over gas streams due to a higher film coefficient resulting in less heat exchanger area and capital cost. There is also value in making process modifications, such as combining streams or removing small streams to be solely heated by utility, to reduce the number of network heat exchangers. For the best case, the discharge temperatures of the leaving streams are 18.0 °C for water condensate (liquid stream) and 52.4 °C for the exhaust air (gas stream)

Malay language as a foreign language and the Singapore’s education system

The paper highlights the impact of the Singapore’s bilingual education policy on the Malay language and how the language has been regarded a foreign language in the Singapore context given the interest of policy makers in the implementation of a new third language policy. The growth can be hampered, however, to some concerns arising from the bilingual policy namely inadequate manpower, teaching materials, lack of resources and opportunities for using the language

Effects of Bifidobacterium Pseudocatenulatum G4 on Clostridium Scindens and Clostridium Hiranonis

The purpose of this study was to investigate the deoxycholic acid (DCA) reduction by Bifidobacterium pseudocatenulatum G4 at in vitro conditions with the emphasis of its bile salt deconjugation ability and antagonistic activity against 7α-dehydroxylating bacteria. B. pseudocatenulatum G4 showed antagonistic activity against Clostridium scindens and C. hiranonis at colonic pH (5.7, 6.2 and 6.8), with highest activity (4mm inhibition zone) at pH 5.7 against C. hiranonis. Growth rates of B. pseudocatenulatum G4 (time required for the initial absorbance at zero time to increase by 0.3 units), decreased in the presence of 2.0% oxgall compared to absence of oxgall. Effect of B. pseudocatenulatum G4 on pH reduction was measured; B. pseudocatenulatum G4 reduced pH from 6.8 to 3.9 in TPY broth supplemented with 0.1% and pH 3.74 in TPY broth without oxgall (control), compared to pH 5.28 in TPY broth supplemented with 2.0% oxgall. This results showed oxgall exert inhibitory effect on pH reduction by B. pseudocatenulatum G4. Bile salt hydrolase (BSH) activity, which is the measurement of enzyme activity responsible for bile salt deconjugation, was quantified by high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) assay. B. pseudocatenulatum G4 gave deconjugation rate (disappearance of conjugated bile acid) in TPY broth supplemented with 0.25 mM (the highest concentration in colon) and 5.0 mM (the highest concentration in small intestine) of all 6 different conjugated bile acids (TCA, GCA, TCDCA, GCDCA, TDCA, and GDCA). Generally B. pseudocatenulatum G4 deconjugated glycoconjugated bile acids in higher amount compare to tauroconjugates. The percentage of deconjugation activity was higher in TPY medium supplemented with 0.25mM bile acids compared to TPY broth with 5.0mM bile acids. On other hand, pH 6.2 was observed as the optimum pH for BSH activity. Full factorial statistical design was used to evaluate the effects of three factors (pH, B. pseudocatenulatum G4 concentrations and Clostridiums) with different levels and interactions between them, on DCA production. Statistical analysis for results of the in vitro experiment showed that total DCA concentration produced by C. scindens and C. hiranonis in the presence of B. pseudocatenulatum G4 and low pH, were lower than the control group with highest pH and in the absence of B. pseudocatenulatum G4

Half-Monopole in the Weinberg-Salam Model

We present new axially symmetric half-monopole configuration of the SU(2)$\times$U(1) Weinberg-Salam model of electromagnetic and weak interactions. The half-monopole configuration possesses net magnetic charge $2\pi/e$ which is half the magnetic charge of a Cho-Maison monopole. The electromagnetic gauge potential is singular along the negative $z$-axis. However the total energy is finite and increases only logarithmically with increasing Higgs field self-coupling constant $\lambda^{1/2}$ at $\sin^2\theta_W=0.2312$. In the U(1) magnetic field, the half-monopole is just a one dimensional finite length line magnetic charge extending from the origin $r=0$ and lying along the negative $z$-axis. In the SU(2) 't Hooft magnetic field, it is a point magnetic charge located at $r=0$. The half-monopole possesses magnetic dipole moment that decreases exponentially fast with increasing Higgs field self-coupling constant $\lambda^{1/2}$ at $\sin^2\theta_W=0.2312$.Comment: 14 pages, 3 Figure