Glimpses of Sustainability in Perth, Western Australia: Capturing and Communicating the Adaptive Capacity of Activist Groups

The root causes of unsustainability e.g. social and environmental injustice are often associated with the failure of the state or the market, and community based activism is one of the ways societies have responded to tackle the sustainability conundrum. Millions of sustainability activist groups (SAGs) are actively engaged in various social and environmental initiatives around the world. While the potential of visualisation to foster sustainability causes has been increasingly utilised, photographic narratives on adaptive capacity – the ability to secure various forms of necessary resources in changing circumstances – of SAGs have been under-represented. This paper responds to this gap and captures the glimpses of one of the longest running activisms in Perth, the state capital of Western Australia

Evaluation of flux expulsion and flux trapping sensitivity of srf cavities fabricated from cold work Nb sheet with successive heat treatment

The main source of RF losses leading to lower quality factor of superconducting radio-frequency cavities is due to the residual magnetic flux trapped during cool-down. The loss due to flux trapping is more pronounced for cavities subjected to impurities doping. The flux trapping and its sensitivity to rf losses are related to several intrinsic and extrinsic phenomena. To elucidate the effect of re-crystallization by high temperature heat treatment on the flux trapping sensitivity, we have fabricated two 1.3 GHz single cell cavities from cold-worked Nb sheets and compared with cavities made from standard fine-grain Nb. Flux expulsion ratio and flux trapping sensitivity were measured after successive high temperature heat treatments. The cavity made from cold worked Nb showed better flux expulsion after 800 C/3h heat treatments and similar behavior when heat treated with additional 900 C/3h and 1000 C/3h. In this contribution, we present the summary of flux expulsion, trapping sensitivity, and RF results.Comment: 21st International Conference on Radio-Frequency Superconductivity (SRF 2023

Cyclic Performance of Beam-Column Joints with Extended Column Fixed at Base: Part I - Experimental Investigation

http://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/content/journals “Permission is granted by ICE Publishing to print one copy for personal use. Any other use of these PDF files is subject to reprint fees.”The seismic performance of a non-seismically detailed reinforced concrete (RC) beam–column joint with column pinned and fixed at the base is experimentally investigated in this paper. Six half-scale RC beam–column specimens were tested to study the effect of inflection point on the cyclic behaviour of beam–column sub-assemblages. The specimens were separated into two groups. The shape of specimens in the first group was cruciform; the size of the column in those specimens was varied while the size of beam was kept nearly constant. The dimensions and reinforcing detail of specimens in the second group were identical to those in the first one except that the column was extended to the footing and fixed at the base. The main variable in this study was the relative stiffness between beam and column, which affects the position of the inflection point. The test results demonstrated a significant effect of inflection point position on the load capacity, joint shear stress and failure mode

Spin and charge dynamics in [TbPc2_2]0^0 and [DyPc2_2]0^0 single molecule magnets

Magnetization, AC susceptibility and $\mu$SR measurements have been performed in neutral phthalocyaninato lanthanide ([LnPc$_2]^0$) single molecule magnets in order to determine the low-energy levels structure and to compare the low-frequency spin excitations probed by means of macroscopic techniques, such as AC susceptibility, with the ones explored by means of techniques of microscopic character, such as $\mu$SR. Both techniques show a high temperature thermally activated regime for the spin dynamics and a low temperature tunneling one. While in the activated regime the correlation times for the spin fluctuations estimated by AC susceptibility and $\mu$SR basically agree, clear discrepancies are found in the tunneling regime. In particular, $\mu$SR probes a faster dynamics with respect to AC susceptibility. It is argued that the tunneling dynamics probed by $\mu$SR involves fluctuations which do not yield a net change in the macroscopic magnetization probed by AC susceptibiliy. Finally resistivity measurements in [TbPc$_2]^0$ crystals show a high temperature nearly metallic behaviour and a low temperature activated behaviour.Comment: 8 pages, 12 figure

Beach Erosion and Nourishment in Gold Coast: Perceptions, Policies and Prospects

The combination of ongoing urban development and forecasted impacts of the changing climate are projected to place many coastal areas at risk. One of the associated risks is beach erosion, and consequently, nourishment initiatives have become a costly sustainable development issue for local and state governments. For instance, the popular Palm Beach, a nearly four kilometres stretch of sandy beach on the southern Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia has been identified as being more susceptible to serious erosion than other beaches in the city. Consequently, the local council has spent millions of dollars on beach nourishment and is seeking ways to fund the initiative. In this context of coastal management, an exploratory pilot research project was undertaken to examine the question of - “how do local residents and tourists perceive the problem of beach erosion and to what extent are they willing to support beach nourishment initiatives”? Results of quantitative analyses of 68 face to face survey responses of beach goers (local residents and tourists) are outlined in terms of Willingness to Donate (WTD) framework. Findings indicate: a) more than three-quarters of respondents perceived beach nourishment as an important issue, b) local residents were more willing to volunteer towards beach nourishment, and c) tourists were more willing to donate money to work towards resolving the problem. The financial and policy implications of these findings in the context of beach nourishment are discussed

Participatory Ranking of Fodders in the Western Hills of Nepal

Fodder is an important source of feed of the ruminants in Nepal. In the mid hills of Nepal, farmers generally practice integrated farming system that combines crop cultivation with livestock husbandry and agroforestry. Tree fodders are good sources of protein during the forage and green grass scarcity periods especially in dry season. Local communities possess indigenous knowledge for the selection of grasses and tree fodders at different seasons in mid hills of western Nepal. A study was conducted on the perception of farmers with respect to selection of fodder species in eight clusters in Kaski and Lumjung districts that range 900-2000 meter above sea level and receive average precipitation of 2000- 4500mm per annum. During the fodder preference ranking, farmers prepared the inventory of fodders found around the villages and nearby forests and selected top ten most important fodders in terms of their availability, palatability, fodder yield, milk yield and milk fat yield. In total, 23 top ranking fodders species were selected from the eight clusters. These fodder species were also ranked using pairwise ranking and weighted scoring methods and ranking was done on the basis of merit numbers obtained from weighted scores. The analysis revealed Artocarpus lakoocha as best tree fodder followed by Ficus semicordata, Thysanolena maxima and Ficus calvata. Similarly, the calendar of fodders trees for lopping season and the best feeding time was prepared on the basis of farmers\u27 local knowledge. This study suggests strategies for promotion of locally preferred tree fodder species and supplementing tree fodder with feed in different seasons depending on their availability and local preferences

Nepal and Bhutan: development strategies and growth

This paper has sought to examine the factors that have contributed to the economic growth of Nepal and Bhutan. After a brief discussion of the economy and growth strategy of each country, standard growth models for Nepal and Bhutan are developed and estimated. The results indicate that domestic capital has been a significant source of economic growth in Nepal whereas foreign aid has not had any appreciable effect on growth. The reverse is true for Bhutan