Warrnambool exchange fire: consumer and social impact analysis

How can governments, communities, businesses and individuals prepare for a total communications blackout in the 21st century? Overview This report presents the findings of a research project which assessed the social impact of the Warrnambool exchange fire. The fire occurred on November 22, 2012 and caused a telecommunications outage that lasted for about 20 days. The outage affected about 100,000 people in South West Victoria, a region of Australia covering approximately 67,340 square kilometers. The social impact of the fire was researched by conducting focus groups, by gathering quantitative and qualitative data, and interviewing people affected. The research project findings call for an understanding of the need for government, communities, business and individuals to be prepared for future “extreme events” which result in telecommunications network failures.   This research was supported by a grant from the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network

Low power biosensor and decimator design

2013 Summer.Includes bibliographical references.This paper examines the use of low power circuits applied to biosensors used to observe neurotransmission. The term "biosensors" in the broadest sense describes many devices which are used to measure a biological state e.g. neural signal acquisition. The methods for developing biosensors are just as diverse, but one common thread is that many biomedical devices are battery operated and require low power for mobility. As biosensors become more complex they also require more functions such as data storage, digital signal processing, RF transmission etc. The more functions a sensor needs, the tighter the constraint for power consumption on a battery operated device becomes. In order to solve this problem, biosensors are increasingly being designed for low power consumption while weighing tradeoffs for performance and noise. Designers accomplish this by lowering the supply voltage, which reduces the overall size, and thus the load, of the devices. The amount of individual components will also be reduced, allowing for a smaller, faster device. Biosensors are important because they grant the ability for scientists to better understand complex biological systems. While many other methods exist for observing biological systems, electrochemistry is a practical method for measuring redox reaction because it senses chemical reactions on the surface of an electrode. The reaction will create a current, which can be interpreted via electronics. With the use of electrochemistry, scientist can cheaply and practically observe changes occurring between cells. On the engineering side, modern silicon processes provide small, tightly packed microelectrodes for high spatial resolution. This allows scientists to detect minute changes over a small spatial range. With an array of electrodes on the scale of 1000s, electrochemistry can be used to record data from a sizable cellular sample. Such an array could be used to identify several biological functions such as communication between cells. By combining known electrochemistry methods with low power circuit designs, we can create a biosensor that can further advance the understanding of the operation of cells, such as neurotransmission. The goal of our project is to create a device that uses electrochemistry to detect a redox reaction between a chemical, such as nitric oxide, and an electrode. The device needs to be battery operated for mobility and it must contain all needed electronics on chip, including amplification, digital signal processing, data transmission etc. This requires a surface of electrodes on chip that can handle the environment needed for a living tissue such as: specific temperature, pH and humidity. In addition, it requires a chip that is low power and which produces little heat. This thesis describes two separate designs, both of which are part of a final biosensor design that will be used for the detection of nitric oxide. The first design is a biosensor microelectrode array. The array will be used along with electrochemistry to detect the release of nitric oxide from a living tissue sample. The electrodes are connected to a chain of electronics for on chip signal processing. The design runs at a voltage of 3V in a 0.6µm CMOS process. The final layout for the microelectrodes measured approximately 4.84mm2 with a total of 8,192 electrodes and consumed 0.310mW/channel. The second design is a low power decimator for a sigma-delta analog to digital converter designed for biomedical applications. The ADC will be used along with a chain of amplifying electronics to interpret the signals received from the microelectrode array. The design runs at a voltage of 0.9V in a 0.18µm CMOS process. Its final layout measured approximately 0.0158mm2 and consumed 3.3uW of power. The ADC and microelectrode array were designed and fabricated separately to ensure their validity as standalone designs

BUT DO YOU ACTUALLY CARE?

This article explores the notion of empathy through the contemporary lens of social media performativity relating to ‘dark tourism’. Examining Auschwitz as a case study, the article explores the post-Holocaust idea that often this empathy is precarious and accompanied by performed authenticity. Through analysis, this article focuses on concepts of ‘dark tourism’, vicarious victimhood, conspicuous compassion, and self-representation, all portrayed through Instagram. It argues that ‘pilgrimages’ to dark sites of trauma act not only as memorialisation but as spaces of self-validation and representation. In the contemporary Western world, the distinction between ‘authentic’ empathy and conspicuous, socially informed performance is blurred as a result of digitisation and increased pressure on the individual to form empathic connections and then post about it online

Exploring Networks of Interaction at the Iron Age Site of Mtanye, South Western Zimbabwe

Networks of interaction as well as community formation have been widely researched within Southern Zambezian archaeology of the early second millennium A.D. Despite this, research into these communities is often asymmetrical with objects delegated a passive role in the formation of not only networks of interaction but also socio-material development. Further, research tends to focus on society as the source of action in these processes. Using the site of Mtanye, the aim of this study is to create a relational ontology in which agency is distributed among heterogenous entities. Moreover, this study attempts to demonstrate how networks of interaction might have shaped this community. Mtanye is a Leopard’s Kopje phase 2 site with stratified Transitional K2 (1200-1250 A.D.) and Mapungubwe (1250-1300) deposit. This site has further been placed into the wider conventional narrative as being evidence for the expansion of the Mapungubwe state. In order to recreate the networks of interaction that were present at Mtanye, Actor-Network Theory informed in part by the ethno-historical record was enlisted. The results of this study show that Mtanye has hill occupation, stone walling and access to prestige goods, characteristics conventionally not ascribed to periphery sites. Further, the results of this study suggest that it is more prudent to view the socio-material development of Mtanye, not in terms of the political or economic expansion of a hegemonic power but rather as a product of heterogeneous networks of interaction. This study may further provide a framework for understanding socio-material development and networks of interaction during the early second millennium A.D. in Southern Zambezia

An experimental investigation of the effects of baffles on the agitation and removal of manure solids from a liquid manure holding tank

Adequate information on which to base efficient designs of internal baffles in liquid manure holding tanks is not available. Laboratory models constructed to one-fifth scale of a prototype liquid manure system were investigated. The agitation nozzle, baffles, and pumping rates were also modeled. Peat moss was used to simulate scaled cow manure. The laboratory test consisted of the following tank arrangements; (1) no baffles, (2) center baffles, (3) side baffles, and (4) side and center baffles. The following conclusions were drawn: (1) the use of the three baffle arrangements decreased the amount of solids left in the tank, and (2) the geometric placement of the agitator nozzle in this study and the use of baffles had a favorable effect on slurry agitation. The least effective was the tank with no baffles, and the most effective treatment was with the side and center baffles. The results of the test conducted in the model tank were evaluated on the basis of volume of settled solids left in the tank above a slurry base level of 1.5 inches. Based on the volume of solids buildup above the base level, these tests showed that a significant difference in the removal of settled solids existed between each of the four treatments

Realising the strategic value of RFID in academic libraries: A case study of the University of Technology Sydney

© 2015 Australian Library & Information Association. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology is being increasingly implemented in academic libraries due to a promise of increased collections management efficiency. This paper reports on the recent implementation of RFID technology in the library at the University of Technology Sydney, providing insights into the change management process of RFID implementation. The paper focuses on the implications of the implementation and indigenisation of RFID technology for three specific and symbiotic areas of the library: people, processes and technology. Data from interviews with eight participants involved at various levels of the academic library were collected. This paper develops a best practice model through the insights gained by the people involved in the RFID implementation. The case study posits the dynamic relationships between people, processes and technology as greatly impacted by the implementation process, and analyses the divergence between projected and actual outcomes in the implementation process