Measured and simulated performance of a ceramic micromechanical beam steering device at 94 GHz

We report the first experimental demonstration of a transmission-mode micromechanical beam steering device for use in standoff terahertz imaging and spectroscopy. The device was constructed by laminating laser-cut 96% alumina sheets to form two plates with interlocking rectangular gratings of 762 μm period and was characterized at 94 GHz in a free-space measurement setup with an automated elevation scan. Plate tilts as great as 6° deflected the transmitted beam by 6° for the transverse electric (TE) polarization and by 4° for the transverse magnetic polarization. Finite-difference time-domain simulations of the TE performance were in good agreement with the measurements

Tasmania’s place in the Asian Century White Paper

Prepared in partnership between the Tasmanian Government and the Australian National University’s Crawford School of Public Policy, this paper provides a start to thinking about Tasmania’s future in Asia, and lays out a comprehensive plan for leveraging the federal implementation strategy. The most important role for government will be to catalyse engagement across the community as a whole. Businesses, schools and universities must be encouraged to respond in constructive and effective ways to realise the Asian century opportunity.Tasmania’s Asian Century White Paper establishes the policy framework that will shape the Government’s efforts to support the state’s engagement with Asia over the next 10 years. The White Paper identifies nine strategic goals: Increase the size and skill base of Tasmania’s workforce. Help shape Tasmania’s demographic trajectory and address Tasmania’s low cultural and economic awareness of Asia. Establish Hobart as a world-class international, liveable, waterfront city with flow-on benefits for Tasmanians through greater Asian investment, tourism opportunities and improved access to Asian markets. Optimise Tasmania’s infrastructure connecting the state to Asian markets and opportunities. Increase the scale of production in areas of strength by improving connections to Asian markets and achieving efficiencies in production, logistics and marketing. Build on established export strengths in minerals, metals, forestry, food, energy, manufacturing, sustainable development and consulting services. Increase exports of food and beverages to Asian markets, with a focus on competitively priced quality foods for Asia’s growing middle class and the marketing of premium products to Asia’s high-income consumers. Support the transformation of Tasmania’s manufacturing to take advantage of international value chains and to leverage off continued innovation in areas of strength. Establish Hobart as a gateway for Asia to access the Antarctic continent and Southern Ocean based on a world-class research hub and direct logistical support.  Tasmania’s Place in the Asian Century White Paper and Evidence Base  Tasmania’s Place in the Asian Century White Paper  (PDF, 2.9 MB) Evidence Base (PDF, 2.5 MB) Asian Century Initiatives  (PDF, 158 KB

JAPAN’S APPROACH TO ASIA PACIFIC ECONOMIC COOPERATION

Since emerging as a leading industrial economy, Japan has played an important role in promoting Asia Pacific economic cooperation. Japan has been instrumental in every major initiative in economic cooperation in the region over the past three decades, including the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum launched in 1989. Japans commitment to free trade, reinforced by its own experience of discriminatory trade policies in the immediate postwar period, has made it a strong advocate of the principle of open regionalism on which APEC is founded. Commitment to this principle has provided the basis for a process of unilateral liberalisation of trade, including agreed time frames, which allows the developing economies of the Asia Pacific region to progress towards free trade in a flexible manner and provides some protection against free riders. The strength of this commitment will assist member economies to counter pressure for preferential trading arrangements and facilitate the extension of free trade to sectors which involve cooperation with economies outside the Asia Pacific region.Japan, APEC, Asia Pacific

Remote Sensing for Site-Specific Crop Management: Evaluating the Potential of Digital Multi-Spectral Imagery for Monitoring Crop Variability and Weeds within Paddocks

This paper analyses the potential and limitations of airborne remote sensing systems for detecting crop growth variability and weed infestation within paddocks at specified capture times. The detection of areas of crop growth variability can help farmers become aware of regions within their paddock where they may be experiencing above and below average yields due to changes in soil or management conditions. For instance, the early detection of weed infestation within cereal crops is crucial for lessening their impact on the final yield. Transect sampling within a canola paddock of a broad acre agricultural property in the South West of Western Australia was conducted synchronous with the capture of 1m spatial resolution DMSI. The four individual bands (blue, green, red and near- infrared) of the DMSI were correlated with LAI and weed density counts collected in the paddock. Statistical analyses show the LAI of canola had strong negative correlations with the blue (-0.93) and red (-0.89) bands and a strong positive correlation was found with the near-infrared band (0.82). The strong correlations between the canola LAI and selected bands of the DMSI indicate that this may be a suitable technique for monitoring canola variability to derive information layers that can be used in creating meaningful "within-field" management units. Likewise, DMSI could be used as a non-invasive tool for in season crop monitoring. The correlation analysis with the weed density (e.g. self sown wheat, ryegrass and clover) attributed to only one negative weak correlation with the red band (-0.38). The less successful detection of weeds is attributed to the minimal weeddensity within the paddock (e.g. mean 34 plants m-2) and indistinct spectral difference from canola at the early time of imagery capture required by farmers for effective variable rate applications of herbicides.LAI, remote sensing, crop density, vegetation indices, weed mapping., Crop Production/Industries,

US and EU Trade Policies and East Asia

This article identifies a number of examples of apparent lack of coherence in United States and European Union trade policies. They include the effect of preferential policies that lock in trade shares and inhibit growth promoting structural adjustment, biases in tariff structures, policies that affect incentives of developing countries to make commitments in the World Trade Organisation, the use of anti-dumping actions and the nature of tariff peaks and escalation. The origins of the lack of policy coherence lie within the domestic policy-making processes of the developed economies. An important question, then, is whether opportunity exists for East Asian economies to mobilise to induce an external shock sufficient to shift policy consensus in the United States and the European Union The key elements of such a grand bargain on trade in manufactured goods would include an explicit East Asian commitment to bind more tariff lines, initiatives to resolve the problem of accelerating anti-dumping actions and a replacement for the program of tariff preferences. A package of trade policy reforms of this type in East Asia would constitute a substantial offer and benefit to the United States and the European Union. It has the potential to trigger a response of equal benefit to East Asian economies.trade policy, US, EU, East Asia

East Asian Steel Projections for the 1990s Revisited

In 1989 a research team from the AustraliaJapan Research Centre (AJRC) undertook a study of the prospects for the East Asian steel industry for the 1990s. The aim was to assess the impact of developments in the region on industry strategies in Australia. This paper reviews those projections to see whether they were right or wrong. It also examines the growth of the East Asian industry over the last decade in the context of developments in the industry worldwide and reviews Australias position in regional iron ore and coal markets during the 1990s. The central focus of the AJRC study was on what opportunities might emerge in Australia for the supply of processed steel product to the East Asian region in the 1990s. The main conclusion was that East Asia would shift from being a long-time and significant net exporter of steel product to the rest of the world to being a significant net importer of steel product, given then established trends in production, consumption and trade. At the time, this was a radical conclusion. It had an important impact on thinking about trends in the regional steel market in Australia, in Japan and elsewhere in East Asia. The main conclusions of the AJRC study turned out to be correct. The industry did not adjust to the pressures in the market exactly as predicted, partly because of the financial crisis in East Asia and Japans domestic stagnation. However, the conclusions about the growth of China and its impact on regional steel trade were particularly prescient. In the last decade, China has become the worlds largest producer and consumer of steel while Japanese consumption and production have contracted. Both South Korea and Taiwan have increased their shares of production and consumption of steel. Australia has entrenched its position as the dominant supplier of iron ore and coking products to East Asia.steel, Projections, East Asia, Japan, Australia, iron ore, regional steel market

Tunable photonic crystal filter for terahertz frequency applications

In this Paper we investigate a tunable metallic photonic crystal filter with a novel mechanical tuning method, suitable for use in terahertz frequency applications. Tuning has been demonstrated in a micrometer-driven prototype at 70 - 110 GHz in accordance with rigorous full-vector electromagnetic simulations (finite-difference time-domain). The measured pass band has a Q of 11 and can be tuned over a 3.5 GHz range. The insertion loss is only 1.1 to 1.7 dB, while the stop band attenuation is >10 dB. The filter has the advantages of inexpensive, robust and compact construction and tunable operation that readily scales to any desired terahertz frequency

In situ characterization of two wireless transmission schemes for ingestible capsules

We report the experimental in situ characterization of 30-40 MHz and 868 MHz wireless transmission schemes for ingestible capsules, in porcine carcasses. This includes a detailed study of the performance of a magnetically coupled near-field very high-frequency (VHF) transmission scheme that requires only one eighth of the volume and one quarter of the power consumption of existing 868-MHz solutions. Our in situ measurements tested the performance of four different capsules specially constructed for this study (two variants of each transmission scheme), in two scenarios. One mimicked the performance of a body-worn receiving coil, while the other allowed the characterization of the direction-dependent signal attenuation due to losses in the surrounding tissue. We found that the magnetically coupled near-field VHF telemetry scheme presents an attractive option for future, miniturized ingestible capsules for medical applications

Calculated and measured transmittance of a tunable metallic photonic crystal filter for terahertz frequencies

A tunable metallic photonic crystal filter with a mechanical tuning mechanism is demonstrated. The performance is predicted with rigorous full-vector electromagnetic simulations (finite-difference time domain). A prototype has been built and characterized in the W band (70–110 GHz) using a vector network analyzer configured for free-space measurement of S parameters. The measured filter's passband has a quality factor of 11, a tuning range of 3.5 GHz, and insertion loss of only 1.1–1.7 dB. Device fabrication is straightforward, yielding an inexpensive, robust and compact tunable filter