Attributes of successful place-making in knowledge and innovation spaces: evidence from Brisbane’s Diamantina knowledge precinct

Place-making in knowledge and innovation spaces is a challenging task for planners and designers due to the lack of competent conceptual frameworks and design guidelines. To address this issue, this study adopts a qualitative methodological approach to carry out an empirical investigation in a case study from Brisbane, Australia, i.e., Diamantina Knowledge Precinct. This investigation is guided by a conceptual framework derived from the interdisciplinary literature review. Interviews, supported with various data sources, are conducted among a range of key stakeholders. The findings reveal the key design attributes and considerations for successful place-making in knowledge and innovation spaces.     

Transfer learning and information retrieval applied to fall detection

Detecting falls in the elderly population is a very important issue that is related with the time of recovery. This study focuses on using wearable smart watches to monitor the movements of the user in order to detect patterns that might be related to fall events. The proposed solution explores Symbolic Aggregate approXimation (SAX) Time Series representation, together with two information retrieval techniques enriched with transfer learning (TL). The solution is user centred; that is, a model is developed for each specific user. Basically, the fall detection approach makes use of a finite-state machine to detect peaks; the time series window embedding these peaks are represented using SAX. Assuming the data from the public fall detection data sets are valid, a dictionary is prepared using the most relevant words. This dictionary is then introduced as previous knowledge to an online learning classifier that is trained with normal activities of daily living. The two classifiers are evaluated and compared with two classical approaches. Before this comparison, two clustering approaches are studied to produce the bag of relevant words. A complete experimentation is included, which makes use of several publicly available data sets and also with a data set developed by the research group. Comparisons are performed for all the data sets, showing how the TL stage empowers the classifier. The results show that this solution produces high detection rates and at the same time performed similarly for all the individuals tested. Furthermore, the positive effects of TL in this context are clearly remarked.     

Fabrication and characterization of nanostructured Ni–IrO2 electrodes for water electrolysis

Nanostructured Ni–IrO₂ electrodes were fabricated by electrodeposition in a two-step procedure: first arrays of nickel nanowires (NWs) were electrodeposited within pores of polycarbonate (PC) membranes, then iridium oxide nanoparticles were deposited on the Ni metal after membrane dissolution, for improving the catalytic activity. The aim was to compare performance of these electrodes with traditional ones consisting of Ni film. Different methods of deposition of the IrO₂ electrocatalyst were investigated and the effect on electrodes stability and activity is discussed. Despite a low coverage of Ni NWs by the electrocatalyst, results indicate a faster kinetics of O₂ evolution in 1 M KOH solution and an improvement of performances for electrolysers having a nanostructured anode.     

Measurement and Analysis of Drapeability Effects of Warp-Knit NCF with a Standardised,Automated Testing Device

Characterising the drapeability of reinforcement fabrics, is one of the most sought after abilities of those designing composite processes and components. This is not surprising as composite processes are being considered in a greater range of fields and applications. Drapeability effects are formed by the irregular rearrangement of fibres. This displacement can occur within the textile plane and result in fibre disorientations, undulations and gaps or the fibres can be pushed into the third dimension - forming wrinkles or loops. To measure such effects in non-crimp fabrics, the Textechno Drapetest automatic drapeability tester was developed. To show its viability as a tool for composite engineering, a set of fabrics was chosen to show that the influence of textile design parameters on drapeability effects is now quantifiable. The Textechno Drapetest uses a sophisticated digital image analysis system to measure the position and direction of fibres and conclude from this information on the extent and intensity of drapeability effects in the textile surface. To measure effects outside the surface, i.e. wrinkles, a laser triangulation sensor is employed. The textiles were varied in the production parameters of stitch point distance in machine direction (MD) and cross direction (CD), the weight per area, and the stitch pattern (tricot and chain). The measurements showed that the new test method is capable of measuring the effects that were expected from classical test setups as well as a range of additional effects. From the results a significant influence of the stitch yarn on the formation of effects can be deduced. Especially the density of stitch points is a parameter that lets the textile producer control the behaviour of the textile when they are formed into a doubly curved three dimensional shape. To control the gap formation, however, the spacing of the stitch points in machine or in crosswise direction is also of importance with a shorter stitch length decreasing the forming of gaps more than a tighter stitch yarn pitch.     

Diferulates as structural components in soluble and insoluble cereal dietary fibre

Cell wall cross‐linking can have a substantial effect on the properties of the wall. To estimate cross‐linking (between arabinoxylans) in cereal fibres, dehydrodiferulate levels were measured in soluble and insoluble dietary fibre (SDF and IDF) isolated from whole grains of maize (Zea mays L), wheat (Triticum aestivum L), spelt (Triticum spelta L), rice (Oryza sativa L), wild rice (Zizania aquatica L), barley (Hordeum vulgare L), rye (Secale cereale L), oat (Avena sativa L) and millet (Panicum miliaceum L). After saponification of the cereal fibres the extracts were investigated for dehydrodimers of ferulic acid using GLC–MS and GLC–FID. From most cereal IDF the whole spectrum of dehydrodiferulic acids (DFAs) (8‐5′‐, 8‐8′‐, 5‐5′‐, 8‐O‐4′‐ and 4‐O‐5′‐coupled) could be identified. The absolute contents of total DFAs ranged between 2.4 and 12.6 mg g^?1. With the exception of 4‐O‐5′‐coupled DFA, the whole range of DFAs was also detected from cereal SDF but only in amounts of 40–230 µg g^?1. It was estimated that arabinoxylans of cereal IDF contain 8–39 times more diferulates than arabinoxylans of cereal SDF (where measurement of DFA levels in SDF was possible). In cereal IDF, 8‐5′‐coupled dimers dominated, whereas in cereal SDF, 8‐8′‐coupled dimers were relatively enhanced and often became the major dimers. © 2001 Society of Chemical Industry     

Microfluidic chip for spatially and temporally controlled biochemical gradient generation in standard cell-culture Petri dishes

This paper reports the development, modeling, and testing of an original microfluidic chip capable of generating both time-evolving and spatially varying gradients in standard Petri dishes. It consists of three sets of five independently controlled parallel channels, and its architecture allows the generation of complex gradient profiles that can be flexibly positioned and dynamically altered in an open cell-chamber environment. A detailed fabrication protocol for the production of these chips using multilayer soft lithography is reported. A comprehensive computational model is also presented based on COMSOL Multiphysics software that includes both diffusion and advection of the fluid as it exits the microchannels. The results of the simulation are successfully applied to model single-channel experiments. The chip is then tested in multi-channel mode, and its ability to produce complex spatially varied concentration profiles is demonstrated. The achievement of steady state of the gradient profile in less than 5 min also allows for the dynamic variation of the profile. Finally, we apply the present chip architecture to investigate the migration of mouse neutrophils in an Interleukin-8 gradient. We report quantitatively on cell migration driven by Interleukin-8 gradient and provide migration speed distribution.     

Characterization of Mediterranean mussels (Mytilus galloprovincialis) harvested in Adriatic Sea (Italy)

The aim of this work was to analyse some quality parameters of Mytilus galloprovicialis harvested monthly in the period ranging from April 2002 and February 2003 in a longline off-shore mussel farm, located in the Adriatic Sea, near Cattolica (Emilia Romagna Region, Italy). After harvesting, the samples were analysed in order to determine the counts of fecal coliforms (FC) and Escherichia coli, the presence of Salmonella, as prescribed by Italian and European Community regulations, and other pathogens (Vibrio parahaemolyticus, Listeria monocytogenes), as well as the meat yield and its proximate composition, its Fe, Cr, Cd, Zn, Pb and Cu content, the total lipids of the meat and their specific composition. The results obtained evidenced that many of the parameters studied, i.e. the meat proximate composition, the lipid fatty acid composition and the microbiological indices, were subjected to seasonal fluctuations. In particular, the microbiological data showed that 4 mussel samples (June, December, January and February) out of 12 did not match the limit imposed by Italian law and Emilia Romagna protocol concerning the FC and E. coli counts. While L. monocytogenes and Salmonella spp. were never detected in all the samples analysed, three samples (April, January and February) were positive for the presence of V. parahaemolyticus. No seasonal fluctuations were evidenced for Fe, Cr, Cd, Zn, Pb and Cu contents, always under the limits imposed by Italian law.     

Oxidation of Mechanically Alloyed Al-rich Al–Ti Powders

The oxidation behavior of Al-rich, metastable mechanically alloyed powders in the Al–Ti binary system has been examined in the context of their potential application in high-energy-density materials. Scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis in an oxygen atmosphere up to 1500°C have been performed on powders, synthesized with compositions ranging from Al_0.95Ti_0.05 to Al_0.75Ti_0.25. Oxidation proceeds in three distinguishable steps, similar to the oxidation steps observed for pure aluminum. The steps become less pronounced with increasing Ti concentration. For both the first and second oxidation steps, the apparent activation energies are close to 400 kJ/mol. Partially oxidized material was recovered from intermediate temperatures for quantitative phase analysis by X-ray diffraction, Al₂O₃ and TiO₂ are the main oxidation products. Similarly to pure aluminum, metastable γ-alumina is present at temperatures below ∼ 1000°C, suggesting that the stepwise oxidation is related to phase transitions of the alumina in the oxide scale. At temperatures above 1300°C, oxidation follows melt formation in the binary Al–Ti system, as the aluminum component oxidizes selectively, leaving a titanium-rich metallic residue. No correlation was observed between the oxidation and melting of aluminum.     

Robustness and static-positional accuracy of the SteamVR 1.0 virtual reality tracking system

Virtual Reality - The use of low-cost immersive virtual reality systems is rapidly expanding. Several studies started to analyse the accuracy of virtual reality tracking systems, but they did not...