Planning Appeals: Are Third Party Rights Legitimate? The Case Study of Victoria, Australia

One of the contemporary debates in urban policy is the question of public participation in planning processes. In some jurisdictions, demands for greater public participation have impacted planning processes through a widening of appeal rights to allow third party appeals. However, in many jurisdictions both in Australia and overseas third party appeals are still not recognised or permitted only in very limited circumstances. This article explores the debate surrounding third party appeals and, in the context of a case study of Victoria, examines the arguments for and against a widening of planning appeal rights.     

A Domain-Specific Language for Generating Dataflow Analyzers

Dataflow analysis is a well-understood and very powerful technique for analyzing programs as part of the compilation process. Virtually all compilers use some sort of dataflow analysis as part of their optimization phase. However, despite being well-understood theoretically, such analyses are often difficult to code, making it difficult to quickly experiment with variants.To address this, we developed a domain-specific language, Analyzer Generator (AG), that synthesizes dataflow analysis phases for Microsoft's Phoenix compiler framework. AG hides the fussy details needed to make analyses modular, yet generates code that is as efficient as the hand-coded equivalent. One key construct we introduce allows IR object classes to be extended without recompiling.Experimental results on three analyses show that AG code can be one-tenth the size of the equivalent handwritten C++ code with no loss of performance. It is our hope that AG will make developing new dataflow analyses much easier.     

A proposal toward the development of accessible e-learning content by human involvement

Most of the existing efforts for supporting the design, preparation, and deployment of accessible e-learning applications propose guidelines that primarily address technical accessibility issues. Little, if any, consideration is given to the real actors involved in the learning experience, such as didactical experts and disabled learners. Moreover, implementing artifacts addressed to the e-learning world requires a wide range of particular skills which are related not only to technical but also to didactical, pedagogical, usability, and accessibility aspects of the produced material. This paper argues that the know-how of a number of stakeholders should be blended into a joint design activity, and that it should be possible to determine the role of each participant in the successive phases of the development lifecycle of e-learning applications. The paper sketches the methodological guidelines of a design framework based on involving the users with disabilities, as well as pedagogical experts, in the development process. The novelty of this proposal mainly stems from being built up around the core of strategies and choices specifically bound to accessibility requirements. Characteristic elements of learner-centered design are then further integrated into processes and methodologies which are typical of participatory and contextual design approaches. Following such guidelines, it will be possible to gain a deeper understanding of the requirements and of the operational context of people needing accessible material, either as learners or educators. The underlying objective is to increase the potential to realize learning systems that better meet different user needs and that provide a more satisfying learning experience. Moreover, when people get involved in the development process, they gain a sense of ownership of the system and are therefore more likely to accept and “promote” it.     

Optimal call admission control under packet and call level QoS constraints and effect of buffering

For a single network switch allocating link bandwidth to connections of a single class, an optimal call admission control (CAC) policy is found by the solution of a linear programming (LP) problem. Our optimization differs from previous work in that we include the effect of an output buffer in the switch for the temporary storage of packets bound for transmittal across the link. We find a policy that is optimal in the sense of minimizing call blocking subject to a packet level quality of service (QoS) requirement that limits the packet loss ratio. Such a policy's call blocking probability, if it is small enough to satisfy a call level QoS requirement, then establishes the feasibility of satisfying both the packet and call level QoS requirements for a given call request rate. We show with a previously described example that the addition of even a small output buffer can significantly increase the range of call request rates for which there exists a feasible policy, i.e. one that satisfies both QoS requirements. Also presented is an upper bound, valid for any fixed buffer size, on the range of call request rates for which there exists a feasible CAC policy. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Electrolysis: observations from 13 years and 140,000 hours of experience

Electrolysis has been performed since 1875. Electrolysis satisfactorily removes hair from women with static hair growth, but women with hirsutism often require concomitant management of their hormonal problems. We have found the blend method to be the most effective modality for permanent hair removal. Attention must be given to proper electrolysis technique, including accurate needle insertion and appropriate intensities and duration. Scarring does not occur with properly performed electrolysis. Hair is not an electrical conductor and electronic tweezers do not result in permanent hair removal. Shaving 1 to 5 days before electrolysis greatly increases efficacy because it ensures that only growing anagen hairs are epilated. The recent availability of EMLA (eutectic mixture of local anesthetics) has been beneficial in reducing the sensations of electrolysis. The availability of prepackaged, presterilized, individual electrolysis needles has greatly reduced the need for more complicated sterilization procedures.     

Covert antisocial behavior in boys with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: External validation and effects of methylphenidate.

Covert antisocial behaviors such as stealing, destroying property, and cheating carry high risk for delinquency. An individual laboratory setting was devised in which youngsters could take desired objects and use answer keys to assist with worksheets. 22 boys with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and 22 comparison boys were observed on 2 occasions, with the ADHD Ss receiving a methylphenidate–placebo crossover. Lab stealing and property destruction were positively correlated with maternal and staff ratings of parallel behaviors. Methylphenidate resulted in significant reductions of these acts, but it also effected an increase in cheating, presumably because of its enhancement of task involvement. The generalizability of the lab findings, actions of stimulants in this domain, and the ethics of experimental investigations of covert antisocial behavior are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Surface segregation in blends containing poly(dimethylsiloxane)-polystyrene block copolymers

The surface composition of polystyrene blends containing poly(dimethylsiloxane)-polystyrene block copolymers have been analyzed using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), contact angle measurements, and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOFSIMS). The three techniques showed the surface of the blend samples to be identical to pure poly(dimethylsiloxane) homopolymer, despite the fact that the systems each contained only a 2% bulk concentration of siloxane. The high surface sensitivity of TOFSIMS—which probes the samples to depths of a few angstroms—indicates an enrichment of-Si(CH₃)₃ groups at the surface. These are the terminal groups of the PDMS part of the block. Their enrichment at the surface of the samples is presumably due to their low surface energy, in addition to the tendency for end groups to be at the surface due to free volume considerations.Presented at the XXVIth Silicon Symposium, Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis, March 26–27, 1993.     

Stress-induced hemoconcentration of blood cells and lipids in healthy women during acute psychological stress.

This study examined the effects of psychological stress on hemoconcentration in women. Hematologic and hemodynamic variables were assessed in 17 women before and after a 3-min speech task. Significant changes in hematocrit, hemoglobin levels, red and white blood cell (WBC) count, and calculated plasma volume occurred during psychological stress (all ps?ps?p?p?     

Empirical assessment of individuals' 'personal information management systems'

. A simple pilot study has been undertaken to investigate the use of 'personal information management technologies' (including both traditional and emerging electronic technologies) via a combination of nominal questionnaire and semi-structured interview schedules. The pilot study suggested that the number of users adopting computer-based personal information management technologies is low, as is the combination of computer-based technologies with traditional paper-based technologies in users' 'personal information management systems'.