Book reviews

Australian Environmental Policy 2: Studies in Decline and Devolution

Ken Walker and Kate Crowley (eds) UNSW Press, Sydney, 1999 ISBN 0868406732 (paperback) 323 pp.; bibliography and index RRP $35.00

Beyond Meltdown: The Global Battle for Sustained Growth.

Peter Brain. Scribe, Melbourne, 1999 ISBN 0908011369 (paperback) 273 pp.; bibliography and index RRP $26.95

Cities Back from the Edge: New Life for Downtown

Roberta Brandes Gratz with Norman Mintz John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1998 ISBN 0471144177 (hardback) 347 pp.; index RRP $59.95

Evaluation in Planning: Facing the Challenge of Complexity

Nathaniel Lichfield, Angela Barbanente, Dino Bori, Abdul Khakee and Anna. Prat (eds). Kluwer, Dordrecht, 1998. ISBN 0792351770 (hardback). 383 pp.; index. RRP $254.00

Gritty Cities: Images of the Urban

Lyaranette Finch and Chris McConville (eds). Pluto, Sydney, 1999. ISBN 1864030631 (paperback). 250 pp.; bibliography and index. RRP $24.95

Setting the Stage for Systainability: A Citizen's Handbook

Chris Maser, Russ Beaton and Kevin Smith Lewis Publishers, Boca Raton, 1998 ISBN 1574441876 (hardback) 269 pp.; index RRP $47.50

The Australian Metropolis: A Planning History

Stephen Hamnett and Robert Freestone (eds) Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1999 ISBN 1865080535 (paperback) 229 pp.; index RRP $35.00     

Is medical research informing professional practice more highly cited? Evidence from AHFS DI Essentials in drugs.com

Scientometrics - Citation-based indicators are often used to help evaluate the impact of published medical studies, even though the research has the ultimate goal of improving human wellbeing. One...     

Designing in between Local Government and the Public – Using Institutional Analysis in Interventions on Civic Infrastructures

Adapting and changing the systems and technologies involved in civic engagement with local government is among the key challenges of collaborative technologies for political participation. In such contexts, both existing sets of technologies and ingrained, often formalised practices, the ‘rules of the game’, constrain any opportunity for intervention. Additionally, ‘civic’ and expert groups with conflicting agendas and divergent demands on public choices assert their influence in these transformation programmes. The article argues that established methods in collaborative systems design have thus far overlooked the role of recurring actions involved in public participation as well as the formal rules and ingrained practices that construct them. Yet, such patterns present a valuable resource for design interventions. Thus, based on an institutional approach, the article outlines a methodology for requirement gathering by mapping the relations of actors, software and their use along identifiable action situations. The method called for a dialogue between socio-technical-spatial contexts of public service and specific actions taking place within it. Drawing on a case of organising civic engagement in urban planning, the article discusses how to find and trace existing practices across social settings, information technologies and material contexts where engagements take place. The approach underscores the existing institutional contexts in inspiring, opening and constraining the opportunities to support ‘civics’.     

Modification of human platelet adhesion on biomaterial surfaces by protein preadsorption under static and flow conditions

Biomaterial-induced thrombosis remains one of the main complications of vascular implant devices. Preadsorbed proteins on the biomaterial/blood interface will modify the adhesion and activation of platelets (PTLs) during the initial contact-phase. Our results clearly show that PTL-adherence on biomaterials is influenced not only by protein preadsorption, but also by flow conditions. The covalent coating of TCPS and glass by phosphorylcholine (PC) induces a significant decrease of PTL adhesion but leads to a slight, but nevertheless significant activation of PTL, which was detected by the induction of P-selectin expression using FACS analysis. Methodologically, the visualization of PTL adhesion gave more reliable results for measurement of PTL adhesion than the cell-enzyme immunoassay (EIA) for P-selectin. Human citrated plasma caused an inhibition of PTL. It is probable, that the contained sodium citrate may inhibit PTL adhesion by its calcium ion-binding capacity. The flow experiment as dynamic system is in our view absolutely essential for the evaluation of biomaterials for vascular prosthesis, and is in accordance with the international standards. The results of the experiments also suggest that investigations under static and flow conditions are needed to determine the influence of protein adsorption on mixed blood cell populations, for example, on PTL and PMN mixtures/co-cultures in order to achieve a better simulation of the in vivo situation.     

Scaling theory for information networks

Networks distribute energy, materials and information to the components of a variety of natural and human-engineered systems, including organisms, brains, the Internet and microprocessors. Distribution networks enable the integrated and coordinated functioning of these systems, and they also constrain their design. The similar hierarchical branching networks observed in organisms and microprocessors are striking, given that the structure of organisms has evolved via natural selection, while microprocessors are designed by engineers. Metabolic scaling theory (MST) shows that the rate at which networks deliver energy to an organism is proportional to its mass raised to the 3/4 power. We show that computational systems are also characterized by nonlinear network scaling and use MST principles to characterize how information networks scale, focusing on how MST predicts properties of clock distribution networks in microprocessors. The MST equations are modified to account for variation in the size and density of transistors and terminal wires in microprocessors. Based on the scaling of the clock distribution network, we predict a set of trade-offs and performance properties that scale with chip size and the number of transistors. However, there are systematic deviations between power requirements on microprocessors and predictions derived directly from MST. These deviations are addressed by augmenting the model to account for decentralized flow in some microprocessor networks (e.g. in logic networks). More generally, we hypothesize a set of constraints between the size, power and performance of networked information systems including transistors on chips, hosts on the Internet and neurons in the brain.     

Design through making: crafts knowledge as facilitator to collaborative new product development

Collaboration between manufacturers and craft makers is believed by many crafts theorists to offer new originality, insight and specialist expertise to design for production. In practice, however, there exists a discrepancy between this ideal and a reality of unreconcilable cultural and methodological differences. This paper documents and discusses such a collaboration as an example of best practice with implications for managers, educators, designers and craft makers. It identifies a new role for craft makers with the appropriate knowledge and experience to act as bridges within companies, facilitating the adoption of design methodologies appropriate to changing priorities in the manufacturing industries.     

Laboratory Evaluation of Real-Time Dynamic Traffic Assignment Systems

The success of Advanced Traffic Management Systems (ATMS) and Advanced Traveler Information Systems (ATIS) depends on the availability and dissemination of timely and accurate estimates of prevailing and emerging traffic conditions, as well as the provision of faithful and coherent pretrip and en-route travel information and advisory to travelers. Real-time Dynamic Traffic Assignment (DTA) systems, envisioned as an ATMS support system that resides in transportation management centers, are being developed to supply these estimates and information. To ensure the deployment potential of such DTA systems in the field, extensive laboratory evaluations are required throughout the development process. This article discusses a software environment that economically supports the development and evaluation of DTA systems. A major simulation component developed under this environment is called a DTA evaluation system (DES). The DES is a virtual representation of a transportation system in which ATMS and ATIS technologies are deployed. It simulates the trip-making and vehicle-driving behaviors of travelers in response to real-time information and advisories from ATIS and ATMS. This article presents (1) major DES modeling capabilities required for developing and evaluating DTA systems, (2) a modular and extensible modeling framework for the DES, and (3) a top-level, object-oriented, and distributed DES design.     

Algal capture of carbon dioxide; biomass generation as a tool for greenhouse gas mitigation with reference to New Zealand energy strategy and policy

The use of algae to capture carbon dioxide as a method for greenhouse gas mitigation is discussed. A small fraction of the sunlight energy that bathes Earth is captured by photosynthesis and drives most living systems. Life on Earth is carbon-based and the energy is used to fix atmospheric carbon dioxide into biological material (biomass), indeed fossil fuels that we consume today are a legacy of mostly algal photosynthesis. Algae can be thought of as marine and freshwater plants that have higher photosynthetic efficiencies than terrestrial plants and are more efficient capturing carbon (Box 1). They have other favourable characteristics for this purpose. In the context of New Zealand energy strategy and policy I discuss progress in growing algae and seaweeds with emphasis on their application for exhaust flue carbon recycling for possible generation of useful biomass. I also introduce schemes utilising wild oceanic algae for carbon dioxide sequestration and the merits and possible adverse effects of using this approach. This paper is designed as an approachable review of the science and technology for policy makers and a summary of the New Zealand policy environment for those wishing to deploy biological carbon sequestration.     

军用无源器件的发展趋势

军工/航天和商用电子元器件市场常常被认为是两个不同的市场,但实际上,二者之间的共同之处正在不断增加。由于高可靠性业务的数量显著较少,该领域的采购商似乎把目光放在商业客户的对应型号上,当然前提是满足起码的性能要求。这些采购商开始仿照商用标准产品的客户，越来越多地通过分销商来采购所需的元器件。那些军工和航天领域的巨头不再局限于原有的垂直集成业务模式，开始象那些商业OEM厂商一样，考虑将电路板组装业务通过离岸合同制造的方式外包出去，以降低他们的成本。     

Information gain and decision-theoretic approaches to data selection: Response to Klauer (1999).

K. C. Klauer (1999) argued that a Bayesian decision-theoretic rational analysis of Wason's selection task is preferable to an information gain account (M. Oaksford & N. Chater, 1994) because it has a better normative justification and may provide a better fit with the empirical data. The authors argue that Klauer's proposal and their proposal are equally well justified from a normative perspective and that, where the predictions of the 2 approaches diverge, the existing empirical evidence is consistent with the information gain approach. However, more empirical research is required to decide between these 2 accounts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)