Polarization-driven reversible actuation in a photo-responsive polymer composite.

Light-responsive polymers and especially amorphous azopolymers with intrinsic anisotropic and polarization-dependent deformation photo-response hold great promises for remotely controlled, tunable devices. However, dynamic control requires reversibility characteristics far beyond what is currently obtainable via plastic deformation of such polymers. Here, we embed azopolymer microparticles in a rubbery elastic matrix at high density.

The increasing use of cosmetic non-ionising radiation applications - types of procedures, potential risks to consumers and regulation in Australia.

In recent years, there has been a large increase in cosmetic applications using non-ionising radiation (NIR). These applications use various types of NIR such as lasers and ultrasound for numerous cosmetic outcomes such as epilation, skin rejuvenation and tattoo removal. Cosmetic NIR procedures are marketed as a low-cost and low-risk alternative to more invasive procedures.

Time- and Resource-Efficient Time-to-Collision Forecasting for Indoor Pedestrian Obstacles Avoidance.

As difficult vision-based tasks like object detection and monocular depth estimation are making their way in real-time applications and as more light weighted solutions for autonomous vehicles navigation systems are emerging, obstacle detection and collision prediction are two very challenging tasks for small embedded devices like drones. We propose a novel light weighted and time-efficient vision-based solution to predict Time-to-Collision from a monocular video camera embedded in a smartglasses device as a module of a navigation system for visually impaired pedestrians. It consists of two modules: a static data extractor made of a convolutional neural network to predict the obstacle position and distance and a dynamic data extractor that stacks the obstacle data from multiple frames and predicts the Time-to-Collision with a simple fully connected neural network.

5G mobile networks and health-a state-of-the-science review of the research into low-level RF fields above 6 GHz.

The increased use of radiofrequency (RF) fields above 6 GHz, particularly for the 5 G mobile phone network, has given rise to public concern about any possible adverse effects to human health. Public exposure to RF fields from 5 G and other sources is below the human exposure limits specified by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP). This state-of-the science review examined the research into the biological and health effects of RF fields above 6 GHz at exposure levels below the ICNIRP occupational limits.

Buoyancy effects on concurrent flame spread over thick PMMA.

The flammability of combustible materials in a spacecraft is important for fire safety applications because the conditions in spacecraft environments differ from those on earth. Experimental testing in space is difficult and expensive. However, reducing buoyancy by decreasing ambient pressure is a possible approach to simulate on-earth the burning behavior inside spacecraft environments.

Whole organism concentration ratios in freshwater wildlife from an Australian tropical U mining environment and the derivation of a water radiological quality guideline value.

More than 10,000 whole organism concentration ratio (CR) values for freshwater wildlife were derived from radionuclide and stable element data representing an Australian tropical U mining environment. The CR values were summarised into five wildlife groups (bird, fish, mollusc, reptile and vascular plant). The summarised CR values represented 77 organism-element combinations.

Whole organism to tissue concentration ratios derived from an Australian tropical dataset.

Whole organism to tissue concentration ratios (CR) were derived for six wildlife groups (freshwater birds, freshwater bivalves, freshwater fishes, freshwater reptiles, freshwater vascular plants and terrestrial mammals). The wildlife groups and data represented species common to tropical northern Australia. Values of CR were derived for between 6 and 34 elements, depending upon wildlife group.

Evaluation of Spacecraft Smoke Detector Performance in the Low-Gravity Environment.

In the interest of fire prevention, most materials used in the interior construction of manned spacecraft are non-flammable, however, they do produce smoke when overheated. Spacecraft smoke detectors will ideally detect smoke generated by oxidative pyrolysis (such as smoldering) in order to allow the maximum time for the crew to respond before a larger flaming fire develops. An experiment on the International Space Station (ISS) characterized smoke from overheating common spacecraft materials.

On Simulating Concurrent Flame Spread in Reduced Gravity by Reducing Ambient Pressure.

The flammability of combustible materials in spacecraft environments is of importance for fire safety applications because the environmental conditions can greatly differ from those on earth, and a fire in a spacecraft could be catastrophic. Moreover, experimental testing in spacecraft environments can be difficult and expensive, so using ground-based tests to inform microgravity tests is vital. Reducing buoyancy effects by decreasing ambient pressure is a possible approach to simulate a spacecraft environment on earth.

Theoretical study of the kinetics of the reactions Se + O2 --> Se + O and As + HCl --> AsCl + H.

Selenium and arsenic reactions believed to take place in the flue gases of coal combustion facilities were investigated. Prior theoretical work involving various As and Se species was completed using DFT and a broad range of ab initio methods. Building upon that work, the present study is a determination of the kinetic and thermodynamic parameters of the reactions, Se + O2 --> SeO + O and As + HCl --> AsCl + H at the CCSD/RCEP28VDZ and QCISD(T)/6-311++G(3df,3pd) levels of theory, respectively.

A theoretical study of properties and reactions involving arsenic and selenium compounds present in coal combustion flue gases.

Species of arsenic and selenium thought to be present in coal combustion flue gases were studied using density functional theory and a broad range of ab initio methods. At each level of theory, the calculated geometries and vibrational frequencies of each species as well as the reaction enthalpies of anticipated reactions were compared with experimental data where available. Comparisons between each calculation are given along with a discussion of the better performance of some theoretical calculations for a given species/reaction.