Curtin University

About: Curtin University is a education organization based out in Perth, Western Australia, Australia. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Zircon. The organization has 14257 authors who have published 48997 publications receiving 1336531 citations. The organization is also known as: WAIT & Western Australian Institute of Technology.

A four category scheme for coding and assessing the level of reflection in written work

Abstract: Where courses have as an aim the promotion of reflective practice, it will enhance the achievement of the goal if the level of reflective thinking is assessed. To do this in a satisfactory way requires a reliable protocol for assessing the level of reflection in written work. This article presents a protocol that can be used to guide the allocation of work to four categories, namely: habitual action/non‐reflection, understanding, reflection, and critical reflection. Intermediate categories can also be used. Detailed descriptors of each category to guide the process are provided. The protocol was tested by four assessors independently using it to grade a set of written work, and very good agreement was obtained.

An overview of effect of process parameters on hydrothermal carbonization of biomass

Abstract: The preceding decades witnessed hydrothermal processes being actively utilized all over the world, specifically in the developed zones. Their optimum usage is primarily sought for in terms of conversion of biomass into valuable solid, liquid and gaseous fuels. Indeed, Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) is an effective and environment friendly technique; it possesses extensive potential towards producing high-energy density solid fuels. However, the production and quality of solid fuels from HTC depends upon several parameters; temperature, feed type, residence time, pressure and catalyst being the eminent ones. This study investigates the influence of operating parameters on solid fuel production during HTC. The biomass quality has also been analyzed in HTC by extending existing literature work through experiments that have been performed. Data including chemical composition, heating value, proximate analysis and ultimate analysis for different types of biomass was consequently collected and analyzed. It was found that reaction temperature, residence time and type of feed material are the primary factors that influence the HTC process. At higher temperatures, lower solid product is obtained; the carbon content increases, whilst the hydrogen and oxygen content decrease. Further, it has been found that higher lignin content in biomass leads to an increased solid fuel production.

The effect of Mn on mineral stability in metapelites revisited: new a–x relations for manganese-bearing minerals

Abstract: The a-x relations recently presented in White et al. (, Journal of Metamorphic Geology, 32, 261-286) are extended to include MnO. This provides a set of internally consistent a-x relations for metapelitic rocks in the MnO-Na2O-CaO-K2O-FeO-MgO-Al2O3-SiO2-H2O-TiO2-O2 (MnNCKFMASHTO) system. The mixing parameters for the Mn-bearing minerals were estimated using the micro-ϕ{symbol} approach of Powell et al. (, Journal of Metamorphic Geology, 32, 245-260). Then the Mn-end-member thermodynamic properties were calibrated using a database of co-existing minerals involving literature data from rocks and from experiments on natural materials. Mn-end-members were calibrated for orthopyroxene, cordierite, staurolite, chloritoid, chlorite, biotite, ilmenite and hematite, assuming known properties for the garnet end-member spessartine. The addition of MnO to phase diagram calculations results in a marked expansion of the stability of garnet-bearing assemblages. At greenschist facies conditions garnet stability is extended down temperature. At amphibolite facies conditions, the garnet-in boundary shifts to lower pressure. While the addition of MnO greatly influences the stability of garnet, it has relatively little effect on the stability of other common metapelitic minerals, with the resultant diagrams being topologically very similar to those calculated without MnO. Furthermore, the addition of MnO in the amounts measured in most metapelites has only a small effect on the mode of garnet, with calculated garnet modes remaining smaller than 1% in the P-T range outside its predicted Mn-free P-T range.

Aliases, creeping, and wall cleaning: Understanding privacy in the age of Facebook

Abstract: This paper explores how 20-something Facebook users understand and navigate privacy concerns. Based on a year long ethnographic study in Toronto, Canada, this paper looks at how - contrary to many mainstream accounts - younger users do indeed care about protecting and controlling their personal information. However, their concerns revolve around what I call social privacy, rather than the more conventional institutional privacy. This paper also examines the somewhat subversive practices which users engaged in to enhance their own social privacy, and in some cases, violate that of others. Finally, this paper examines some of the reasons that users may continue using the site, despite privacy concerns.