Author: Latest Results

CFD Analysis of Cross-Ventilation in Buildings with External Louvers: Impact of Slat Angles

Latest Results

Abstract

In defining wind-driven natural ventilation in buildings, external louvers and slat angles are essential flow factors. Louvers are frequently used to minimize sunlight while enabling natural ventilation. Many studies on ventilated louvers have been conducted in the past, emphasizing the influence of louver opening positions and slat angles. External louvers, on the other hand, have received less attention. As a result, this research examines the impact of exterior louver slat angles on the key characteristics of natural cross-ventilation flow in a single-zone isolated structure, based on four main flow parameters: (i) air velocities, (ii) air age, (iii) volume flow rate, and (iv) air exchange efficiency. A model without louvers is simulated to provide a clearer understanding of the influence of louvers. The standard k-ε method is used to solve the isothermal 3D steady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) simulations. CFX software is used to validate the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations using wind-tunnel experiments. The results show that the building without louvers has the greatest normalized volume flow rate (0.56). In contrast, the instance with exterior louvers with 45º slat angles has the highest air exchange efficiency (58.6%). This study can aid architects and academics in improving building design and sustainability.

CFD Analysis of Cross-Ventilation in Buildings with External Louvers: Impact of Slat Angles

Latest Results

Abstract

In defining wind-driven natural ventilation in buildings, external louvers and slat angles are essential flow factors. Louvers are frequently used to minimize sunlight while enabling natural ventilation. Many studies on ventilated louvers have been conducted in the past, emphasizing the influence of louver opening positions and slat angles. External louvers, on the other hand, have received less attention. As a result, this research examines the impact of exterior louver slat angles on the key characteristics of natural cross-ventilation flow in a single-zone isolated structure, based on four main flow parameters: (i) air velocities, (ii) air age, (iii) volume flow rate, and (iv) air exchange efficiency. A model without louvers is simulated to provide a clearer understanding of the influence of louvers. The standard k-ε method is used to solve the isothermal 3D steady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) simulations. CFX software is used to validate the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations using wind-tunnel experiments. The results show that the building without louvers has the greatest normalized volume flow rate (0.56). In contrast, the instance with exterior louvers with 45º slat angles has the highest air exchange efficiency (58.6%). This study can aid architects and academics in improving building design and sustainability.

Teacher Agency and the Digital Technologies Curriculum in Disadvantaged Australian Schools

Latest Results

Abstract

Access and usage of digital technologies is a marker of advantage in Australian schools. This study aims to identify how context impacts upon the enactment of the teaching and leading of the Digital Technologies Curriculum in schools labelled as disadvantaged. The study used a four-fold heuristic of contexts to analyse the work of educators in schools. The study found that external contexts structurally shape the teachers’ agency with the Digital Technologies Curriculum. The study revealed that the enactment of the Digital Technologies Curriculum in disadvantaged contexts was enabled by additional supports and nuanced approaches. Successful enactment can occur when teacher and leader agency outperform the impact of structural disadvantage.

Connecting rights and inequality in education: openings for change

Latest Results

Abstract

This paper examines the openings for educational change enabled by framing inequality through the concept of rights, considering how variations of this framing have emerged historically and in current debates. Taking as our starting point the 1970 publication Rights and Inequality in Australian Education, we suggest that it is important to pay attention to the ways in which rights gain force within social action and through demands made by differently constituted publics. In the 1960s and 1970s, a right to educational equality garnered greater recognition, prompting moves towards needs-based funding and curriculum diversification, led by the Commonwealth Schools Commission. These moves were responsive to social movements that helped to shape new publics. In a second and more politically conservative moment, rights and inequality were increasingly separated in policies influenced by neoliberalism. We argue that the strategies currently adopted by Indigenous scholar-activists are promoting a return to a rights-based perspective, which is distinctive in casting inequality as ontological and epistemic violence.

An ‘agent for change’? Seeking equity in senior school Drama and Theatre Studies, Victoria, Australia

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Abstract

Australian education policies increasingly value equity and diversity, but these policies are not necessarily implicitly supported through curriculum. This study explores the hidden curriculum in senior school Drama and Theatre Studies in the state of Victoria, through an equity audit of texts prescribed through each subject’s playlists, solos, and monologues between 2001/2002 and 2019. Data were collected and analysed on the ethnicities and genders of playwrights and creators, as well as the playlists’ theatre companies and theatres. The findings show that both Drama and Theatre Studies, but particularly Theatre Studies, significantly underrepresent women and culturally diverse playwrights and creators. Opportunities for change can be seen in the Drama playlists, which have achieved gender equity and are approaching equitable cultural diversity. I discuss these findings against four points of choice wherein key stakeholders might critically engage with issues of ethnicity and gender.

An individualised approach towards student retention: students at the centre of university deferral and leave-taking policy

Latest Results

Abstract

As the university student body becomes more diversified and students’ lives less linear, student retention carries increased importance for universities, including the conversion of deferrers and the re-enrolment of leave-taking students. This paper is based on a broader research project which explored national patterns of deferral and leave of absence in Australia and the policies and strategies for re-engaging the students who defer or take leave. Through a mixed research design, the study explores the extent to which students are positioned at the centre of deferral and leave of absence policy, informed by relationship marketing concepts. This study suggests that many universities have moved towards greater consideration of student perspectives and individualised approaches to building a trustworthy and supportive relationship with deferral and leave-taking students, based on data analytics of individual students’ information and circumstances. Despite such efforts, there remain both limitations and tensions within these approaches.

Exchange Rate and Stock Prices Volatility Connectedness and Spillover during Pandemic Induced-Crises: Evidence from BRICS Countries

Latest Results

Abstract

This paper investigated exchange rate and stock price volatility connectedness and spillover in Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS) during pandemic-induced crises. We first extracted volatility using the Generalized Auto-Regressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity (GARCH) model. Then volatility connectedness and spillover were investigated by using (Diebold and Yilmaz, International Journal of Forecasting, 28(1), 57–66, 2012) method. We find that exchange rate volatility and stock return volatilities are connected during pandemic-induced crises. The study also finds volatilities spillover among countries in the sample. Russia has strong volatility connectedness with India in these financial markets. The direction of volatility spillover is from Russia to India. Similarly, Brazil has strong volatility connectedness with South Africa and the direction volatility spillover is from Brazil to South Africa. Finally, China has a weak volatility connection with the remaining BRICS countries. Thus, the volatility transfer in these financial markets and across BRICS countries has economic implications.

Exchange Rate and Stock Prices Volatility Connectedness and Spillover during Pandemic Induced-Crises: Evidence from BRICS Countries

Latest Results

Abstract

This paper investigated exchange rate and stock price volatility connectedness and spillover in Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS) during pandemic-induced crises. We first extracted volatility using the Generalized Auto-Regressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity (GARCH) model. Then volatility connectedness and spillover were investigated by using (Diebold and Yilmaz, International Journal of Forecasting, 28(1), 57–66, 2012) method. We find that exchange rate volatility and stock return volatilities are connected during pandemic-induced crises. The study also finds volatilities spillover among countries in the sample. Russia has strong volatility connectedness with India in these financial markets. The direction of volatility spillover is from Russia to India. Similarly, Brazil has strong volatility connectedness with South Africa and the direction volatility spillover is from Brazil to South Africa. Finally, China has a weak volatility connection with the remaining BRICS countries. Thus, the volatility transfer in these financial markets and across BRICS countries has economic implications.

Democracy and Intra-Africa Trade

Latest Results

Abstract

Despite numerous efforts by policymakers, trade among African countries remains abysmal. In this paper, we investigate whether democracy influences intra-Africa trade of goods. Using the gravity model on bilateral trade among 48 Sub-Sahara African countries over the period 2000 to 2018, we find that democracy fosters intra-Africa goods trade. This effect is more pronounced in the manufacturing sector. Reversals to autocracy, however, adversely impact intra-Africa trade flows. Our paper therefore highlights democratic development as an important channel for accelerating trade among African countries.

Eh Across Englishes: A Corpus-Pragmatic Analysis of the Corpus of Global Web-Based English

Latest Results

Abstract

This paper presents an analysis of the pragmatic marker eh, which is typical of spoken discourse, in written online discourse from nine varieties of English using the Corpus of Global Web-based English. The analysis focuses on sentence-final eh and considers variation in terms of variety, punctuation, text type, and function. This paper also includes a variationist analysis of eh in contrast to huh. Although there are cross-variety differences, eh is used across all nine varieties in similar ways. Eh is mostly combined with a question mark, it is more frequent in blogs than in general websites, and emphatic functions dominate over narrative and interrogative uses. A qualitative analysis of the indexicalities demonstrates that eh mainly signals orality and informality in online writing but also has specific local meanings. The variationist analysis shows that eh is preferred over huh in the Canadian and New Zealand components. This preference is even more pronounced for the British and Philippine components. In contrast, huh dominates in the US component. These results show that eh is well integrated into online writing and can be characterized as a translocal pragmatic marker as it is used globally but has developed local characteristics.