B. Horan

• PhD
• Professor (Associate) at Deakin University

As global populations age, the wellbeing of older adults becomes increasingly critical, particularly amidst the loneliness epidemic and COVID-19-induced social isolation. Aged care residents are especially vulnerable to loneliness and social isolation, which are associated with increased risks of anxiety, depression, and dementia, ultimately leadin...

Purpose The ability to measure cognitive load in the workplace provides several opportunities to improve workplace learning. In recent years, virtual reality (VR) has seen an increase in use for training and learning applications due to improvements in technology and reduced costs. This study aims to focus on the use of simulation task load index (...

Purpose Virtual reality (VR) has been explored as a training and testing environment in a range of work contexts, and increasingly so in transport. There is, however, a lack of research exploring the role of VR in the training of tram drivers, and in providing an environment in which advances in tram technology can be tested safely. This study aime...

Introduction: The widespread use and inherent risks associated with low-voltage electrical equipment require all workers to understand its hazards and how to manage them. Despite being the most commonly used method for raising safety awareness, lecture-based training often proves ineffective. Virtual reality (VR) allows the user to be immersed in a...

Advances in digital technology enable developers to enhance the empathic connection between the user and the displayed content. Three-dimensional (3D) digital technologies such as Virtual Reality (VR) present the opportunity to communicate engaging content in different visualization styles. However, VR experiences induce cognitive load, distracting...

Museums are increasingly embracing new methods and technologies to enhance the visitor experience. Virtual Reality (VR) provides the opportunity to experience objects and situations that are not readily available or don’t otherwise exist making it well suited to museum applications. Museum visitors represent an ultra-diverse cohort with technology...

The commercial release of affordable, low-cost, and consumer-ready virtual reality (VR) devices has increased the accessibility for researchers to investigate the benefits of VR technology including those aimed at education and training. VR technology provides several opportunities that may provide benefits over traditional training methods, this i...

Safety training is an important factor in preventing and reducing work-related accidents. As workplaces look for ways to improve safety outcomes, increasing the effectiveness of safety training continues to be an important factor. Interest in virtual reality (VR) training has grown substantially in recent years due to the emergence of affordable, c...

In recent years, increasing interest has been shown in targeting energy efficiency as a roadmap for carbon mitigation, limiting energy use, improving buildings’ energy performance, and reducing energy consumption for achieving sustainable buildings. This article presents a systematic review to provide the best practices in this area and identify th...

Abstract Purpose Patients with mandibular defects due to trauma or infiltrated disease are in a need of functional mandibular implants that will completely restore the function of their lower jaw. One of the most important roles of well-functioning jaw is mastication, a complex mechanism. A conventional approach used in oral and maxillofacial surg...

The rapid alteration to land cover, combined with climate change, results in the variation of the land surface temperature (LST). This LST variation is mainly affected by the spatiotemporal changes of land cover classes, their geospatial characteristics, and spectral indices. Melbourne has been the subject of previous studies of land cover change b...

In this paper, a reduced switch count single‐phase hybrid multilevel inverter (MLI) is presented. Level generation unit (LGU) and polarity changing unit (PCU) are the two parts of the presented topology which are connected in series. Other advantages of the proposed topology include the reduced switch count, higher level generation with reduced sou...

Expeditious urbanization, population growth, and technological advancements in the past decade have significantly impacted the rise of energy demand across the world. Mitigation of environmental impacts and socio-economic benefits associated with the renewable energy systems advocate the higher integration of the distributed energy systems into the...

The COVID-19 pandemic has threatened city economies and residents' public health and quality of life. Similar to most cities, Melbourne imposed extreme preventive lockdown measures to address this situation. It would be reasonable to assume that during the two phases of lockdowns, in autumn (March) and winter (June to August) 2020, air quality para...

There is a recognized need for objective tools for detecting and tracking clinical and neuropathological recovery after sports-related concussion (SRC). While computerised neurocognitive testing has been shown to be sensitive to cognitive deficits after SRC, and some blood biomarkers have shown promise as indicators of axonal and glial damage, the...

This article outlines and demonstrates the practice of troubleshooting as a method. We argue that as an interdisciplinary, collaborative, digital-hybridized and adaptable approach, troubleshooting provides an ethical opportunity to explore the experiences and outcomes of (older) people living with connected home technologies in ways that deliver no...

Research into modern transportation systems is currently in progress in order to fully replace the traditional inter-combustible engine with a noiseless, fast, energy-efficient, and environmentally friendly electric vehicle. Electric vehicles depend on an electric motor and require highly efficient converter drive circuits. Among these converters,...

Research on the relationship between chronic stress and cognition is limited by a lack of concurrent measurement of state-anxiety, physiological arousal, and gender. For the first time, we assessed the impact of these factors on top-down/conscious (simple and choice reaction time) and bottom-up/reflexive (saccadic reaction time) measures of attenti...

Increasing the forecasting accuracy of photovoltaic (PV)-generated power is currently an important topic, particularly in the maintenance of the stability and reliability of modern electric grid systems. In this study, a model based on a particle swarm optimization (PSO)-optimized support vector regression (SVR) is proposed for the accurate forecas...

A multilevel inverter (MLI) with a step-up feature has become significant for connecting a low-voltage PV system with a utility grid. An MLI has been presented in this paper with lower component count. The described structure has achieved nine distinguish voltage levels using 12 switches and a switched capacitor unit having twice voltage boost. A s...

As promising solutions to various social and environmental issues, the generation and integration of renewable energy (RE) into microgrids (MGs) has recently increased due to the rapidly growing consumption of electric power. However, such integration can affect the stability and security of power systems due to its complexity and intermittency. Th...

Tram drivers operate a master controller to control the acceleration and braking of the tram. Operation should ensure passenger comfort and safety through smooth tram motion and the avoidance of jerkiness that may cause passengers to fall in the carriage. This work investigates current driver practices and strategies for tram driving in normal oper...

In view of the problem of e-commerce scams and the absence of haptic interaction, this research aims to introduce and create a tele-weight device for e-commerce shopping in smart cities. The objective is to use the proposed prototype to provide a brief overview of the possible technological advancements. When the tele-weight device is affixed over...

Physical activity is connected to public health in many ways, and walking is its most popular form. Modern planning models have been applied to cities to manage rapid urban expansions. However, this practice has led to low level of walkability and strong car-dependency in today’s cities. Hence, this study aims to provide a review of the most promis...

A correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-021-10567-y

In this paper, a novel deep neural network-based energy prediction algorithm for accurately forecasting the day-ahead hourly energy consumption profile of a residential building considering occupancy rate is proposed. Accurate estimation of residential load profiles helps energy providers and utility companies develop an optimal generation schedule...

Previous studies have shown that the crosswind reduces the output power of a SCPP (solar chimney power plant) with the deflection of the plume at the exit and separation of wind flow there at the downstream. The present numerical investigation was focused on the effect of the stack configuration on the performance of a SCPP. In this paper, the SCPP...

Modal analysis provides the dynamic behavior of an object or structure, and is often undertaken using the Finite Element Method (FEM) due to its ability to deal with arbitrary geometries. This article investigates the use of Augmented Reality (AR) to provide the in situ visualization of a modal analysis for an aluminum impeller. Finite Element Anal...

Few non-traditional optimization techniques are applied to the dynamic economic dispatch (DED) of large-scale thermal power units (TPUs), e.g., 1000 TPUs, that consider the effects of valve-point loading with ramp-rate limitations. This is a complicated multiple mode problem. In this investigation, a novel optimization technique, namely, a multi-gr...

Cardiac arrest is a leading cause of death worldwide preventable with timely application of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). The American Heart Association CPR guidelines recently have an increased focus on quality of consistent chest compressions and highlighted the need for frequent refresher courses. Literature has shown that standard traini...

In Baghdad City’s distribution power grid, a massive number of 630 kV distribution transformers (DTs) are used in residential neighborhoods. Each DT is joined to nine low-voltage 0.415 kV distribution feeders. Each feeder has a designated size of 1 × 240 mm2 and is joined to a specified number of residential dwellings (N = 30) fixed in the initial...

This study summarizes a critical review on EVs’ optimal charging and scheduling under dynamic pricing schemes. A detailed comparison of these schemes, namely, Real Time Pricing (RTP), Time of Use (ToU), Critical Peak Pricing (CPP), and Peak Time Rebates (PTR), is presented. Globally, the intention is to reduce the carbon emissions (CO2) has motivat...

Australia’s waste management is heavily dependent on landfill. The Australian Bureau of Statistics predicts that as Australia’s population and economy grow, there will be a significant increase in the magnitude of waste output. Concentrated solar driven pyrolysis has been identified as a promising means in creating renewable liquid fuel and improvi...

According to United Nations, cities situated in the tropical belt occupy only 36% of the Earth's surface yet account for 1/3 of the entire global population. The increasing number of compact dense cities and the rapid population growth in the tropics have also been accompanied by increased urban air temperature. Increased air temperature is often a...

The uncoordinated integration of electric vehicles (EVs) severely deteriorates the operational performance of a distribution network. To optimize distribution network performance in an EV charging environment, this paper presents a two-stage optimization approach, which integrates coordinated EV charging with network reconfiguration. A formulation...

In the paper, a topology based on switched-capacitor (SC) with seven-level (7L) has been proposed lower count of devices. The proposed boost topology uses 12 switching devices and 2 capacitors to produce a 7L voltage with triple voltage gain (3G). The suggested 7L-TVG-BI topology achieves a high voltage gain as the input voltage can be up to 3 with...

This paper proposes a new switched-capacitor (SC) based multilevel inverter topology with a single dc voltage source. The proposed topology finds its suitability for renewable energy applications with low voltage. Seven-level (7L) output voltage is achieved across the load with triple voltage gain employing two capacitors and 12 switches. Self-volt...

The world is rapidly shifting to green power resources due to inevitable growing energy needs and increasing environmental concerns. However, the irregular production capacity of renewable energy resources requires additional components in the system for conditioning power quality and to make them a sustainable solution. It imperatively needs an en...

New technologies such as virtual reality (VR) and eye-tracking software have paved the way for more sophisticated and ecologically valid measures of cognitive function. Testing the sensitivity and reliability of such measurements in response to acute alcohol intoxication provides a first step in establishing how these measures may operate in relati...

The solar photo-voltaic systems control architecture has a substantial influence over the cost, efficiency, and accuracy of maximum power point tracking under partial shading conditions. In this paper, a novel distributed architecture of a building integrated photo-voltaic system equipped with a single maximum power point tracking controller is pre...

The implementation of proper energy management techniques and utilization of renewable energy resources enhance the energy efficiency and stability of future grid systems. This research proposed a home energy management model consisting of microgrid framework and demand side management (DSM) technique. To reduce peak load, peak to average, and ener...

Mandibular and craniofacial bone defects can be caused by trauma, inflammatory disease, and benign or malignant tumors. Patients with bone defects suffer from problems with aesthetics, speech, and mastication, resulting in the need for implants. Conventional methods do not always provide satisfactory results. Most of the techniques proposed by rese...

The integration of demand side management (DSM) with smart grid (SG) can facilitate residents' transfer into smart homes and sustainable cities by reducing the carbon emission. This manuscript reviews the recent works related to the application of DSM in SG through discussing the techniques and algorithms and their associated challenges for effecti...

Background: Technological advances provide an opportunity to refine tools that assess central nervous system performance. This study aimed to assess the test-retest reliability and convergent and ecological validity of a newly developed, virtual-reality, concussion assessment tool, 'CONVIRT', which uses eye-tracking technology to assess visual pro...

A multi-objective problem, namely, dynamic economic emission dispatch is simultaneously solved under several practical equality and inequality operating power constraints, while applying the load demand management (LDM) on 30,000 electric vehicles (EVs) during crest shaving and valley filling (CSVF) regions. A novel algorithm named orthogonal parti...

Modular multilevel converters (MMCs) are considered very promising converters due to their modularity structure and high reliability from fault-tolerant. A fault within a submodule (SM) is one of the main issues in half-bridge MMCs with substantial switching devices. In this paper, an adaptive carrier based phase disposition pulse width modulation...

Multilevel inverters have gained an important consideration for the high voltage and power applications due to productive benefits regarding cost, size, and performance against their two-level counterpart. A new switched-capacitor based topology with features of boosting and self-voltage balancing of the capacitor has been proposed in this paper. T...

In Engineering Education, learning by doing is of paramount importance for supplementing the theoretical concepts with technical introduction to maximize the learning outcome. However, in many fields, the students are not able to apply their knowledge in practical ways in spite of having theoretical understanding of the fundamentals. This can be ma...

Pakistan is a developing country that is experiencing a shortage of electricity generation due to its rapidly growing demand. The existing and upcoming energy requirements for power generation and future transportation can be met by efficient utilisation of homegrown biomass resources. Determining the present energy mix resources in various sectors...

The use of solar energy in the present era is necessary and important as well. Solar chimney technology for power generation is one of the solar energy harvesting techniques where the direct and dispersed solar radiations are absorbed in the solar chimney power plant. The effectiveness of solar chimneys has been proven for power generation, and it...

The present study focuses on distribution transformer load behavior and characteristics of residential consumers in Baghdad City. Real-data obtained from outputs of electrical load recording equipment and consumer billing data are used. The sample includes three categories of residential consumers from six different areas geographically distributed...

Augmented reality (AR) has tremendous potential as a teaching and learning tool in engineering education to enhance students’ learning experience; it influences the students’ spatial ability for real-time visualization. Furthermore, this helps to attain better concept comprehension pertaining to improved understanding of the topics. The present stu...

This article presents an effective structural design arrangement for light trapping in the front surface of a thin film silicon solar cell (TFSC). Front surface light trapping rate is significantly enhanced here by incorporating the Aluminium (Al) nanoparticle arrays into silicon nitride anti-reflection layer. The light trapping capability of these...

Urban climate knowledge has been increasingly integrated into urban design and planning practices. Numerical modeling systems, such as climatic and bioclimatic tools, are currently more popular than onsite field measurements. This higher popularity is mainly due to the complicated interactions in 3D urban environments and the spatial distribution o...

Multilevel inverters are proficient in achieving a high-quality staircase output voltage waveform with a lower amount of harmonic content. In this paper, a new hybrid multilevel inverter topology based on the T-type and H-bridge module is presented. The proposed topology aims to achieve a higher number of levels utilizing a lower number of switches...

The static, clean and movement free characteristics of solar energy along with its contribution towards global warming mitigation, enhanced stability and increased efficiency advocates solar power systems as one of the most feasible energy generation resources. Considering the influence of stochastic weather conditions over the output power of phot...

The presence of bypass diodes that mitigate the negative effects of partial shading (PS) conditions produces multiple peak characteristics at the output of a photovoltaic (PV) array. Conventional maximum power point tracking (MPPT) methods develop errors under certain circumstances and detect the local maximum power point (LMPP) instead of the glob...

The authors would like to make the following addition to their paper [...]

A new hybrid structure of multilevel inverter topology is recommended in this paper. It is designed with the aim of reducing the number of components with more number of levels at the output. Proposed topology uses three dc voltage sources along with 10 power semiconductor devices to achieve 13 levels at the output. A comparative study is given wit...

Municipal solid waste management (MSWM) is arguably one of the most vital and challenging municipal services offered by the city councils around the world. Proper and efficient management of municipal solid waste (MSW) is vital for achieving sustainable development as the dilemmas associated with energy management, greenhouse gas (GHG) emission, wa...

Customization, enhanced quality of streamlined maintenance services and uplifted productivity are some of the key highlights from the rapidly evolving concept of Industry 4.0. IoT (Internet of things) based service infrastructure models designed for delivering enterprise services with capabilities of pro-actively sensing malfunctions and responding...

The job demands-resources model (JD-R) has shown an ability to predict worker engagement and exhaustion, yet to our knowledge, research has not been conducted that assesses the JD-R model with physiological indicators of chronic stress and burnout. Using the JD-R model, we assessed if occupational stress and burnout were related to dysregulated cor...

In recent years, engineering education has become more complex, more uncertain and more interdisciplinary. It is therefore important to supplement the theoretical introduction of technical topics and concepts with practical, learning by doing experiences, so as to maximize the learning outcome. When introduced to challenging technical concepts and...

Pakistan is experiencing an undersupply of electricity, causing load shedding several hours per day due to the adherence to conventional energy resources having quantitative and environmental limitations. Fossil fuels generate more than half of the country’s total electricity, but they will ultimately run out due to their limited supply. Their comb...

This paper presents an in-depth review of classical and state-of-the-art models for analysing the transient stability in wind energy conversion systems. Various transient simulation models for a number of wind turbine generator (WTG) configurations are introduced, under different disturbances. The mitigation is achieved, by manipulating the generat...

Snakebite, one of the most common and catastrophic environmental sicknesses, occurs due to the ignorance of its importance toward public health. The rich protein and peptide toxin nature of snake venom makes snake bite envenomation clinically challenging and a scientifically attractive issue. In most cases, the severity of snake bite envenomation m...

This study summarizes an analytical review on the comparison of three-phase static compensator (STATCOM) and active power filter (APF) inverter topologies and their control schemes using industrial standards and advanced high-power configurations. Transformerless and reduced switch count topologies are the leading technologies in power electronics...

The rapidly increasing use of renewable energy resources in power generation systems in recent years has accentuated the need to find an optimum and efficient scheme for forecasting meteorological parameters, such as solar radiation, temperature, wind speed, and sun exposure. Integrating wind power prediction systems into electrical grids has witne...

In this paper, the suitability and performance of ANFIS (adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system), ANFIS-PSO (particle swarm optimization), ANFIS-GA (genetic algorithm) and ANFIS-DE (differential evolution) has been investigated for the prediction of monthly and weekly wind power density (WPD) of four different locations named Mersing, Kuala Terengga...

Supporting Information.rar. (RAR)

The vibrant, noiseless, and low-maintenance characteristics of photovoltaic (PV) systems make them one of the fast-growing technologies in the modern era. This on-demand source of energy suffers from low-output efficiency compared with other alternatives. Given that PV systems must be installed in outdoor spaces, their efficiency is significantly a...

This paper elaborates a comprehensive overview of a photovoltaic (PV) system model, and compares the attributes of various conventional and improved incremental conductance algorithms, perturbation and observation techniques, and other maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithms in normal and partial shading conditions. Performance evaluation te...

Photovoltaic arrays subject to partial shading conditions have more than one maximum power point (MPP), and conventional algorithms are unable to track the global maximum power point (GMPP) accurately. Thus, an improved global search space differential evolution algorithm for tracking the GMPP is introduced in this paper. The main contribution of t...