A conceptual model of physical performance in Australian Football
- Authors: Mooney, Mitchell
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Objective: The objective of this project was to identify the relative influence of valid physical parameters to elite Australian Football performance. Methods: Data was collected on match performance variables (i.e. coaches’ votes, number of ball disposals, champion data rank), match exercise intensity measures (m∙min-1, m∙min-1 above and below 15 km∙h-1 and Load™∙min-1) and physical capacities (yo-yo intermittent recovery test level 2, maximum oxygen uptake, running economy, relative aerobic intensity, maximal aerobic speed and maximal accumulated oxygen deficit) on elite and recreational Australian footballers. These variables were modelled to determine the logical sequence and relative importance towards match performance. Results: The results indicate a sequential physical path to Australian Football performance. The yo-yo intermittent recovery test (level 2) performance influenced match exercise intensity (m∙min-1 >15 km∙h-1& Load™∙min-1) which in turn, affected Australian Football performance (number of ball disposals and coaches’ votes). This sequence was altered by experience, playing position and neuromuscular fatigue. The number of interchange rotations also influenced match exercise intensity throughout the match. Furthermore, the yo-yo intermittent recovery test (level 2) was found to be determined by a complex interaction of physical capacities. However, yo-yo intermittent recovery (level 2) performance was most influenced by maximum oxygen uptake, relative aerobic intensity and maximum aerobic speed. Conclusion: This dissertation showed Australian Football performance is a complex and dynamic system influenced by many variables interacting with each other in a sequential path. Sports scientists and coaches may utilise this information as a framework to evaluate Australian Football performance matches.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Mooney, Mitchell
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Objective: The objective of this project was to identify the relative influence of valid physical parameters to elite Australian Football performance. Methods: Data was collected on match performance variables (i.e. coaches’ votes, number of ball disposals, champion data rank), match exercise intensity measures (m∙min-1, m∙min-1 above and below 15 km∙h-1 and Load™∙min-1) and physical capacities (yo-yo intermittent recovery test level 2, maximum oxygen uptake, running economy, relative aerobic intensity, maximal aerobic speed and maximal accumulated oxygen deficit) on elite and recreational Australian footballers. These variables were modelled to determine the logical sequence and relative importance towards match performance. Results: The results indicate a sequential physical path to Australian Football performance. The yo-yo intermittent recovery test (level 2) performance influenced match exercise intensity (m∙min-1 >15 km∙h-1& Load™∙min-1) which in turn, affected Australian Football performance (number of ball disposals and coaches’ votes). This sequence was altered by experience, playing position and neuromuscular fatigue. The number of interchange rotations also influenced match exercise intensity throughout the match. Furthermore, the yo-yo intermittent recovery test (level 2) was found to be determined by a complex interaction of physical capacities. However, yo-yo intermittent recovery (level 2) performance was most influenced by maximum oxygen uptake, relative aerobic intensity and maximum aerobic speed. Conclusion: This dissertation showed Australian Football performance is a complex and dynamic system influenced by many variables interacting with each other in a sequential path. Sports scientists and coaches may utilise this information as a framework to evaluate Australian Football performance matches.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Age estimation and illicit image detection using a stochastic vision model
- Authors: Islam, Mofakharul
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text: false
- Description: The main objective of this research is to investigate and implement a robust approach with a view to provide the Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) with a dedicated forensic tool in future for inspecting confiscated PCs from the suspected paedophile to detect pedophilic images automatically and prevent children viewing pornographic and age-inappropriate images at their home and school and adults at their workplace while they are on the Internet. To achieve this goal, we use a novel face descriptor to differentiate child face from adult face based on categorical age specific contextual cues that are based on new knowledge in terms of features or contexts representatives of child and adult face. Given that the craniofacial cues contain enough structural information on visual cues on human face encoded in the form of high level features we can categorize age into adult and children in tandem with low level features. Finally, we will present a novel stochastic vision model based on Markov Random Fields (MRF) prior, which learned the pornographic contextual constraints from the training pornographic images and eventually introduce knowledge on pornography into our proposed stochastic classifier allowing classification of images into pornographic or benign.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Pillay, Manikam
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: This study investigated whether safe work method statements (SWMS) enhance or hinder resilience engineering (RE) as a health and safety management strategy in the Victorian construction industry. It is an important study because SWMS have been legislated by the federal and state governments as a fundamental risk control strategy for high-risk construction work; yet there is little empirical evidence to support this policy decision. Research on safety rules and procedures (to which SWMS can be associated) suggests they are not followed to the letter but adapted to suit context, and this adaptation is an important aspect of RE, a recent innovation in health and safety management.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Internet banking fraud detection using prudent analysis
- Authors: Maruatona, Omaru
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: The threat posed by cybercrime to individuals, banks and other online financial service providers is real and serious. Through phishing, unsuspecting victims’ Internet banking usernames and passwords are stolen and their accounts robbed. In addressing this issue, commercial banks and other financial institutions use a generically similar approach in their Internet banking fraud detection systems. This common approach involves the use of a rule-based system combined with an Artificial Neural Network (ANN). The approach used by commercial banks has limitations that affect their efficiency in curbing new fraudulent transactions. Firstly, the banks’ security systems are focused on preventing unauthorized entry and have no way of conclusively detecting an imposter using stolen credentials. Also, updating these systems is slow and their maintenance is labour-intensive and ultimately costly to the business. A major limitation of these rule-bases is brittleness; an inability to recognise the limits of their knowledge. To address the limitations highlighted above, this thesis proposes, develops and evaluates a new system for use in Internet banking fraud detection using Prudence Analysis, a technique through which a system can detect when its knowledge is insufficient for a given case. Specifically, the thesis proposes the following contributions:
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Maruatona, Omaru
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: The threat posed by cybercrime to individuals, banks and other online financial service providers is real and serious. Through phishing, unsuspecting victims’ Internet banking usernames and passwords are stolen and their accounts robbed. In addressing this issue, commercial banks and other financial institutions use a generically similar approach in their Internet banking fraud detection systems. This common approach involves the use of a rule-based system combined with an Artificial Neural Network (ANN). The approach used by commercial banks has limitations that affect their efficiency in curbing new fraudulent transactions. Firstly, the banks’ security systems are focused on preventing unauthorized entry and have no way of conclusively detecting an imposter using stolen credentials. Also, updating these systems is slow and their maintenance is labour-intensive and ultimately costly to the business. A major limitation of these rule-bases is brittleness; an inability to recognise the limits of their knowledge. To address the limitations highlighted above, this thesis proposes, develops and evaluates a new system for use in Internet banking fraud detection using Prudence Analysis, a technique through which a system can detect when its knowledge is insufficient for a given case. Specifically, the thesis proposes the following contributions:
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Nonsmooth optimization algorithms for clusterwise linear regression
- Authors: Mirzayeva, Hijran
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text: false
- Description: Data mining is about solving problems by analyzing data that present in databases. Supervised and unsupervised data classification (clustering) are among the most important techniques in data mining. Regression analysis is the process of fitting a function (often linear) to the data to discover how one or more variables vary as a function of another. The aim of clusterwise regression is to combine both of these techniques, to discover trends within data, when more than one trend is likely to exist. Clusterwise regression has applications for instance in market segmentation, where it allows one to gather information on customer behaviors for several unknown groups of customers. There exist different methods for solving clusterwise linear regression problems. In spite of that, the development of efficient algorithms for solving clusterwise linear regression problems is still an important research topic. In this thesis our aim is to develop new algorithms for solving clusterwise linear regression problems in large data sets based on incremental and nonsmooth optimization approaches. Three new methods for solving clusterwise linear regression problems are developed and numerically tested on publicly available data sets for regression analysis. The first method is a new algorithm for solving the clusterwise linear regression problems based on their nonsmooth nonconvex formulation. This is an incremental algorithm. The second method is a nonsmooth optimization algorithm for solving clusterwise linear regression problems. Nonsmooth optimization techniques are proposed to use instead of the Sp¨ath algorithm to solve optimization problems at each iteration of the incremental algorithm. The discrete gradient method is used to solve nonsmooth optimization problems at each iteration of the incremental algorithm. This approach allows one to reduce the CPU time and the number of regression problems solved in comparison with the first incremental algorithm. The third algorithm is an algorithm based on an incremental approach and on the smoothing techniques for solving clusterwise linear regression problems. The use of smoothing techniques allows one to apply powerful methods of smooth nonlinear programming to solve clusterwise linear regression problems. Numerical results are presented for all three algorithms using small to large data sets. The new algorithms are also compared with multi-start Sp¨ath algorithm for clusterwise linear regression.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
RNA sequencing data from the human kidney
- Authors: Charchar, Fadi
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Dataset
- Full Text: false
- Description: The aims of the project to determine the molecular cause of human hypertension. We will be studying abnormalities in the expression of RNA in human kidneys. RNA is the message by which DNA or our genes are expressed as protein that makes up most of the cell and its function. The data will consist of RNA sequences and saved as .txt .seq files using the Partek software. The collection contains a sample of 30 items. The data has been processed using sequencing software and collected by the http://www.agrf.org.au Australian Genome Research Facility http://www.agrf.org.au and is funded by a NHMRC project called the effect of non-coding RNA in human hypertension.
The presence and role of Thiamine and Riboflavin in the malting and brewing industries
- Authors: Hucker, Barry
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Thiamine and riboflavin vitamers are present in a wide range of foods including beer. They play critical roles in a variety of enzymatic complexes and can promote and maintain metabolism. Currently, the presence and role of these vitamers in the malting and brewing industry has not been widely explored. This research has investigated the effects of various malting and brewing processes on the final thiamine and riboflavin vitamer content of finished beer. In order to achieve this, a highly accurate and reproducible HPLC (spike recovery > 95 %; RSD < 5.0 %) method was developed that allowed the separation of thiamine diphosphate (TDP), thiamine monophosphate (TMP), thiamine, riboflavin 5-phosphate (FMN) and riboflavin in various sample matrices. This method was utilised to determine the vitamer content of various cereals and malts and it was found that malting vastly alters the thiamine content of malted barley, while it has minimal effect on riboflavin content. When malted barley is roasted, all vitamers are rapidly degraded. The mashing process releases the various vitamers into a solution and this release is dependent on temperature and enzymatic activity, while wort boiling significantly reduces the vitamer content of the wort. During fermentation, the thiamine content of wort is quickly utilised within the first six hours of standard fermentations and the uptake of this vitamin is not affected by increases in wort gravity. Meanwhile riboflavin is only poorly utilised during these fermentations. Post-fermentative additives, such as the addition of tannic acid and potassium metabisulphite, negatively affect the vitamin content of the final product while phosphorylated forms of these vitamins are greatly affected by the addition of many post-fermentative processing aids/additives. The presence of both thiamine and riboflavin can enhance the spoilage of beer by known brewery spoilage organisms, and the incorrect storage of bottle-conditioned beer can negatively affect the vitamin and organoleptic properties of the final product. These various steps involved in the production of beer greatly affect the final vitamin content, and this knowledge helps to explain the large variation in the thiamine and riboflavin vitamer content of a survey of 204 commercially available beers. This survey concluded that despite the large variations within particular styles of beer, lagers contain the least amount of thiamine compared to ales, stout/porters and wheat beers. However the average riboflavin content of the tested beers was statistically similar (p = 0.608) across all of the styles. This is due to the limited utilisation of this vitamin during fermentations.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Hucker, Barry
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Thiamine and riboflavin vitamers are present in a wide range of foods including beer. They play critical roles in a variety of enzymatic complexes and can promote and maintain metabolism. Currently, the presence and role of these vitamers in the malting and brewing industry has not been widely explored. This research has investigated the effects of various malting and brewing processes on the final thiamine and riboflavin vitamer content of finished beer. In order to achieve this, a highly accurate and reproducible HPLC (spike recovery > 95 %; RSD < 5.0 %) method was developed that allowed the separation of thiamine diphosphate (TDP), thiamine monophosphate (TMP), thiamine, riboflavin 5-phosphate (FMN) and riboflavin in various sample matrices. This method was utilised to determine the vitamer content of various cereals and malts and it was found that malting vastly alters the thiamine content of malted barley, while it has minimal effect on riboflavin content. When malted barley is roasted, all vitamers are rapidly degraded. The mashing process releases the various vitamers into a solution and this release is dependent on temperature and enzymatic activity, while wort boiling significantly reduces the vitamer content of the wort. During fermentation, the thiamine content of wort is quickly utilised within the first six hours of standard fermentations and the uptake of this vitamin is not affected by increases in wort gravity. Meanwhile riboflavin is only poorly utilised during these fermentations. Post-fermentative additives, such as the addition of tannic acid and potassium metabisulphite, negatively affect the vitamin content of the final product while phosphorylated forms of these vitamins are greatly affected by the addition of many post-fermentative processing aids/additives. The presence of both thiamine and riboflavin can enhance the spoilage of beer by known brewery spoilage organisms, and the incorrect storage of bottle-conditioned beer can negatively affect the vitamin and organoleptic properties of the final product. These various steps involved in the production of beer greatly affect the final vitamin content, and this knowledge helps to explain the large variation in the thiamine and riboflavin vitamer content of a survey of 204 commercially available beers. This survey concluded that despite the large variations within particular styles of beer, lagers contain the least amount of thiamine compared to ales, stout/porters and wheat beers. However the average riboflavin content of the tested beers was statistically similar (p = 0.608) across all of the styles. This is due to the limited utilisation of this vitamin during fermentations.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
An identification of the meanings(s) of 'development' in a Chinese village context : The first piece of a jigsaw puzzle
- Authors: Roy, Cameron
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: This thesis examines the meaning(s) of ‘development’ within a rural village in Sichuan province, China... Importantly, this thesis is a unique snapshot account containing grassroots stories about what development means from the voice and perspective of average Han villagers in a single village in contemporary rural China. (Taken from Abstract)
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Roy, Cameron
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: This thesis examines the meaning(s) of ‘development’ within a rural village in Sichuan province, China... Importantly, this thesis is a unique snapshot account containing grassroots stories about what development means from the voice and perspective of average Han villagers in a single village in contemporary rural China. (Taken from Abstract)
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Consultation and organisational maturity in the Victorian construction industry
- Authors: Ayers, Gerard
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Consultation is generally acknowledged both in Australia and internationally, as being essential if high levels of occupational health and safety (OHS) are to be achieved and maintained. In Victoria, such is the recognition of the important role that consultation plays in OHS, that it is mandated under the Victorian OHS regulatory framework. Indeed, all Australian OHS statutes now make provision, to varying degrees, for consultation to occur when dealing with OHS matters. This is principally conducted through OHS representatives and OHS committees. However, there is a growing body of opinion which raises concerns over whether such legislative provisions that provide for OHS consultation, is sufficiently adequate to ensure that the consultation is both meaningful and effective in terms of OHS outcomes. If this is the case, what might be missing or lacking from the consultation process, especially in hazardous and dangerous industries where OHS success would appear to be imperative? The Victorian construction industry, like the construction industry in general, is acknowledged for its dangerous and hazardous nature. It has a large transitory workforce with little permanent job security and often suffers from a multifarious and disjointed work organisation structure. Such features tend to work against an environment that openly recognises and encourages meaningful and effective consultation. These conditions also tend to confound the development of any kind of social and positive learning and communicative culture within the industry, leading to an underutilization of the knowledge and skill contained within the workforce. As well as failing to bring to fruition the full participation of workers in the management of OHS, the underutilization of knowledge and skill is potentially one of the largest hidden costs that an organisation may incur. The notion of organisational and cultural maturity is acknowledged both internationally and in Australia as a useful concept that can assist organisations in achieving higher standards and levels of OHS. This is especially so in high risk and hazardous industries such as the petrochemical, oil refinery and aviation industries. However, organisational and cultural maturity is arguably a relatively new and under-researched construct in the Victorian building and construction industry, while the concept of consultation within both the industry and the organisational maturity paradigm has not yet been sufficiently explored. The role that moral and ethical principles play in consultation is now beginning to emerge and gain wider recognition within the literature. This research project set out to examine how some of these principles were applied by senior site managers and OHS representatives of five Victorian construction companies during OHS consultation at five different constructions sites, and whether this consultation could be considered to be meaningful and effective. The companies who participated in this project were each allocated a level of organisational maturity, dependent upon how they managed various aspects of their business operations in terms of OHS. Senior managers and OHS representatives were chosen as participants in the research because they are generally acknowledged as the critical vectors in the sharing and transferring of knowledge and skill at the workplace. The data from this research suggest that regardless of the level of organisational maturity each organisation was deemed to have reached, and no matter how the individual participants applied the particular moral and ethical principles used during this research, the OHS consultation that took place on the different construction sites was limited to, and focused primarily on, everyday operational and execution aspects of the job, rather than more strategic and longer term OHS issues. The practical implications of this research are that if OHS consultation between senior managers and OHS representatives can be conducted in such a way as to openly and unambiguously recognise and apply particular moral and ethical principles, and if consultation is allowed to focus on more strategic and longer term OHS and organisational aspects of a construction project, this may yield more benefits, in terms of OHS outcomes, for all industry participants.
- Authors: Ayers, Gerard
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Consultation is generally acknowledged both in Australia and internationally, as being essential if high levels of occupational health and safety (OHS) are to be achieved and maintained. In Victoria, such is the recognition of the important role that consultation plays in OHS, that it is mandated under the Victorian OHS regulatory framework. Indeed, all Australian OHS statutes now make provision, to varying degrees, for consultation to occur when dealing with OHS matters. This is principally conducted through OHS representatives and OHS committees. However, there is a growing body of opinion which raises concerns over whether such legislative provisions that provide for OHS consultation, is sufficiently adequate to ensure that the consultation is both meaningful and effective in terms of OHS outcomes. If this is the case, what might be missing or lacking from the consultation process, especially in hazardous and dangerous industries where OHS success would appear to be imperative? The Victorian construction industry, like the construction industry in general, is acknowledged for its dangerous and hazardous nature. It has a large transitory workforce with little permanent job security and often suffers from a multifarious and disjointed work organisation structure. Such features tend to work against an environment that openly recognises and encourages meaningful and effective consultation. These conditions also tend to confound the development of any kind of social and positive learning and communicative culture within the industry, leading to an underutilization of the knowledge and skill contained within the workforce. As well as failing to bring to fruition the full participation of workers in the management of OHS, the underutilization of knowledge and skill is potentially one of the largest hidden costs that an organisation may incur. The notion of organisational and cultural maturity is acknowledged both internationally and in Australia as a useful concept that can assist organisations in achieving higher standards and levels of OHS. This is especially so in high risk and hazardous industries such as the petrochemical, oil refinery and aviation industries. However, organisational and cultural maturity is arguably a relatively new and under-researched construct in the Victorian building and construction industry, while the concept of consultation within both the industry and the organisational maturity paradigm has not yet been sufficiently explored. The role that moral and ethical principles play in consultation is now beginning to emerge and gain wider recognition within the literature. This research project set out to examine how some of these principles were applied by senior site managers and OHS representatives of five Victorian construction companies during OHS consultation at five different constructions sites, and whether this consultation could be considered to be meaningful and effective. The companies who participated in this project were each allocated a level of organisational maturity, dependent upon how they managed various aspects of their business operations in terms of OHS. Senior managers and OHS representatives were chosen as participants in the research because they are generally acknowledged as the critical vectors in the sharing and transferring of knowledge and skill at the workplace. The data from this research suggest that regardless of the level of organisational maturity each organisation was deemed to have reached, and no matter how the individual participants applied the particular moral and ethical principles used during this research, the OHS consultation that took place on the different construction sites was limited to, and focused primarily on, everyday operational and execution aspects of the job, rather than more strategic and longer term OHS issues. The practical implications of this research are that if OHS consultation between senior managers and OHS representatives can be conducted in such a way as to openly and unambiguously recognise and apply particular moral and ethical principles, and if consultation is allowed to focus on more strategic and longer term OHS and organisational aspects of a construction project, this may yield more benefits, in terms of OHS outcomes, for all industry participants.
Hermeneutic Constructivism : An Ontology for Qualitative Research
- Authors: Peck, Blake
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: This thesis begins with contemporary qualitative research, where the extent of what is understood about human experience is reduced to the representations constructed by researchers. In this situation, where the qualitative researcher has a monopoly on the representation produced, there is no scope for a consideration of the expressive nature of language – in particular, the way that language discloses the world differently for each individual person. Thus, the aim of this thesis is to develop a theoretical approach for understanding the personal realities of the people involved in qualitative research that reinstates the centrality of the dialogic in understanding.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Peck, Blake
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: This thesis begins with contemporary qualitative research, where the extent of what is understood about human experience is reduced to the representations constructed by researchers. In this situation, where the qualitative researcher has a monopoly on the representation produced, there is no scope for a consideration of the expressive nature of language – in particular, the way that language discloses the world differently for each individual person. Thus, the aim of this thesis is to develop a theoretical approach for understanding the personal realities of the people involved in qualitative research that reinstates the centrality of the dialogic in understanding.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Learning Bayesian networks based on optimization approaches
- Authors: Taheri, Sona
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Learning accurate classifiers from preclassified data is a very active research topic in machine learning and artifcial intelligence. There are numerous classifier paradigms, among which Bayesian Networks are very effective and well known in domains with uncertainty. Bayesian Networks are widely used representation frameworks for reasoning with probabilistic information. These models use graphs to capture dependence and independence relationships between feature variables, allowing a concise representation of the knowledge as well as efficient graph based query processing algorithms. This representation is defined by two components: structure learning and parameter learning. The structure of this model represents a directed acyclic graph. The nodes in the graph correspond to the feature variables in the domain, and the arcs (edges) show the causal relationships between feature variables. A directed edge relates the variables so that the variable corresponding to the terminal node (child) will be conditioned on the variable corresponding to the initial node (parent). The parameter learning represents probabilities and conditional probabilities based on prior information or past experience. The set of probabilities are represented in the conditional probability table. Once the network structure is constructed, the probabilistic inferences are readily calculated, and can be performed to predict the outcome of some variables based on the observations of others. However, the problem of structure learning is a complex problem since the number of candidate structures grows exponentially when the number of feature variables increases. This thesis is devoted to the development of learning structures and parameters in Bayesian Networks. Different models based on optimization techniques are introduced to construct an optimal structure of a Bayesian Network. These models also consider the improvement of the Naive Bayes' structure by developing new algorithms to alleviate the independence assumptions. We present various models to learn parameters of Bayesian Networks; in particular we propose optimization models for the Naive Bayes and the Tree Augmented Naive Bayes by considering different objective functions. To solve corresponding optimization problems in Bayesian Networks, we develop new optimization algorithms. Local optimization methods are introduced based on the combination of the gradient and Newton methods. It is proved that the proposed methods are globally convergent and have superlinear convergence rates. As a global search we use the global optimization method, AGOP, implemented in the open software library GANSO. We apply the proposed local methods in the combination with AGOP. Therefore, the main contributions of this thesis include (a) new algorithms for learning an optimal structure of a Bayesian Network; (b) new models for learning the parameters of Bayesian Networks with the given structures; and finally (c) new optimization algorithms for optimizing the proposed models in (a) and (b). To validate the proposed methods, we conduct experiments across a number of real world problems. Print version is available at: http://library.federation.edu.au/record=b1804607~S4
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Pleasure framed : the potential of constraint in the art process as a means to aesthetic freedom and positive connection to places of past colonialism
- Authors: Bolger, Wendy
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: "This art based project is a personal exploratory journey through the potential of constraint, to fine aesthetic freedom and positive connection with places of past colonisation - in particular Lake Mungo in New South Wales, and places of my pastoral background in New Zealand." --Abstract.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Bolger, Wendy
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: "This art based project is a personal exploratory journey through the potential of constraint, to fine aesthetic freedom and positive connection with places of past colonisation - in particular Lake Mungo in New South Wales, and places of my pastoral background in New Zealand." --Abstract.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Shared value priorities in groups : The impact of the Bahá’i Faith on Values
- Authors: Afshar, Faezeh
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Values such as honesty, meaning in life, pleasure, justice and freedom are guiding principles in motivating the selection and evaluation of individual behaviour and goals. They are also important for understanding cultural norms, attitudes and practices. In previous studies individuals and groups have often been found to be willing to subordinate their values toward goals and behaviours that are aligned with their own group; their ‘in-group’. Studies of values within a group have not reported evidence for the subordination of their values toward universal goals and behaviours; their ‘out-groups’. This research is the first to examine widely the values held by adherents of the Bahá’i Faith; a world-wide religious community that envisions a united global society. The main aim of this thesis is to discover and explain the system of value priorities held by Bahá’is. Data was obtained from an online survey of over one thousand responses to the cross-culturally validated ‘Schwartz Value Survey’. Data relating to the degree of commitment to religion referred to as religiosity, was also collected in addition to demographic information.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Afshar, Faezeh
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Values such as honesty, meaning in life, pleasure, justice and freedom are guiding principles in motivating the selection and evaluation of individual behaviour and goals. They are also important for understanding cultural norms, attitudes and practices. In previous studies individuals and groups have often been found to be willing to subordinate their values toward goals and behaviours that are aligned with their own group; their ‘in-group’. Studies of values within a group have not reported evidence for the subordination of their values toward universal goals and behaviours; their ‘out-groups’. This research is the first to examine widely the values held by adherents of the Bahá’i Faith; a world-wide religious community that envisions a united global society. The main aim of this thesis is to discover and explain the system of value priorities held by Bahá’is. Data was obtained from an online survey of over one thousand responses to the cross-culturally validated ‘Schwartz Value Survey’. Data relating to the degree of commitment to religion referred to as religiosity, was also collected in addition to demographic information.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Studies towards improved spray drying of
- Authors: Ghandi, Amir
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Thesis
- Full Text:
- Description: Spray drying is relatively cost effective, energy efficient and high throughput drying system, however, it is damaging to bacteria. This study investigated approaches and methods to improve the survival of lactic acid bacteria by modifying the drying conditions and/or adding protective substances to enhance bacterial survival and culture activity in spray dried culture powders. (Taken from Abstract)
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Ghandi, Amir
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Thesis
- Full Text:
- Description: Spray drying is relatively cost effective, energy efficient and high throughput drying system, however, it is damaging to bacteria. This study investigated approaches and methods to improve the survival of lactic acid bacteria by modifying the drying conditions and/or adding protective substances to enhance bacterial survival and culture activity in spray dried culture powders. (Taken from Abstract)
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
The Oneiric Veil in contemporary Australian art
- Authors: Devrome, Kelly
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: The Oneiric Veil in Contemporary Australian Art researches the use of the veil in modernist art and its generative capacity to visually evoke an oneiric space. The oneiric veil is a lens through which current conceptual approaches and practices in contemporary visual art can be understood. More precisely, the oneiric veil delineates an intermediary space present in current visual culture. Therefore, the research surveys the veil sign and applications of it employed by artists from an extended historical period to demonstrate connections that link the veil to the oneiric through traditional practice and theoretical concerns. (Taken from Abstract)
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Devrome, Kelly
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: The Oneiric Veil in Contemporary Australian Art researches the use of the veil in modernist art and its generative capacity to visually evoke an oneiric space. The oneiric veil is a lens through which current conceptual approaches and practices in contemporary visual art can be understood. More precisely, the oneiric veil delineates an intermediary space present in current visual culture. Therefore, the research surveys the veil sign and applications of it employed by artists from an extended historical period to demonstrate connections that link the veil to the oneiric through traditional practice and theoretical concerns. (Taken from Abstract)
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Video-based training to improve decision-making performance of Australian football umpires
- Authors: Larkin, Paul
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Highly refined perceptual and decision-making skills are fundamental to the umpiring process in all sports although there has been little applied research which considers ways to improve umpires‟ perceptual and decision-making skills. Contemporary research has shown that video-based decision-making tests reliably separate highly skilled Australian football umpires from their lesser skilled counterparts. To date however, no studies have considered whether video-based protocols can be used as a training tool to enhance perceptual-cognitive learning for Australian football umpires. Consequently, in this dissertation, three interconnected studies were undertaken to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of a video-based training program to improve Australian football umpires‟ decision-making. Video-based methods of assessment have been commonly used to evaluate perceptual-cognitive performance of sports athletes and officials however, a major limitation of these studies is that they have not indicated whether their decision-making test had good reliability and/or validity. Study 1 of this PhD project sought to address this issue, by developing a valid and reliable video-based testing tool to monitor Australian football umpires‟ decision-making performance. The video-based decision-making test was developed from a pool of 156 video-based decision-making situations that were extracted from 23 Australian Football League games. The individual video-clips presented between 6-15 seconds of game play and all audio information was removed to ensure this did not influence participant responses. Face, content and construct validity were demonstrated, which indicated that the testing instrument was a representative measure of decision-making skill in Australian football umpires. The reliability study also provided evidence that 48 clips consistently measured decision-making skill over a two week time period. This investigation provided evidence of a reliable and valid decision-making test which can be used (pre and post) to detect improvements in decision-making following the implementation of a video-based intervention (Study 2). Study 2 investigated whether a 12-week video-based training intervention improved umpire decision-making. Metropolitan and regional Victorian Division One Australian football umpires were assigned to an intervention and control group. The intervention group completed one 20-minute video-based decision-making session per week, which presented between 60 and 225 decision-making situations. In total, 1040 different decision-making scenarios were presented over the duration of the program. In contrast to previous video-based training, the current investigation provided no explicit instruction or feedback. The control group only completed the pre and post decision-making tests. Decision-making performance of the intervention group significantly improved over time (p < 0.01), however no significant differences were observed in the control group (p = 0.94). The significant improvement of the intervention group mirrors the findings of other perceptual-cognitive research however, this study extended previous work by incorporating a greater number of decision-making trials and a discovery learning style. Findings indicated that decision-making skills can be improved without explicit instruction and in game experience. In addition, when separated according to umpire experience, participation in the video-based training program assisted less experienced umpires achieve the same decision-making standard on the video-based retention test as experienced umpires who did not complete any decision-making training (p = 0.85). Furthermore, decision-making performance of experienced umpires also showed significant improvement following participation in the video-based program (p = 0.02). Study 3 implemented a case study approach to investigate whether decision-making skills trained via video-based methods transferred to in-game performance. In-game performance of three participants from Study 2 (intervention group) were monitored (video-recoded and coded) during the Australian football season. In addition, qualitative methods were used to provide an understanding of the cognitive decision-making process of the three umpires. During the five monitored games each participant wore a voice recorder and were asked to „think out loud‟, providing a verbal report of their in-game decision-making process. Following the assessment of all five games, semi-structured interviews were conducted to provide further understanding of cognitive processes associated with each umpires‟ decision-making. Findings identified six themes that related to the in-game decision-making process (e.g., decision evaluation, player intention during game-play) and in-game umpire performance (e.g., anticipation, game-play instructions, player education, knowledge of game-play). Results supported the notion of skill transfer between video-based training and in-game decision-making performance, with all three participants improving their in-game decision-making performance from the first two games to the last two games analysed. This study provides initial evidence that video-based decision-making training can enhance in-game decision-making performance. Therefore, confirming that there is potential for skills developed through video-based training to transfer to in-game decision-making performance. As this was the first study to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of a video-based training program to improve Australian football umpires‟ decision-making, this PhD makes a significant and meaningful contribution to empirical knowledge. This study provides insight into the need for valid and reliable decision-making tests, and consideration of these constructs in future research will ensure a comprehensive approach to investigate the potential transfer of decision-making skills from video-based training programs to in-game performance. From a practical perspective, the findings from this study highlight the value of video-based decision-making activities to accelerate the decision-making performance of umpires without the need for extensive time commitment and/or in-game experience. This has important implications for the development of future Australian football umpires, particularly as the current video-based program can be modified and/ or used in current umpire training without the need for large time investment by umpire coaches. Furthermore, positive transfer from video-based training to in-game performance was evident, thus, confirming the potential for video-based training to improve in-game performance. Whilst further research using high quality research designs is required, this dissertation serves to guide further video-based training research across multiple decision-making domains in sport (i.e., umpires/referees, players).
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Larkin, Paul
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Highly refined perceptual and decision-making skills are fundamental to the umpiring process in all sports although there has been little applied research which considers ways to improve umpires‟ perceptual and decision-making skills. Contemporary research has shown that video-based decision-making tests reliably separate highly skilled Australian football umpires from their lesser skilled counterparts. To date however, no studies have considered whether video-based protocols can be used as a training tool to enhance perceptual-cognitive learning for Australian football umpires. Consequently, in this dissertation, three interconnected studies were undertaken to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of a video-based training program to improve Australian football umpires‟ decision-making. Video-based methods of assessment have been commonly used to evaluate perceptual-cognitive performance of sports athletes and officials however, a major limitation of these studies is that they have not indicated whether their decision-making test had good reliability and/or validity. Study 1 of this PhD project sought to address this issue, by developing a valid and reliable video-based testing tool to monitor Australian football umpires‟ decision-making performance. The video-based decision-making test was developed from a pool of 156 video-based decision-making situations that were extracted from 23 Australian Football League games. The individual video-clips presented between 6-15 seconds of game play and all audio information was removed to ensure this did not influence participant responses. Face, content and construct validity were demonstrated, which indicated that the testing instrument was a representative measure of decision-making skill in Australian football umpires. The reliability study also provided evidence that 48 clips consistently measured decision-making skill over a two week time period. This investigation provided evidence of a reliable and valid decision-making test which can be used (pre and post) to detect improvements in decision-making following the implementation of a video-based intervention (Study 2). Study 2 investigated whether a 12-week video-based training intervention improved umpire decision-making. Metropolitan and regional Victorian Division One Australian football umpires were assigned to an intervention and control group. The intervention group completed one 20-minute video-based decision-making session per week, which presented between 60 and 225 decision-making situations. In total, 1040 different decision-making scenarios were presented over the duration of the program. In contrast to previous video-based training, the current investigation provided no explicit instruction or feedback. The control group only completed the pre and post decision-making tests. Decision-making performance of the intervention group significantly improved over time (p < 0.01), however no significant differences were observed in the control group (p = 0.94). The significant improvement of the intervention group mirrors the findings of other perceptual-cognitive research however, this study extended previous work by incorporating a greater number of decision-making trials and a discovery learning style. Findings indicated that decision-making skills can be improved without explicit instruction and in game experience. In addition, when separated according to umpire experience, participation in the video-based training program assisted less experienced umpires achieve the same decision-making standard on the video-based retention test as experienced umpires who did not complete any decision-making training (p = 0.85). Furthermore, decision-making performance of experienced umpires also showed significant improvement following participation in the video-based program (p = 0.02). Study 3 implemented a case study approach to investigate whether decision-making skills trained via video-based methods transferred to in-game performance. In-game performance of three participants from Study 2 (intervention group) were monitored (video-recoded and coded) during the Australian football season. In addition, qualitative methods were used to provide an understanding of the cognitive decision-making process of the three umpires. During the five monitored games each participant wore a voice recorder and were asked to „think out loud‟, providing a verbal report of their in-game decision-making process. Following the assessment of all five games, semi-structured interviews were conducted to provide further understanding of cognitive processes associated with each umpires‟ decision-making. Findings identified six themes that related to the in-game decision-making process (e.g., decision evaluation, player intention during game-play) and in-game umpire performance (e.g., anticipation, game-play instructions, player education, knowledge of game-play). Results supported the notion of skill transfer between video-based training and in-game decision-making performance, with all three participants improving their in-game decision-making performance from the first two games to the last two games analysed. This study provides initial evidence that video-based decision-making training can enhance in-game decision-making performance. Therefore, confirming that there is potential for skills developed through video-based training to transfer to in-game decision-making performance. As this was the first study to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of a video-based training program to improve Australian football umpires‟ decision-making, this PhD makes a significant and meaningful contribution to empirical knowledge. This study provides insight into the need for valid and reliable decision-making tests, and consideration of these constructs in future research will ensure a comprehensive approach to investigate the potential transfer of decision-making skills from video-based training programs to in-game performance. From a practical perspective, the findings from this study highlight the value of video-based decision-making activities to accelerate the decision-making performance of umpires without the need for extensive time commitment and/or in-game experience. This has important implications for the development of future Australian football umpires, particularly as the current video-based program can be modified and/ or used in current umpire training without the need for large time investment by umpire coaches. Furthermore, positive transfer from video-based training to in-game performance was evident, thus, confirming the potential for video-based training to improve in-game performance. Whilst further research using high quality research designs is required, this dissertation serves to guide further video-based training research across multiple decision-making domains in sport (i.e., umpires/referees, players).
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Managing international knowledge transfer in Chinese firms
- Authors: Tian, Feng
- Date: 2011
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text: false
- Description: This dissertation reports on an empirical study of the management of knowledge and technology transfer by Chinese companies acquiring product, process and organizational knowledge from overseas partners.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Tian, Feng
- Date: 2011
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text: false
- Description: This dissertation reports on an empirical study of the management of knowledge and technology transfer by Chinese companies acquiring product, process and organizational knowledge from overseas partners.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Optimization of the vehicle suspension systems for improved comfort levels and advanced steering properties
- Authors: Kuznetsov, Alexey
- Date: 2011
- Type: Text , Thesis
- Full Text:
- Description: There is a considerable body of research on the modelling and optimization of vehicle suspension systems. The main focus in most publications is an optimization procedure undertaken to find the values of the model parameters that satisfy certain operating requirements. However, the methods proposed do not always offer a broad variety of concepts and techniques. Most of these methods aim to find optimal values of suspension system parameters with respect to some optimality criteria that are often not explicitly formulated. In addition, none of the reviewed works utilizes existing guidelines and standards, on the vibration exposure on humans, to formulate optimization criteria. This would produce more applicable results of industrial and commercial merit. It is also important to mention that only a limited number of works offered numerical examples where real road conditions are employed for the optimization procedure. The presented thesis is devoted to development of a methodology for the optimization of vehicle suspension systems on the basis of two criteria: the improved comfort levels and advanced steering properties. The developed methodology is applied to various Australian roads, including highways, city roads, and country roads. It consists of a few steps as detailed below. The first step features the construction of a mathematical model for the vibration analysis of the vehicle suspension system. In the thesis different types of the quarter-car models and different biomechanical models for the driver are considered. All models considered are described by the corresponding systems of linear differential equations. The second step is undertaken to construct criteria to evaluate the comfort levels for the driver and passengers. For this purpose, a criterion was adopted from the ISO 2631 (1997) standards to quantify the comfort levels during a ride. To utilize this criterion, the steady-state vibrations, obtained from the system Differential Equations for various excitation frequencies, have been combined via a novel mathematical approach undertaken to eliminate the need to include the time of exposure in the calculations. This will enhance the applicability of the proposed method and simplify its implementation. 3 The third step is devoted to constructing a criterion to quantify the steering properties of a vehicle. The developed formula, which is based on an engineering understanding of how wheel vibration impacts the force interaction between the wheel and road, is proposed for the first time in the current thesis. The formula will serve as a criterion for advanced handling performance of passenger vehicles. The final step is undertaken to formulate optimization problems for finding the suspension system parameters which ensure improved comfort levels as well as admissible steering performance for the vehicle. For the analysis, these two criteria were employed to construct multi-criteria optimization problems and also singlecriteria optimization problems that incorporate both criteria. The developed methodology for the optimization of vehicle suspension systems is tested in a number of numerical examples using power spectral densities of several highways, city roads and country roads in Australia. Thus, it allows to offer recommendations for the optimal tuning of vehicle suspension systems taking into account real road conditions, steering performances and ISO 2631 (1997) standards for comfort levels.
- Description: Professional Doctorate
- Authors: Kuznetsov, Alexey
- Date: 2011
- Type: Text , Thesis
- Full Text:
- Description: There is a considerable body of research on the modelling and optimization of vehicle suspension systems. The main focus in most publications is an optimization procedure undertaken to find the values of the model parameters that satisfy certain operating requirements. However, the methods proposed do not always offer a broad variety of concepts and techniques. Most of these methods aim to find optimal values of suspension system parameters with respect to some optimality criteria that are often not explicitly formulated. In addition, none of the reviewed works utilizes existing guidelines and standards, on the vibration exposure on humans, to formulate optimization criteria. This would produce more applicable results of industrial and commercial merit. It is also important to mention that only a limited number of works offered numerical examples where real road conditions are employed for the optimization procedure. The presented thesis is devoted to development of a methodology for the optimization of vehicle suspension systems on the basis of two criteria: the improved comfort levels and advanced steering properties. The developed methodology is applied to various Australian roads, including highways, city roads, and country roads. It consists of a few steps as detailed below. The first step features the construction of a mathematical model for the vibration analysis of the vehicle suspension system. In the thesis different types of the quarter-car models and different biomechanical models for the driver are considered. All models considered are described by the corresponding systems of linear differential equations. The second step is undertaken to construct criteria to evaluate the comfort levels for the driver and passengers. For this purpose, a criterion was adopted from the ISO 2631 (1997) standards to quantify the comfort levels during a ride. To utilize this criterion, the steady-state vibrations, obtained from the system Differential Equations for various excitation frequencies, have been combined via a novel mathematical approach undertaken to eliminate the need to include the time of exposure in the calculations. This will enhance the applicability of the proposed method and simplify its implementation. 3 The third step is devoted to constructing a criterion to quantify the steering properties of a vehicle. The developed formula, which is based on an engineering understanding of how wheel vibration impacts the force interaction between the wheel and road, is proposed for the first time in the current thesis. The formula will serve as a criterion for advanced handling performance of passenger vehicles. The final step is undertaken to formulate optimization problems for finding the suspension system parameters which ensure improved comfort levels as well as admissible steering performance for the vehicle. For the analysis, these two criteria were employed to construct multi-criteria optimization problems and also singlecriteria optimization problems that incorporate both criteria. The developed methodology for the optimization of vehicle suspension systems is tested in a number of numerical examples using power spectral densities of several highways, city roads and country roads in Australia. Thus, it allows to offer recommendations for the optimal tuning of vehicle suspension systems taking into account real road conditions, steering performances and ISO 2631 (1997) standards for comfort levels.
- Description: Professional Doctorate
The relationship between internalised homophobia, sense of belonging to specific communities and depressive symptoms among self-identified gay men
- Authors: Davidson, Kenneth
- Date: 2011
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: This study explored depressive symptoms among gay men. Gay men who internalised anti-gay attitudes experienced more depressive symptoms, where as gay men who reported a sense of belonging to gay friends and the general community reported fewer depressive symptoms.
- Description: Doctor of Psychology (Clinical)
- Authors: Davidson, Kenneth
- Date: 2011
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: This study explored depressive symptoms among gay men. Gay men who internalised anti-gay attitudes experienced more depressive symptoms, where as gay men who reported a sense of belonging to gay friends and the general community reported fewer depressive symptoms.
- Description: Doctor of Psychology (Clinical)
Ageing under the rainbow : The interrelations between age, sense of belonging, and mental health among Australian gay men
- Authors: Morris, Simon
- Date: 2010
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: This research investigated the interrelations between gay men’s age, sense of belonging (to the general community, the broader gay community, gay groups and with gay friends) and mental health by testing four models: direct, mediation, additive and moderation.
- Description: Doctor of Psychology (Clinical)
- Authors: Morris, Simon
- Date: 2010
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: This research investigated the interrelations between gay men’s age, sense of belonging (to the general community, the broader gay community, gay groups and with gay friends) and mental health by testing four models: direct, mediation, additive and moderation.
- Description: Doctor of Psychology (Clinical)