Spiritual Art : evoking the numinous using a 3D computer game engine
- Authors: Nelson, Christopher
- Date: 2007
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
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- Description: The Seven Valleys is an interactive 3D installation based artwork inspired by mystical writings of the Bahá'í Faith. Created as a modification of the firstperson shooter Unreal Tournament 2003 (Epic, 2003) it subverts the original paradigm of the game to create an experience of the numinous, which in spirit, is diametrically opposed to the original intent of the gameplay design. This artwork presents an exploration of, and allusion to, the often subtle and illusive concepts found in the sacred treatise The Seven Valleys (Bahá'u'lláh, 1991) in which the user engages in an experiential journey through the work. The user is faced with conditions and situations that provide motivation to question, explore and attempt to fathom the abstract sense of the numinous. Each of The Seven Valleys contains its own individual mysteries while at the same time contributing its part to the telling of a collective story.
- Description: Master of Arts
Spatial modelling of the relationship between respiratory admissions and ambient air pollution
- Authors: Pearce, Dora
- Date: 2002
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
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- Description: "The aims of this research were to investigate the association between air pollution and respiratory health effects using a spatial approach, and to derive a composite indicator of ambient air pollution."
- Description: Master of Information Technology by Research
Space : Contemplating the voids
- Authors: Zuccolo, Michelle
- Date: 2006
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
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- Description: This research project into the manipulation of spatial concepts by artists on the two-dimensional surface plane, has involved a selected study into cultural and aesthetic evolution from early civilization through to the present era. I have cast a line of inquiry into eastern, western and primitive art practices, observing the journey of chance accelerated by developments in technology. Traditionally artists utilized modes of spatial convention and techniques according to the specific cultural traditions of the time and place of their production. By contrast, contemporary artists know no such boundaries, and are able to select from a range of spatial options relevant both to current forms of expression and to a personal visual language. My own art practice has been enriched and extended, increasing my ability to challenge the notion of still life composition by reversing the traditional hierarchy of form and space through the application of a series of experiments brought about by extensive research into this spatial evolution. The research project has further assisted this development in my art practice by engaging me in a new level of understanding of the topic, informing my perceptions and increasing my ability to translate a combination of forms in space with heightened emotion and personal meaning.
- Description: Master of Arts (Visual Arts)
Ship of Fools
- Authors: Collins, Julie
- Date: 2008
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
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- Description: The Ship of Fools is an ancient allegory that has long been a part of Western culture in literature, art and song... It has been chosen by many to comment on contemporary issues throughout history, highlighting the foibles of that society. The ship of fools however is also about our world, as a vessel, full of passengers of humanity, full of those who have no care what they do or where they are going... It is the 21st Century and we are all sailing on a Ship of Fools. We consume beyond reason, we want, and get the latest, newest, biggest things. We complain about interest rates and petrol prices, but consume beyond reason often with purchases on credit we don't really need.
- Description: Master of Arts (Visual Arts)
Sacred landscape : An unsettling
- Authors: Whitson, Robert
- Date: 2002
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
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- Description: "This project is concerned with a visual exploration of the land of the Western Plains of Victoria and the nature of "the sacred" in that landscape. Specifically, I have explored these ideas through the medium of painting and works on paper. The studio practice has been informed both by my personal experiencs of this geographic region and by research into the histories associated with white settlement and the subsequent forms of erasue of aboriginal presence."
- Description: Master of Arts- (Visual Arts)
Restoration ecology in the semi-arid woodlands of north-west Victoria
- Authors: Murdoch, Fiona
- Date: 2005
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
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- Description: Arid areas are often overgrazed and dysfunctional with poor recruitment of desirable species, diminished control over resources and altered soil properties. Restoration ecology re-establishes these valued processes. State-and-transition models summarise knowledge of vegetation dynamics and tools for restoration, and encourage the incorporation of new information. The model developed here for semi-arid woodlands of north-west Victoria highlighted the unknown cause of observed, natural recruitment and the need for a technique, other than direct seeding and handplanting, for enhancing the recruitment of desirable species. I pursued these knowledge gaps for two dominant, woodland trees: Allocasuarina luehmannii and Casuarina pauper. Natural recruitment of juvenile C. pauper was found to be limited and primarily from root suckers. Extensive recruitment of A. luehmannii was shown to be mostly seedlings established following substantial reductions in grazing pressure since 1996. Seedlings were associated with areas devoid of ground flora near a female tree. The importance of competition between seedlings and ground flora, spatial variation in soil moisture and individual variation in the quantity of seed produced deserves further investigation to enhance future restoration success. Root suckers of both C. pauper and A. luehmannii can be artificially initiated, albeit in low numbers and this was found to be a feasible, new tool for restoration. Suckers are preceded by the growth of callus tissue on exposed or damaged, living, shallow roots. Both male and female trees can produce suckers and spring treatments may be more successful. Genetic fingerprinting of mature A. luehmannii and C. pauper trees in six populations did not identify any clonal individuals indicating that recruitment in the past has been from seedlings. Despite this, the high level of gene flow suggests that the impact of introducing small numbers of root suckers into existing populations is unlikely to impact negatively on the population genetics of these species.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Resistance training efficiency : The efficacy of paired sets
- Authors: Robbins, Daniel
- Date: 2009
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
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- Description: A paired set (PS) refers to the coupling of exercises targeting agonist-antagonist muscle groups and performed coincidentally. Although PS have been prescribed by strength and conditioning coaches as a means of developing strength and power, scientific research investigating their efficacy is limited. The aim of this research was to investigate not only the efficacy of PS, but also their efficiency.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Reflective space : A personal journey towards a re-envisioning of the Australian landscape
- Authors: Donald, Colin
- Date: 2008
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
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- Description: Whilst the notion of the ‘Reflective Space’ could arguably encompass many conceptual positions and propositions, for the purposes of this research investigation the ‘Reflective Space’ referred to in the title of this exegesis will focus upon what I consider as an emerging and growing consciousness of the natural world. As a theoretical and conceptual construct, the investigation considers how this growing consciousness can be seen to be expressed through the medium of representations of the Australian landscape. This work considers a number of contemporary theoretical positions and a number of relevant social and political questions; it also acknowledges that within such spheres of reflection, the issue of being sustainable in relation to our interactions and perceptions of this natural world looms as perhaps one of the most pressing of our time. While it will be acknowledged that the depiction of landscape enjoys a long-standing tradition within the Australian cultural mind, the suggestion will be made that certain aspects of these visualisations can be seen to be ‘reflective’ of a visual, cultural and physical degradation, and indeed even an apprehension of the physical ‘space’ that is represented as landscape. The investigation considers and reflects upon what can be observed as contentious and ambivalent attitudes expressed towards landscape perceived through works of art. Strategies for adopting a perceptual visual ethic grounded within the concepts and principles of sustainability will be presented for consideration. By applying such modes of interpretation to perceptions of land and landscape depiction, new appreciations for the cultural ‘space’ that is landscape will be developed. Such understandings will consider and reflect upon the temporal nature of our natural world. The thesis is this: that to be able to think and act in a sustainable fashion in relation to our environment, our perceptions and interpretations of visualisations of landscape must include a recognition that the land is a ‘temporal’ space, in which past and possible futures are immanent in the present.
- Description: PhD (Visual Arts)
Reaching the heart : Assessing & nurturing spiritual well-being via education
- Authors: Fisher, John
- Date: 2008
- Type: Text , Thesis , EdD
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- Description: Several quantitative measures of spiritual well-being were developed with primary and secondary school students and teachers, and university education students, namely the Spiritual Health And Life-Orientation Measure, Feeling Good, Living Life, and the Quality Of Life Influences Survey. Spiritual dissonance was revealed by comparing respondents’ ‘ideals’ with ‘lived experiences’ in four domains of spiritual well-being. Teachers and university education students reported a decline in help being provided in schools to develop the relationships which foster school students’ spiritual well-being.
- Description: Doctor of Education EdD
Radical Tasmania: Rebellion, reaction and resistance: A thesis in creative nonfiction
- Authors: Hodder, Robert
- Date: 2009
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
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- Description: Radical Tasmania is a political history of radicals in Tasmania theorised and narrated in creative nonfiction.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Quoting landscape : an investigative journey across the landscape of the Westen district of Victoria
- Authors: Donald, Colin
- Date: 2004
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
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- Description: "This research project aims to provide a contemporary visualisation of "specific sites." The visualisation of these selected landscapes will draw upon and add to existing traditions of representation of this region, embedding my experiences within this dialogue."
- Description: Master of Arts (Visual Arts)
Psychosocial support use among men with cancer living in rural and regional areas
- Authors: Corboy, Denise
- Date: 2008
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
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- Description: The main aim of the current study was to investigate formal and informal psychosocial support use among a sample of men with cancer living in rural and regional Australia, and to examine how use of psychosocial support is related to psychological, physical and social wellbeing.
- Description: Master of Applied Science (Psychology)
Progress in Australia over the 20th century : the ups, downs and reversals that occurred in Australian human wellbeing over the 20th century
- Authors: Gathercole, Michael
- Date: 2005
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
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- Description: "This study is an investigation of progress in Australia over the 20th century. Progress is defined here as the enhancement of human wellbeing. For the purposes of this study, human wellbeing will be characterised by five main components: knowledge, environment, economy, individual and social. Enhancement refers to positive directional change in terms of these components. The study firstly develops a framework to conceptualise progress. It then collects and uses statistical data in a descriptive study of what happened in Australia, over those 100 years, in terms of progress in general and in terms of its components. The study also develops a typology of relationships for models of progress, which best explain the Australian data. This study finally explores some of the relationships between the elements that make up the components of progress and looks at ways to best explain what has happened..." --p.1.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Program behaviour modelling with flexible logical entity abstraction
- Authors: Andrews, David
- Date: 2006
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
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- Description: "This study extends the use of abstration in program behaviour modelling, and provides a flexible abstraction technique that allows modelling in terms of the logical abstract concepts with which a program operates. This technique is called a Logical Entity Abstracted Program Behaviour Modelling (LEAPBM)."--leaf [ii]
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Professional help-seeking among women : development and testing of a model
- Authors: Vanderhorst, Renee
- Date: 2007
- Type: Text , Thesis , Doctorate
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- Description: Professional Doctorate of Psychology (Clinical)
Predictors of post-traumatic stress symptoms after a motor vehicle accident
- Authors: Meagher, Brendan
- Date: 2006
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
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- Description: "The first report describes a case of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) in a pregnant women living in regional Australia. It begins with a discussion of issues of relevance to the treatment of a pregnant woman with MDD. It also describes the evidence based treatment provided and the results achieved for this client. The second report follows the same format to describe a case of PTSD in a married mother living in regional Australia following a suicide attempt. The third report describes a case of Bipolar I disorder in a separated mother living in regional Australia. Finally, fourth report explores the professional and ethical issues associated with the practice of clinical psychology [...]. This report explores professional issues which include self-care requirements and strategies, initial client contact, communication with colleagues and professional development and client records. Ethical issues covered include professional competency, termination of relationships and confidentiality."
- Description: Doctor of Psychology (Clinical)
Pharmacovigilance Decision Support : The value of Disproportionality Analysis Signal Detection Methods, the development and testing of Covariability Techniques, and the importance of Ontology
- Authors: Saunders, Gary
- Date: 2006
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
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- Description: The cost of adverse drug reactions to society in the form of deaths, chronic illness, foetal malformation, and many other effects is quite significant. For example, in the United States of America, adverse reactions to prescribed drugs is around the fourth leading cause of death. The reporting of adverse drug reactions is spontaneous and voluntary in Australia. Many methods that have been used for the analysis of adverse drug reaction data, mostly using a statistical approach as a basis for clinical analysis in drug safety surveillance decision support. This thesis examines new approaches that may be used in the analysis of drug safety data. These methods differ significantly from the statistical methods in that they utilize co variability methods of association to define drug-reaction relationships. Co variability algorithms were developed in collaboration with Musa Mammadov to discover drugs associated with adverse reactions and possible drug-drug interactions. This method uses the system organ class (SOC) classification in the Australian Adverse Drug Reaction Advisory Committee (ADRAC) data to stratify reactions. The text categorization algorithm BoosTexter was found to work with the same drug safety data and its performance and modus operandi was compared to our algorithms. These alternative methods were compared to a standard disproportionality analysis methods for signal detection in drug safety data including the Bayesean mulit-item gamma Poisson shrinker (MGPS), which was found to have a problem with similar reaction terms in a report and innocent by-stander drugs. A classification of drug terms was made using the anatomical-therapeutic-chemical classification (ATC) codes. This reduced the number of drug variables from 5081 drug terms to 14 main drug classes. The ATC classification is structured into a hierarchy of five levels. Exploitation of the ATC hierarchy allows the drug safety data to be stratified in such a way as to make them accessible to powerful existing tools. A data mining method that uses association rules, which groups them on the basis of content, was used as a basis for applying the ATC and SOC ontologies to ADRAC data. This allows different views of these associations (even very rare ones). A signal detection method was developed using these association rules, which also incorporates critical reaction terms.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Parent-mediated pathways to care for rural adolescents with depression
- Authors: Jamieson, Rachel
- Date: 2008
- Type: Thesis , PhD
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- Description: This research aimed to explore the role of parents in seeking help for rural adolescents with depression.
- Description: Doctor of Psychology (Clinical)
Outcomes and implications of a koala translocation in the Ballarat region
- Authors: Santamaria, Flavia
- Date: 2002
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
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- Description: This research examined the outcome of a translocation of 30 koalas moved from French Island to three sites on mainland Victoria (Creswick, Enfield and Lal Lal State Forests)
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Optimization based methods for solving some problems in telecommunications and the internet
- Authors: Jia, Long
- Date: 2005
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
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- Description: The purpose of this thesis is to develop some new algorithms based on optimization techniques for solving some problems in some areas of telecommunications and the Internet. There are two main parts to this thesis. In the first part we discuss optimization based stochastic and queueing models in telecommunications network corrective maintenance. In the second part we develop optimization based clustering (OBC) algorithms for network evolution and multicast routing. The most typical scenario encountered during mathematical optimization modelling in telecommunications, for example, is to minimize the cost of establishment and maintenance of the networks subject to the performance constraints of the networks and the reliability constraints of the networks as well. Most of these optimization problems are global optimization, that is, they have many local minima and most of these local minima do not provide any useful information for solving these problems. Therefore, the development of effective methods for solving such global optimization problems is important. To run the telecommunications networks with cost-effective network maintenance,we need to establish a practical maintenance model and optimize it. In the first part of the thesis, we solve a known stochastic programming maintenance optimization model with a direct method and then develop some new models. After that we introduce queue programming models in telecommunications network maintenance optimization. The ideas of profit, loss, and penalty will help telecommunications companies have a good view of their maintenance policies and help them improve their service. In the second part of this thesis we propose the use of optimization based clustering (OBC) algorithms to determine level-constrained hierarchical trees for network evolution and multicast routing. This problem is formulated as an optimization problem with a non-smooth, non-convex objective function. Different algorithms are examined for solving this problem. Results of numerical experiments using some artifiicial and real-world databases are reported.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy