Enhancing integration of specialised exercise training into coach practice to prevent lower-limb injury : Using theory and exploring coaches' salient beliefs
- Authors: McGlashan, Angela
- Date: 2015
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Lower limb injuries (LLIs) are common in community-Australian football (CAF) and specialised exercise training (SET) programs can reduce their incidence. Despite the protection SET programs afford, the use of SET by coaches in CAF contexts, who play a key role in the preparation of players, is largely unknown. The overall purpose of this thesis research was to explore and describe: (1) the contextual and specific nature of CAF coaching practices, and, (2) the factors central to understanding whether or not coaches will make changes in their training practices in the future. Thereby, assisting to devise effective behaviour change and implementation strategies that maximise future integration (adoption and maintainence) of SET programs in CAF contexts to reduce the risk of LLIs for players. This mixed methods research was underpinned by a combination of behavioural and social science theories and models (BSSTM). Coaches’ were sampled from CAF clubs in Victoria and Western Australia. Eligible coaches completed cross-sectional questionnaires pre (n=31) and post (n=28) season in 2007/08. Three coaches engaged in semi-structured, in-depth interviews, 12-18 months later. At preseason, 58% of coaches used injury prevention strategies with their team. Only 69% of them had a formal training plan for the entire season, and most did not explicitly incorporate SET programs, despite their views being favourable towards the latter. Coaches believed their players had a high chance of sustaining a LLI and that LLI could have serious consequences. They believed it was important to have current knowledge of SET programs, but many lacked the behavioural capability and self-efficacy to implement SET programs. They also reported that player attendance at training could also impact on SET program outcomes. Postseason findings were similar with generally positive SET outcome expectancies; many coaches reported they intended to modify SET program implementation in future seasons. Suggested improvements related to collaboration, feedback/reinforcement approaches, education and other sociocultural themes. Coaches reported divergent views about their self-efficacy in relation to SET program implementation but were motivated by what their players thought. Qualitative analysis of the in-depth interviews identified four main themes (and associated coach salient beliefs) that supported and extended quantitative findings. These included: (1) the development of coach behavioural capability/self-efficacy (including informal and formal learning sources), (2) biopsychosocial risk perceptions regarding players’ injury susceptibility, (3) facilitators and hindrances to adopting/maintaining SET, and (4) cues to action/planning. The promotion of SET programs to reduce the susceptibility of LLIs and ensure safe and sustainable participation in AF is important. This thesis has captured a complexity of factors that can be used to enhance and facilitate CAF coaches’ adoption and maintenance of SET, alongside wider-prevention efforts. Future research should continue to use a range of BSSTM and methodological approaches, and devise and evaluate the efficacy of a comprehensive taxonomy of cognitive-behavioural strategies, to provide more insight into effective translation of SET programs into practice. Coaches and their players will be safer if such work continues.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: McGlashan, Angela
- Date: 2015
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Lower limb injuries (LLIs) are common in community-Australian football (CAF) and specialised exercise training (SET) programs can reduce their incidence. Despite the protection SET programs afford, the use of SET by coaches in CAF contexts, who play a key role in the preparation of players, is largely unknown. The overall purpose of this thesis research was to explore and describe: (1) the contextual and specific nature of CAF coaching practices, and, (2) the factors central to understanding whether or not coaches will make changes in their training practices in the future. Thereby, assisting to devise effective behaviour change and implementation strategies that maximise future integration (adoption and maintainence) of SET programs in CAF contexts to reduce the risk of LLIs for players. This mixed methods research was underpinned by a combination of behavioural and social science theories and models (BSSTM). Coaches’ were sampled from CAF clubs in Victoria and Western Australia. Eligible coaches completed cross-sectional questionnaires pre (n=31) and post (n=28) season in 2007/08. Three coaches engaged in semi-structured, in-depth interviews, 12-18 months later. At preseason, 58% of coaches used injury prevention strategies with their team. Only 69% of them had a formal training plan for the entire season, and most did not explicitly incorporate SET programs, despite their views being favourable towards the latter. Coaches believed their players had a high chance of sustaining a LLI and that LLI could have serious consequences. They believed it was important to have current knowledge of SET programs, but many lacked the behavioural capability and self-efficacy to implement SET programs. They also reported that player attendance at training could also impact on SET program outcomes. Postseason findings were similar with generally positive SET outcome expectancies; many coaches reported they intended to modify SET program implementation in future seasons. Suggested improvements related to collaboration, feedback/reinforcement approaches, education and other sociocultural themes. Coaches reported divergent views about their self-efficacy in relation to SET program implementation but were motivated by what their players thought. Qualitative analysis of the in-depth interviews identified four main themes (and associated coach salient beliefs) that supported and extended quantitative findings. These included: (1) the development of coach behavioural capability/self-efficacy (including informal and formal learning sources), (2) biopsychosocial risk perceptions regarding players’ injury susceptibility, (3) facilitators and hindrances to adopting/maintaining SET, and (4) cues to action/planning. The promotion of SET programs to reduce the susceptibility of LLIs and ensure safe and sustainable participation in AF is important. This thesis has captured a complexity of factors that can be used to enhance and facilitate CAF coaches’ adoption and maintenance of SET, alongside wider-prevention efforts. Future research should continue to use a range of BSSTM and methodological approaches, and devise and evaluate the efficacy of a comprehensive taxonomy of cognitive-behavioural strategies, to provide more insight into effective translation of SET programs into practice. Coaches and their players will be safer if such work continues.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
The Accountability of public museums in Portugal
- Authors: Menezes, Carlos
- Date: 2015
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: This research examines the historical development and current state of accountability practices in Portugal’s public museums, within the context of New Public Management (NPM) philosophies. The study addresses the following research questions: (1) What systems of accountability presently apply to Portugal's public museums? (2) What are the historical determinants of these systems and what has been the role of NPM? (3) Relative to the objectives and missions of the museums, what deficiencies are evident in the systems of accountability and how might these be redressed? New institutional theory, supplemented by the concepts of path dependency, practical drift and governmentality, provides the theoretical framework for examining the historical determinants of accountability practices, identifying the limitations of those practices, and proposing possible solutions. This study adopts an interpretative paradigm and an inductive reasoning approach. The research uses a case study approach based on the Portuguese Museums Network. The study combines quantitative, archival and qualitative (interviews) data. The survey was administered to directors and other people directly responsible for the management of public museums and yielded 220 usable responses. The analysis of archival data included historical documents available in the archives of museums, legislation, newspapers and historical books. Finally, 26 interviews were conducted with directors and other personnel from nine museums and six interviews were conducted with representatives from the central government and relevant professional associations. The findings show that present accountability systems in Portuguese public museums are hierarchical and frail and provide limited information for meaningful accountability evaluations. In addition, accountability has been influenced by historical path dependency, leading to museums being used as instruments of governmentality for controlling citizens, society and public organisations. The implementation of NPM and double entry bookkeeping are reflections of a process of institutional isomorphism that has led to a process of “double talking” and the adoption of practical drift situations. The accountability deficiencies identified – within the context of the missions and objectives of museums – lead to a set of recommendations to improve accountability in the sector. Managerial implications stemming from the study entail, for example, giving more managerial autonomy to the museums; periodically auditing the collections and their scope; and, producing new accounting rules that reflect and involve relevant stakeholders.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Menezes, Carlos
- Date: 2015
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: This research examines the historical development and current state of accountability practices in Portugal’s public museums, within the context of New Public Management (NPM) philosophies. The study addresses the following research questions: (1) What systems of accountability presently apply to Portugal's public museums? (2) What are the historical determinants of these systems and what has been the role of NPM? (3) Relative to the objectives and missions of the museums, what deficiencies are evident in the systems of accountability and how might these be redressed? New institutional theory, supplemented by the concepts of path dependency, practical drift and governmentality, provides the theoretical framework for examining the historical determinants of accountability practices, identifying the limitations of those practices, and proposing possible solutions. This study adopts an interpretative paradigm and an inductive reasoning approach. The research uses a case study approach based on the Portuguese Museums Network. The study combines quantitative, archival and qualitative (interviews) data. The survey was administered to directors and other people directly responsible for the management of public museums and yielded 220 usable responses. The analysis of archival data included historical documents available in the archives of museums, legislation, newspapers and historical books. Finally, 26 interviews were conducted with directors and other personnel from nine museums and six interviews were conducted with representatives from the central government and relevant professional associations. The findings show that present accountability systems in Portuguese public museums are hierarchical and frail and provide limited information for meaningful accountability evaluations. In addition, accountability has been influenced by historical path dependency, leading to museums being used as instruments of governmentality for controlling citizens, society and public organisations. The implementation of NPM and double entry bookkeeping are reflections of a process of institutional isomorphism that has led to a process of “double talking” and the adoption of practical drift situations. The accountability deficiencies identified – within the context of the missions and objectives of museums – lead to a set of recommendations to improve accountability in the sector. Managerial implications stemming from the study entail, for example, giving more managerial autonomy to the museums; periodically auditing the collections and their scope; and, producing new accounting rules that reflect and involve relevant stakeholders.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Exercise-induced hypervolemia : mechanisms and regulation
- Authors: O'Brien, Brendan
- Date: 2000
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text: false
- Description: "The primary purpose of this dissertation is to elucidate the mechanisms and sources of fluid contributing to exercise-induced hypervolemia. The second aim is to identify changes in blood volume regulation that act to retain this fluid in the vascular space. A final aim is to identify the mechanisms responsible for inducing training bradycardia".
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Rainfall prediction in Australia : Clusterwise linear regression approach
- Authors: Mahmood, Arshad
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Accurate rainfall prediction is a challenging task because of the complex physical processes involved. This complexity is compounded in Australia as the climate can be highly variable. Accurate rainfall prediction is immensely benecial for making informed policy, planning and management decisions, and can assist with the most sustainable operation of water resource systems. Short-term prediction of rainfall is provided by meteorological services; however, the intermediate to long-term prediction of rainfall remains challenging and contains much uncertainty. Many prediction approaches have been proposed in the literature, including statistical and computational intelligence approaches. However, finding a method to model the complex physical process of rainfall, especially in Australia where the climate is highly variable, is still a major challenge. The aims of this study are to: (a) develop an optimization based clusterwise linear regression method, (b) develop new prediction methods based on clusterwise linear regression, (c) assess the influence of geographic regions on the performance of prediction models in predicting monthly and weekly rainfall in Australia, (d) determine the combined influence of meteorological variables on rainfall prediction in Australia, and (e) carry out a comparative analysis of new and existing prediction techniques using Australian rainfall data. In this study, rainfall data with five input meteorological variables from 24 geographically diverse weather stations in Australia, over the period January 1970 to December 2014, have been taken from the Scientific Information for Land Owners (SILO). We also consider the climate zones when selecting weather stations, because Australia experiences a variety of climates due to its size. The data was divided into training and testing periods for evaluation purposes. In this study, optimization based clusterwise linear regression is modified and new prediction methods are developed for rainfall prediction. The proposed method is applied to predict monthly and weekly rainfall. The prediction performance of the clusterwise linear regression method was evaluated by comparing observed and predicted rainfall values using the performance measures: root mean squared error, the mean absolute error, the mean absolute scaled error and the Nash-Sutclie coefficient of efficiency. The proposed method is also compared with the clusterwise linear regression based on the maximum likelihood estimation, linear support vector machines for regression, support vector machines for regression with radial basis kernel function, multiple linear regression, artificial neural networks with and without hidden layer and k-nearest neighbours methods using computational results. Initially, to determine the appropriate input variables to be used in the investigation, we assessed all combinations of meteorological variables. The results confirm that single meteorological variables alone are unable to predict rainfall accurately. The prediction performance of all selected models was improved by adding the input variables in most locations. To assess the influence of geographic regions on the performance of prediction models and to compare the prediction performance of models, we trained models with the best combination of input variables and predicted monthly and weekly rainfall over the test periods. The results of this analysis confirm that the prediction performance of all selected models varied considerably with geographic regions for both weekly and monthly rainfall predictions. It is found that models have the lowest prediction error in the desert climate zone and highest in subtropical and tropical zones. The results also demonstrate that the proposed algorithm is capable of finding the patterns and trends of the observations for monthly and weekly rainfall predictions in all geographic regions. In desert, tropical and subtropical climate zones, the proposed method outperform other methods in most locations for both monthly and weekly rainfall predictions. In temperate and grassland zones the prediction performance of the proposed model is better in some locations while in the remaining locations it is slightly lower than the other models.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Description: Accurate rainfall prediction is a challenging task because of the complex physical processes involved. This complexity is compounded in Australia as the climate can be highly variable. Accurate rainfall prediction is immensely benecial for making informed policy, planning and management decisions, and can assist with the most sustainable operation of water resource systems. Short-term prediction of rainfall is provided by meteorological services; however, the intermediate to long-term prediction of rainfall remains challenging and contains much uncertainty. Many prediction approaches have been proposed in the literature, including statistical and computational intelligence approaches. However, finding a method to model the complex physical process of rainfall, especially in Australia where the climate is highly variable, is still a major challenge. The aims of this study are to: (a) develop an optimization based clusterwise linear regression method, (b) develop new prediction methods based on clusterwise linear regression, (c) assess the influence of geographic regions on the performance of prediction models in predicting monthly and weekly rainfall in Australia, (d) determine the combined influence of meteorological variables on rainfall prediction in Australia, and (e) carry out a comparative analysis of new and existing prediction techniques using Australian rainfall data. In this study, rainfall data with five input meteorological variables from 24 geographically diverse weather stations in Australia, over the period January 1970 to December 2014, have been taken from the Scientific Information for Land Owners (SILO). We also consider the climate zones when selecting weather stations, because Australia experiences a variety of climates due to its size. The data was divided into training and testing periods for evaluation purposes. In this study, optimization based clusterwise linear regression is modified and new prediction methods are developed for rainfall prediction. The proposed method is applied to predict monthly and weekly rainfall. The prediction performance of the clusterwise linear regression method was evaluated by comparing observed and predicted rainfall values using the performance measures: root mean squared error, the mean absolute error, the mean absolute scaled error and the Nash-Sutclie coefficient of efficiency. The proposed method is also compared with the clusterwise linear regression based on the maximum likelihood estimation, linear support vector machines for regression, support vector machines for regression with radial basis kernel function, multiple linear regression, artificial neural networks with and without hidden layer and k-nearest neighbors methods using computational results. Initially, to determine the appropriate input variables to be used in the investigation, we assessed all combinations of meteorological variables. The results confirm that single meteorological variables alone are unable to predict rainfall accurately. The prediction performance of all selected models was improved by adding the input variables in most locations. To assess the influence of geographic regions on the performance of prediction models and to compare the prediction performance of models, we trained models with the best combination of input variables and predicted monthly and weekly rainfall over the test periods. The results of this analysis confirm that the prediction performance of all selected models varied considerably with geographic regions for both weekly and monthly rainfall predictions. It is found that models have the lowest prediction error in the desert climate zone and highest in subtropical and tropical zones. The results also demonstrate that the proposed algorithm is capable of finding the patterns and trends of the observations for monthly and weekly rainfall predictions in all geographic regions. In desert, tropical and subtropical climate zones, the proposed method outperform other methods in most locations for both monthly and weekly rainfall predictions. In temperate and grassland zones the prediction performance of the proposed model is better in some locations while in the remaining locations it is slightly lower than the other models.
- Authors: Mahmood, Arshad
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Accurate rainfall prediction is a challenging task because of the complex physical processes involved. This complexity is compounded in Australia as the climate can be highly variable. Accurate rainfall prediction is immensely benecial for making informed policy, planning and management decisions, and can assist with the most sustainable operation of water resource systems. Short-term prediction of rainfall is provided by meteorological services; however, the intermediate to long-term prediction of rainfall remains challenging and contains much uncertainty. Many prediction approaches have been proposed in the literature, including statistical and computational intelligence approaches. However, finding a method to model the complex physical process of rainfall, especially in Australia where the climate is highly variable, is still a major challenge. The aims of this study are to: (a) develop an optimization based clusterwise linear regression method, (b) develop new prediction methods based on clusterwise linear regression, (c) assess the influence of geographic regions on the performance of prediction models in predicting monthly and weekly rainfall in Australia, (d) determine the combined influence of meteorological variables on rainfall prediction in Australia, and (e) carry out a comparative analysis of new and existing prediction techniques using Australian rainfall data. In this study, rainfall data with five input meteorological variables from 24 geographically diverse weather stations in Australia, over the period January 1970 to December 2014, have been taken from the Scientific Information for Land Owners (SILO). We also consider the climate zones when selecting weather stations, because Australia experiences a variety of climates due to its size. The data was divided into training and testing periods for evaluation purposes. In this study, optimization based clusterwise linear regression is modified and new prediction methods are developed for rainfall prediction. The proposed method is applied to predict monthly and weekly rainfall. The prediction performance of the clusterwise linear regression method was evaluated by comparing observed and predicted rainfall values using the performance measures: root mean squared error, the mean absolute error, the mean absolute scaled error and the Nash-Sutclie coefficient of efficiency. The proposed method is also compared with the clusterwise linear regression based on the maximum likelihood estimation, linear support vector machines for regression, support vector machines for regression with radial basis kernel function, multiple linear regression, artificial neural networks with and without hidden layer and k-nearest neighbours methods using computational results. Initially, to determine the appropriate input variables to be used in the investigation, we assessed all combinations of meteorological variables. The results confirm that single meteorological variables alone are unable to predict rainfall accurately. The prediction performance of all selected models was improved by adding the input variables in most locations. To assess the influence of geographic regions on the performance of prediction models and to compare the prediction performance of models, we trained models with the best combination of input variables and predicted monthly and weekly rainfall over the test periods. The results of this analysis confirm that the prediction performance of all selected models varied considerably with geographic regions for both weekly and monthly rainfall predictions. It is found that models have the lowest prediction error in the desert climate zone and highest in subtropical and tropical zones. The results also demonstrate that the proposed algorithm is capable of finding the patterns and trends of the observations for monthly and weekly rainfall predictions in all geographic regions. In desert, tropical and subtropical climate zones, the proposed method outperform other methods in most locations for both monthly and weekly rainfall predictions. In temperate and grassland zones the prediction performance of the proposed model is better in some locations while in the remaining locations it is slightly lower than the other models.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Description: Accurate rainfall prediction is a challenging task because of the complex physical processes involved. This complexity is compounded in Australia as the climate can be highly variable. Accurate rainfall prediction is immensely benecial for making informed policy, planning and management decisions, and can assist with the most sustainable operation of water resource systems. Short-term prediction of rainfall is provided by meteorological services; however, the intermediate to long-term prediction of rainfall remains challenging and contains much uncertainty. Many prediction approaches have been proposed in the literature, including statistical and computational intelligence approaches. However, finding a method to model the complex physical process of rainfall, especially in Australia where the climate is highly variable, is still a major challenge. The aims of this study are to: (a) develop an optimization based clusterwise linear regression method, (b) develop new prediction methods based on clusterwise linear regression, (c) assess the influence of geographic regions on the performance of prediction models in predicting monthly and weekly rainfall in Australia, (d) determine the combined influence of meteorological variables on rainfall prediction in Australia, and (e) carry out a comparative analysis of new and existing prediction techniques using Australian rainfall data. In this study, rainfall data with five input meteorological variables from 24 geographically diverse weather stations in Australia, over the period January 1970 to December 2014, have been taken from the Scientific Information for Land Owners (SILO). We also consider the climate zones when selecting weather stations, because Australia experiences a variety of climates due to its size. The data was divided into training and testing periods for evaluation purposes. In this study, optimization based clusterwise linear regression is modified and new prediction methods are developed for rainfall prediction. The proposed method is applied to predict monthly and weekly rainfall. The prediction performance of the clusterwise linear regression method was evaluated by comparing observed and predicted rainfall values using the performance measures: root mean squared error, the mean absolute error, the mean absolute scaled error and the Nash-Sutclie coefficient of efficiency. The proposed method is also compared with the clusterwise linear regression based on the maximum likelihood estimation, linear support vector machines for regression, support vector machines for regression with radial basis kernel function, multiple linear regression, artificial neural networks with and without hidden layer and k-nearest neighbors methods using computational results. Initially, to determine the appropriate input variables to be used in the investigation, we assessed all combinations of meteorological variables. The results confirm that single meteorological variables alone are unable to predict rainfall accurately. The prediction performance of all selected models was improved by adding the input variables in most locations. To assess the influence of geographic regions on the performance of prediction models and to compare the prediction performance of models, we trained models with the best combination of input variables and predicted monthly and weekly rainfall over the test periods. The results of this analysis confirm that the prediction performance of all selected models varied considerably with geographic regions for both weekly and monthly rainfall predictions. It is found that models have the lowest prediction error in the desert climate zone and highest in subtropical and tropical zones. The results also demonstrate that the proposed algorithm is capable of finding the patterns and trends of the observations for monthly and weekly rainfall predictions in all geographic regions. In desert, tropical and subtropical climate zones, the proposed method outperform other methods in most locations for both monthly and weekly rainfall predictions. In temperate and grassland zones the prediction performance of the proposed model is better in some locations while in the remaining locations it is slightly lower than the other models.
The collaborative designer : An investigation into the lived experience of co-design practice
- Authors: Smith, Chrissie
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: This enquiry is motivated by a growing recognition of citizen participation by design disciplines and other disciplines outside of design (such as social science, science and business) in solving complex problems across society. Co-design is the approach that this research focuses on in particular. Codesign is a new field of collaborative practice that has emerged from the Scandinavian tradition of Participatory Design. Integral to the philosophy of both these practices is the decentralisation of the individual expert designer and the empowering of the end user as an active participant. Despite many studies that have provided useful frameworks and insights into the practice of co-design, conceptualisations and discussions around implications for participation and design deployment rarely include the voice of the co-design practitioner. This study uses a descriptive phenomenological approach to explore the experience of practitioners, some trained in design and some not, facilitating co-design practice. Aligned with this approach, detailed interviews were conducted with six practitioners from Australia and New Zealand to understand what is unique or contingent to them personally, situated within their practices. Through a process of detailed and analytic exploration of these six individual descriptions of the phenomenon under investigation, the core constituents of the experience of co-design practice were distinguished for each participant. From these constituents, general structures representing the essences, or invariants common to all experiences under investigation were identified. Based on the careful analysis of the narrative descriptions from the interviewed practitioners, the core aspects of their practice in collaboration with end-user groups and other stakeholders are described. A visual framework is proposed that capture the complexity of their lived experiences of co-design practice.
- Description: Masters by Research
- Authors: Smith, Chrissie
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: This enquiry is motivated by a growing recognition of citizen participation by design disciplines and other disciplines outside of design (such as social science, science and business) in solving complex problems across society. Co-design is the approach that this research focuses on in particular. Codesign is a new field of collaborative practice that has emerged from the Scandinavian tradition of Participatory Design. Integral to the philosophy of both these practices is the decentralisation of the individual expert designer and the empowering of the end user as an active participant. Despite many studies that have provided useful frameworks and insights into the practice of co-design, conceptualisations and discussions around implications for participation and design deployment rarely include the voice of the co-design practitioner. This study uses a descriptive phenomenological approach to explore the experience of practitioners, some trained in design and some not, facilitating co-design practice. Aligned with this approach, detailed interviews were conducted with six practitioners from Australia and New Zealand to understand what is unique or contingent to them personally, situated within their practices. Through a process of detailed and analytic exploration of these six individual descriptions of the phenomenon under investigation, the core constituents of the experience of co-design practice were distinguished for each participant. From these constituents, general structures representing the essences, or invariants common to all experiences under investigation were identified. Based on the careful analysis of the narrative descriptions from the interviewed practitioners, the core aspects of their practice in collaboration with end-user groups and other stakeholders are described. A visual framework is proposed that capture the complexity of their lived experiences of co-design practice.
- Description: Masters by Research
- Authors: Duthie, John
- Date: 1999
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text: false
- Description: "The aim of this thesis was to investigate the process by which policy regarding the use of computers in the classroom was developed in a secondary school in a Victorian provincial city. It seeks to determine whether a policy determined at a State Education Department level may be redefined at a local school administrative level and the changes that may occur when that policy is implemented in the classroom"
- Description: Master of Education
Secure network solutions for cloud services
- Authors: Huang, Chengcheng
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: Securing a cloud network is an important challenge for delivering cloud services to cloud users. There are a number of secure network protocols, such as VPN protocols, currently available to provide different secure network solutions for enterprise clouds. For example, PPTP, L2TP, GRE, IPsec and SSL/TLS are the most widely used VPN protocols in today’s securing network solutions. However, there are some significant challenges in the implementation stage. For example, which VPN solution is easy to deploy in delivering cloud services? Which solution can provide the best network throughput in delivering the cloud services? Which solution can provide the lowest network latency in delivering the cloud services? This thesis addresses these issues by implementing different VPNs in a test bed environment set up by the Cisco routers. Open source measurement tools will be utilized to acquire the results. This thesis also reviews cloud computing and cloud services and look at their relationships. It also explores the benefits and the weaknesses of each securing network solution. The results can not only provide experimental evidence, but also facilitate the network implementers in development and deployment of secure network solutions for cloud services.
- Description: Master of Computing (Research)
- Authors: Huang, Chengcheng
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: Securing a cloud network is an important challenge for delivering cloud services to cloud users. There are a number of secure network protocols, such as VPN protocols, currently available to provide different secure network solutions for enterprise clouds. For example, PPTP, L2TP, GRE, IPsec and SSL/TLS are the most widely used VPN protocols in today’s securing network solutions. However, there are some significant challenges in the implementation stage. For example, which VPN solution is easy to deploy in delivering cloud services? Which solution can provide the best network throughput in delivering the cloud services? Which solution can provide the lowest network latency in delivering the cloud services? This thesis addresses these issues by implementing different VPNs in a test bed environment set up by the Cisco routers. Open source measurement tools will be utilized to acquire the results. This thesis also reviews cloud computing and cloud services and look at their relationships. It also explores the benefits and the weaknesses of each securing network solution. The results can not only provide experimental evidence, but also facilitate the network implementers in development and deployment of secure network solutions for cloud services.
- Description: Master of Computing (Research)
Neurotrophic biomarker change after physical activity and mindfulness interventions
- Authors: England, Gina
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: BACKGROUND AND AIM AND HYPOTHESIS: BDNF, FGF2 and NGF are neurotrophins associated with neuroplasticity, nervous system development and psychiatric disorder in the literature. BDNF in particular is suggested as a useful biomarker of mood disorder. Both mindfulness and physical activity are shown to improve mood, reduce stress and are widely used as part of a multi-component treatment approach, reducing distressing symptoms of mood and affect disorders. The utility of protein level as a biomarker has been controversial in the literature following issues concerning the assessment of peripheral levels as a proxy for central levels. The principal aim of this study was to investigate the gene expression of three neurotrophins BDNF, FGF2 and NGF as potential biomarkers of mood disorder, at an early stage of these disorders, which are now widely recognised as having pathogenesis related to dysregulation in the neuro-immuno-endocrine axis. In addition, the study will explore the effect of both physical activity and mindfulness on neurotrophin expression clarifying the associations between the success of these interventions seen in the literature and their effect on the change of neurotrophin expression. Current literature reports increased levels of BDNF protein both centrally and peripherally following mood disorder treatment and participation in both physical exercise and mindfulness activities. Based on similarity of structure and function amongst the three neurotrophins, this thesis will hypothesize an increase in BDNF and potentially FGF2 and NGF mRNA following participation in the two interventional modules designed to improve wellbeing in clinical and non-clinical communities. METHOD: In this independent measures design, 28 non-clinical volunteers were randomly allocated to an 8 week intervention, comprising digital health tracking modules and participation in an unstructured increase in Physical Activity or Mindfulness program, to assess the effect of these interventions on levels of mRNA expression. RTqPCR was used to compare relative mRNA abundance in peripheral blood at baseline and 8 week time interval. The control group were allocated to a waitlist for the period of the 8 week study, followed by access to the program of their choice. Change in emotional state was measured using the DASS. RESULT: BDNF expression is shown significantly increased (p 0.01, n=5) in the Physical Activity group, and significantly decreased in the Mindfulness group (p 0.01, n=11). FGF2 and waitlisted controls showed no significant change. In the case of NGF no expression was seen in human peripheral blood either before or after the intervention. DASS scores revealed a significant decrease in negative affect in the Mindfulness group p = 0.03. CONCLUSION: This study revealed a significant positive association between physical activity and BDNF mRNA, although no significant reduction in distressing mood symptoms was shown. This was potentially due to the small group size. Mindfulness was significantly associated with decreasing negative affect, despite an unexpected decrease in BDNF mRNA consistent with pathophysiology of depression, likely related to neuro-immunoendocrine axis disturbance as suggested in the published literature. It is suggested decreasing mRNA levels reflect lower numbers of immune activated leucocytes present in the blood following mood improvement, albeit not verified in the study. This study suggests even in a small non-clinical sample there may be potential benefits to well-being by increasing levels of physical activity or becoming mindful, and that BDNF has potential as a biomarker of emotional state.
- Description: Masters by Research
- Authors: England, Gina
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: BACKGROUND AND AIM AND HYPOTHESIS: BDNF, FGF2 and NGF are neurotrophins associated with neuroplasticity, nervous system development and psychiatric disorder in the literature. BDNF in particular is suggested as a useful biomarker of mood disorder. Both mindfulness and physical activity are shown to improve mood, reduce stress and are widely used as part of a multi-component treatment approach, reducing distressing symptoms of mood and affect disorders. The utility of protein level as a biomarker has been controversial in the literature following issues concerning the assessment of peripheral levels as a proxy for central levels. The principal aim of this study was to investigate the gene expression of three neurotrophins BDNF, FGF2 and NGF as potential biomarkers of mood disorder, at an early stage of these disorders, which are now widely recognised as having pathogenesis related to dysregulation in the neuro-immuno-endocrine axis. In addition, the study will explore the effect of both physical activity and mindfulness on neurotrophin expression clarifying the associations between the success of these interventions seen in the literature and their effect on the change of neurotrophin expression. Current literature reports increased levels of BDNF protein both centrally and peripherally following mood disorder treatment and participation in both physical exercise and mindfulness activities. Based on similarity of structure and function amongst the three neurotrophins, this thesis will hypothesize an increase in BDNF and potentially FGF2 and NGF mRNA following participation in the two interventional modules designed to improve wellbeing in clinical and non-clinical communities. METHOD: In this independent measures design, 28 non-clinical volunteers were randomly allocated to an 8 week intervention, comprising digital health tracking modules and participation in an unstructured increase in Physical Activity or Mindfulness program, to assess the effect of these interventions on levels of mRNA expression. RTqPCR was used to compare relative mRNA abundance in peripheral blood at baseline and 8 week time interval. The control group were allocated to a waitlist for the period of the 8 week study, followed by access to the program of their choice. Change in emotional state was measured using the DASS. RESULT: BDNF expression is shown significantly increased (p 0.01, n=5) in the Physical Activity group, and significantly decreased in the Mindfulness group (p 0.01, n=11). FGF2 and waitlisted controls showed no significant change. In the case of NGF no expression was seen in human peripheral blood either before or after the intervention. DASS scores revealed a significant decrease in negative affect in the Mindfulness group p = 0.03. CONCLUSION: This study revealed a significant positive association between physical activity and BDNF mRNA, although no significant reduction in distressing mood symptoms was shown. This was potentially due to the small group size. Mindfulness was significantly associated with decreasing negative affect, despite an unexpected decrease in BDNF mRNA consistent with pathophysiology of depression, likely related to neuro-immunoendocrine axis disturbance as suggested in the published literature. It is suggested decreasing mRNA levels reflect lower numbers of immune activated leucocytes present in the blood following mood improvement, albeit not verified in the study. This study suggests even in a small non-clinical sample there may be potential benefits to well-being by increasing levels of physical activity or becoming mindful, and that BDNF has potential as a biomarker of emotional state.
- Description: Masters by Research
Global minimization of some classes of generalized convex functions
- Authors: Andramonov, Mikhail
- Date: 2001
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text: false
- Description: "A number of methods of global optimization are proposed and their convergence is proved"
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
A computational story model based on a story grammar that represents conflict
- Authors: Hall, Richard
- Date: 2002
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text: false
- Description: "The work in this thesis investigates whether a computational story model can be formulated that can overcome the limitations of existing story models and also interact with stories in multiple ways, similar to the ways in which people interact with them."
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Hall, Richard
- Date: 2002
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text: false
- Description: "The work in this thesis investigates whether a computational story model can be formulated that can overcome the limitations of existing story models and also interact with stories in multiple ways, similar to the ways in which people interact with them."
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
An experimental investigation into the drainage properties of coarse Loy Yang pond ash
- Authors: Stipcevich, Jack
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: The Latrobe Valley mines, Victoria, Australia, are facing some major challenges as they approach the end of their mining life. Most of these challenges surround current rehabilitation practice and the ability to create safe and stable landforms for future land uses well after the mines have closed. As there has been no developed alternative use for the brown coal at this stage, stopping power generation leads to the cessation of mining. AGL Loy Yang is undertaking rehabilitation cover trials on exposed coal batters to investigate optimal cover materials that will enable safe and stable batters well beyond mine closure. A series of rehabilitation trials using coarse coal ash have been constructed by AGL to assess the performance of coarse coal ash as a ‘subsurface drainage layer’. One of the trials includes the use of a 1 metre coarse coal ash layer placed below a 1 metre thick clay cover and above a coal surface shaped to approximately 18 degrees (1V:3H). Without a drainage layer, water may percolate through the clay cover or seep through the intact brown coal, resulting in a build of pore water pressure at the coal – clay interface and increasing the potential for slope failure. The aim of this research work was to assess the spatial distribution of ash properties known to affect drainage behaviour at the field scale; to test and calibrate field-monitoring equipment that can be used to assess drainage behaviour at the field-scale; to provide recommendations for further research on the use of coal ash drainage layer; and to provide a benchmark for future testing and monitoring. Through an experimental investigation, it was shown that there no significant variation exists in the coarse fraction of Loy Yang pond ash’s physical and chemical properties. Monitoring equipment used to determine the field drainage performance of the ash included a T8 Tensiometer and EnviroPro (multi-capacitance sensor) that were calibrated and tested in the laboratory. It was determined that monitoring devices used in this study were suitable for measuring the ash’s hydraulic behaviour only once calibrations had been performed. As a result the tested field equipment were included in the design of a future monitoring program.
- Description: Masters by Research
- Authors: Stipcevich, Jack
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: The Latrobe Valley mines, Victoria, Australia, are facing some major challenges as they approach the end of their mining life. Most of these challenges surround current rehabilitation practice and the ability to create safe and stable landforms for future land uses well after the mines have closed. As there has been no developed alternative use for the brown coal at this stage, stopping power generation leads to the cessation of mining. AGL Loy Yang is undertaking rehabilitation cover trials on exposed coal batters to investigate optimal cover materials that will enable safe and stable batters well beyond mine closure. A series of rehabilitation trials using coarse coal ash have been constructed by AGL to assess the performance of coarse coal ash as a ‘subsurface drainage layer’. One of the trials includes the use of a 1 metre coarse coal ash layer placed below a 1 metre thick clay cover and above a coal surface shaped to approximately 18 degrees (1V:3H). Without a drainage layer, water may percolate through the clay cover or seep through the intact brown coal, resulting in a build of pore water pressure at the coal – clay interface and increasing the potential for slope failure. The aim of this research work was to assess the spatial distribution of ash properties known to affect drainage behaviour at the field scale; to test and calibrate field-monitoring equipment that can be used to assess drainage behaviour at the field-scale; to provide recommendations for further research on the use of coal ash drainage layer; and to provide a benchmark for future testing and monitoring. Through an experimental investigation, it was shown that there no significant variation exists in the coarse fraction of Loy Yang pond ash’s physical and chemical properties. Monitoring equipment used to determine the field drainage performance of the ash included a T8 Tensiometer and EnviroPro (multi-capacitance sensor) that were calibrated and tested in the laboratory. It was determined that monitoring devices used in this study were suitable for measuring the ash’s hydraulic behaviour only once calibrations had been performed. As a result the tested field equipment were included in the design of a future monitoring program.
- Description: Masters by Research
From Mardi Gras to Manangatang : sense of belonging and mental health in Australian men as a function of sexual orientation and place of residence
- Authors: Jude, Belinda
- Date: 2003
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: "A community sample of men was recruited for the purpose of investigating whether belonging was a predictor of men's mental health and whether place of residence and sexual orientation influenced this relationship. The study also examined the importance of belonging to both the broader and gay communites for the mental health of gay men."
- Description: Doctor of Psychology
- Authors: Jude, Belinda
- Date: 2003
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: "A community sample of men was recruited for the purpose of investigating whether belonging was a predictor of men's mental health and whether place of residence and sexual orientation influenced this relationship. The study also examined the importance of belonging to both the broader and gay communites for the mental health of gay men."
- Description: Doctor of Psychology
Enhancing the implementation of injury prevention exercise programs in professional soccer
- Authors: O’Brien, James
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Recently, injury prevention exercise programs (IPEPs) for soccer have received considerable attention and their efficacy has been demonstrated in large-scale trials. However, the ultimate impact of IPEPs will depend not only on their efficacy under controlled conditions, but also on the extent to which they are successfully implemented under real-world conditions. Despite increasing recognition of the challenges involved in successfully implementing IPEPs, there is a paucity of research addressing these challenges. The first aim of this thesis was to systematically review published IPEP trial reports, from an implementation perspective, in both soccer and other team ball sports. To achieve this, an established health-promotion framework, called the Reach Effectiveness Adoption Implementation Maintenance (RE-AIM) framework, was employed. The subsequent phases of the thesis aimed to identify IPEP implementation barriers and facilitators in the specific context of professional soccer. Two cross-sectional surveys explored the perceptions of IPEP users in professional teams and a prospective observational study assessed IPEP use, over one playing season, in a professional youth soccer academy. Evaluation of the published literature against the RE-AIM framework revealed major gaps in the reporting of specific IPEP implementation aspects, particularly relating to program adoption and maintenance. In professional soccer teams, multiple IPEP implementation barriers and facilitators were identified. These factors related either to the content and nature of the IPEPs themselves (e.g. variation, progression and soccer-specificity), or the delivery and support of programs (e.g. communication and team work) at different levels of the professional soccer ecology. In summary, there are major gaps in the reporting of implementation aspects in team ball sport trials. To enhance the implementation of IPEPs in professional soccer settings, the content and delivery of programs require significant tailoring to the specific implementation context.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: O’Brien, James
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Recently, injury prevention exercise programs (IPEPs) for soccer have received considerable attention and their efficacy has been demonstrated in large-scale trials. However, the ultimate impact of IPEPs will depend not only on their efficacy under controlled conditions, but also on the extent to which they are successfully implemented under real-world conditions. Despite increasing recognition of the challenges involved in successfully implementing IPEPs, there is a paucity of research addressing these challenges. The first aim of this thesis was to systematically review published IPEP trial reports, from an implementation perspective, in both soccer and other team ball sports. To achieve this, an established health-promotion framework, called the Reach Effectiveness Adoption Implementation Maintenance (RE-AIM) framework, was employed. The subsequent phases of the thesis aimed to identify IPEP implementation barriers and facilitators in the specific context of professional soccer. Two cross-sectional surveys explored the perceptions of IPEP users in professional teams and a prospective observational study assessed IPEP use, over one playing season, in a professional youth soccer academy. Evaluation of the published literature against the RE-AIM framework revealed major gaps in the reporting of specific IPEP implementation aspects, particularly relating to program adoption and maintenance. In professional soccer teams, multiple IPEP implementation barriers and facilitators were identified. These factors related either to the content and nature of the IPEPs themselves (e.g. variation, progression and soccer-specificity), or the delivery and support of programs (e.g. communication and team work) at different levels of the professional soccer ecology. In summary, there are major gaps in the reporting of implementation aspects in team ball sport trials. To enhance the implementation of IPEPs in professional soccer settings, the content and delivery of programs require significant tailoring to the specific implementation context.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Cognitive behaviour therapy for insomnia and depression among older adults : A mixed methods randomised controlled clinical trial
- Authors: Sadler, Paul
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Background A strong relationship exists between insomnia and depression, particularly among older adults (aged 65 years and older). Recently experts in the field of behavioural sleep medicine established cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) was an effective treatment for comorbid insomnia, however, it was unknown whether cognitive behaviour therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) benefitted older adults with co-occurring depression (literature review published in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy). A mixed-methods randomised controlled clinical trial (RCT) was warranted within a community mental health setting to investigate the efficacy of CBT-I for older adults with comorbid insomnia and depression. Furthermore, no study had tested whether an advanced form of CBT-I that included additional positive mood-enhancing strategies produced better outcomes compared to a standard form of CBT-I that only targeted insomnia. It was anticipated that the results from such a trial could influence the evolution of treatment for older adults with these highly prevalent comorbid conditions. Methodology An RCT was conducted between 2014 and 2016 across Victoria, Australia, through Latrobe Regional Hospital‟s and Peninsula Health‟s Community Mental Health Services (protocol published in Trials). Seventy-two older adults with diagnosed comorbid insomnia and depression were randomly assigned to one of three group therapy conditions: cognitive behaviour therapy for insomnia (CBT-I, standard), cognitive behaviour therapy for insomnia plus positive mood strategies (CBT-I+, advanced), psychoeducation control group (PCG, control). The primary outcomes were insomnia severity (Insomnia Severity Index) and depression severity (Geriatric Depression Scale). Primary and secondary measures were collected at pre (week 0), post (week 8), and follow-up (week 20). Participants who completed the experiential conditions were invited to provide feedback in the form of semi- xvii structured focus groups following the final session of treatment. Thirty-one participants from six groups reflected on their experiences of participating in CBT-I and CBT-I+. Results Quantitative analyses demonstrated the experiential CBT conditions both generated significantly greater reductions in insomnia and depression severity compared to PCG from pre to post, which were maintained at follow-up. The standard and advanced conditions showed similar reductions on insomnia and depression severity at post and follow up. These results were also consistent for the secondary measures across conditions. Both active treatments demonstrated large effect sizes, high retention, and strong remission rates for older adults with insomnia and depression (published in journal SLEEP). A qualitative analysis was also conducted to explore the participants‟ experiences of treatment. Interview data from the reflective focus groups was transcribed into 424 sentences and 60 codes were extracted. Thirty-four initial themes emerged, which were finally transformed into 3 themes and 10 subthemes. The three themes were (1) positive experiences, (2) negative experiences, and (3) suggested modifications. The positive subthemes were (1a) therapists, (1b) togetherness, (1c) use of strategies reduced symptoms, and (1d) acceptance. The negative subthemes were (2a) persistent symptoms, (2b) program too condensed, and (2c) attendance obstacles. The suggested modifications were (3a) lengthen program, (3b) multi-dimensional learning, and (3c) multi-modal delivery options (manuscript under review in Aging and Mental Health). Conclusion This is the first RCT to demonstrate that specifically treating comorbid insomnia with CBT has an additional positive effect of improving depression for older adults with multiple comorbidities. Both CBT programs were effective at reducing insomnia and depression severity for older adults with comorbidity. Replication of this study is necessary with a larger sample size to conclusively establish whether the two interventions have different or equivalent effects. It was suggested mental health services that deliver treatment for comorbid insomnia with CBT may improve recovery outcomes for older adults with depression. Future CBT-I programs for older adults may be improved by increasing the length of therapy (e.g., 8 sessions to 12 sessions), adding multi-dimensional learning opportunities (e.g., visual/audio/mentorship), and offering various modes of treatment delivery (e.g., group, individual, internet, telephone).
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Sadler, Paul
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Background A strong relationship exists between insomnia and depression, particularly among older adults (aged 65 years and older). Recently experts in the field of behavioural sleep medicine established cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) was an effective treatment for comorbid insomnia, however, it was unknown whether cognitive behaviour therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) benefitted older adults with co-occurring depression (literature review published in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy). A mixed-methods randomised controlled clinical trial (RCT) was warranted within a community mental health setting to investigate the efficacy of CBT-I for older adults with comorbid insomnia and depression. Furthermore, no study had tested whether an advanced form of CBT-I that included additional positive mood-enhancing strategies produced better outcomes compared to a standard form of CBT-I that only targeted insomnia. It was anticipated that the results from such a trial could influence the evolution of treatment for older adults with these highly prevalent comorbid conditions. Methodology An RCT was conducted between 2014 and 2016 across Victoria, Australia, through Latrobe Regional Hospital‟s and Peninsula Health‟s Community Mental Health Services (protocol published in Trials). Seventy-two older adults with diagnosed comorbid insomnia and depression were randomly assigned to one of three group therapy conditions: cognitive behaviour therapy for insomnia (CBT-I, standard), cognitive behaviour therapy for insomnia plus positive mood strategies (CBT-I+, advanced), psychoeducation control group (PCG, control). The primary outcomes were insomnia severity (Insomnia Severity Index) and depression severity (Geriatric Depression Scale). Primary and secondary measures were collected at pre (week 0), post (week 8), and follow-up (week 20). Participants who completed the experiential conditions were invited to provide feedback in the form of semi- xvii structured focus groups following the final session of treatment. Thirty-one participants from six groups reflected on their experiences of participating in CBT-I and CBT-I+. Results Quantitative analyses demonstrated the experiential CBT conditions both generated significantly greater reductions in insomnia and depression severity compared to PCG from pre to post, which were maintained at follow-up. The standard and advanced conditions showed similar reductions on insomnia and depression severity at post and follow up. These results were also consistent for the secondary measures across conditions. Both active treatments demonstrated large effect sizes, high retention, and strong remission rates for older adults with insomnia and depression (published in journal SLEEP). A qualitative analysis was also conducted to explore the participants‟ experiences of treatment. Interview data from the reflective focus groups was transcribed into 424 sentences and 60 codes were extracted. Thirty-four initial themes emerged, which were finally transformed into 3 themes and 10 subthemes. The three themes were (1) positive experiences, (2) negative experiences, and (3) suggested modifications. The positive subthemes were (1a) therapists, (1b) togetherness, (1c) use of strategies reduced symptoms, and (1d) acceptance. The negative subthemes were (2a) persistent symptoms, (2b) program too condensed, and (2c) attendance obstacles. The suggested modifications were (3a) lengthen program, (3b) multi-dimensional learning, and (3c) multi-modal delivery options (manuscript under review in Aging and Mental Health). Conclusion This is the first RCT to demonstrate that specifically treating comorbid insomnia with CBT has an additional positive effect of improving depression for older adults with multiple comorbidities. Both CBT programs were effective at reducing insomnia and depression severity for older adults with comorbidity. Replication of this study is necessary with a larger sample size to conclusively establish whether the two interventions have different or equivalent effects. It was suggested mental health services that deliver treatment for comorbid insomnia with CBT may improve recovery outcomes for older adults with depression. Future CBT-I programs for older adults may be improved by increasing the length of therapy (e.g., 8 sessions to 12 sessions), adding multi-dimensional learning opportunities (e.g., visual/audio/mentorship), and offering various modes of treatment delivery (e.g., group, individual, internet, telephone).
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Legitimising harm : A critical ethnography of gambling in a community
- Authors: Greenslade, Deborah
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: This thesis reports on a community study which explored the relationship between a small rural community and its club based poker machines. That enquiry aimed to broaden the general research focus from the dominant conceptualisation of individual gambling pathology to a community-level analysis. The theoretical and epistemological stance was also shifted, away from positivism (with its focus on measurable cause/effects), towards a critical constructionist approach. Employing ethnography, the research comprised extended community engagement, observation, document analysis and 51 individual interviews. Critical theory was applied to issues of ideology, discourse and power associated with poker machine gambling within the macro sociopolitical and local community contexts. The study found that, despite significant opposition, poker machines inveigled their way into this community with the support of powerful economic and political forces and influential club members. Location of the machines within an established club embedded them within networks of community relationships. Disbursement of community benefit ensnared many community members as beneficiaries of poker machine losses and rendered them complicit in gambling harms. The research identified that at times community ideology and interests acted as a powerful force against the establishment and expansion of poker machine gambling. Conversely, community ideology and interests also acted to legitimate the presence and operation of poker machines and to suppress opposition. This reflects the complex and contested nature of the construct of community. Reproduction of dominant gambling discourses, including those which frame gambling harm as pathology and an issue of individual responsibility, operate to conceal and condone gambling harms. These discourses marginalise and disempower community members harmed by gambling, while legitimating the club’s deployment of poker machines. This has helped to maintain existing arrangements and to support the shared and powerful interests of the state, the gambling industry, and venues.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Greenslade, Deborah
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: This thesis reports on a community study which explored the relationship between a small rural community and its club based poker machines. That enquiry aimed to broaden the general research focus from the dominant conceptualisation of individual gambling pathology to a community-level analysis. The theoretical and epistemological stance was also shifted, away from positivism (with its focus on measurable cause/effects), towards a critical constructionist approach. Employing ethnography, the research comprised extended community engagement, observation, document analysis and 51 individual interviews. Critical theory was applied to issues of ideology, discourse and power associated with poker machine gambling within the macro sociopolitical and local community contexts. The study found that, despite significant opposition, poker machines inveigled their way into this community with the support of powerful economic and political forces and influential club members. Location of the machines within an established club embedded them within networks of community relationships. Disbursement of community benefit ensnared many community members as beneficiaries of poker machine losses and rendered them complicit in gambling harms. The research identified that at times community ideology and interests acted as a powerful force against the establishment and expansion of poker machine gambling. Conversely, community ideology and interests also acted to legitimate the presence and operation of poker machines and to suppress opposition. This reflects the complex and contested nature of the construct of community. Reproduction of dominant gambling discourses, including those which frame gambling harm as pathology and an issue of individual responsibility, operate to conceal and condone gambling harms. These discourses marginalise and disempower community members harmed by gambling, while legitimating the club’s deployment of poker machines. This has helped to maintain existing arrangements and to support the shared and powerful interests of the state, the gambling industry, and venues.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Genomic and flow cytometric studies of Clostridium sporogenes, a non-toxigenic surrogate for Clostridium botulinum
- Authors: Bradbury, Mark
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Clostridium sporogenes and Group I Clostridium botulinum are two bacterial species belonging to the same phylogenetic group, primarily differentiated by the expression of botulinum neurotoxin. Both organisms are of significant commercial importance in regards to the spoilage of and/or disease in thermally processed food products due to their ability to form heat resistant spores. As such, these species are often used as the target organism for the design of thermal inactivation processes, particularly in regards to thermal sterilisation. Two specific aspects pertaining to these organisms were investigated to further enhance knowledge with respect to their use in thermal processing studies: the genetic relationship between C. sporogenes and Group I C. botulinum; and the mechanism of heat resistance in spores of C. sporogenes. The first part of this thesis describes the assembly, annotation and analysis of the draft genome of C. sporogenes PA 3679 (the most widely used surrogate for Group I C. botulinum). These data allowed identification of unique variants genes related to spore germination, analogous toxin regions and mobile elements between species. MLST analysis revealed that phylogeny was an ineffective indicator of toxigenicity in this group and thus prompted a pan-genomic analysis. The pan-genome of C. sporogenes/Group I C. botulinum was found to consist of 8799 coding sequences (CDS’s) and a core genome consisting of 1590 CDS’s. Analysis of this pan-genome revealed the significant role that mobile genetic elements have played in genetic diversity within this group of organisms. The second part of this thesis investigated the heat inactivation of C. sporogenes PA 3679 spores in regards to structural variation and population heterogeneity. A novel flow cytometric approach was developed and utilised to investigate isothermal spore inactivation; and implications of the impact of NaCl on the intrinsic variability throughout this process and during a subsequent recovery period. Based on these approaches a possible mechanistic description for the thermal inactivation of spores was developed. Together, these studies present significant evidence supporting the continued suitability of C. sporogenes as a surrogate for Group I C. botulinum, whilst also enhancing the understanding of clostridial spore inactivation during a moist heat process.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Bradbury, Mark
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Clostridium sporogenes and Group I Clostridium botulinum are two bacterial species belonging to the same phylogenetic group, primarily differentiated by the expression of botulinum neurotoxin. Both organisms are of significant commercial importance in regards to the spoilage of and/or disease in thermally processed food products due to their ability to form heat resistant spores. As such, these species are often used as the target organism for the design of thermal inactivation processes, particularly in regards to thermal sterilisation. Two specific aspects pertaining to these organisms were investigated to further enhance knowledge with respect to their use in thermal processing studies: the genetic relationship between C. sporogenes and Group I C. botulinum; and the mechanism of heat resistance in spores of C. sporogenes. The first part of this thesis describes the assembly, annotation and analysis of the draft genome of C. sporogenes PA 3679 (the most widely used surrogate for Group I C. botulinum). These data allowed identification of unique variants genes related to spore germination, analogous toxin regions and mobile elements between species. MLST analysis revealed that phylogeny was an ineffective indicator of toxigenicity in this group and thus prompted a pan-genomic analysis. The pan-genome of C. sporogenes/Group I C. botulinum was found to consist of 8799 coding sequences (CDS’s) and a core genome consisting of 1590 CDS’s. Analysis of this pan-genome revealed the significant role that mobile genetic elements have played in genetic diversity within this group of organisms. The second part of this thesis investigated the heat inactivation of C. sporogenes PA 3679 spores in regards to structural variation and population heterogeneity. A novel flow cytometric approach was developed and utilised to investigate isothermal spore inactivation; and implications of the impact of NaCl on the intrinsic variability throughout this process and during a subsequent recovery period. Based on these approaches a possible mechanistic description for the thermal inactivation of spores was developed. Together, these studies present significant evidence supporting the continued suitability of C. sporogenes as a surrogate for Group I C. botulinum, whilst also enhancing the understanding of clostridial spore inactivation during a moist heat process.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Semantic manipulation and business context in big data analytics
- Authors: Dinh, Loan
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Business organisations receive a huge amount of data from many sources every day. These data are known as big data. Since they are mostly unstructured, big data creates a complex problem of how to capture, manage, analyse and then derive meaningful information from them. To deal with the challenges that big data has brought, this research proposes a new technique in big data analytics in the business area to integrate semantically meaningful information relevant to textual queries and business context. To achieve this aim, this study makes three major related contributions. Firstly, the relationship between business processes and strategies is established using the concept of a rule-based inference model via facts and annotations. This relationship is required to determine the importance of a big data query for a business organisation. Secondly, we introduce approaches to determine the significance level of a query, by incorporating the processstrategy relationship, process contributions and priority of business strategies. Thirdly, the proposed data analytic technique embeds business context into the bedrock of data collection and analysis process. The first two contributions were implemented using Python programming language including the Pyke package (Pyke is built in the Python environment and has an artificial intelligence tool for the development of expert systems) and their performances were analysed based on a business use case. The last contribution was implemented mainly in the Hadoop and Java programs. Results show that the first contribution successfully establishes the processstrategy relationship, the second calculates the significance level of a query in relation to a business organisation, while the third reveals the huge impact of query significance level and business context on big data collection and captures deep business insights.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Dinh, Loan
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Business organisations receive a huge amount of data from many sources every day. These data are known as big data. Since they are mostly unstructured, big data creates a complex problem of how to capture, manage, analyse and then derive meaningful information from them. To deal with the challenges that big data has brought, this research proposes a new technique in big data analytics in the business area to integrate semantically meaningful information relevant to textual queries and business context. To achieve this aim, this study makes three major related contributions. Firstly, the relationship between business processes and strategies is established using the concept of a rule-based inference model via facts and annotations. This relationship is required to determine the importance of a big data query for a business organisation. Secondly, we introduce approaches to determine the significance level of a query, by incorporating the processstrategy relationship, process contributions and priority of business strategies. Thirdly, the proposed data analytic technique embeds business context into the bedrock of data collection and analysis process. The first two contributions were implemented using Python programming language including the Pyke package (Pyke is built in the Python environment and has an artificial intelligence tool for the development of expert systems) and their performances were analysed based on a business use case. The last contribution was implemented mainly in the Hadoop and Java programs. Results show that the first contribution successfully establishes the processstrategy relationship, the second calculates the significance level of a query in relation to a business organisation, while the third reveals the huge impact of query significance level and business context on big data collection and captures deep business insights.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Optimising the management of invasive aquatic plants targeted for extirpation from catchments and waterways : Utilising alligator weed (Alternanthera philoxeroides (Mart.) Griseb.) as a target species
- Authors: Clements, Daniel
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Aquatic plants are integral components of freshwater ecosystems and provide essential ecosystem services. However, when invasive species establish in new aquatic environments, there are few natural checks and balances to inhibit their growth and spread. Overabundant aquatic vegetation can harm aquatic systems if left unchecked and negatively impact on agricultural productivity, social amenity and biodiversity values. Prevention and early intervention are recognised as the most cost effective means to manage invasive species that pose a biosecurity risk. This thesis contributes to the development of effective management strategies for one of the world’s most invasive aquatic plant species, known as alligator weed (Alternanthera philoxeroides (Mart.) Griseb.). It focusses on developing management strategies in an early stage of invasion, in order to achieve extirpation of this species from catchments and waterways. Developing effective detection and surveillance strategies are required for invasive aquatic plants, as a key impediment to achieving extirpation is the ability to detect infestations, so that control strategies can be enacted. This thesis investigates the effectiveness of aerial surveillance for detection of alligator weed at different spatial scales, using high altitude aerial imagery (orthophotos) and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology. An examination of the growth rate of alligator weed in Victoria, Australia, over a five year period, demonstrates the effective use of orthophotos to detect and monitor large infestations of aquatic alligator weed. The efficacy of unmanned aerial vehicle technology, including the use of automated algorithms, to detect patches of alligator weed growing in waterways is evaluated against current detection techniques. Effective management of invasive aquatic plants targeted for extirpation requires the coupling of effective detection and control efforts to prevent reproduction. To date, development of control strategies for aquatic alligator weed has been limited to evaluating the efficacy of short-term control at a local scale without regard to the effects of management strategies on dispersal of propagules throughout catchments. This thesis determines that viable alligator weed stem fragments are produced following herbicide application, which comprises extirpation efforts. This thesis has gone further than current practice in that it has evaluated the efficacy of current and novel control techniques, in both laboratory and field trials and has developed methods to manage viable fragment production post-herbicide application, to limit dispersal throughout catchments. In this respect, the application of the herbicides glyphosate, metsulfuron-methyl and imazapyr, and their effectiveness when incorporating surfactant systems and plant growth regulators, have been evaluated in field and laboratory studies to optimise control techniques for aquatic alligator weed. Results have shown that our approaches, when used in an early stage of invasion, are capable of eliminating patches of alligator weed in two to three years. Integral to the research is an experiment to determine the effect of herbicide treatments on the production of alligator weed stem fragments and their subsequent viability. Further investigation to determine the usefulness of commercially available plant growth regulators (PGRs) to reduce the number of viable propagules produced by alligator weed post-herbicide application was found to be ineffective. This thesis also evaluates the impact of herbicides and surfactant systems, on all key alligator weed response metrics in aquatic environments including; above ground biomass, below ground biomass and viable stem fragmentation. No previous studies have looked simultaneously at these three important measures for determining the efficacy of a particular control regime, and we have determined that this is essential for effective management of aquatic alligator weed in an early stage of invasion. The thesis has underscored the notion that development of more effective management strategies, based upon experimental trials, will result in an increased likelihood of eradicating invasive aquatic plants that pose a biosecurity risk, and thus move toward the mitigation of the threat that high-risk species pose to aquatic ecosystems. PLEASE NOTE: Portions of the full text have been removed due to copyright restrictions.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Clements, Daniel
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Aquatic plants are integral components of freshwater ecosystems and provide essential ecosystem services. However, when invasive species establish in new aquatic environments, there are few natural checks and balances to inhibit their growth and spread. Overabundant aquatic vegetation can harm aquatic systems if left unchecked and negatively impact on agricultural productivity, social amenity and biodiversity values. Prevention and early intervention are recognised as the most cost effective means to manage invasive species that pose a biosecurity risk. This thesis contributes to the development of effective management strategies for one of the world’s most invasive aquatic plant species, known as alligator weed (Alternanthera philoxeroides (Mart.) Griseb.). It focusses on developing management strategies in an early stage of invasion, in order to achieve extirpation of this species from catchments and waterways. Developing effective detection and surveillance strategies are required for invasive aquatic plants, as a key impediment to achieving extirpation is the ability to detect infestations, so that control strategies can be enacted. This thesis investigates the effectiveness of aerial surveillance for detection of alligator weed at different spatial scales, using high altitude aerial imagery (orthophotos) and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology. An examination of the growth rate of alligator weed in Victoria, Australia, over a five year period, demonstrates the effective use of orthophotos to detect and monitor large infestations of aquatic alligator weed. The efficacy of unmanned aerial vehicle technology, including the use of automated algorithms, to detect patches of alligator weed growing in waterways is evaluated against current detection techniques. Effective management of invasive aquatic plants targeted for extirpation requires the coupling of effective detection and control efforts to prevent reproduction. To date, development of control strategies for aquatic alligator weed has been limited to evaluating the efficacy of short-term control at a local scale without regard to the effects of management strategies on dispersal of propagules throughout catchments. This thesis determines that viable alligator weed stem fragments are produced following herbicide application, which comprises extirpation efforts. This thesis has gone further than current practice in that it has evaluated the efficacy of current and novel control techniques, in both laboratory and field trials and has developed methods to manage viable fragment production post-herbicide application, to limit dispersal throughout catchments. In this respect, the application of the herbicides glyphosate, metsulfuron-methyl and imazapyr, and their effectiveness when incorporating surfactant systems and plant growth regulators, have been evaluated in field and laboratory studies to optimise control techniques for aquatic alligator weed. Results have shown that our approaches, when used in an early stage of invasion, are capable of eliminating patches of alligator weed in two to three years. Integral to the research is an experiment to determine the effect of herbicide treatments on the production of alligator weed stem fragments and their subsequent viability. Further investigation to determine the usefulness of commercially available plant growth regulators (PGRs) to reduce the number of viable propagules produced by alligator weed post-herbicide application was found to be ineffective. This thesis also evaluates the impact of herbicides and surfactant systems, on all key alligator weed response metrics in aquatic environments including; above ground biomass, below ground biomass and viable stem fragmentation. No previous studies have looked simultaneously at these three important measures for determining the efficacy of a particular control regime, and we have determined that this is essential for effective management of aquatic alligator weed in an early stage of invasion. The thesis has underscored the notion that development of more effective management strategies, based upon experimental trials, will result in an increased likelihood of eradicating invasive aquatic plants that pose a biosecurity risk, and thus move toward the mitigation of the threat that high-risk species pose to aquatic ecosystems. PLEASE NOTE: Portions of the full text have been removed due to copyright restrictions.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Electro-kinetic treatment of a quartz-illite tailing
- Authors: Huggins, Grant
- Date: 2000
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: "The purpose of the study is to determine what use electro-kinetics may have to the minefilling process. It also examines what possible use it may have in other mining areas, where stabilising fine soils can improve the mining process. A review of minefilling methods and the general use of electro-kinetics is performed to support this examination."
- Description: Master of Engineering Science
- Authors: Huggins, Grant
- Date: 2000
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: "The purpose of the study is to determine what use electro-kinetics may have to the minefilling process. It also examines what possible use it may have in other mining areas, where stabilising fine soils can improve the mining process. A review of minefilling methods and the general use of electro-kinetics is performed to support this examination."
- Description: Master of Engineering Science
An evaluation of tactical transfer from volleyball to badminton using a games classification approach
- Authors: Jones, Christopher M.T.
- Date: 1999
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: Master of Applied Science (Human Movement)
- Authors: Jones, Christopher M.T.
- Date: 1999
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: Master of Applied Science (Human Movement)