The effect of moxonidine on atherosclerosis
- Authors: Nguyen, Dinh Tam
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Background: Atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease with hypertension as a risk factor. Moxonidine decreases blood pressure and has an anti-inflammatory effect. Aim: To investigate the effect of moxonidine on atherosclerosis: Key methods and results: For the in vivo experiment, twenty male apolipoprotein E-deficient mice were randomized into two groups: the control and moxonidine treatment groups. The mice from the moxonidine treatment group were treated with moxonidine via drinking water (69 mg/L) which equated to a dose of 18 mg/kg body weight per day, whereas the mice from the control group received normal drinking water without moxonidine. All the mice received angiotensin II (1
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Nguyen, Dinh Tam
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Background: Atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease with hypertension as a risk factor. Moxonidine decreases blood pressure and has an anti-inflammatory effect. Aim: To investigate the effect of moxonidine on atherosclerosis: Key methods and results: For the in vivo experiment, twenty male apolipoprotein E-deficient mice were randomized into two groups: the control and moxonidine treatment groups. The mice from the moxonidine treatment group were treated with moxonidine via drinking water (69 mg/L) which equated to a dose of 18 mg/kg body weight per day, whereas the mice from the control group received normal drinking water without moxonidine. All the mice received angiotensin II (1
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
The good, the bad, the ambivalent : investigating patriarchal and complex representations of motherhood in crime television series
- Authors: O’Neill, Courtney
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: The cultural and social understanding of motherhood has been historically determined by patriarchal discourse. This thesis analyses the significance of this discourse and how it manifests in representations of women, mothers in particular, in television series. Specifically, it examines the dichotomy between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ motherhood that is prevalent in patriarchal discourse and in crime television series. Identifying the extent to which crime series subscribe to patriarchal notions of motherhood highlights the prevalence of conservative ideas of motherhood in television narratives. This is crucial to the aim of this thesis, which is to challenge conservative notions of motherhood, demonstrating instead that motherhood is a complex experience. This thesis provides an in-depth analysis of three crime television series—Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999–), The Bridge (2011–2018) and Top of the Lake (2013, 2017)—to identify their portrayal of motherhood and highlight the ways in which maternal figures are portrayed as either ‘good’ or ‘bad’. Significantly, the thesis identifies disability as a theme that is repeatedly utilised to explain deviant maternal behaviour, which serves to reinforce patriarchal notions of motherhood. The overall aim of this study is to critically analyse and destabilise patriarchal representations of good and bad motherhood by examining the depiction of complex maternal experiences in crime narratives. By exploring the concept of maternal ambivalence and how it is portrayed in these series, this research ultimately contributes to refuting and undermining patriarchal characterisations of motherhood, particularly the dichotomy between good and bad mothers. In sum, this thesis argues that despite the ongoing emphasis on patriarchal ideas of motherhood in television, the maternal experience is fluid, complex and changing, as made evident in these crime television series.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: O’Neill, Courtney
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: The cultural and social understanding of motherhood has been historically determined by patriarchal discourse. This thesis analyses the significance of this discourse and how it manifests in representations of women, mothers in particular, in television series. Specifically, it examines the dichotomy between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ motherhood that is prevalent in patriarchal discourse and in crime television series. Identifying the extent to which crime series subscribe to patriarchal notions of motherhood highlights the prevalence of conservative ideas of motherhood in television narratives. This is crucial to the aim of this thesis, which is to challenge conservative notions of motherhood, demonstrating instead that motherhood is a complex experience. This thesis provides an in-depth analysis of three crime television series—Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999–), The Bridge (2011–2018) and Top of the Lake (2013, 2017)—to identify their portrayal of motherhood and highlight the ways in which maternal figures are portrayed as either ‘good’ or ‘bad’. Significantly, the thesis identifies disability as a theme that is repeatedly utilised to explain deviant maternal behaviour, which serves to reinforce patriarchal notions of motherhood. The overall aim of this study is to critically analyse and destabilise patriarchal representations of good and bad motherhood by examining the depiction of complex maternal experiences in crime narratives. By exploring the concept of maternal ambivalence and how it is portrayed in these series, this research ultimately contributes to refuting and undermining patriarchal characterisations of motherhood, particularly the dichotomy between good and bad mothers. In sum, this thesis argues that despite the ongoing emphasis on patriarchal ideas of motherhood in television, the maternal experience is fluid, complex and changing, as made evident in these crime television series.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
The idea of audience : audience development and the creative industries in Australia's small-to-medium performing arts sector
- Authors: Piening, Simon
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: In recent decades, the governance of arts and culture in Australia has been dominated by the “creative industries” model, which is a market-driven approach to cultural policy that seeks to bring together those workers who operate in the realm of creativity with those who have the knowledge and resources to monetise their creative output. The increased focus on market outcomes has resulted in the need for arts organisation to pay much greater attention to developing audiences and cultivating consumers for the arts. However, strikingly absent from much of the discussion concerning audience development in the arts has been the voices of the artists and arts workers themselves, whose work sits at the very heart of any relationship with the audience. The research study that is the subject of this thesis sought to better understand the audience relationship from the perspective of artists and arts workers operating in Melbourne’s small-to-medium performing arts sector, which is a not-for-profit niche of the performing arts industry that has been charged with creating new works and pushing creative boundaries. In light of the increasingly marketised environment for cultural production, the study asked two broad questions: How do these arts professionals conceptualise their relationship with the audience?; and What role do they envisage for the performing arts in their communities? Through individual interviews and a series of group discussions occurring over a 12-month period between 2017 and 2018, arts professionals from the small-to-medium performing arts sector in Melbourne, Australia, discussed the ways in which the rise of the market-oriented creative industries had been impacting on their understanding of, and relationship with, the audience. The study found that the growing demands of the market and the commodification of artistic work had, for many arts professionals, increased the sense of distance between the artist and the audience and had resulted in confusion over the role and value of art in contemporary society. Despite this, arts workers, through their craft, were seeking greater engagement with their communities and were contributing to a more diverse and robust public sphere. As the authors and architects of the aesthetic experience, artists, arts workers and arts organisations have a profound impact in shaping the audience’s understanding of, and relationship with, the arts (Belfiore & Bennett, 2008). Yet much audience development research and practice has focused on understanding the attitudes and motivations of audience members in relation to the arts and ignored or minimised the important contribution that artists themselves might be making to developing audiences. This study’s aim was to address a significant gap in the understanding of the needs and motivations of arts professionals with regard to their relationship with the audience, and, in so doing, argued for a re-imagining of the field and practice of audience development that considers the needs of both the producers and consumers of culture.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Piening, Simon
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: In recent decades, the governance of arts and culture in Australia has been dominated by the “creative industries” model, which is a market-driven approach to cultural policy that seeks to bring together those workers who operate in the realm of creativity with those who have the knowledge and resources to monetise their creative output. The increased focus on market outcomes has resulted in the need for arts organisation to pay much greater attention to developing audiences and cultivating consumers for the arts. However, strikingly absent from much of the discussion concerning audience development in the arts has been the voices of the artists and arts workers themselves, whose work sits at the very heart of any relationship with the audience. The research study that is the subject of this thesis sought to better understand the audience relationship from the perspective of artists and arts workers operating in Melbourne’s small-to-medium performing arts sector, which is a not-for-profit niche of the performing arts industry that has been charged with creating new works and pushing creative boundaries. In light of the increasingly marketised environment for cultural production, the study asked two broad questions: How do these arts professionals conceptualise their relationship with the audience?; and What role do they envisage for the performing arts in their communities? Through individual interviews and a series of group discussions occurring over a 12-month period between 2017 and 2018, arts professionals from the small-to-medium performing arts sector in Melbourne, Australia, discussed the ways in which the rise of the market-oriented creative industries had been impacting on their understanding of, and relationship with, the audience. The study found that the growing demands of the market and the commodification of artistic work had, for many arts professionals, increased the sense of distance between the artist and the audience and had resulted in confusion over the role and value of art in contemporary society. Despite this, arts workers, through their craft, were seeking greater engagement with their communities and were contributing to a more diverse and robust public sphere. As the authors and architects of the aesthetic experience, artists, arts workers and arts organisations have a profound impact in shaping the audience’s understanding of, and relationship with, the arts (Belfiore & Bennett, 2008). Yet much audience development research and practice has focused on understanding the attitudes and motivations of audience members in relation to the arts and ignored or minimised the important contribution that artists themselves might be making to developing audiences. This study’s aim was to address a significant gap in the understanding of the needs and motivations of arts professionals with regard to their relationship with the audience, and, in so doing, argued for a re-imagining of the field and practice of audience development that considers the needs of both the producers and consumers of culture.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
The role of immune cells in ovarian cancer
- Authors: Ahmady, Farah
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Ovarian cancer remains the leading cause of gynaecological disease related death in women worldwide. Patients given standard treatment have low survival rates and immunotherapy remains unsuccessful. This is largely due to the suppressive tumour microenvironment (TME) and the interaction of the different cells being poorly understood. This has sparked interest in understanding the functions of immune cells and their contribution to the TME. In chapter 3, B and T cells were characterised in samples collected from chemo-naïve highgrade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC) patients and compared to benign and healthy controls. B cells were able to express the T cell exhaustion marker T cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain-3 (TIM-3) on their surface. Blood derived B cells of benign patients expressed less TIM-3 compared to high-grade and healthy donors. Alterations in TIM-3 expression on B cells suggests that the TME may not be causing B cells to harbour an exhaustion phenotype. The frequency of circulating mucosal-associated invariant T cells (MAIT cells) was reduced in benign and high-grade patients compared to healthy donors. Blood derived MAIT cells of healthy donors stimulated with 5-OP-RU antigen and cultured with ovarian cancer cell line supernatants had a reduced capacity of producing tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-a compared to control. The reduced frequency of MAIT cells at the premalignant state of the disease indicates that malignancy of the disease is not necessarily the contributing factor in the reduction observed. As TNF-a is a key anti-tumour cytokine expressed by MAIT cells, the impaired production may indicate defects in their function. Low dose-dense (LDD) chemotherapy has recently shown promise as depicted in a clinical study by Kannourakis et al. where LDD treated HGSOC patients had longer survival than those treated with maximum tolerated dose (MTD). It is postulated that this may be due to aspects of the immune system, however the effects of LDD chemotherapy on immune cells remains unknown. In chpter 4, circulating B and T cells of LDD treated patients were characterised and compared to untreated controls. The key finding of this study was the immunostimulatory attributes of LDD regimen in a range of B and T cell populations via their increased expression of TNF-a compared to untreated controls and healthy donors. The frequency of MAIT cells, however, was reduced in LDD treated patients, suggesting that these cells may not contribute to the immunostimulatory aspects, and that this regimen may impact their frequency by creating an environment which may not be compatible for MAIT cell survival. In chapter 5, expression of immuno-oncology protein markers in benign and high-grade primary and metastasised tumours were determined for alterations in hot and cold tumour regions using Digital Spatial Profiling (DSP). An increased expression of immune cell, costimulatory and inhibitory markers were apparent in high-grade tumours compared to benign. The stimulator of interferon genes (STING) marker was studied further, and its expression was also higher in high-grade tumours compared to benign, with cisplatin further enhancing its expression in ovarian cancer cell lines. There were alterations in the expression of some downstream molecules, however interferon (IFN)-b, the key cytokine produced in the activated STING pathway, was virtually non-existent. This suggests a defect in the pathway which if restored, may contribute to some of the known anti-tumour functions of the pathway. The results from these studies provide an understanding of differences in the immune profile of non-malignant and malignant ovarian cancer. These findings work together to improve our understanding of the unique TME with the aim to identify potential immune therapeutic targets for future study.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Ahmady, Farah
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Ovarian cancer remains the leading cause of gynaecological disease related death in women worldwide. Patients given standard treatment have low survival rates and immunotherapy remains unsuccessful. This is largely due to the suppressive tumour microenvironment (TME) and the interaction of the different cells being poorly understood. This has sparked interest in understanding the functions of immune cells and their contribution to the TME. In chapter 3, B and T cells were characterised in samples collected from chemo-naïve highgrade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC) patients and compared to benign and healthy controls. B cells were able to express the T cell exhaustion marker T cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain-3 (TIM-3) on their surface. Blood derived B cells of benign patients expressed less TIM-3 compared to high-grade and healthy donors. Alterations in TIM-3 expression on B cells suggests that the TME may not be causing B cells to harbour an exhaustion phenotype. The frequency of circulating mucosal-associated invariant T cells (MAIT cells) was reduced in benign and high-grade patients compared to healthy donors. Blood derived MAIT cells of healthy donors stimulated with 5-OP-RU antigen and cultured with ovarian cancer cell line supernatants had a reduced capacity of producing tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-a compared to control. The reduced frequency of MAIT cells at the premalignant state of the disease indicates that malignancy of the disease is not necessarily the contributing factor in the reduction observed. As TNF-a is a key anti-tumour cytokine expressed by MAIT cells, the impaired production may indicate defects in their function. Low dose-dense (LDD) chemotherapy has recently shown promise as depicted in a clinical study by Kannourakis et al. where LDD treated HGSOC patients had longer survival than those treated with maximum tolerated dose (MTD). It is postulated that this may be due to aspects of the immune system, however the effects of LDD chemotherapy on immune cells remains unknown. In chpter 4, circulating B and T cells of LDD treated patients were characterised and compared to untreated controls. The key finding of this study was the immunostimulatory attributes of LDD regimen in a range of B and T cell populations via their increased expression of TNF-a compared to untreated controls and healthy donors. The frequency of MAIT cells, however, was reduced in LDD treated patients, suggesting that these cells may not contribute to the immunostimulatory aspects, and that this regimen may impact their frequency by creating an environment which may not be compatible for MAIT cell survival. In chapter 5, expression of immuno-oncology protein markers in benign and high-grade primary and metastasised tumours were determined for alterations in hot and cold tumour regions using Digital Spatial Profiling (DSP). An increased expression of immune cell, costimulatory and inhibitory markers were apparent in high-grade tumours compared to benign. The stimulator of interferon genes (STING) marker was studied further, and its expression was also higher in high-grade tumours compared to benign, with cisplatin further enhancing its expression in ovarian cancer cell lines. There were alterations in the expression of some downstream molecules, however interferon (IFN)-b, the key cytokine produced in the activated STING pathway, was virtually non-existent. This suggests a defect in the pathway which if restored, may contribute to some of the known anti-tumour functions of the pathway. The results from these studies provide an understanding of differences in the immune profile of non-malignant and malignant ovarian cancer. These findings work together to improve our understanding of the unique TME with the aim to identify potential immune therapeutic targets for future study.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
The role of sprint training in hamstring strain injury prevention for field sport athletes
- Authors: Freeman, Brock
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Hamstring strain injuries (HSI) are regularly reported as the most common injury in many field-based sports with a high-speed running (HSR) component. Typically, these injuries occur during sprinting efforts, predominantly in the Biceps Femoris Long Head (BFLH). Furthermore, the burden of HSI is amongst the highest in field sports, and the risk of recurrent injury is elevated, and inflated by age. It is of interest to managers, technical coaches, physical preparation staff and athletes to reduce the risk of sustaining a HSI. Therefore, extensive research in HSI has identified several non-modifiable and modifiable risk factors, such as eccentric hamstring strength, BFLH fascicle length, and HSR exposure. Currently, almost all interventions designed to reduce the risk of HSI have utilised resistance training or stretching interventions. This is despite the scientific literature indicating that; 1) sprinting is the most common mechanism associated with hamstring strain injury, and 2) sprinting places a far greater demand on the hamstrings than interventions that are resistance or flexibility based. Therefore, the primary aim of this thesis was to establish the role of sprint training in HSI prevention in field sport athletes. The aim of Study 1 was to understand the beliefs and practices of professional Australian Football (AF) physical performance coaches towards the training and assessment prescribed to mitigate the risk of HSI. A Delphi-validated mixed methods survey was implemented to assess the beliefs and practices of High-Performance Managers of professional AF teams. All the participants in this study reported that they believed sprinting (acceleration and maximum speed) was the most common activity associated with HSI. Similarly, all participants also indicated they performed sprint training for injury prevention purposes. However, a range of relative speeds were reported to quantify HSR, whilst a sprint was reported as 85%Vmax. Whilst respondents reported they believed that sprint training was important, one participant indicated that they felt the need to be conservative with the prescription of sprint training for fear of injury, and the consequences associated with this. Due to the identified discrepancies in speed thresholds used in practical setting (Study 1) and academic settings (Literature Review), Study 2 was designed to determine the absolute, and relative speeds associated with jogging, running, striding, near maximum sprinting, and sprinting. The secondary aim was to visually describe the gait patterns associated with HSR and sprinting. Fifteen participants completed two data collection periods, where they performed a series of run throughs at different gait patterns. These gait patterns were adapted from a review of time-motion research in field sports. The running gaits of jogging, running, striding, near-maximum sprinting, and sprinting correspond with the relative speeds of 56%Vmax, 66%Vmax, 78%Vmax, 87%Vmax, and 100%Vmax, respectively. Significant (p = 0.01) differences were observed for all variables between striding, near-maximum sprinting, and sprinting. This highlights that previously reported thresholds in Study 1 are likely not quantifying the true sprinting demands. Publicly available injury information indicates a spike in HSI during the 2018 Australian Football League (AFL) season, a trend that occurred in the relatively uninterrupted 2020 AFL season. As Study 2 indicated that thresholds used to quantify the demands of sprinting in training and competition, Study 3 primarily aimed to determine the amount of running completed in relative speed bands during the pre-season and then the first eight weeks of the season. The secondary aim was to determine how individual athletes vary from the group average across the pre-season and the first eight rounds of the season. This study completed a retrospective analysis of 55 professional Australian footballers during the pre-season and first eight rounds of the 2019 season. Significantly less (p < 0.05) weekly volume was reported during the first 8 weeks of the season in the speed thresholds of 71-80%Vmax, 81-90%Vmax, and 91-100%Vmax. However, athletes in this study only completed an average of 18m above 90%Vmax in the pre-season, a stimulus too low to achieve an injury prevention and conditioning effect. Individual analysis highlighted that whilst a small number of athletes achieved a consistent sprinting load, several athletes did not achieve more than 2m above 90%Vmax during both the pre and in-season periods. This lack of preparation may provide a rationale for the injury rates during the first eight rounds. To improve the preparation of athletes using a sprinting stimulus, Study 4 focussed on addressing modifiable risk factors for HSI. The primary aim of this study examined the effects of acceleration and maximum speed sprint training of eccentric hamstring strength, BFLH fascicle length, and sprint performance. Initially, a training study with 60 participants was planned, but due to the Victorian Government’s COVID-19 restrictions, this was modified to a case study design with 11 participants. A 6-week training intervention consisting of acceleration sprinting (<15m) or maximum speed sprinting with a gradual build up (flying 10-20m) was implemented. Participants that performed acceleration or maximum speed sprinting improved Biceps Femoris fascicle length by 23% and 20%, respectively. This was an increase of more than the Minimum Detectable Change (MDC95 = 0.96cm, 95% CI =0.93 – 0.99cm). The participants who completed normal training experienced no change in the BFLH fascicle length. Neither sprint training intervention produced a change in eccentric hamstring strength that was greater than the typical error in the test. Both sprinting interventions improved sprint performance outcomes, however both acceleration and maximum speed training produced a larger improvement in maximum speed (-11% and -9%, respectively) than in acceleration qualities (-2% and -3%, respectively). Both acceleration and maximum speed training incurred positive improvement in relative force production (F(0) (N/kg)) and relative power production (Pmax (W/kg)). This was similar for DRF and RFpeak and indicates that sprint training without resistance will improve Force-Velocity-Power Variables. This project has provided new information regarding the role of sprint training for hamstring strain injury prevention. Firstly, both 6 weeks of low volume acceleration and maximum speed sprinting improve BFLH fascicle length. Secondly, currently employed velocity thresholds in professional AF are likely too slow to quantify the HSR and sprinting demands. Thirdly, analysis using thresholds that are faster than previously reported revealed that the overall volume of sprinting (>90%Vmax) is too low to elicit an injury prevention or training stimulus. This information will inform the future practices of key stakeholders surrounding sprint training in field sport athletes. The identification of the positive benefits of maximum speed sprinting, and a faster, more accurate definition of sprinting has large potential to improve hamstring strain injury prevention and increase physical performance.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Freeman, Brock
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Hamstring strain injuries (HSI) are regularly reported as the most common injury in many field-based sports with a high-speed running (HSR) component. Typically, these injuries occur during sprinting efforts, predominantly in the Biceps Femoris Long Head (BFLH). Furthermore, the burden of HSI is amongst the highest in field sports, and the risk of recurrent injury is elevated, and inflated by age. It is of interest to managers, technical coaches, physical preparation staff and athletes to reduce the risk of sustaining a HSI. Therefore, extensive research in HSI has identified several non-modifiable and modifiable risk factors, such as eccentric hamstring strength, BFLH fascicle length, and HSR exposure. Currently, almost all interventions designed to reduce the risk of HSI have utilised resistance training or stretching interventions. This is despite the scientific literature indicating that; 1) sprinting is the most common mechanism associated with hamstring strain injury, and 2) sprinting places a far greater demand on the hamstrings than interventions that are resistance or flexibility based. Therefore, the primary aim of this thesis was to establish the role of sprint training in HSI prevention in field sport athletes. The aim of Study 1 was to understand the beliefs and practices of professional Australian Football (AF) physical performance coaches towards the training and assessment prescribed to mitigate the risk of HSI. A Delphi-validated mixed methods survey was implemented to assess the beliefs and practices of High-Performance Managers of professional AF teams. All the participants in this study reported that they believed sprinting (acceleration and maximum speed) was the most common activity associated with HSI. Similarly, all participants also indicated they performed sprint training for injury prevention purposes. However, a range of relative speeds were reported to quantify HSR, whilst a sprint was reported as 85%Vmax. Whilst respondents reported they believed that sprint training was important, one participant indicated that they felt the need to be conservative with the prescription of sprint training for fear of injury, and the consequences associated with this. Due to the identified discrepancies in speed thresholds used in practical setting (Study 1) and academic settings (Literature Review), Study 2 was designed to determine the absolute, and relative speeds associated with jogging, running, striding, near maximum sprinting, and sprinting. The secondary aim was to visually describe the gait patterns associated with HSR and sprinting. Fifteen participants completed two data collection periods, where they performed a series of run throughs at different gait patterns. These gait patterns were adapted from a review of time-motion research in field sports. The running gaits of jogging, running, striding, near-maximum sprinting, and sprinting correspond with the relative speeds of 56%Vmax, 66%Vmax, 78%Vmax, 87%Vmax, and 100%Vmax, respectively. Significant (p = 0.01) differences were observed for all variables between striding, near-maximum sprinting, and sprinting. This highlights that previously reported thresholds in Study 1 are likely not quantifying the true sprinting demands. Publicly available injury information indicates a spike in HSI during the 2018 Australian Football League (AFL) season, a trend that occurred in the relatively uninterrupted 2020 AFL season. As Study 2 indicated that thresholds used to quantify the demands of sprinting in training and competition, Study 3 primarily aimed to determine the amount of running completed in relative speed bands during the pre-season and then the first eight weeks of the season. The secondary aim was to determine how individual athletes vary from the group average across the pre-season and the first eight rounds of the season. This study completed a retrospective analysis of 55 professional Australian footballers during the pre-season and first eight rounds of the 2019 season. Significantly less (p < 0.05) weekly volume was reported during the first 8 weeks of the season in the speed thresholds of 71-80%Vmax, 81-90%Vmax, and 91-100%Vmax. However, athletes in this study only completed an average of 18m above 90%Vmax in the pre-season, a stimulus too low to achieve an injury prevention and conditioning effect. Individual analysis highlighted that whilst a small number of athletes achieved a consistent sprinting load, several athletes did not achieve more than 2m above 90%Vmax during both the pre and in-season periods. This lack of preparation may provide a rationale for the injury rates during the first eight rounds. To improve the preparation of athletes using a sprinting stimulus, Study 4 focussed on addressing modifiable risk factors for HSI. The primary aim of this study examined the effects of acceleration and maximum speed sprint training of eccentric hamstring strength, BFLH fascicle length, and sprint performance. Initially, a training study with 60 participants was planned, but due to the Victorian Government’s COVID-19 restrictions, this was modified to a case study design with 11 participants. A 6-week training intervention consisting of acceleration sprinting (<15m) or maximum speed sprinting with a gradual build up (flying 10-20m) was implemented. Participants that performed acceleration or maximum speed sprinting improved Biceps Femoris fascicle length by 23% and 20%, respectively. This was an increase of more than the Minimum Detectable Change (MDC95 = 0.96cm, 95% CI =0.93 – 0.99cm). The participants who completed normal training experienced no change in the BFLH fascicle length. Neither sprint training intervention produced a change in eccentric hamstring strength that was greater than the typical error in the test. Both sprinting interventions improved sprint performance outcomes, however both acceleration and maximum speed training produced a larger improvement in maximum speed (-11% and -9%, respectively) than in acceleration qualities (-2% and -3%, respectively). Both acceleration and maximum speed training incurred positive improvement in relative force production (F(0) (N/kg)) and relative power production (Pmax (W/kg)). This was similar for DRF and RFpeak and indicates that sprint training without resistance will improve Force-Velocity-Power Variables. This project has provided new information regarding the role of sprint training for hamstring strain injury prevention. Firstly, both 6 weeks of low volume acceleration and maximum speed sprinting improve BFLH fascicle length. Secondly, currently employed velocity thresholds in professional AF are likely too slow to quantify the HSR and sprinting demands. Thirdly, analysis using thresholds that are faster than previously reported revealed that the overall volume of sprinting (>90%Vmax) is too low to elicit an injury prevention or training stimulus. This information will inform the future practices of key stakeholders surrounding sprint training in field sport athletes. The identification of the positive benefits of maximum speed sprinting, and a faster, more accurate definition of sprinting has large potential to improve hamstring strain injury prevention and increase physical performance.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Undergraduate nursing students’ team communication skills within a simulated emergency setting : a grounded theory study
- Authors: Bourke, Sharon
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Recognising and managing clinical deterioration is considered a high priority in health care with ineffective communication being a significant contributing factor to poor clinical outcomes for patients. Nurses are in a unique position to make a difference in influencing improvements in team communication. In Australia, nurse education has become more complicated and demanding with nursing students focus on behaviour skills, such as communication, becoming more difficult in a saturated curriculum. Simulation-based education has provided an experiential way to learn these complex skills. Although there has been much work in the healthcare literature on clinical teamwork, including communication and its intersection with patient safety, there is still a gap in explaining how individuals within the team contribute to communication. The purpose of this study was to explore and explain how nursing students communicate in simulated emergency settings and how factors, such as culture, language, gender, age and power, affect nursing students’ team communication. This study investigated how transitioning nursing students are prepared with the necessary skills to achieve effective team communication at the point of transition to clinical practice as registered nurses. In order to address the aims of the study, a constructivist grounded theory methodology, informed by Kathy Charmaz (2006), was employed. Using purposive sampling, third year nursing students were recruited from one Australian university, to undertake a structured team simulation experience. Participants worked in teams of three or four to experience the team communication whilst working together to care for a deteriorating patient in the form of a mannequin. Simulations were video recorded after which individual, in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 participants. In line with a grounded theory approach, data collection and analysis were conducted concurrently until theoretical saturation was achieved. In response to the central problem of how nursing students communicate in simulated emergency settings, a core process was established that explained the factors that affect team communication. This problem is conceptualised as Navigating uncertainty: Explaining communication of nursing students within an emergency setting. This theoretical construct helps to explain nursing students’ actions and insights into factors that influence their communication within emergency teams. The core process is represented in three transitional stages of the theory comprising: Finding a place in the team, Understanding and working out differences and Looking to the future: Developing strategies to improve communication. This process was mediated by contextual conditions of the student, the simulation and the team. The phases are reinforced by the three main categories of Having a place in the team, Knowing yourself, and Transitioning from student to registered nurse. These categories represent the key activities that nursing students were engaged with that led to the development of the core category and process. The generated findings and theory offer valuable insights into factors that influence team communication skills within emergency settings. The theory raises awareness of social processes undertaken by nursing students during team communication, and highlights obstacles that can assist educators and academics to structure team communication education to better meet the needs of nursing students transitioning to practice settings.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Bourke, Sharon
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Recognising and managing clinical deterioration is considered a high priority in health care with ineffective communication being a significant contributing factor to poor clinical outcomes for patients. Nurses are in a unique position to make a difference in influencing improvements in team communication. In Australia, nurse education has become more complicated and demanding with nursing students focus on behaviour skills, such as communication, becoming more difficult in a saturated curriculum. Simulation-based education has provided an experiential way to learn these complex skills. Although there has been much work in the healthcare literature on clinical teamwork, including communication and its intersection with patient safety, there is still a gap in explaining how individuals within the team contribute to communication. The purpose of this study was to explore and explain how nursing students communicate in simulated emergency settings and how factors, such as culture, language, gender, age and power, affect nursing students’ team communication. This study investigated how transitioning nursing students are prepared with the necessary skills to achieve effective team communication at the point of transition to clinical practice as registered nurses. In order to address the aims of the study, a constructivist grounded theory methodology, informed by Kathy Charmaz (2006), was employed. Using purposive sampling, third year nursing students were recruited from one Australian university, to undertake a structured team simulation experience. Participants worked in teams of three or four to experience the team communication whilst working together to care for a deteriorating patient in the form of a mannequin. Simulations were video recorded after which individual, in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 participants. In line with a grounded theory approach, data collection and analysis were conducted concurrently until theoretical saturation was achieved. In response to the central problem of how nursing students communicate in simulated emergency settings, a core process was established that explained the factors that affect team communication. This problem is conceptualised as Navigating uncertainty: Explaining communication of nursing students within an emergency setting. This theoretical construct helps to explain nursing students’ actions and insights into factors that influence their communication within emergency teams. The core process is represented in three transitional stages of the theory comprising: Finding a place in the team, Understanding and working out differences and Looking to the future: Developing strategies to improve communication. This process was mediated by contextual conditions of the student, the simulation and the team. The phases are reinforced by the three main categories of Having a place in the team, Knowing yourself, and Transitioning from student to registered nurse. These categories represent the key activities that nursing students were engaged with that led to the development of the core category and process. The generated findings and theory offer valuable insights into factors that influence team communication skills within emergency settings. The theory raises awareness of social processes undertaken by nursing students during team communication, and highlights obstacles that can assist educators and academics to structure team communication education to better meet the needs of nursing students transitioning to practice settings.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Women in the Australian cartographic corps during World War Two : their work and ongoing legacy in australian history and culture
- Authors: Watts, Melissa
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: This thesis analyses and highlights the important work of the Australian Women’s Army Service (AWAS) in the Australian Cartographic Corps during World War Two.1 I examine the significance of the women’s roles and argue that their contribution has been largely omitted from historical accounts and popular culture. This inquiry consists of the historical novel Cartographies and an exegetical component. By appraising the crucial work undertaken by the women of the Survey Corps, this PhD aims to answer the question: What was the role of draftswomen in the Cartographic Corps during World War Two and what was their ongoing legacy in Australian history and culture? The exegesis answers these questions by establishing the role of the AWAS Cartographic Corps women during the war through a combination of qualitative interviews and critical analysis of archival sources. I argue that their contribution has received inadequate recognition when juxtaposed with their male counterparts within military histories. The exegesis then explores the representation of women’s war work in a broader social context, drawing from Australian popular culture to contend that this lack of acknowledgement has led to a deficiency of women’s narratives within the Australian collective war memory. Finally, the exegesis argues that historical fiction can advance an understanding of the past and provide recognition of marginalised members within a dominant culture. Cartographies, the accompanying novel, is an original creative interpretation that foregrounds the work of the women in the Cartographic Corps. Guided by the historical research undertaken for this project, the novel explores the pressures and demands that the work entailed. Moving between the 1940s and 1970s, Cartographies also engages in a post-war debate about the lack of historical or popular representation of the women of the Cartographic Corps. Furthermore, using the literary technique of historiographic metafiction, the novel considers the potential and limitations of both novels and historical research to accurately represent the past. Using a historiographical, creative and theoretical framework, the exegesis and the novel work together to provide a unique insight into the work and lives of the AWAS women who served in the Cartographic Corps during World War Two. Significantly, this thesis provides a previously unheard voice for the women of the Cartographic Corps to draw attention to the importance of their role during World War Two and begin to redress their absence from Australian history and culture.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Watts, Melissa
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: This thesis analyses and highlights the important work of the Australian Women’s Army Service (AWAS) in the Australian Cartographic Corps during World War Two.1 I examine the significance of the women’s roles and argue that their contribution has been largely omitted from historical accounts and popular culture. This inquiry consists of the historical novel Cartographies and an exegetical component. By appraising the crucial work undertaken by the women of the Survey Corps, this PhD aims to answer the question: What was the role of draftswomen in the Cartographic Corps during World War Two and what was their ongoing legacy in Australian history and culture? The exegesis answers these questions by establishing the role of the AWAS Cartographic Corps women during the war through a combination of qualitative interviews and critical analysis of archival sources. I argue that their contribution has received inadequate recognition when juxtaposed with their male counterparts within military histories. The exegesis then explores the representation of women’s war work in a broader social context, drawing from Australian popular culture to contend that this lack of acknowledgement has led to a deficiency of women’s narratives within the Australian collective war memory. Finally, the exegesis argues that historical fiction can advance an understanding of the past and provide recognition of marginalised members within a dominant culture. Cartographies, the accompanying novel, is an original creative interpretation that foregrounds the work of the women in the Cartographic Corps. Guided by the historical research undertaken for this project, the novel explores the pressures and demands that the work entailed. Moving between the 1940s and 1970s, Cartographies also engages in a post-war debate about the lack of historical or popular representation of the women of the Cartographic Corps. Furthermore, using the literary technique of historiographic metafiction, the novel considers the potential and limitations of both novels and historical research to accurately represent the past. Using a historiographical, creative and theoretical framework, the exegesis and the novel work together to provide a unique insight into the work and lives of the AWAS women who served in the Cartographic Corps during World War Two. Significantly, this thesis provides a previously unheard voice for the women of the Cartographic Corps to draw attention to the importance of their role during World War Two and begin to redress their absence from Australian history and culture.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Women’s lived experiences of their partners’ referral to a men’s behaviour change program : a feminist interpretative phenomenological analysis
- Authors: Zeuschner, Lauren
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Family violence (FV) is a significant social issue across Australia, where one woman is murdered by her current or former partner every week (State Government of Victoria, 2020). In an effort to increase the safety of women and children living in the state of Victoria, perpetrators of FV are routinely referred to a group intervention known as a Men’s Behaviour Change Program (MBCP). This research study sought to lay a foundation for understanding how women experience their partners’ referral to an MBCP, while exploring the meaning they ascribe to such an experience. At a fundamental level, the study aimed to elevate the voices of women and to contextualise their experiences. It was anticipated that this study would illuminate the profound insights of women regarding their experiences of such referrals, which have not been previously considered or acknowledged as being important. Nine women living in the regional city of Ballarat, Victoria, took part in this community-based research project, which was designed in collaboration with industry partners. Each woman engaged in a qualitative interview that was underpinned by the emergent methodology of feminist interpretative phenomenological analysis. Consequently, these interviews focused on the women’s thoughts, feelings and interpretations of the referral experience. Through analysis and discussion of the women’s narratives, referral to an MBCP was shown to have involved experiences of significant meaning, depth and consequence for victim survivors – clearly demonstrating an effect beyond perpetrator engagement with an MBCP. The findings from this study have revealed the way in which MBCP referrals fashion a new environment for victim survivors. It is an environment characterised by heightened hopes of change, experiences of being blamed and judged by external parties and includes a rising sense of indignation. This form of referral has also been exposed to be a period of pivotal assessment for victim survivors, and at a fundamental level, as an event in and of itself. The new understandings achieved through this study provide a foundation on which FV services, researchers and policymakers can now build. This study has also reinforced the notion that in order to be effective, FV services must be informed by the knowledge and experiences of the people who are most affected by those services.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Zeuschner, Lauren
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Family violence (FV) is a significant social issue across Australia, where one woman is murdered by her current or former partner every week (State Government of Victoria, 2020). In an effort to increase the safety of women and children living in the state of Victoria, perpetrators of FV are routinely referred to a group intervention known as a Men’s Behaviour Change Program (MBCP). This research study sought to lay a foundation for understanding how women experience their partners’ referral to an MBCP, while exploring the meaning they ascribe to such an experience. At a fundamental level, the study aimed to elevate the voices of women and to contextualise their experiences. It was anticipated that this study would illuminate the profound insights of women regarding their experiences of such referrals, which have not been previously considered or acknowledged as being important. Nine women living in the regional city of Ballarat, Victoria, took part in this community-based research project, which was designed in collaboration with industry partners. Each woman engaged in a qualitative interview that was underpinned by the emergent methodology of feminist interpretative phenomenological analysis. Consequently, these interviews focused on the women’s thoughts, feelings and interpretations of the referral experience. Through analysis and discussion of the women’s narratives, referral to an MBCP was shown to have involved experiences of significant meaning, depth and consequence for victim survivors – clearly demonstrating an effect beyond perpetrator engagement with an MBCP. The findings from this study have revealed the way in which MBCP referrals fashion a new environment for victim survivors. It is an environment characterised by heightened hopes of change, experiences of being blamed and judged by external parties and includes a rising sense of indignation. This form of referral has also been exposed to be a period of pivotal assessment for victim survivors, and at a fundamental level, as an event in and of itself. The new understandings achieved through this study provide a foundation on which FV services, researchers and policymakers can now build. This study has also reinforced the notion that in order to be effective, FV services must be informed by the knowledge and experiences of the people who are most affected by those services.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
A comparative analysis of the motivational factors of Chinese and non-Chinese tourists visiting Melbourne
- Authors: Soldatenko, Daria
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: This study is devoted to a comparison of motivational factors of travellers from China and non-Chinese countries visiting the same destination (Melbourne). Given the importance of the Chinese market to Australia, it seems important to explore this market in terms of motivational factors and understand its specifics and peculiarities. In addition, the topicality of such research was revealed through a content analysis of cross-cultural push/pull motivational studies in tourism relating to nationalities. Leiper’s model of tourist’s pre-trip psychological process (2004) was adapted and modified in terms of push and pull factors that combine not only needs and destination attributes, but also include a number of additional factors, such as information about recreation possibilities of visiting places, expectation about potential experiences during the trip, as well as means, namely money, time and absence of other constraints. The model enables an understanding of the linkages and relationships between the various motivational variables and their influence on destination choice. This study employs quantitative methods to examine and compare the motivational factors of two studied samples. Data were collected through an online survey, which was provided in two languages (English and Chinese). The data analysis was undertaken in Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) - 26.0 software by the means of various descriptive and inferential statistical techniques, such as Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Independent T-tests, Multiple regression analysis, and Canonical correlation analysis. In addition, the relationships between motivational variables in a proposed model were examined by using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). The present study revealed a number of differences in trip characteristics and tourist motivational factors between the Chinese and non-Chinese samples. The differences identified between the two target markets are closely related to traits of individualist and collectivist cultures. This conclusion verifies the findings of previous tourism research that culture influences travel behaviour. The knowledge of cultural differences in motivation is very important for enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of international tourism marketing. In addition, customising the services, products, and marketing programs for specific markets results in a high level of tourist satisfaction, and that in turn, leads to an increase in financial benefits associated with customer satisfaction and loyalty. This research has both theoretical and practical scientific significance. One significant contribution of this research is the development of a model of interrelated motivational factors in the travel decision-making process that enables the identification of the most influential motivational factors in travel decisions. The relationships between the push and pull factors, such as motivations, destination attributes, information sources, expectations and constraints, and their influence on destination choice, were examined. In the present study, a close positive relationship between personal motivations and destination attributes, as well as a significant influence of information sources on expectations and destination choice were found. Such results highlight the importance of properly developed advertising and promotion strategies with special attention to their contents, emphasising particular push and pull factors for particular tourist markets or segments. In addition, the current study identified possible product bundles of tourists’ motivations and destination attributes and segmentation of visitors to Melbourne that might present valuable information for destination practitioners and marketers, as successful matching of push and pull factors is a prerequisite for effective and successful actions on attraction and retention of visitors. Identified similarities and differences between Chinese and non-Chinese samples in terms of their demographic profiles, trip characteristics, motivations for travelling, preferences of destination attributes, information source usage, trip expectations, constraints for travelling, and their evaluation of destination choice criteria provided useful information for developing specifically customised tourist products and services, as well as promotion programs, that are tailored to each market. Moreover, from theoretical perspective, the present study adds new depth to understanding the nature of motivational factors, affecting the travel decision-making process, and causal relationships among them. Thus, the study contributes to advancing both tourist behaviour research as well as tourism decision-making literature. In addition, this research identifies and addresses the gap in empirical research investigating tourists' behaviour patterns across economically and culturally different countries. As comparative motivational research of tourists from China and non-Chinese countries travelling to Australia had yet to be undertaken, this study might be considered important because it provides valuable information for targeting the main source countries for Australia. Such research may be especially valuable in post-COVID times when international borders open up and carefully planned marketing will be needed.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Soldatenko, Daria
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: This study is devoted to a comparison of motivational factors of travellers from China and non-Chinese countries visiting the same destination (Melbourne). Given the importance of the Chinese market to Australia, it seems important to explore this market in terms of motivational factors and understand its specifics and peculiarities. In addition, the topicality of such research was revealed through a content analysis of cross-cultural push/pull motivational studies in tourism relating to nationalities. Leiper’s model of tourist’s pre-trip psychological process (2004) was adapted and modified in terms of push and pull factors that combine not only needs and destination attributes, but also include a number of additional factors, such as information about recreation possibilities of visiting places, expectation about potential experiences during the trip, as well as means, namely money, time and absence of other constraints. The model enables an understanding of the linkages and relationships between the various motivational variables and their influence on destination choice. This study employs quantitative methods to examine and compare the motivational factors of two studied samples. Data were collected through an online survey, which was provided in two languages (English and Chinese). The data analysis was undertaken in Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) - 26.0 software by the means of various descriptive and inferential statistical techniques, such as Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Independent T-tests, Multiple regression analysis, and Canonical correlation analysis. In addition, the relationships between motivational variables in a proposed model were examined by using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). The present study revealed a number of differences in trip characteristics and tourist motivational factors between the Chinese and non-Chinese samples. The differences identified between the two target markets are closely related to traits of individualist and collectivist cultures. This conclusion verifies the findings of previous tourism research that culture influences travel behaviour. The knowledge of cultural differences in motivation is very important for enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of international tourism marketing. In addition, customising the services, products, and marketing programs for specific markets results in a high level of tourist satisfaction, and that in turn, leads to an increase in financial benefits associated with customer satisfaction and loyalty. This research has both theoretical and practical scientific significance. One significant contribution of this research is the development of a model of interrelated motivational factors in the travel decision-making process that enables the identification of the most influential motivational factors in travel decisions. The relationships between the push and pull factors, such as motivations, destination attributes, information sources, expectations and constraints, and their influence on destination choice, were examined. In the present study, a close positive relationship between personal motivations and destination attributes, as well as a significant influence of information sources on expectations and destination choice were found. Such results highlight the importance of properly developed advertising and promotion strategies with special attention to their contents, emphasising particular push and pull factors for particular tourist markets or segments. In addition, the current study identified possible product bundles of tourists’ motivations and destination attributes and segmentation of visitors to Melbourne that might present valuable information for destination practitioners and marketers, as successful matching of push and pull factors is a prerequisite for effective and successful actions on attraction and retention of visitors. Identified similarities and differences between Chinese and non-Chinese samples in terms of their demographic profiles, trip characteristics, motivations for travelling, preferences of destination attributes, information source usage, trip expectations, constraints for travelling, and their evaluation of destination choice criteria provided useful information for developing specifically customised tourist products and services, as well as promotion programs, that are tailored to each market. Moreover, from theoretical perspective, the present study adds new depth to understanding the nature of motivational factors, affecting the travel decision-making process, and causal relationships among them. Thus, the study contributes to advancing both tourist behaviour research as well as tourism decision-making literature. In addition, this research identifies and addresses the gap in empirical research investigating tourists' behaviour patterns across economically and culturally different countries. As comparative motivational research of tourists from China and non-Chinese countries travelling to Australia had yet to be undertaken, this study might be considered important because it provides valuable information for targeting the main source countries for Australia. Such research may be especially valuable in post-COVID times when international borders open up and carefully planned marketing will be needed.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
A multi-proxy approach to track ecological change in Gunbower Wetlands, Victoria, Australia
- Authors: Mall, Neeraj
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: The wetlands of the Murray-Darling Basin have come under the threat of a drying climate, the over-allocation of water for irrigation agriculture and widespread catchment disturbance. A synthesis of many paleolimnological assessments undertaken in the upper and lower sections of the Murray floodplain, and the Murrumbidgee, reveal considerable ecological change in wetlands from early in European settlement. The wetlands of the Gunbower Forest lie in the middle reaches of the Murray River. They are located on Gunbower Island that is deemed a wetland of international significance under the Ramsar Convention and an icon site under the Living Murray Initiative. Many Gunbower Island wetlands are located in protected forests, while others are within a zone developed for irrigation, mostly dairy, agriculture. This study analysed the sedimentary records of two wetlands within the forest estate and two within irrigation lands intending to compare long term change in the Gunbower wetlands to studies on floodplains both up and downstream, and to assess the relative impact of regional causes of change and that of local land use. Sediments constitute natural archives of past environmental changes. Sediment records were recovered from four wetlands and radiometric dating and multi-proxy paleoecological techniques were applied to assess how these wetlands have responded to changes in human occupation and other factors, such as climate. Then, extracted sediment cores were taken from Black (core length: 84 cm) and Green (86 cm) Swamps located in the forest, and Taylors (94 cm) and Cockatoo (74 cm) Lagoons were situated amongst dairy farms. In order to reconstruct ecological and water quality changes from the study sites, the cores were analysed using four different analysis techniques, i.e., Itrax-XRF (X-Ray Fluorescence) scanning, Lead-210 (210Pb) dating, Stable isotope and diatom analysis. XRF scanning provided evidence of the elemental composition of the cores. Detrital enrichment in the lower parts of all cores was observed, indicating elevated erosion rates or low water levels. In addition to this, some recent metal pollution was evident with high Cu, Ni and Pb inputs. Stable isotopes provided limited information on the carbon and nitrogen sources. The
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Mall, Neeraj
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: The wetlands of the Murray-Darling Basin have come under the threat of a drying climate, the over-allocation of water for irrigation agriculture and widespread catchment disturbance. A synthesis of many paleolimnological assessments undertaken in the upper and lower sections of the Murray floodplain, and the Murrumbidgee, reveal considerable ecological change in wetlands from early in European settlement. The wetlands of the Gunbower Forest lie in the middle reaches of the Murray River. They are located on Gunbower Island that is deemed a wetland of international significance under the Ramsar Convention and an icon site under the Living Murray Initiative. Many Gunbower Island wetlands are located in protected forests, while others are within a zone developed for irrigation, mostly dairy, agriculture. This study analysed the sedimentary records of two wetlands within the forest estate and two within irrigation lands intending to compare long term change in the Gunbower wetlands to studies on floodplains both up and downstream, and to assess the relative impact of regional causes of change and that of local land use. Sediments constitute natural archives of past environmental changes. Sediment records were recovered from four wetlands and radiometric dating and multi-proxy paleoecological techniques were applied to assess how these wetlands have responded to changes in human occupation and other factors, such as climate. Then, extracted sediment cores were taken from Black (core length: 84 cm) and Green (86 cm) Swamps located in the forest, and Taylors (94 cm) and Cockatoo (74 cm) Lagoons were situated amongst dairy farms. In order to reconstruct ecological and water quality changes from the study sites, the cores were analysed using four different analysis techniques, i.e., Itrax-XRF (X-Ray Fluorescence) scanning, Lead-210 (210Pb) dating, Stable isotope and diatom analysis. XRF scanning provided evidence of the elemental composition of the cores. Detrital enrichment in the lower parts of all cores was observed, indicating elevated erosion rates or low water levels. In addition to this, some recent metal pollution was evident with high Cu, Ni and Pb inputs. Stable isotopes provided limited information on the carbon and nitrogen sources. The
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
A patient agent controlled customized blockchain based framework for internet of things
- Authors: Uddin, Md Ashraf
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Although Blockchain implementations have emerged as revolutionary technologies for various industrial applications including cryptocurrencies, they have not been widely deployed to store data streaming from sensors to remote servers in architectures known as Internet of Things. New Blockchain for the Internet of Things models promise secure solutions for eHealth, smart cities, and other applications. These models pave the way for continuous monitoring of patient’s physiological signs with wearable sensors to augment traditional medical practice without recourse to storing data with a trusted authority. However, existing Blockchain algorithms cannot accommodate the huge volumes, security, and privacy requirements of health data. In this thesis, our first contribution is an End-to-End secure eHealth architecture that introduces an intelligent Patient Centric Agent. The Patient Centric Agent executing on dedicated hardware manages the storage and access of streams of sensors generated health data, into a customized Blockchain and other less secure repositories. As IoT devices cannot host Blockchain technology due to their limited memory, power, and computational resources, the Patient Centric Agent coordinates and communicates with a private customized Blockchain on behalf of the wearable devices. While the adoption of a Patient Centric Agent offers solutions for addressing continuous monitoring of patients’ health, dealing with storage, data privacy and network security issues, the architecture is vulnerable to Denial of Services(DoS) and single point of failure attacks. To address this issue, we advance a second contribution; a decentralised eHealth system in which the Patient Centric Agent is replicated at three levels: Sensing Layer, NEAR Processing Layer and FAR Processing Layer. The functionalities of the Patient Centric Agent are customized to manage the tasks of the three levels. Simulations confirm protection of the architecture against DoS attacks. Few patients require all their health data to be stored in Blockchain repositories but instead need to select an appropriate storage medium for each chunk of data by matching their personal needs and preferences with features of candidate storage mediums. Motivated by this context, we advance third contribution; a recommendation model for health data storage that can accommodate patient preferences and make storage decisions rapidly, in real-time, even with streamed data. The mapping between health data features and characteristics of each repository is learned using machine learning. The Blockchain’s capacity to make transactions and store records without central oversight enables its application for IoT networks outside health such as underwater IoT networks where the unattended nature of the nodes threatens their security and privacy. However, underwater IoT differs from ground IoT as acoustics signals are the communication media leading to high propagation delays, high error rates exacerbated by turbulent water currents. Our fourth contribution is a customized Blockchain leveraged framework with the model of Patient-Centric Agent renamed as Smart Agent for securely monitoring underwater IoT. Finally, the smart Agent has been investigated in developing an IoT smart home or cities monitoring framework. The key algorithms underpinning to each contribution have been implemented and analysed using simulators.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Uddin, Md Ashraf
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Although Blockchain implementations have emerged as revolutionary technologies for various industrial applications including cryptocurrencies, they have not been widely deployed to store data streaming from sensors to remote servers in architectures known as Internet of Things. New Blockchain for the Internet of Things models promise secure solutions for eHealth, smart cities, and other applications. These models pave the way for continuous monitoring of patient’s physiological signs with wearable sensors to augment traditional medical practice without recourse to storing data with a trusted authority. However, existing Blockchain algorithms cannot accommodate the huge volumes, security, and privacy requirements of health data. In this thesis, our first contribution is an End-to-End secure eHealth architecture that introduces an intelligent Patient Centric Agent. The Patient Centric Agent executing on dedicated hardware manages the storage and access of streams of sensors generated health data, into a customized Blockchain and other less secure repositories. As IoT devices cannot host Blockchain technology due to their limited memory, power, and computational resources, the Patient Centric Agent coordinates and communicates with a private customized Blockchain on behalf of the wearable devices. While the adoption of a Patient Centric Agent offers solutions for addressing continuous monitoring of patients’ health, dealing with storage, data privacy and network security issues, the architecture is vulnerable to Denial of Services(DoS) and single point of failure attacks. To address this issue, we advance a second contribution; a decentralised eHealth system in which the Patient Centric Agent is replicated at three levels: Sensing Layer, NEAR Processing Layer and FAR Processing Layer. The functionalities of the Patient Centric Agent are customized to manage the tasks of the three levels. Simulations confirm protection of the architecture against DoS attacks. Few patients require all their health data to be stored in Blockchain repositories but instead need to select an appropriate storage medium for each chunk of data by matching their personal needs and preferences with features of candidate storage mediums. Motivated by this context, we advance third contribution; a recommendation model for health data storage that can accommodate patient preferences and make storage decisions rapidly, in real-time, even with streamed data. The mapping between health data features and characteristics of each repository is learned using machine learning. The Blockchain’s capacity to make transactions and store records without central oversight enables its application for IoT networks outside health such as underwater IoT networks where the unattended nature of the nodes threatens their security and privacy. However, underwater IoT differs from ground IoT as acoustics signals are the communication media leading to high propagation delays, high error rates exacerbated by turbulent water currents. Our fourth contribution is a customized Blockchain leveraged framework with the model of Patient-Centric Agent renamed as Smart Agent for securely monitoring underwater IoT. Finally, the smart Agent has been investigated in developing an IoT smart home or cities monitoring framework. The key algorithms underpinning to each contribution have been implemented and analysed using simulators.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Agoraphilic navigation algorithm in dynamic environment
- Authors: Hewawasam, Hasitha
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: This thesis presents a novel Agoraphilic (free space attraction [FSA])-based navigation algorithm. This new algorithm is capable of undertaking local path planning for robot navigation in static and dynamic environments with the presence of a moving goal. The proposed algorithm eliminates the common weaknesses of the existing navigation approaches when operating in unknown dynamic environments while using the modified Agoraphilic concept. The Agoraphilic Navigation Algorithm in Dynamic Environment (ANADE) presented in this thesis does not look for obstacles (problems) to avoid; rather, it looks for free space (solutions) to follow. Therefore, this algorithm is also a human-like optimistic navigation algorithm. The proposed algorithm creates a set of Free Space Forces (FSFs) based on the current and future growing free space around the robot. These Free Space Forces are focused towards the current and future locations of a moving goal and finally generate a single attractive force. This attractive force pulls the robot through current free space towards the future growing free space leading to the goal. The new free space concept allows the ANADE to overcome many common problems of navigation algorithms. Several versions of the ANADE have been developed throughout this research to overcome the main limitation of the original Agoraphilic algorithm and address the common weaknesses of the existing navigation approaches. The ANADE I uses an object tracking method to identify the states (locations) of moving objects accurately. The ANADE II uses a dynamic obstacle prediction methodology to identify the robot’s future environments. In the ANADE III, a novel controller based on fuzzy logic was developed and combined with the new FSA concept to provide optimal navigational solutions at a low computational cost. In the ANADE III, the effectiveness of the ANADE II was further improved by incorporating the velocity vectors of the moving objects into decision-making. In the ANADE IV, a self-tuning system was successfully applied to the ANADE III to take advantage of the performances of free space attraction-based navigation algorithms. The proposed final version of the algorithm (ANADE V) comprises nine main modules. These modules are repeatedly used to create the robot’s driving force, which pulls the robot towards the goal (moving or static). An obstacle tracking module is used to identify the time-varying free spaces by tracking the moving objects. Further, a tracking system is also used to track the moving goal. The capacity of the ANADE was strengthened further by obstacle and goal path prediction modules. Future location prediction allowed the algorithm to make decisions by considering future environments around the robot. This is further supported by a self-tuning, machine learning–based controller designed to efficiently account for the inherent high uncertainties in the robot’s operational environment at a reduced computational cost. Experimental and simulation-based tests were conducted under dynamic environments to validate the algorithm. Further, the ANADE was benchmarked against other recently developed navigation algorithms. Those tests were focused on the behaviour of the algorithm under challenging environments with moving and static obstacles and goals. Further, the test results demonstrate that the ANADE is successful in navigating robots under unknown, dynamically cluttered environments.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Hewawasam, Hasitha
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: This thesis presents a novel Agoraphilic (free space attraction [FSA])-based navigation algorithm. This new algorithm is capable of undertaking local path planning for robot navigation in static and dynamic environments with the presence of a moving goal. The proposed algorithm eliminates the common weaknesses of the existing navigation approaches when operating in unknown dynamic environments while using the modified Agoraphilic concept. The Agoraphilic Navigation Algorithm in Dynamic Environment (ANADE) presented in this thesis does not look for obstacles (problems) to avoid; rather, it looks for free space (solutions) to follow. Therefore, this algorithm is also a human-like optimistic navigation algorithm. The proposed algorithm creates a set of Free Space Forces (FSFs) based on the current and future growing free space around the robot. These Free Space Forces are focused towards the current and future locations of a moving goal and finally generate a single attractive force. This attractive force pulls the robot through current free space towards the future growing free space leading to the goal. The new free space concept allows the ANADE to overcome many common problems of navigation algorithms. Several versions of the ANADE have been developed throughout this research to overcome the main limitation of the original Agoraphilic algorithm and address the common weaknesses of the existing navigation approaches. The ANADE I uses an object tracking method to identify the states (locations) of moving objects accurately. The ANADE II uses a dynamic obstacle prediction methodology to identify the robot’s future environments. In the ANADE III, a novel controller based on fuzzy logic was developed and combined with the new FSA concept to provide optimal navigational solutions at a low computational cost. In the ANADE III, the effectiveness of the ANADE II was further improved by incorporating the velocity vectors of the moving objects into decision-making. In the ANADE IV, a self-tuning system was successfully applied to the ANADE III to take advantage of the performances of free space attraction-based navigation algorithms. The proposed final version of the algorithm (ANADE V) comprises nine main modules. These modules are repeatedly used to create the robot’s driving force, which pulls the robot towards the goal (moving or static). An obstacle tracking module is used to identify the time-varying free spaces by tracking the moving objects. Further, a tracking system is also used to track the moving goal. The capacity of the ANADE was strengthened further by obstacle and goal path prediction modules. Future location prediction allowed the algorithm to make decisions by considering future environments around the robot. This is further supported by a self-tuning, machine learning–based controller designed to efficiently account for the inherent high uncertainties in the robot’s operational environment at a reduced computational cost. Experimental and simulation-based tests were conducted under dynamic environments to validate the algorithm. Further, the ANADE was benchmarked against other recently developed navigation algorithms. Those tests were focused on the behaviour of the algorithm under challenging environments with moving and static obstacles and goals. Further, the test results demonstrate that the ANADE is successful in navigating robots under unknown, dynamically cluttered environments.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
An examination of peripheral blood to reflect transcriptomic adaptation to physical exercise training in sedentary men compared with sex-matched athletic phenotypes
- Authors: Marin, Sergio
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: There is renewed interest in exercise genomics that peripheral blood RNA expression may be important to understand exercise mediated adaptations to exercise. However, there is little direct supporting evidence. Therefore, this thesis involved two studies to examine the relationship between RNA expression and exercise, and two experimental studies to examine relationships and adaptive response of peripheral blood RNA in sedentary compared with athletic phenotypes. In the first two studies, we conducted both meta-analysis and network meta-analysis to examine current randomised controlled trial (RCT) evidence to determine current best evidence on the link between RNA expression and athletic phenotype in addition to head-to-head comparison of different exercise types to induce differential expression of RNA transcripts in sedentary compared with athletic phenotypes. We observed that current available body of RCTs in peripheral blood exercise genomics presents too large heterogeneity in study design, methodological and data reporting aspects. Thus, we concluded that peripheral blood cannot be established as a valid source for identifying, neither the effect of physical exercise training on transcriptomic markers nor the distinction of divergent transcriptomic profiles in response to different exercise modalities. In the third and fourth studies, we aimed to determine whether peripheral blood RNA and circular RNA (circRNA) expression was different between sedentary and athletic phenotypes, and whether these transcripts were consistent in response to exercise training in exercise-naïve men. To achieve this, we conducted two STROBE compliant observational experiments of n=71 participants with distinct athletic phenotypes. We concluded that peripheral blood transcriptome expression might allow for identification of divergent athletic phenotypes, although this is not supported by further examination of peripheral blood RNA expression levels in response to an exercise training intervention. The sum of works presented in this thesis does not agree with many propositions relating to the strength of evidence in peripheral blood transcriptomics literature. This is principally due to the heterogeneity and lack of consistency of research in this field which is currently insufficient to provide any strong conclusions. In conclusion, peripheral blood RNA and circRNA do not yet offer useful avenues to predict the adaptive response to different exercise types in athletic and non-athletic men.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Marin, Sergio
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: There is renewed interest in exercise genomics that peripheral blood RNA expression may be important to understand exercise mediated adaptations to exercise. However, there is little direct supporting evidence. Therefore, this thesis involved two studies to examine the relationship between RNA expression and exercise, and two experimental studies to examine relationships and adaptive response of peripheral blood RNA in sedentary compared with athletic phenotypes. In the first two studies, we conducted both meta-analysis and network meta-analysis to examine current randomised controlled trial (RCT) evidence to determine current best evidence on the link between RNA expression and athletic phenotype in addition to head-to-head comparison of different exercise types to induce differential expression of RNA transcripts in sedentary compared with athletic phenotypes. We observed that current available body of RCTs in peripheral blood exercise genomics presents too large heterogeneity in study design, methodological and data reporting aspects. Thus, we concluded that peripheral blood cannot be established as a valid source for identifying, neither the effect of physical exercise training on transcriptomic markers nor the distinction of divergent transcriptomic profiles in response to different exercise modalities. In the third and fourth studies, we aimed to determine whether peripheral blood RNA and circular RNA (circRNA) expression was different between sedentary and athletic phenotypes, and whether these transcripts were consistent in response to exercise training in exercise-naïve men. To achieve this, we conducted two STROBE compliant observational experiments of n=71 participants with distinct athletic phenotypes. We concluded that peripheral blood transcriptome expression might allow for identification of divergent athletic phenotypes, although this is not supported by further examination of peripheral blood RNA expression levels in response to an exercise training intervention. The sum of works presented in this thesis does not agree with many propositions relating to the strength of evidence in peripheral blood transcriptomics literature. This is principally due to the heterogeneity and lack of consistency of research in this field which is currently insufficient to provide any strong conclusions. In conclusion, peripheral blood RNA and circRNA do not yet offer useful avenues to predict the adaptive response to different exercise types in athletic and non-athletic men.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
An investigative study of burnout among university nurse academics in Australia
- Authors: Singh, Charanjit
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: The overall aims of this study were to investigate the prevalence, extent and explore the experiences of Nurse Academics in Australia in relation to job satisfaction and burnout. Over the last three decades, university teaching has become increasingly challenging and stressful; this has affected the quality of life of academics. This is evidenced by the rapidly changing working conditions and stress experienced globally among university academics Consequently, the relationship between academics and their workplace are very demanding, more stressed, followed by lack of resources and eventually leading to burnout. Burnout is defined as a psychological syndrome emerging as a prolonged response to chronic interpersonal stressors on the job. Since, the move of nurse education into the university sector in Australia in the mid 1980’s, the stress and demands placed upon Nursing Academics has risen and intensified dramatically. Although the literature is replete about the work experiences among university academics very little research has been carried out to investigate the prevalence and explore the experiences among nurse academics, particularly within Australia (Bittner, & Bechtel, 2017) in relation to occupational stress and burnout. This research study utilized a mixed methods design, specifically, the sequential explanatory model A two phased approach was utilized. In phase one 234 nurse academics completed the survey comprised of the MBI, MSQ and demographics. In phase two, 19 participants were interviewed. The conceptual framework that underpins this study is influenced by the Job- Demands Resource Model (J-DR Model). In phase one, participants were drawn from a cross section from novice to experienced academics. 50% of participants reported low levels of burnout, whilst the other 50% reported either moderate or high levels of burnout. Out of these 50% who experienced burnout about 20% of respondents experienced a high-level of burnout. Similarly, 50% of the participants experienced low levels of job satisfaction and this correlated significantly with high levels of the total burnout scores (r = -0.56). Within the qualitative component, the main themes included a lack of work life balance, incivility towards staff, increasing workloads, challenging students, lack of recognition, negative workplace culture, lack of awareness of the importance of political astuteness, and lack of leadership skills and difficulty with retention of newly appointed staff. Many participants also expressed being threatened, felling intimidated, and unfairly treated coupled with facing personalities who were driven by power struggles. Overall, there appeared to be a sense of powerlessness, that participants were relatively powerless and unable to change their lot. Although personal resilience provided a buffering effect for some of the participants and acted as a protective factor against stress and burnout it is not well understood. This research study contributes to the ongoing body of work on the experiences of nurse academics globally and gives a further insight and understanding of the personal experiences of occupational stress and burnout among Australian nurse academics. However, a few potential limitations to this study should be noted. The study sample was only selected from within Australian universities which may limit the global generalisation of the findings and it was undertaken at an only one time point. Occupational stress leading to burnout is still considered an important factor and predictor of job satisfaction and intention to leave among Australian nurse academics. Effective mentoring and leadership styles that promote a nurturing work environment, a sense of belonging, being valued, heard, and recognised, are areas of priority. Strategies and policies should be revised for greater inclusiveness, academic freedom, institutional autonomy, and a better work-life balance. Further work is needed that examines the specific types of support systems that nurse leaders could initiate to reduce job stress leading to burnout. Ongoing evaluation is crucial to ensure the appropriateness, efficacy, and effectiveness of the support systems. The findings have important global implications in terms of recruitment and retention of nurse academic.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Singh, Charanjit
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: The overall aims of this study were to investigate the prevalence, extent and explore the experiences of Nurse Academics in Australia in relation to job satisfaction and burnout. Over the last three decades, university teaching has become increasingly challenging and stressful; this has affected the quality of life of academics. This is evidenced by the rapidly changing working conditions and stress experienced globally among university academics Consequently, the relationship between academics and their workplace are very demanding, more stressed, followed by lack of resources and eventually leading to burnout. Burnout is defined as a psychological syndrome emerging as a prolonged response to chronic interpersonal stressors on the job. Since, the move of nurse education into the university sector in Australia in the mid 1980’s, the stress and demands placed upon Nursing Academics has risen and intensified dramatically. Although the literature is replete about the work experiences among university academics very little research has been carried out to investigate the prevalence and explore the experiences among nurse academics, particularly within Australia (Bittner, & Bechtel, 2017) in relation to occupational stress and burnout. This research study utilized a mixed methods design, specifically, the sequential explanatory model A two phased approach was utilized. In phase one 234 nurse academics completed the survey comprised of the MBI, MSQ and demographics. In phase two, 19 participants were interviewed. The conceptual framework that underpins this study is influenced by the Job- Demands Resource Model (J-DR Model). In phase one, participants were drawn from a cross section from novice to experienced academics. 50% of participants reported low levels of burnout, whilst the other 50% reported either moderate or high levels of burnout. Out of these 50% who experienced burnout about 20% of respondents experienced a high-level of burnout. Similarly, 50% of the participants experienced low levels of job satisfaction and this correlated significantly with high levels of the total burnout scores (r = -0.56). Within the qualitative component, the main themes included a lack of work life balance, incivility towards staff, increasing workloads, challenging students, lack of recognition, negative workplace culture, lack of awareness of the importance of political astuteness, and lack of leadership skills and difficulty with retention of newly appointed staff. Many participants also expressed being threatened, felling intimidated, and unfairly treated coupled with facing personalities who were driven by power struggles. Overall, there appeared to be a sense of powerlessness, that participants were relatively powerless and unable to change their lot. Although personal resilience provided a buffering effect for some of the participants and acted as a protective factor against stress and burnout it is not well understood. This research study contributes to the ongoing body of work on the experiences of nurse academics globally and gives a further insight and understanding of the personal experiences of occupational stress and burnout among Australian nurse academics. However, a few potential limitations to this study should be noted. The study sample was only selected from within Australian universities which may limit the global generalisation of the findings and it was undertaken at an only one time point. Occupational stress leading to burnout is still considered an important factor and predictor of job satisfaction and intention to leave among Australian nurse academics. Effective mentoring and leadership styles that promote a nurturing work environment, a sense of belonging, being valued, heard, and recognised, are areas of priority. Strategies and policies should be revised for greater inclusiveness, academic freedom, institutional autonomy, and a better work-life balance. Further work is needed that examines the specific types of support systems that nurse leaders could initiate to reduce job stress leading to burnout. Ongoing evaluation is crucial to ensure the appropriateness, efficacy, and effectiveness of the support systems. The findings have important global implications in terms of recruitment and retention of nurse academic.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Analytical and numerical approaches to evaluate the effect of time-dependent and time-independent soil characteristics on the stability of deep excavations
- Authors: Ghadrdan, Mohsen
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Excavating the ground for different purposes, such as extracting valuable materials or undertaking urban construction, may cause concerns regarding the stability of the formed slopes, which can affect the environment, the economy, and human lives. Slope stability analysis in large-scale and deep excavations such as open-pit mines is challenging due to uncertainties regarding varying material parameters, complex field conditions and lack of or insufficient data such as pore water pressure distribution, in-situ stress conditions, and discontinuities. Despite different advanced analytical and numerical slope stability techniques having been developed, slope stability analysis may produce unreliable conclusions due to these uncertainties and challenges. This study’s objective is to investigate the effect of different factors associated with slope stability through a case study of the Yallourn brown coal open pit mine in Australia. In this study, the two most common slope stability methods—the Limit Equilibrium Method (LEM) and the Finite Element Method (FEM)—were employed. A comprehensive study was conducted to determine how the generation and dissipation of Negative Excess Pore-Water Pressure (NEPWP) affect slope stability assessments. Additionally, due to the complex geological stratigraphy of the site, different scenarios for geological layering were defined and investigated for the slope stability analyses. Moreover, the sensitivity of the slope stability assessment to not only different material characteristics but also different formulations and assumptions of LEM and FEM are presented.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Ghadrdan, Mohsen
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Excavating the ground for different purposes, such as extracting valuable materials or undertaking urban construction, may cause concerns regarding the stability of the formed slopes, which can affect the environment, the economy, and human lives. Slope stability analysis in large-scale and deep excavations such as open-pit mines is challenging due to uncertainties regarding varying material parameters, complex field conditions and lack of or insufficient data such as pore water pressure distribution, in-situ stress conditions, and discontinuities. Despite different advanced analytical and numerical slope stability techniques having been developed, slope stability analysis may produce unreliable conclusions due to these uncertainties and challenges. This study’s objective is to investigate the effect of different factors associated with slope stability through a case study of the Yallourn brown coal open pit mine in Australia. In this study, the two most common slope stability methods—the Limit Equilibrium Method (LEM) and the Finite Element Method (FEM)—were employed. A comprehensive study was conducted to determine how the generation and dissipation of Negative Excess Pore-Water Pressure (NEPWP) affect slope stability assessments. Additionally, due to the complex geological stratigraphy of the site, different scenarios for geological layering were defined and investigated for the slope stability analyses. Moreover, the sensitivity of the slope stability assessment to not only different material characteristics but also different formulations and assumptions of LEM and FEM are presented.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Applicability of LAMP as a field diagnostic test for haemonchus contortus and fasciola hepatica infection
- Authors: Bari, Tanjina
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Gastrointestinal parasites Haemonchus contortus and Fasciola hepatica are major impediments to livestock production worldwide. Faecal egg counts remain the most commonly used and widely accepted diagnostic tool for these parasites; however, there is a need for improved, field-applicable diagnostics. In this study, loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) was optimised and evaluated for the detection of H. contortus (in sheep) and F. hepatica (in cattle) infection. LAMP assays were optimised to enable visual detection using calcein dye. DNA extraction techniques were developed that have the potential for on-farm application. Faeces suspended in water, heated, then centrifuged, with two cheap and stable chemicals, enabled detection of H. contortus at clinically relevant infection burdens. For F. hepatica, a faeces-water suspension was sieved to remove particulate matter, then physical disruption (bead-beating) was applied. LAMP was conducted under laboratory conditions and in the field; compared to FEC (the most commonly used diagnostic for the target parasites) and PCR. LAMP was conducted using three incubation methods: a commercially available thermocycler; a field-friendly low-cost portable styrofoam esky; and a dedicated field applicable LAMP incubator. The general trend was for LAMP to have high sensitivity but only moderate specificity when compared to FEC. However, the use of PCR (both pathogens) and a highly sensitive amended FEC (F. hepatica only) suggested that the apparent low specificity was the result of LAMP being able to detect low-level parasite infection when conventional FEC could not. A LAMP assay paired with a potentially field-applicable DNA extraction was able to adequately detect haemonchosis at ‘clinically relevant’ parasite burdens in a laboratory study. A field study for the detection of F. hepatica demonstrated the potential utility of LAMP on-farm. The studies conducted in this thesis demonstrate the potential of LAMP for parasitic disease diagnosis in agriculture.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Bari, Tanjina
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Gastrointestinal parasites Haemonchus contortus and Fasciola hepatica are major impediments to livestock production worldwide. Faecal egg counts remain the most commonly used and widely accepted diagnostic tool for these parasites; however, there is a need for improved, field-applicable diagnostics. In this study, loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) was optimised and evaluated for the detection of H. contortus (in sheep) and F. hepatica (in cattle) infection. LAMP assays were optimised to enable visual detection using calcein dye. DNA extraction techniques were developed that have the potential for on-farm application. Faeces suspended in water, heated, then centrifuged, with two cheap and stable chemicals, enabled detection of H. contortus at clinically relevant infection burdens. For F. hepatica, a faeces-water suspension was sieved to remove particulate matter, then physical disruption (bead-beating) was applied. LAMP was conducted under laboratory conditions and in the field; compared to FEC (the most commonly used diagnostic for the target parasites) and PCR. LAMP was conducted using three incubation methods: a commercially available thermocycler; a field-friendly low-cost portable styrofoam esky; and a dedicated field applicable LAMP incubator. The general trend was for LAMP to have high sensitivity but only moderate specificity when compared to FEC. However, the use of PCR (both pathogens) and a highly sensitive amended FEC (F. hepatica only) suggested that the apparent low specificity was the result of LAMP being able to detect low-level parasite infection when conventional FEC could not. A LAMP assay paired with a potentially field-applicable DNA extraction was able to adequately detect haemonchosis at ‘clinically relevant’ parasite burdens in a laboratory study. A field study for the detection of F. hepatica demonstrated the potential utility of LAMP on-farm. The studies conducted in this thesis demonstrate the potential of LAMP for parasitic disease diagnosis in agriculture.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Applied aspirations : design and applied art at the Ballarat Technical Art School during the early twentieth century
- Authors: Whetter, Elise
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Applied art and design schools operate at the nexus of art, industry, and education. During the early decades of the twentieth century, the regionally located Ballarat Technical Art School (BTAS) was the leading institution of its kind in Victoria, Australia, amid shifting economic, cultural, and pedagogical conditions. Emerging from a 1907 amalgamation of institutions, and subsequently administrated by the School of Mines Ballarat (SMB), BTAS was equipped with the assets, experience, and historic reputation necessary to surpass its provincial and metropolitan rivals. This micro-historical case-study employs qualitative analysis of primary sources to investigate the aims, outputs, and importance of BTAS, contextualised by the expectations and influences it operated under during the inaugural principalship of artist and educator, Herbert Henry Smith. Smith oversaw the training of designers, craftspeople, artists, and teachers from 1907 until his retirement in early 1940—a period of tumultuous events, fiscal obstacles, and social and cultural debate. The institution was accountable to diverse stakeholders and arbiters of taste, and successive cohorts learned in a contested space between tradition, origination, and modernisation. Pierre Bourdieu’s cultural theory serves to navigate this web of hierarchies, assumptions, and tensions, while secondary sources help contextualise findings. This thesis also discusses the suite of drawing, design and material-based disciplines delivered at BTAS as single subjects, full courses, and supplementary art-trade training. Throughout, featured students provide examples of regionally trained, Australian designer-maker and artist-teacher experiences. BTAS students learned from ambitious and skilled men and women, benefited from strong professional networks, and fostered a notable esprit-de-corps. The school was significant for its contribution to female technical training. The school’s pre-eminent position was modified during the late 1920s, when much art and art-teacher training was re-centred in Melbourne. Yet, the valuable, compelling, and widespread influence of Ballarat Technical Art School graduates resonated for decades.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Whetter, Elise
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Applied art and design schools operate at the nexus of art, industry, and education. During the early decades of the twentieth century, the regionally located Ballarat Technical Art School (BTAS) was the leading institution of its kind in Victoria, Australia, amid shifting economic, cultural, and pedagogical conditions. Emerging from a 1907 amalgamation of institutions, and subsequently administrated by the School of Mines Ballarat (SMB), BTAS was equipped with the assets, experience, and historic reputation necessary to surpass its provincial and metropolitan rivals. This micro-historical case-study employs qualitative analysis of primary sources to investigate the aims, outputs, and importance of BTAS, contextualised by the expectations and influences it operated under during the inaugural principalship of artist and educator, Herbert Henry Smith. Smith oversaw the training of designers, craftspeople, artists, and teachers from 1907 until his retirement in early 1940—a period of tumultuous events, fiscal obstacles, and social and cultural debate. The institution was accountable to diverse stakeholders and arbiters of taste, and successive cohorts learned in a contested space between tradition, origination, and modernisation. Pierre Bourdieu’s cultural theory serves to navigate this web of hierarchies, assumptions, and tensions, while secondary sources help contextualise findings. This thesis also discusses the suite of drawing, design and material-based disciplines delivered at BTAS as single subjects, full courses, and supplementary art-trade training. Throughout, featured students provide examples of regionally trained, Australian designer-maker and artist-teacher experiences. BTAS students learned from ambitious and skilled men and women, benefited from strong professional networks, and fostered a notable esprit-de-corps. The school was significant for its contribution to female technical training. The school’s pre-eminent position was modified during the late 1920s, when much art and art-teacher training was re-centred in Melbourne. Yet, the valuable, compelling, and widespread influence of Ballarat Technical Art School graduates resonated for decades.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Approaches to learning : perceptions about Chinese international undergraduates in Australian Universities
- Li, Boli
- Authors: Li, Boli
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Chinese students constitute the largest cohort of international undergraduates in Australian universities, comprising 37.3% in 2019. However, there is a scarcity of research examining perceptions of how Chinese international students (CIS) learn in Australian universities, from the broader context of the students themselves, their Australian teachers and Australian domestic student (ADS) counterparts. Drawing on the 3P (Presage-Process-Product) framework by Biggs, Kember, and Leung (2001), this thesis explored the perceptions of CIS, and their lecturers and classmates regarding their approaches to learning in Australian universities. Utilising a mixed methods approach (Creswell, 2014), surveys were conducted with 156 CIS and 212 ADS incorporating a validated survey by Biggs et al. (2001) called the R-SPQ-2F. Interviews were also conducted with 10 CIS and 10 Australian academics from two Australian universities, one regional and the other metropolitan. The findings demonstrated that perceptions of CIS were characterised by a unique learning structure that differed from ADS in a number of ways, particularly in relation to group learning, the use of understanding and memorisation strategies, and classroom engagement. It was noted that these disparities did not support the generally held view of CIS as mainly surface oriented learners who preferred rote-learning techniques (Grimshaw, 2007). While adopting similar levels to ADS of deep approach strategies in their learning, CIS also used more surface and achieving approaches than ADS, and tended to incorporate memorising with understanding in their learning process. However, it was also evident that the approaches used by CIS in Australia were often more complex than what was easily observed. For instance, their reticence in class was not necessarily indicative of passive learning, but instead, suggestive of the complexity of context that needs to encompass the ‘whole being’ of these students, i.e., their personality, culture, and most of all, the dynamics of their perceived approaches to their learning. This study also investigated negotiations that occurred between CIS and their Australian lecturers. While CIS’ learning approaches were greatly shaped and determined by academics’ instructional decisions involving curriculum, teaching patterns and assessment procedures, it was also found that academics’ instructional activities were reshaped and counter-determined by CIS’ learning approaches. As a result, a Co-constructed Model of Learning and Teaching (CMLT) for CIS in Australian universities, based on the 3P framework (Biggs et al., 2001), was developed to assist future education experiences for international students. This study is significant in that it has given voice to Chinese students, enabling a greater understanding of their experiences in Australian universities to emerge, in conjunction with and supplemented by insights provided by their Australian student counterparts and educators. It has enabled both international and domestic students the opportunity to reflect on possible cultural impacts on learning, hopefully improving their capacities to act as effective global citizens. It has also afforded an opportunity for academics to reflect on their beliefs and practices in relation to teaching diverse student cohorts, which will hopefully deepen their understanding of the complexities that come with the increasing globalisation of education.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Li, Boli
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Chinese students constitute the largest cohort of international undergraduates in Australian universities, comprising 37.3% in 2019. However, there is a scarcity of research examining perceptions of how Chinese international students (CIS) learn in Australian universities, from the broader context of the students themselves, their Australian teachers and Australian domestic student (ADS) counterparts. Drawing on the 3P (Presage-Process-Product) framework by Biggs, Kember, and Leung (2001), this thesis explored the perceptions of CIS, and their lecturers and classmates regarding their approaches to learning in Australian universities. Utilising a mixed methods approach (Creswell, 2014), surveys were conducted with 156 CIS and 212 ADS incorporating a validated survey by Biggs et al. (2001) called the R-SPQ-2F. Interviews were also conducted with 10 CIS and 10 Australian academics from two Australian universities, one regional and the other metropolitan. The findings demonstrated that perceptions of CIS were characterised by a unique learning structure that differed from ADS in a number of ways, particularly in relation to group learning, the use of understanding and memorisation strategies, and classroom engagement. It was noted that these disparities did not support the generally held view of CIS as mainly surface oriented learners who preferred rote-learning techniques (Grimshaw, 2007). While adopting similar levels to ADS of deep approach strategies in their learning, CIS also used more surface and achieving approaches than ADS, and tended to incorporate memorising with understanding in their learning process. However, it was also evident that the approaches used by CIS in Australia were often more complex than what was easily observed. For instance, their reticence in class was not necessarily indicative of passive learning, but instead, suggestive of the complexity of context that needs to encompass the ‘whole being’ of these students, i.e., their personality, culture, and most of all, the dynamics of their perceived approaches to their learning. This study also investigated negotiations that occurred between CIS and their Australian lecturers. While CIS’ learning approaches were greatly shaped and determined by academics’ instructional decisions involving curriculum, teaching patterns and assessment procedures, it was also found that academics’ instructional activities were reshaped and counter-determined by CIS’ learning approaches. As a result, a Co-constructed Model of Learning and Teaching (CMLT) for CIS in Australian universities, based on the 3P framework (Biggs et al., 2001), was developed to assist future education experiences for international students. This study is significant in that it has given voice to Chinese students, enabling a greater understanding of their experiences in Australian universities to emerge, in conjunction with and supplemented by insights provided by their Australian student counterparts and educators. It has enabled both international and domestic students the opportunity to reflect on possible cultural impacts on learning, hopefully improving their capacities to act as effective global citizens. It has also afforded an opportunity for academics to reflect on their beliefs and practices in relation to teaching diverse student cohorts, which will hopefully deepen their understanding of the complexities that come with the increasing globalisation of education.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Biopsychosocial Data Analytics and Modeling
- Authors: Santhanagopalan, Meena
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Sustained customisation of digital health intervention (DHI) programs, in the context of community health engagement, requires strong integration of multi-sourced interdisciplinary biopsychosocial health data. The biopsychosocial model is built upon the idea that biological, psychological and social processes are integrally and interactively involved in physical health and illness. One of the longstanding challenges of dealing with healthcare data is the wide variety of data generated from different sources and the increasing need to learn actionable insights that drive performance improvement. The growth of information and communication technology has led to the increased use of DHI programs. These programs use an observational methodology that helps researchers to study the everyday behaviour of participants during the course of the program by analysing data generated from digital tools such as wearables, online surveys and ecological momentary assessment (EMA). Combined with data reported from biological and psychological tests, this provides rich and unique biopsychosocial data. There is a strong need to review and apply novel approaches to combining biopsychosocial data from a methodological perspective. Although some studies have used data analytics in research on clinical trial data generated from digital interventions, data analytics on biopsychosocial data generated from DHI programs is limited. The study in this thesis develops and implements innovative approaches for analysing the existing unique and rich biopsychosocial data generated from the wellness study, a DHI program conducted by the School of Science, Psychology and Sport at Federation University. The characteristics of variety, value and veracity that usually describe big data are also relevant to the biopsychosocial data handled in this thesis. These historical, retrospective real-life biopsychosocial data provide fertile ground for research through the use of data analytics to discover patterns hidden in the data and to obtain new knowledge. This thesis presents the studies carried out on three aspects of biopsychosocial research. First, we present the salient traits of the three components - biological, psychological and social - of biopsychosocial research. Next, we investigate the challenges of pre-processing biopsychosocial data, placing special emphasis on the time-series data generated from wearable sensor devices. Finally, we present the application of statistical and machine learning (ML) tools to integrate variables from the biopsychosocial disciplines to build a predictive model. The first chapter presents the salient features of the biopsychosocial data for each discipline. The second chapter presents the challenges of pre-processing biopsychosocial data, focusing on the time-series data generated from wearable sensor devices. The third chapter uses statistical and ML tools to integrate variables from the biopsychosocial disciplines to build a predictive model. Among its other important analyses and results, the key contributions of the research described in this thesis include the following: 1. using gamma distribution to model neurocognitive reaction time data that presents interesting properties (skewness and kurtosis for the data distribution) 2. using novel ‘peak heart-rate’ count metric to quantify ‘biological’ stress 3. using the ML approach to evaluate DHIs 4. using a recurrent neural network (RNN) and long short-term memory (LSTM) data prediction model to predict Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) and primary emotion (PE) using wearable sensor data.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Santhanagopalan, Meena
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Sustained customisation of digital health intervention (DHI) programs, in the context of community health engagement, requires strong integration of multi-sourced interdisciplinary biopsychosocial health data. The biopsychosocial model is built upon the idea that biological, psychological and social processes are integrally and interactively involved in physical health and illness. One of the longstanding challenges of dealing with healthcare data is the wide variety of data generated from different sources and the increasing need to learn actionable insights that drive performance improvement. The growth of information and communication technology has led to the increased use of DHI programs. These programs use an observational methodology that helps researchers to study the everyday behaviour of participants during the course of the program by analysing data generated from digital tools such as wearables, online surveys and ecological momentary assessment (EMA). Combined with data reported from biological and psychological tests, this provides rich and unique biopsychosocial data. There is a strong need to review and apply novel approaches to combining biopsychosocial data from a methodological perspective. Although some studies have used data analytics in research on clinical trial data generated from digital interventions, data analytics on biopsychosocial data generated from DHI programs is limited. The study in this thesis develops and implements innovative approaches for analysing the existing unique and rich biopsychosocial data generated from the wellness study, a DHI program conducted by the School of Science, Psychology and Sport at Federation University. The characteristics of variety, value and veracity that usually describe big data are also relevant to the biopsychosocial data handled in this thesis. These historical, retrospective real-life biopsychosocial data provide fertile ground for research through the use of data analytics to discover patterns hidden in the data and to obtain new knowledge. This thesis presents the studies carried out on three aspects of biopsychosocial research. First, we present the salient traits of the three components - biological, psychological and social - of biopsychosocial research. Next, we investigate the challenges of pre-processing biopsychosocial data, placing special emphasis on the time-series data generated from wearable sensor devices. Finally, we present the application of statistical and machine learning (ML) tools to integrate variables from the biopsychosocial disciplines to build a predictive model. The first chapter presents the salient features of the biopsychosocial data for each discipline. The second chapter presents the challenges of pre-processing biopsychosocial data, focusing on the time-series data generated from wearable sensor devices. The third chapter uses statistical and ML tools to integrate variables from the biopsychosocial disciplines to build a predictive model. Among its other important analyses and results, the key contributions of the research described in this thesis include the following: 1. using gamma distribution to model neurocognitive reaction time data that presents interesting properties (skewness and kurtosis for the data distribution) 2. using novel ‘peak heart-rate’ count metric to quantify ‘biological’ stress 3. using the ML approach to evaluate DHIs 4. using a recurrent neural network (RNN) and long short-term memory (LSTM) data prediction model to predict Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) and primary emotion (PE) using wearable sensor data.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Care leavers recovering voice and agency through counter-narratives
- Authors: Golding, Frank
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: The publications in this thesis discuss recurring issues in the historical context of out-of-home Care (OOHC). They were written for various audiences but are arranged not by date of publication but thematically so as to present a coherent argument about the recovery of voice and agency by those who experienced OOHC. The thesis begins with an Overview which discusses autoethnographic and multi-layered approaches to history and shows how subject matter helps determine the choice of methodology and sources and, in turn, how methodologies influence the selection of sources and shape content. Authorities in Australia have a long history of removing children from their families when they are deemed to be neglected or ‘in moral danger’. Out of the public gaze, these children were often rendered silent, their voices simply unheard or deliberately supressed by the exercise of total institutional power. This thesis analyses how children were marginalised, cast as ‘the other’, and framed as deserving no better than they got. In the aftermath of a series of inquiries into institutional child maltreatment—some of which came about as a result of survivor advocacy and relied heavily on direct testimony—we now better understand children’s institutional experiences. In this changing environment, advocacy groups are effectively challenging the received accounts of historical Care. Their challenge has gained impetus from the opening up of records through rights legislation, especially access to personal case files. Large numbers of Care leavers have found their files inaccurate, incomplete, or misleading, and this discovery has stimulated many to produce compelling counter-narratives of the lived experiences of their childhood, and the living experiences that endure. The thesis concludes with an extended analytical commentary reflecting new interpretations of emerging histories, assessing changes in the status of Care leavers, and identifying directions warranting further development in OOHC.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Golding, Frank
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: The publications in this thesis discuss recurring issues in the historical context of out-of-home Care (OOHC). They were written for various audiences but are arranged not by date of publication but thematically so as to present a coherent argument about the recovery of voice and agency by those who experienced OOHC. The thesis begins with an Overview which discusses autoethnographic and multi-layered approaches to history and shows how subject matter helps determine the choice of methodology and sources and, in turn, how methodologies influence the selection of sources and shape content. Authorities in Australia have a long history of removing children from their families when they are deemed to be neglected or ‘in moral danger’. Out of the public gaze, these children were often rendered silent, their voices simply unheard or deliberately supressed by the exercise of total institutional power. This thesis analyses how children were marginalised, cast as ‘the other’, and framed as deserving no better than they got. In the aftermath of a series of inquiries into institutional child maltreatment—some of which came about as a result of survivor advocacy and relied heavily on direct testimony—we now better understand children’s institutional experiences. In this changing environment, advocacy groups are effectively challenging the received accounts of historical Care. Their challenge has gained impetus from the opening up of records through rights legislation, especially access to personal case files. Large numbers of Care leavers have found their files inaccurate, incomplete, or misleading, and this discovery has stimulated many to produce compelling counter-narratives of the lived experiences of their childhood, and the living experiences that endure. The thesis concludes with an extended analytical commentary reflecting new interpretations of emerging histories, assessing changes in the status of Care leavers, and identifying directions warranting further development in OOHC.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy