A framework for adoption decision process for blockchain technology - an institutional and actor-network theory perspective
- Authors: Kaushik, Shipra
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Blockchain has been the most promising technology of the recent times. Originated from bitcoin, a blockchain technology use case has now been explored across almost every industry. It provides several novel technological features like transparency, disintermediation, immutability, trust among stakeholders and decentralisation. Despite so many advantages, the overview of challenges around blockchain adoption has revealed that there is a scarcity of understanding about the process of blockchain adoption decisions. Several organisations have failed to take advantage of blockchain's potential due to uneven adoption across industries and regions. Whether to use blockchain in their business is a difficult decision for many organisations. To fill this gap, this study examined the adoption decision process of blockchain in organisations. Firstly, there is a need of framework that details the steps in the blockchain adoption decision process, including tasks involved and the rationales for the actions taken. This understanding will help the potential adopters to make a successful decision to adopt blockchain technology for their organisation. Secondly, very few studies have examined the factors that influence the stakeholders’ interactions and dynamics while making technology adoption decisions, especially in blockchain based applications. When systems are designed to protect privacy or obscure actors intentionally, such as blockchain platforms, it can be challenging to identify them and understand their roles. Blockchain being an inter-organisational technology, primarily depends on the involvement of internal and external stakeholders. Thus, this study explored the actors involved in the adoption decision process and their roles while aligning other actors towards blockchain adoption. Thirdly, as these actors act as stakeholders while making decision, they act as rational individuals. Therefore, this study also explored their rationales while they are involved in technology adoption decisions to have an effective outcome of the decision-making process. To achieve these objectives, this study utilises Innovation Translation approach derived from Actor-Network Theory and Institutional Theory for technology adoption. The study has utilised a three- round qualitative Delphi method through semi structured interviews to gather views from a panel of experts from organisations who have experienced the blockchain adoption decision process for their business. The targeted experts for this study were categorized as Adopters, Non-Adopters (dropped the idea) and Consultants using selective purposive sampling. The first two rounds were exploratory in nature, and to extend the validity of the responses gathered, the final round was a confirmatory round of interviews. For this study, the saturation was seen with ten experts in the panel for round 2 and round 3. For the pilot study eight participants agreed to be part of the panel. The interviews were recorded, transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis in the NVivo tool. The analysis confirmed the use of Innovation Translation approach in literature for understanding the actors and their roles, by giving a rich interpretation of the results in understanding the crucial interactions among the actors and drawing useful findings. The interpretation also provided an insight into the institutionalisation of blockchain by exploring the institutional pressures. The study has confirmed the existence of many pressures that existed for other technologies, remain for blockchain adoption too like hype, curiosity, competitiveness, business value, cost and time but has explored new institutional pressures with blockchain adoption decision process like understanding among consultants and adopting organisations, and process participations needs. Utilising Institutional Theory for blockchain technology has also revealed a fourth pressure that is exerted by the technology itself like maturity, consensus, network dominancy and technological features that are primarily seen as blockchain being an inter-organisational and a new technology that has not been accepted widely in organisations. Achieving the objectives of this study, the study has proposed a consolidated framework for the blockchain adoption decision process from an exploratory view. The first of its kind in literature, that elaborates on the stages involved in blockchain adoption decision process, identify the actors and explains their role at each stage and how those roles evolve and also provides an insight into the institutionalisation of blockchain by exploring the pressures. These gaps, objectives, method, analysis, and contributions are further discussed in this thesis comprehensively.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Kaushik, Shipra
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Blockchain has been the most promising technology of the recent times. Originated from bitcoin, a blockchain technology use case has now been explored across almost every industry. It provides several novel technological features like transparency, disintermediation, immutability, trust among stakeholders and decentralisation. Despite so many advantages, the overview of challenges around blockchain adoption has revealed that there is a scarcity of understanding about the process of blockchain adoption decisions. Several organisations have failed to take advantage of blockchain's potential due to uneven adoption across industries and regions. Whether to use blockchain in their business is a difficult decision for many organisations. To fill this gap, this study examined the adoption decision process of blockchain in organisations. Firstly, there is a need of framework that details the steps in the blockchain adoption decision process, including tasks involved and the rationales for the actions taken. This understanding will help the potential adopters to make a successful decision to adopt blockchain technology for their organisation. Secondly, very few studies have examined the factors that influence the stakeholders’ interactions and dynamics while making technology adoption decisions, especially in blockchain based applications. When systems are designed to protect privacy or obscure actors intentionally, such as blockchain platforms, it can be challenging to identify them and understand their roles. Blockchain being an inter-organisational technology, primarily depends on the involvement of internal and external stakeholders. Thus, this study explored the actors involved in the adoption decision process and their roles while aligning other actors towards blockchain adoption. Thirdly, as these actors act as stakeholders while making decision, they act as rational individuals. Therefore, this study also explored their rationales while they are involved in technology adoption decisions to have an effective outcome of the decision-making process. To achieve these objectives, this study utilises Innovation Translation approach derived from Actor-Network Theory and Institutional Theory for technology adoption. The study has utilised a three- round qualitative Delphi method through semi structured interviews to gather views from a panel of experts from organisations who have experienced the blockchain adoption decision process for their business. The targeted experts for this study were categorized as Adopters, Non-Adopters (dropped the idea) and Consultants using selective purposive sampling. The first two rounds were exploratory in nature, and to extend the validity of the responses gathered, the final round was a confirmatory round of interviews. For this study, the saturation was seen with ten experts in the panel for round 2 and round 3. For the pilot study eight participants agreed to be part of the panel. The interviews were recorded, transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis in the NVivo tool. The analysis confirmed the use of Innovation Translation approach in literature for understanding the actors and their roles, by giving a rich interpretation of the results in understanding the crucial interactions among the actors and drawing useful findings. The interpretation also provided an insight into the institutionalisation of blockchain by exploring the institutional pressures. The study has confirmed the existence of many pressures that existed for other technologies, remain for blockchain adoption too like hype, curiosity, competitiveness, business value, cost and time but has explored new institutional pressures with blockchain adoption decision process like understanding among consultants and adopting organisations, and process participations needs. Utilising Institutional Theory for blockchain technology has also revealed a fourth pressure that is exerted by the technology itself like maturity, consensus, network dominancy and technological features that are primarily seen as blockchain being an inter-organisational and a new technology that has not been accepted widely in organisations. Achieving the objectives of this study, the study has proposed a consolidated framework for the blockchain adoption decision process from an exploratory view. The first of its kind in literature, that elaborates on the stages involved in blockchain adoption decision process, identify the actors and explains their role at each stage and how those roles evolve and also provides an insight into the institutionalisation of blockchain by exploring the pressures. These gaps, objectives, method, analysis, and contributions are further discussed in this thesis comprehensively.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Access and engagement of First Nations women in maternal and child health services
- Authors: Austin, Catherine
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: This thesis explores and describes the engagement of First Nations women, with children from birth to five years of age, with Maternal and Child Health (MCH) services in Victoria, Australia. Identification of the factors that facilitate, support or hinder these women’s engagement with MCH services could strengthen the model of care to effectively engage First Nations women with these services. Access in the early years of a child’s life to integrated, effective, community-based services is a well-established predictor of a child’s successful transition to school and their lifelong education and employment outcomes. Such access is crucial in a child’s first 2,000 days (the period from conception to the child’s fifth year), which forms the foundation for a child’s lifetime development and health. Prior evaluative studies have shown that participation in MCH services in Victoria improves the health outcomes for children and families, particularly First Nations families. However, First Nations women and their children in Victoria show poorer health outcomes and lower participation in MCH services compared to non-Indigenous persons; this suggests a need to improve the current Victorian MCH service model. This thesis contributes recommendations for such improvements. The literature review (Chapter 2) identified the absence of a synthesis of qualitative studies of models of care to help guide MCH practice and innovation for all families, especially those at risk of child abuse and neglect. To address this gap, a three-phase qualitative study was conducted in the Glenelg Shire, Victoria, Australia, using narrative inquiry integrated with the Indigenous philosophy ‘Dadirri’. ‘Dadirri’, which emphasises deep and respectful listening, guided the development of the research design; this methodology assisted in understanding Indigenous culture and its sensitivities, building trust with the First Nations peoples involved in the studies, developing open-ended and conversational dialogue, and building respectful relationships. This method enabled First Nations women’s voices to be heard and the collection of rich data based on participants’ perspectives of and experiences with MCH services in Victoria. Study One (Chapter 4) recruited First Nations women residing in the Glenelg Shire, with at least one child aged birth to five years, to explore their perceptions and experiences of MCH services and barriers to accessing and engaging with MCH services. Study Two (Chapter 5) compared Study One data with accounts from MCH nurses working in Glenelg Shire. Study Three (Chapter 6) reviewed a piloting of the Early Assessment Referral Links (EARL) concept (developed by the researcher) that aims to improve First Nations women and their children’s access to and engagement with MCH services. EARL involved the core principles of narrative inquiry integrated with ‘Dadirri’. Study One and Two found that enabling factors for access and engagement include interventions that are culturally sensitive and effective; recognise the social determinates of health (SDOH) and social and emotional wellbeing; are timely, appropriate, culturally strong, flexible, holistic and community-based; support continuity of care and communication; and encourage early identification of risk, particularly of family violence (FV), and further assessment, intervention, referral and support in the child’s first 2,000 days. Barriers to access and engagement include an ineffective service model built on mistrust, poor communication due to cultural differences between client and provider (particularly around identification and disclosure of woman’s risk of FV), lack of continuity of care between services, limited flexibility of service delivery to suit individual needs, and a service model that does not recognise the importance of the SDOH and social and emotional wellbeing. Study Three results showed that participation of First Nations families in MCH services was consistently above the state average during the pilot period, and several First Nations families were referred to EARL stakeholders and other health professionals during the pilot. Further, there were increases in First Nations children being breastfed, fully immunised and attending Early Start Kindergarten, and identification of First Nations children at risk of abuse or neglect improved (with a significant increase in referrals for FV and child protection and significant decrease in episodes of out-of-home care). This thesis’s findings can support policy development. This research shows that timely, effective, holistic engagement with First Nations women in their child’s first 2,000 days, that respects their culture and facilitates genuine partnerships built on co-design and shared decision-making with the Indigenous community, needs to be an essential part of the MCH service model. Additionally, this thesis recommends adopting a strengths-based approach that respects First Nations peoples’ child-rearing practices and culture, and providing necessary training to MCH nurses who work with First Nations families. Keywords: child family health, continuity of care, First Nations women
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Austin, Catherine
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: This thesis explores and describes the engagement of First Nations women, with children from birth to five years of age, with Maternal and Child Health (MCH) services in Victoria, Australia. Identification of the factors that facilitate, support or hinder these women’s engagement with MCH services could strengthen the model of care to effectively engage First Nations women with these services. Access in the early years of a child’s life to integrated, effective, community-based services is a well-established predictor of a child’s successful transition to school and their lifelong education and employment outcomes. Such access is crucial in a child’s first 2,000 days (the period from conception to the child’s fifth year), which forms the foundation for a child’s lifetime development and health. Prior evaluative studies have shown that participation in MCH services in Victoria improves the health outcomes for children and families, particularly First Nations families. However, First Nations women and their children in Victoria show poorer health outcomes and lower participation in MCH services compared to non-Indigenous persons; this suggests a need to improve the current Victorian MCH service model. This thesis contributes recommendations for such improvements. The literature review (Chapter 2) identified the absence of a synthesis of qualitative studies of models of care to help guide MCH practice and innovation for all families, especially those at risk of child abuse and neglect. To address this gap, a three-phase qualitative study was conducted in the Glenelg Shire, Victoria, Australia, using narrative inquiry integrated with the Indigenous philosophy ‘Dadirri’. ‘Dadirri’, which emphasises deep and respectful listening, guided the development of the research design; this methodology assisted in understanding Indigenous culture and its sensitivities, building trust with the First Nations peoples involved in the studies, developing open-ended and conversational dialogue, and building respectful relationships. This method enabled First Nations women’s voices to be heard and the collection of rich data based on participants’ perspectives of and experiences with MCH services in Victoria. Study One (Chapter 4) recruited First Nations women residing in the Glenelg Shire, with at least one child aged birth to five years, to explore their perceptions and experiences of MCH services and barriers to accessing and engaging with MCH services. Study Two (Chapter 5) compared Study One data with accounts from MCH nurses working in Glenelg Shire. Study Three (Chapter 6) reviewed a piloting of the Early Assessment Referral Links (EARL) concept (developed by the researcher) that aims to improve First Nations women and their children’s access to and engagement with MCH services. EARL involved the core principles of narrative inquiry integrated with ‘Dadirri’. Study One and Two found that enabling factors for access and engagement include interventions that are culturally sensitive and effective; recognise the social determinates of health (SDOH) and social and emotional wellbeing; are timely, appropriate, culturally strong, flexible, holistic and community-based; support continuity of care and communication; and encourage early identification of risk, particularly of family violence (FV), and further assessment, intervention, referral and support in the child’s first 2,000 days. Barriers to access and engagement include an ineffective service model built on mistrust, poor communication due to cultural differences between client and provider (particularly around identification and disclosure of woman’s risk of FV), lack of continuity of care between services, limited flexibility of service delivery to suit individual needs, and a service model that does not recognise the importance of the SDOH and social and emotional wellbeing. Study Three results showed that participation of First Nations families in MCH services was consistently above the state average during the pilot period, and several First Nations families were referred to EARL stakeholders and other health professionals during the pilot. Further, there were increases in First Nations children being breastfed, fully immunised and attending Early Start Kindergarten, and identification of First Nations children at risk of abuse or neglect improved (with a significant increase in referrals for FV and child protection and significant decrease in episodes of out-of-home care). This thesis’s findings can support policy development. This research shows that timely, effective, holistic engagement with First Nations women in their child’s first 2,000 days, that respects their culture and facilitates genuine partnerships built on co-design and shared decision-making with the Indigenous community, needs to be an essential part of the MCH service model. Additionally, this thesis recommends adopting a strengths-based approach that respects First Nations peoples’ child-rearing practices and culture, and providing necessary training to MCH nurses who work with First Nations families. Keywords: child family health, continuity of care, First Nations women
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
An efficient framework for mining outlying aspects
- Authors: Samariya, Durgesh
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: In the era of big data, an immense volume of information is being continuously generated. It is common to encounter errors or anomalies within datasets. These anomalies can arise due to system malfunctions or human errors, resulting in data points that deviate from expected patterns or values. Anomaly detection algorithms have been developed to identify such anomalies effectively from the data. However, these algorithms often fall short in providing insights into why a particular data point is considered as an anomaly. They cannot explain the specific feature subset(s) in which a,data point significantly differs from the majority of the data. To address this limitation, researchers have recently turned their attention,to a new research area called outlying aspect mining. This area focuses on discovering feature subset(s), known as aspects or subspaces, in which anomalous data points exhibit significant deviations from the remaining set of data. Outlying aspect mining algorithms aim to provide a more detailed,understanding of the characteristics that make a data point anomalous. Although outlying aspect mining is an emerging area of research only a few studies have been published so far. One of the key challenges in this field is scaling up these algorithms to handle large datasets, characterised by,either a large data size or high dimensionality. Many existing outlying aspect mining algorithms are not well-suited for such datasets, as they exhaustively enumerate all possible subspaces and utilise density or distance-based anomaly scores to rank subspaces. As a result, most of these algorithms struggle to handle datasets with dimensions exceeding 20. Addressing the scalability issue and developing efficient algorithms for outlying aspect mining in large datasets remain active area of research. The ability to identify and understand the specific feature subsets contributing to anomalies in big data holds great potential for various applications, including fraud detection, network intrusion detection, and anomaly-based decision support systems. Existing outlying aspect mining methods are suffering from three main problems. Firstly, these measures often rely on distance or density-based calculations, which can be biased toward high-dimensional spaces. As the dimensionality of the subspace increases, the density tends to decrease, making it difficult to assess the outlyingness of data points within specific subspaces accurately. Secondly, distances or density-based measures are computationally expensive, especially when dealing with large-scale datasets that contain millions of data points. As distance and density-based measures require computing pairwise distance, it makes them computationally expensive. In addition to that, existing work uses Z-Score normalisation to make density-based scoring measure dimensionally unbias. However, it adds additional computational overload on already computationally expensive measures. Lastly, existing outlying aspect mining uses brute-force methods to search subspaces. Thus, it is essential to tackle this efficiency issue because when the dimensionality of the data is high – candidate subspace grows exponentially, which is beyond computational resources. This research project aims to solve this challenge by developing efficient and effective methods for mining outlying aspects in high-dimensional and large datasets. I have explored and designed different scoring measures to find the outlyingness of a given data point in each subspace. The effectiveness and efficiency of these proposed measures have been verified with extensive experiments on synthetic and real-world datasets. To overcome the first problem, this thesis first identifies and analyses the condition under which Z-Score based normalisation scoring measure fails to find the most outlying aspects and proposes two different approaches called HMass and sGrid++, both measures are dimensionally unbiased in their raw form, which means they do not require any additional normalisation. sGrid++ is a simpler version of sGrid that is not only efficient and effective but also dimensionality unbiased. It does not require Z-score normalisation. HMass is a simple but effective and efficient histogram-based solution to rank outlying aspects of a given query in each subspace. In addition to detecting anomalies, HMass provides explanations on why the points are anomalous. Both sGrid++ and HMass do not require pair-wise calculation like distance or density-based measures; therefore, sGrid++ and HMass are computationally faster than distance and density-based measures, which solves the second issue of existing work. The effectiveness and efficiency of both sGrid++ and HMass are evaluated using synthetic and real-world datasets. In addition to that, I presented an exciting application of outlying aspect mining in the cybersecurity domain. To tackle the third problem, this thesis proposes an efficient and effective outlying aspect mining framework named OIMiner (for Outlying - Inlying Aspect Miner). It introduces a new scoring measure to compute outlying degree, called Simple Isolation score using Nearest Neighbor Ensemble (SiNNE), which not only detects the outliers but also provides an explanation on why the selected point is an outlier. SiNNE is a dimensionally unbias measure in its raw form, which means the scores produced by SiNNE are compared directly with subspaces having different dimensions. Thus, it does not require any normalisation to make the score unbiased. Our experimental results on synthetic and publicly available real-world datasets revealed that (i) SiNNE produces better or at least the same results as existing scores. (ii) It improves the run time of the existing outlying aspect mining algorithm based on beam search by at least two orders of magnitude. SiNNE allows the existing outlying aspect mining algorithm to run in datasets with hundreds of thousands of instances and thousands of dimensions, which was not possible before.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Samariya, Durgesh
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: In the era of big data, an immense volume of information is being continuously generated. It is common to encounter errors or anomalies within datasets. These anomalies can arise due to system malfunctions or human errors, resulting in data points that deviate from expected patterns or values. Anomaly detection algorithms have been developed to identify such anomalies effectively from the data. However, these algorithms often fall short in providing insights into why a particular data point is considered as an anomaly. They cannot explain the specific feature subset(s) in which a,data point significantly differs from the majority of the data. To address this limitation, researchers have recently turned their attention,to a new research area called outlying aspect mining. This area focuses on discovering feature subset(s), known as aspects or subspaces, in which anomalous data points exhibit significant deviations from the remaining set of data. Outlying aspect mining algorithms aim to provide a more detailed,understanding of the characteristics that make a data point anomalous. Although outlying aspect mining is an emerging area of research only a few studies have been published so far. One of the key challenges in this field is scaling up these algorithms to handle large datasets, characterised by,either a large data size or high dimensionality. Many existing outlying aspect mining algorithms are not well-suited for such datasets, as they exhaustively enumerate all possible subspaces and utilise density or distance-based anomaly scores to rank subspaces. As a result, most of these algorithms struggle to handle datasets with dimensions exceeding 20. Addressing the scalability issue and developing efficient algorithms for outlying aspect mining in large datasets remain active area of research. The ability to identify and understand the specific feature subsets contributing to anomalies in big data holds great potential for various applications, including fraud detection, network intrusion detection, and anomaly-based decision support systems. Existing outlying aspect mining methods are suffering from three main problems. Firstly, these measures often rely on distance or density-based calculations, which can be biased toward high-dimensional spaces. As the dimensionality of the subspace increases, the density tends to decrease, making it difficult to assess the outlyingness of data points within specific subspaces accurately. Secondly, distances or density-based measures are computationally expensive, especially when dealing with large-scale datasets that contain millions of data points. As distance and density-based measures require computing pairwise distance, it makes them computationally expensive. In addition to that, existing work uses Z-Score normalisation to make density-based scoring measure dimensionally unbias. However, it adds additional computational overload on already computationally expensive measures. Lastly, existing outlying aspect mining uses brute-force methods to search subspaces. Thus, it is essential to tackle this efficiency issue because when the dimensionality of the data is high – candidate subspace grows exponentially, which is beyond computational resources. This research project aims to solve this challenge by developing efficient and effective methods for mining outlying aspects in high-dimensional and large datasets. I have explored and designed different scoring measures to find the outlyingness of a given data point in each subspace. The effectiveness and efficiency of these proposed measures have been verified with extensive experiments on synthetic and real-world datasets. To overcome the first problem, this thesis first identifies and analyses the condition under which Z-Score based normalisation scoring measure fails to find the most outlying aspects and proposes two different approaches called HMass and sGrid++, both measures are dimensionally unbiased in their raw form, which means they do not require any additional normalisation. sGrid++ is a simpler version of sGrid that is not only efficient and effective but also dimensionality unbiased. It does not require Z-score normalisation. HMass is a simple but effective and efficient histogram-based solution to rank outlying aspects of a given query in each subspace. In addition to detecting anomalies, HMass provides explanations on why the points are anomalous. Both sGrid++ and HMass do not require pair-wise calculation like distance or density-based measures; therefore, sGrid++ and HMass are computationally faster than distance and density-based measures, which solves the second issue of existing work. The effectiveness and efficiency of both sGrid++ and HMass are evaluated using synthetic and real-world datasets. In addition to that, I presented an exciting application of outlying aspect mining in the cybersecurity domain. To tackle the third problem, this thesis proposes an efficient and effective outlying aspect mining framework named OIMiner (for Outlying - Inlying Aspect Miner). It introduces a new scoring measure to compute outlying degree, called Simple Isolation score using Nearest Neighbor Ensemble (SiNNE), which not only detects the outliers but also provides an explanation on why the selected point is an outlier. SiNNE is a dimensionally unbias measure in its raw form, which means the scores produced by SiNNE are compared directly with subspaces having different dimensions. Thus, it does not require any normalisation to make the score unbiased. Our experimental results on synthetic and publicly available real-world datasets revealed that (i) SiNNE produces better or at least the same results as existing scores. (ii) It improves the run time of the existing outlying aspect mining algorithm based on beam search by at least two orders of magnitude. SiNNE allows the existing outlying aspect mining algorithm to run in datasets with hundreds of thousands of instances and thousands of dimensions, which was not possible before.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
An evaluation of low and high intensity digital mental health treatment models for anxiety and depression : an adaptive treatment randomized clinical trial
- Authors: Andrews, Brooke
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Doctor of Philsophy
- Authors: Andrews, Brooke
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Doctor of Philsophy
An examination of physical exercise therapy on quality of life (QoL) and mortality in men diagnosed with Prostate Cancer (PCa)
- Authors: Khan, Nazib
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second most frequent malignancy in men worldwide, accounting for 27% of new cancer cases in men and responsible for 3.8% of worldwide male cancer deaths (2018). This risk is projected to double before 204, so it is surprising that there are no well- established modifiable risk factors for PCa diagnosis orr progression. Considering this, the following thesis consists of three original research studies that examined; (1) the moderating effect of physical activity and muscular strength on prostate cancer mortality; (2) the magnitude of effect from pooled therapeutic exercise studies to impact quality of life and adverse events in PCa patients following surgery; (3) the head-to-head comparative efficacy of individual exercise therapies to impact quality of life and adverse events following surgery. The sum of works presented in this thesis lead to the conclusion that 1) when PCa is the only lifetime cancer diagnosis, life expectancy is similar to lifetime cancer free counterparts whereas diagnosis of PCa with any other lifetime cancer is associated with a 30.2% lower life expectancy during 10-year follow-up. Physical activity has negligible effect on life-expectancy whereas handgrip strength accounts for ~4% of the difference in life-expectancy between PCa with any other lifetime cancer compared with controls; 2) Pooled evidence from randomised controlled trials (n=999 participants) identifies that perioperative exercise therapy (aerobic, resistance, pelvic floor, mind-body exercise, or mixed exercise (combined aerobic and resistance) has a positive impact on patient quality of life and adverse events in PCa patients undergoing surgery which is predominant in perceptions of symptom related QoL (SMD: 0.56, 111 95% CI’s [0.22-0.89]) more so than health related quality of life (HRQoL) (SMD: 0.02, 95% 112 CI’s [-0.16-0.20]; 3) Comparison of head-to-head efficacy of different therapeutic exercise interventions [Aerobic, resistance, pelvic floor, mind-body exercise or mixed exercise (combined aerobic and resistance)] identified pelvic floor muscle exercise to be the most favorable exercise therapy to maintain QoL in PCa patients undergoing surgery, partly due to the current lack of evidence to support other exercise therapies. These findings provide new knowledge to support the effective treatment of PCa patients.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Khan, Nazib
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second most frequent malignancy in men worldwide, accounting for 27% of new cancer cases in men and responsible for 3.8% of worldwide male cancer deaths (2018). This risk is projected to double before 204, so it is surprising that there are no well- established modifiable risk factors for PCa diagnosis orr progression. Considering this, the following thesis consists of three original research studies that examined; (1) the moderating effect of physical activity and muscular strength on prostate cancer mortality; (2) the magnitude of effect from pooled therapeutic exercise studies to impact quality of life and adverse events in PCa patients following surgery; (3) the head-to-head comparative efficacy of individual exercise therapies to impact quality of life and adverse events following surgery. The sum of works presented in this thesis lead to the conclusion that 1) when PCa is the only lifetime cancer diagnosis, life expectancy is similar to lifetime cancer free counterparts whereas diagnosis of PCa with any other lifetime cancer is associated with a 30.2% lower life expectancy during 10-year follow-up. Physical activity has negligible effect on life-expectancy whereas handgrip strength accounts for ~4% of the difference in life-expectancy between PCa with any other lifetime cancer compared with controls; 2) Pooled evidence from randomised controlled trials (n=999 participants) identifies that perioperative exercise therapy (aerobic, resistance, pelvic floor, mind-body exercise, or mixed exercise (combined aerobic and resistance) has a positive impact on patient quality of life and adverse events in PCa patients undergoing surgery which is predominant in perceptions of symptom related QoL (SMD: 0.56, 111 95% CI’s [0.22-0.89]) more so than health related quality of life (HRQoL) (SMD: 0.02, 95% 112 CI’s [-0.16-0.20]; 3) Comparison of head-to-head efficacy of different therapeutic exercise interventions [Aerobic, resistance, pelvic floor, mind-body exercise or mixed exercise (combined aerobic and resistance)] identified pelvic floor muscle exercise to be the most favorable exercise therapy to maintain QoL in PCa patients undergoing surgery, partly due to the current lack of evidence to support other exercise therapies. These findings provide new knowledge to support the effective treatment of PCa patients.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Assessment of powered mobility device use among older australians in residential aged care facilities
- Authors: Dickson, Natalie
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: Autonomous mobility is fundamental for older Australians to participate in the activities that occupy and inspire daily life. Should a mobility difficulty arise, a powered mobility device (PMD) can assist to supplement or restore mobility, choice, and control. A PMD continues to be a valued resource once a person moves into residential aged care. However, increasing frailty among people within this group means that incidents can result in serious injury for PMD users or others living, visiting, or working in this environment. Guidelines for PMD use are available, however, there are no regulations or mandates to seek professional guidance for assessment of competence, equipment prescription, or training. Occupational therapy theory and practice can support all parts of this process. This thesis presents a three-part study using a mixed methods approach to (i) examine PMD use related incidents and injuries within residential aged care, (ii) to evaluate existing measurement tools, and (iii) to develop and undertake initial validation of a new screening tool developed for residents who use PMDs, based on classical test theory (De Vellis, 2006). The new screening tool will address a gap identified among screening tools for PMD capacity and performance skills specific to this population, to improve the balance between much needed autonomy and safety for all stakeholders.
- Description: Master of Health (Research)
- Authors: Dickson, Natalie
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: Autonomous mobility is fundamental for older Australians to participate in the activities that occupy and inspire daily life. Should a mobility difficulty arise, a powered mobility device (PMD) can assist to supplement or restore mobility, choice, and control. A PMD continues to be a valued resource once a person moves into residential aged care. However, increasing frailty among people within this group means that incidents can result in serious injury for PMD users or others living, visiting, or working in this environment. Guidelines for PMD use are available, however, there are no regulations or mandates to seek professional guidance for assessment of competence, equipment prescription, or training. Occupational therapy theory and practice can support all parts of this process. This thesis presents a three-part study using a mixed methods approach to (i) examine PMD use related incidents and injuries within residential aged care, (ii) to evaluate existing measurement tools, and (iii) to develop and undertake initial validation of a new screening tool developed for residents who use PMDs, based on classical test theory (De Vellis, 2006). The new screening tool will address a gap identified among screening tools for PMD capacity and performance skills specific to this population, to improve the balance between much needed autonomy and safety for all stakeholders.
- Description: Master of Health (Research)
Australian nursing students’ perceptions of being a nurse : a mixed methods study
- Authors: Allen, Louise
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Background Nursing students often enter nursing programs with idealistic, altruistic perceptions of what it means to be a nurse. Over time, however, many discover that these perceptions are naïve and unrealistic. Nursing is a demanding profession that requires knowledge, skill and emotional resilience in often demanding and challenging situations that can influence emotional intelligence. Therefore, an early and realistic understanding of professional requirements may reduce transition shock and attrition rates. Aim The aim of this thesis is to explore Bachelor of Nursing (BN) students’ perceptions of being a nurse in Australia. Methods This study used an explanatory sequential mixed methods design. The 34-item Perceptions of a Registered Nurse (PRN) survey tool was developed using a Nominal Group Technique and validated with a sample of 797 participants across three universities and states. Descriptive and inferential statistical analysis was incorporated as applicable. In addition, online semi-structured interviews with 23 nursing students (n = 23) explored their perceptions of a nurse in detail, with a thematic analysis of outcomes. Results Demographic variables influenced perceptions. There were significant differences in item-by-item perceptions related to ‘primary language spoken at home’ (13/34 items; p < .04), ‘university of study’ (10/34 items; p
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Allen, Louise
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Background Nursing students often enter nursing programs with idealistic, altruistic perceptions of what it means to be a nurse. Over time, however, many discover that these perceptions are naïve and unrealistic. Nursing is a demanding profession that requires knowledge, skill and emotional resilience in often demanding and challenging situations that can influence emotional intelligence. Therefore, an early and realistic understanding of professional requirements may reduce transition shock and attrition rates. Aim The aim of this thesis is to explore Bachelor of Nursing (BN) students’ perceptions of being a nurse in Australia. Methods This study used an explanatory sequential mixed methods design. The 34-item Perceptions of a Registered Nurse (PRN) survey tool was developed using a Nominal Group Technique and validated with a sample of 797 participants across three universities and states. Descriptive and inferential statistical analysis was incorporated as applicable. In addition, online semi-structured interviews with 23 nursing students (n = 23) explored their perceptions of a nurse in detail, with a thematic analysis of outcomes. Results Demographic variables influenced perceptions. There were significant differences in item-by-item perceptions related to ‘primary language spoken at home’ (13/34 items; p < .04), ‘university of study’ (10/34 items; p
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Between a rock and a hard place : site selection for Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby (Petrogale penicillata) translocations using an explicit decision-making process
- Authors: Mathews, Emily
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: Translocation programs are used in species conservation, but their success rates, particularly in Australia, are low. The poor outcomes for translocation programs are commonly attributed to a lack of information about habitat requirements, especially for rare and endangered species. To address this, the identification of suitable release sites using analytical methods such as Habitat Suitability Models (HSM), has become common. Since biodiversity losses are predicted to increase in the future, effective strategies to reduce species decline are required. Evidence-based decisions and scientific data to support conservation decision-making is paramount in conservation efforts. Once widely distributed across the mountainous country of south-eastern Australia, the distribution of the Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby (BTRW) has contracted particularly within the southern extent of their range. Considered critically endangered in Victoria and extinct in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), it is more important than ever that the habitat requirements of the BTRW are understood to inform future translocations and the protection of this species in the wild. In this study, an explicit decision-making process was combined with Habitat Suitability Modelling (HSM) and ground-truthing methods to inform potential Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby (BTRW) translocations sites within Victoria and the ACT. Although this study is not the first of its kind to use HSM to predict BTRW habitat suitability, it is the first of its kind to apply an explicit decision-making process at two key stages: 1. to inform the selection of key physical and management attributes to be used in a HSM; and 2. to prioritise sites, within experts’ local knowledge areas, for ground-truthing By combining HSM and an explicit decision-making process, this study has been able to identify six suitable and two highly suitable habitat for BTRW across Victoria and the ACT. The use of an explicit decision-making process and ground-truthing methods to validate the model outputs and prioritise sites for ground-truthing has ensured that the final ranking of potential candidate sites can be reliably used by the Southern Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby Recovery Team to inform future translocations.
- Description: Masters by Research
- Authors: Mathews, Emily
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: Translocation programs are used in species conservation, but their success rates, particularly in Australia, are low. The poor outcomes for translocation programs are commonly attributed to a lack of information about habitat requirements, especially for rare and endangered species. To address this, the identification of suitable release sites using analytical methods such as Habitat Suitability Models (HSM), has become common. Since biodiversity losses are predicted to increase in the future, effective strategies to reduce species decline are required. Evidence-based decisions and scientific data to support conservation decision-making is paramount in conservation efforts. Once widely distributed across the mountainous country of south-eastern Australia, the distribution of the Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby (BTRW) has contracted particularly within the southern extent of their range. Considered critically endangered in Victoria and extinct in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), it is more important than ever that the habitat requirements of the BTRW are understood to inform future translocations and the protection of this species in the wild. In this study, an explicit decision-making process was combined with Habitat Suitability Modelling (HSM) and ground-truthing methods to inform potential Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby (BTRW) translocations sites within Victoria and the ACT. Although this study is not the first of its kind to use HSM to predict BTRW habitat suitability, it is the first of its kind to apply an explicit decision-making process at two key stages: 1. to inform the selection of key physical and management attributes to be used in a HSM; and 2. to prioritise sites, within experts’ local knowledge areas, for ground-truthing By combining HSM and an explicit decision-making process, this study has been able to identify six suitable and two highly suitable habitat for BTRW across Victoria and the ACT. The use of an explicit decision-making process and ground-truthing methods to validate the model outputs and prioritise sites for ground-truthing has ensured that the final ranking of potential candidate sites can be reliably used by the Southern Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby Recovery Team to inform future translocations.
- Description: Masters by Research
Development of a long-term climatology of tropical 1 cyclones and depressions for the South Pacific 2 Ocean basin
- Authors: Yeasmin, Alea
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Tropical cyclones (TCs) are one of the most destructive synoptic systems that can cause enormous loss of life and property damages in the South Pacific Island nations. The impact of tropical depressions (TDs, i.e., weaker systems that do not develop into TCs) can also be staggering in the region in terms of heavy flooding and landslides, but a lack of complete records (reliable data prior to 1950) often hinders research involving TD impacts. A methodology has been developed here to detect TDs in the ERA-5 (the fifth generation European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts-ECMWF atmospheric reanalysis of the global climate) and 20CR (the Twentieth Century Reanalysis) dataset using the Okubo–Weiss–Zeta parameter (OWZP) detection scheme. The new South Pacific Enhanced Archive for Tropical Cyclones dataset (SPEArTC), the Dvorak analysis of satellite-based cloud patterns over the South Pacific Ocean basin, rainfall dataset for various stations in the South Pacific and historical archives have been utilised to validate ERA5/20CR-derived TCs and TDs. Results indicate that the OWZP method shows substantial skill in capturing the realistic climatological distribution of TCs and TDs for the South Pacific Ocean in both reanalyses dataset. The 20CR-derived TCs and TDs resemble several key characteristics of the observational records, including spatial distribution of genesis locations and track shapes. This gives us confidence that the 20CR-derived long-term records of TCs and TDs can serve as an effective tool for examining historical changes in various characteristics of TCs and TDs, particularly in the context of anthropogenic climate change. Utilizing the reconstructed proxies of TCs and TDs, their climatic connections with the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO), and the combined ENSO-IPO phases have been examined. Results show clear spatial shifts in TC activity between La Niña and El Niño phases with activity in the region 1400-1700E (1700-2200E) occurring during La Niña (El Niño) events. However, when IPO is considered synergistically with ENSO phases, we found that the combination of El Niño and the positive phase of IPO (+IPO) substantially enhances TC numbers (may be artifact influence) in both domains, noting the modulation between the two phases themselves. Similarly, La Niña and the negative phase of the IPO (-IPO) is found to enhance TC numbers in 1400-1700E. It is shown for the first time that the combined phases of El Niño and +IPO account for increased TC activity, as opposed to the combined phase of La Niña and -IPO, in the eastern sub-region. Similarly, the combined phase of La Niña and +IPO, as opposed to the combined phase of El Niño and -IPO, account for increased TC activity in the western sub-region. However, unlike TCs, the patterns of ENSO variability seem to be reversed for TDs. Changes in large-scale environmental conditions, such as environmental vertical wind shear, low-level cyclonic relative vorticity, mid-tropospheric relative humidity and sea surface temperature are linked to the various modes of variability patterns and their synergistic relationships. Results can have substantial implications, particularly on the predictability of TCs and TDs associated with the two important modes of natural variability in the South Pacific.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Yeasmin, Alea
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Tropical cyclones (TCs) are one of the most destructive synoptic systems that can cause enormous loss of life and property damages in the South Pacific Island nations. The impact of tropical depressions (TDs, i.e., weaker systems that do not develop into TCs) can also be staggering in the region in terms of heavy flooding and landslides, but a lack of complete records (reliable data prior to 1950) often hinders research involving TD impacts. A methodology has been developed here to detect TDs in the ERA-5 (the fifth generation European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts-ECMWF atmospheric reanalysis of the global climate) and 20CR (the Twentieth Century Reanalysis) dataset using the Okubo–Weiss–Zeta parameter (OWZP) detection scheme. The new South Pacific Enhanced Archive for Tropical Cyclones dataset (SPEArTC), the Dvorak analysis of satellite-based cloud patterns over the South Pacific Ocean basin, rainfall dataset for various stations in the South Pacific and historical archives have been utilised to validate ERA5/20CR-derived TCs and TDs. Results indicate that the OWZP method shows substantial skill in capturing the realistic climatological distribution of TCs and TDs for the South Pacific Ocean in both reanalyses dataset. The 20CR-derived TCs and TDs resemble several key characteristics of the observational records, including spatial distribution of genesis locations and track shapes. This gives us confidence that the 20CR-derived long-term records of TCs and TDs can serve as an effective tool for examining historical changes in various characteristics of TCs and TDs, particularly in the context of anthropogenic climate change. Utilizing the reconstructed proxies of TCs and TDs, their climatic connections with the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO), and the combined ENSO-IPO phases have been examined. Results show clear spatial shifts in TC activity between La Niña and El Niño phases with activity in the region 1400-1700E (1700-2200E) occurring during La Niña (El Niño) events. However, when IPO is considered synergistically with ENSO phases, we found that the combination of El Niño and the positive phase of IPO (+IPO) substantially enhances TC numbers (may be artifact influence) in both domains, noting the modulation between the two phases themselves. Similarly, La Niña and the negative phase of the IPO (-IPO) is found to enhance TC numbers in 1400-1700E. It is shown for the first time that the combined phases of El Niño and +IPO account for increased TC activity, as opposed to the combined phase of La Niña and -IPO, in the eastern sub-region. Similarly, the combined phase of La Niña and +IPO, as opposed to the combined phase of El Niño and -IPO, account for increased TC activity in the western sub-region. However, unlike TCs, the patterns of ENSO variability seem to be reversed for TDs. Changes in large-scale environmental conditions, such as environmental vertical wind shear, low-level cyclonic relative vorticity, mid-tropospheric relative humidity and sea surface temperature are linked to the various modes of variability patterns and their synergistic relationships. Results can have substantial implications, particularly on the predictability of TCs and TDs associated with the two important modes of natural variability in the South Pacific.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Digital twin for risk and uncertainty analysis in complex industrial control and automation systems using artificial intelligence and machine learning
- Authors: Siddiqui, Muhammad
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: Industrial control systems play a crucial role in enabling advanced manufacturing operations. However, these systems are inherently susceptible to failure. Detecting faults at an early stage is of paramount importance, as it can prevent the occurrence of fatal and catastrophic consequences resulting from equipment failures. Moreover, timely detection and resolution of faults can save significant costs and time for organizations. The failure of these systems not only poses risks to operators but can also lead to substantial delays in the advanced manufacturing process, imposing substantial financial burdens on organizations. Therefore, a methodology is needed that can be used to avoid the adverse effects of equipment failure of industrial control systems to achieve smooth advanced manufacturing operations. To achieve this, the methodology should be able to detect the abnormal behaviour of the system at very early stages for predictive maintenance. This methodology can be designed using an extremely popular concept known as the Digital Twin, which has gained significant importance in the era of Industry 4.0. In this research, artificial intelligence techniques will be employed to develop a highly accurate and detailed digital twin model. This model will serve as a valuable tool for predictive maintenance in complex industrial control systems, facilitating the achievement of smooth and uninterrupted advanced manufacturing processes. Also, the performance of the proposed Digital Twin model will be compared with state-of-the-art anomaly detection approaches. The digital twin, utilizing the proposed algorithms, will not only be able to detect anomalies but also quantify their severity, classifying them into different levels such as minor, severe, and faulty operations. Furthermore, the research addresses the generalization challenges faced by state-of-the-art approaches, showcasing the digital twin's ability to effectively classify unseen data as healthy or anomalous. The results obtained from the analysis and comparison of state-of-the-art approaches with the proposed algorithms clearly demonstrate the methodology's capability to detect anomalies, quantify their level, and classify them accurately and effectively in real-world data. This validation underscores the robustness and reliability of the developed methodology, further solidifying its potential as a valuable tool for predictive maintenance in complex industrial control systems.
- Description: Masters by Research
- Authors: Siddiqui, Muhammad
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: Industrial control systems play a crucial role in enabling advanced manufacturing operations. However, these systems are inherently susceptible to failure. Detecting faults at an early stage is of paramount importance, as it can prevent the occurrence of fatal and catastrophic consequences resulting from equipment failures. Moreover, timely detection and resolution of faults can save significant costs and time for organizations. The failure of these systems not only poses risks to operators but can also lead to substantial delays in the advanced manufacturing process, imposing substantial financial burdens on organizations. Therefore, a methodology is needed that can be used to avoid the adverse effects of equipment failure of industrial control systems to achieve smooth advanced manufacturing operations. To achieve this, the methodology should be able to detect the abnormal behaviour of the system at very early stages for predictive maintenance. This methodology can be designed using an extremely popular concept known as the Digital Twin, which has gained significant importance in the era of Industry 4.0. In this research, artificial intelligence techniques will be employed to develop a highly accurate and detailed digital twin model. This model will serve as a valuable tool for predictive maintenance in complex industrial control systems, facilitating the achievement of smooth and uninterrupted advanced manufacturing processes. Also, the performance of the proposed Digital Twin model will be compared with state-of-the-art anomaly detection approaches. The digital twin, utilizing the proposed algorithms, will not only be able to detect anomalies but also quantify their severity, classifying them into different levels such as minor, severe, and faulty operations. Furthermore, the research addresses the generalization challenges faced by state-of-the-art approaches, showcasing the digital twin's ability to effectively classify unseen data as healthy or anomalous. The results obtained from the analysis and comparison of state-of-the-art approaches with the proposed algorithms clearly demonstrate the methodology's capability to detect anomalies, quantify their level, and classify them accurately and effectively in real-world data. This validation underscores the robustness and reliability of the developed methodology, further solidifying its potential as a valuable tool for predictive maintenance in complex industrial control systems.
- Description: Masters by Research
Ernabella Rules football : Australian Rules football at the Ernabella Mission, 1937-1974
- Authors: Beck, Adam
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: The experience of sport for First Nations peoples on missions and government settlements in Australia, and on comparable missions in other settler colonial societies, has become a growing field of scholarly study. This thesis aims to build on insights from current sports historiography by examining the origins and significance of Australian Rules football to the people of the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands in the far northwest of South Australia. In particular, it investigates their historical engagement with the game at the Ernabella mission (now known as Pukatja) during the years of its operation from 1937 to 1974. It traces the spread of the game from Ernabella to other nearby communities in the 1960s and investigates the conception that football originated in the town of Alice Springs during the Second World War and gradually spread outward into the hinterland where most Aboriginal people lived. Based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted on the APY Lands, this thesis draws on Anangu oral histories, and a careful examination of local historical materials and photographs held in the Ara Irititja Archive to produce detailed descriptions and portrayals of Australian football at the Ernabella mission from the perspectives of those who lived, worked and played the game at the mission. It argues that a focus on the agency of Anangu at Ernabella is crucial to understanding how the game of Australian football took off and became embedded in local society and culture.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Beck, Adam
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: The experience of sport for First Nations peoples on missions and government settlements in Australia, and on comparable missions in other settler colonial societies, has become a growing field of scholarly study. This thesis aims to build on insights from current sports historiography by examining the origins and significance of Australian Rules football to the people of the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands in the far northwest of South Australia. In particular, it investigates their historical engagement with the game at the Ernabella mission (now known as Pukatja) during the years of its operation from 1937 to 1974. It traces the spread of the game from Ernabella to other nearby communities in the 1960s and investigates the conception that football originated in the town of Alice Springs during the Second World War and gradually spread outward into the hinterland where most Aboriginal people lived. Based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted on the APY Lands, this thesis draws on Anangu oral histories, and a careful examination of local historical materials and photographs held in the Ara Irititja Archive to produce detailed descriptions and portrayals of Australian football at the Ernabella mission from the perspectives of those who lived, worked and played the game at the mission. It argues that a focus on the agency of Anangu at Ernabella is crucial to understanding how the game of Australian football took off and became embedded in local society and culture.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Exploring the effects of perioperative and preoperative exercise therapy for prostate, colorectal and breast cancer patients
- Authors: Hennessy, Declan
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Cancer is a prevalent disease with significant morbidity and mortality rates. Exercise interventions implemented before, during, or after cancer-based surgeries have shown promising benefits in improving fitness, postoperative complications, and quality of life. This thesis comprises three original research chapters aimed at investigating the effect of perioperative and preoperative 'prehabilitation' exercise in breast, colorectal, and prostate cancer patients. The first study focused on exploring exercise therapy interventions and their impact on cardio-respiratory fitness and 30-day postoperative outcomes in colorectal cancer patients. The systematic review and meta-analysis (N= 411 intervention and N= 368 control) revealed a small but significant improvement in cardio-respiratory fitness (SMD = 0.18; 95% CI = 0.03, 0.32; p < 0.05) with exercise interventions, although no significant impact on 30-day postoperative outcomes was observed. In the second study, various exercise types, including aerobic, resistance, flexibility, and mind-body exercises (alone or in combination), were compared in terms of their effect on cardio-respiratory fitness and 30-day postoperative outcomes in colorectal cancer patients (N= 411 intervention and N= 368 control). The network meta-analysis findings indicated that engaging in aerobic exercise alone (SMD = 0.30) or a combination of aerobic, resistance, and flexibility exercises (SMD = 0.57) yielded the most significant improvements in cardio-respiratory fitness. The final study examined the efficacy of pre-surgical aerobic exercise (prehabilitation) therapy in relation to post-operative cardio-respiratory fitness, quality of life, and 30-day postoperative outcomes in the Grampians Region of Victoria. The prehabilitation (PREHAB) group included a supervised aerobic based program which would see patients exercise every two/three days for a minimum of 2 weeks. A total of 11 PREHAB and 9 usual care (UCARE) patients were enrolled and analysed. The study showed that a prehabilitation exercise program resulted in small clinical improvements in some markers of cardio-respiratory fitness (+1.5% and +1.2% for absolute and relative V̇O2peak, respectively) and is safe and feasible. However, no significant improvements were observed in quality of life and 30-day postoperative outcomes. While the overall findings demonstrate some positive effects of perioperative and specifically prehabilitation exercise, it is important to consider the magnitude of these effects and any specific factors contributing to their success, if applicable. Further research is needed to fully understand the potential benefits and limitations of exercise before, during and after surgery in this patient population.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Hennessy, Declan
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Cancer is a prevalent disease with significant morbidity and mortality rates. Exercise interventions implemented before, during, or after cancer-based surgeries have shown promising benefits in improving fitness, postoperative complications, and quality of life. This thesis comprises three original research chapters aimed at investigating the effect of perioperative and preoperative 'prehabilitation' exercise in breast, colorectal, and prostate cancer patients. The first study focused on exploring exercise therapy interventions and their impact on cardio-respiratory fitness and 30-day postoperative outcomes in colorectal cancer patients. The systematic review and meta-analysis (N= 411 intervention and N= 368 control) revealed a small but significant improvement in cardio-respiratory fitness (SMD = 0.18; 95% CI = 0.03, 0.32; p < 0.05) with exercise interventions, although no significant impact on 30-day postoperative outcomes was observed. In the second study, various exercise types, including aerobic, resistance, flexibility, and mind-body exercises (alone or in combination), were compared in terms of their effect on cardio-respiratory fitness and 30-day postoperative outcomes in colorectal cancer patients (N= 411 intervention and N= 368 control). The network meta-analysis findings indicated that engaging in aerobic exercise alone (SMD = 0.30) or a combination of aerobic, resistance, and flexibility exercises (SMD = 0.57) yielded the most significant improvements in cardio-respiratory fitness. The final study examined the efficacy of pre-surgical aerobic exercise (prehabilitation) therapy in relation to post-operative cardio-respiratory fitness, quality of life, and 30-day postoperative outcomes in the Grampians Region of Victoria. The prehabilitation (PREHAB) group included a supervised aerobic based program which would see patients exercise every two/three days for a minimum of 2 weeks. A total of 11 PREHAB and 9 usual care (UCARE) patients were enrolled and analysed. The study showed that a prehabilitation exercise program resulted in small clinical improvements in some markers of cardio-respiratory fitness (+1.5% and +1.2% for absolute and relative V̇O2peak, respectively) and is safe and feasible. However, no significant improvements were observed in quality of life and 30-day postoperative outcomes. While the overall findings demonstrate some positive effects of perioperative and specifically prehabilitation exercise, it is important to consider the magnitude of these effects and any specific factors contributing to their success, if applicable. Further research is needed to fully understand the potential benefits and limitations of exercise before, during and after surgery in this patient population.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Head, neck, and facial injuries in Australian cricket
- Authors: Kodikara, Dulan
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Head, neck and facial (HNF) injuries are a significant concern in cricket due to the nature of the game and the potential impact of fast-moving balls and collisions. These types of injuries occur as a result of direct hits from the cricket ball, accidental collisions between players or falls during fielding or batting. HNF injuries can range from minor cuts and bruises to more severe concussions, fractures, or dental trauma. While some HNF injuries in cricket can be career-ending and severe, others may not be as catastrophic. Over the past decade, there has been a noticeable increase in the incidence of HNF injuries in elite-level cricket, and the tragic death of an Australian test cricketer in 2014 from a head injury heightened awareness of the seriousness and potential fatality of such injuries in the sport. To mitigate the risk of serious injuries, cricket players are encouraged to wear protective equipment such as helmets and neck guards. At the elite level of the sport, stringent safety protocols and regulations are enforced to prioritise player wellbeing, ensuring that immediate medical attention is available during training or games. Further, routine injury surveillance at the elite level has proven effective in monitoring and reducing the likelihood of serious HNF injuries. Nevertheless, there is a noticeable lack of research investigating HNF injuries among cricket participants, particularly at the community level. This lack of reporting hampers the identification and implementation of effective strategies to minimise the risk of such injuries. This thesis seeks to bridge this research gap by examining HNF injuries in community-level cricket under two broad objectives, providing valuable insights for injury prevention and risk mitigation strategies. The first objective of this thesis was to develop a comprehensive understanding of HNF cricket injury epidemiology and the reporting of helmet usage. A systematic review was conducted, analysing 29 studies to determine the incidence, nature, and mechanisms of HNF injuries in cricket, the reported use of helmets and ‘gold standard’ definitions. Facial fractures and concussions were the most frequently specified types of injuries, and the impact of the ball was reported as the most common mechanism for sustaining HNF injuries in cricket. Only three studies (10%) reported the use of helmets. The systematic review highlighted the lack of evidence regarding the reporting of HNF cricket injuries according to international cricket consensus injury definitions, as well as the limited data on helmet usage at the time of injury. Additionally, the review identified gaps in evidence concerning HNF injuries across different age groups, levels of play and diverse populations, along with discrepancies in reporting injury-specific mechanisms. Community-level HNF cricket injuries that required hospitalisation in Victoria, Australia, over a decade, spanning from 2007/8 to 2016/17 were also reviewed under the first objective. During this period, Victorian hospitals treated 3,907 HNF cricket injuries. Male participants accounted for a higher number of injuries than female participants, and the age group most commonly requiring hospital treatment was 10–14 years. Open wounds were the most frequent type of injury (30%), and the primary mechanism for HNF cricket injuries during this decade was being hit, struck, or crushed (86%). Our literature review and the hospital study form the ideal platform for injury prevention efforts by establishing HNF injury prevalence and common injury mechanisms. The second broad objective of this thesis was to investigate the use of cricket helmets among cricket participants, to study the ability of Australian cricket participants to perceive injury risk and to explore the knowledge and awareness of concussion assessment and management. An online survey was conducted to address each facet of our second objective. Over 90% of the players and 50% of the officials reported wearing a helmet during the 2018/19 cricket season, but most did not use a neck protector. Most of the helmets used met the recommended British Standards, and the most common brand used was Masuri. For most of the players and officials who participated in our survey, comfort, and ability to prevent HNF injuries were the two most important factors affecting their decision to purchase a cricket helmet. More than 80% of players and almost 50% of officials expressed the belief that helmets were not necessary for activities such as bowling and fielding at a distance from the batter. Yet, the fact that more than 80% of all participants expressed their willingness to keep using helmets under compulsory regulations indicates that implementing mandatory helmet rules might result in a significant increase in helmet adoption and enhance the overall safety of the sport. Over 70% of our survey participants demonstrated satisfactory levels of knowledge regarding concussion assessment and management. These findings suggest that the potential for severe complications stemming from concussions related to cricket could be reduced, particularly in light of the limited availability of qualified medical professionals at the community-level. The strong understanding of concussion guidelines among our survey participants implies that they would be inclined to prioritise safety and choose helmets that align with the recommended safety standards. In summary, this PhD research has achieved its objective of making the first large-scale scientific contribution to enhance safety and prevent HNF injuries among participants of community-level cricket in Australia. Additionally, this research effectively assessed the participants’ knowledge, comprehension and attitudes regarding utilising protective helmets and the importance of following Cricket Australia’s concussion guidelines.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Kodikara, Dulan
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Head, neck and facial (HNF) injuries are a significant concern in cricket due to the nature of the game and the potential impact of fast-moving balls and collisions. These types of injuries occur as a result of direct hits from the cricket ball, accidental collisions between players or falls during fielding or batting. HNF injuries can range from minor cuts and bruises to more severe concussions, fractures, or dental trauma. While some HNF injuries in cricket can be career-ending and severe, others may not be as catastrophic. Over the past decade, there has been a noticeable increase in the incidence of HNF injuries in elite-level cricket, and the tragic death of an Australian test cricketer in 2014 from a head injury heightened awareness of the seriousness and potential fatality of such injuries in the sport. To mitigate the risk of serious injuries, cricket players are encouraged to wear protective equipment such as helmets and neck guards. At the elite level of the sport, stringent safety protocols and regulations are enforced to prioritise player wellbeing, ensuring that immediate medical attention is available during training or games. Further, routine injury surveillance at the elite level has proven effective in monitoring and reducing the likelihood of serious HNF injuries. Nevertheless, there is a noticeable lack of research investigating HNF injuries among cricket participants, particularly at the community level. This lack of reporting hampers the identification and implementation of effective strategies to minimise the risk of such injuries. This thesis seeks to bridge this research gap by examining HNF injuries in community-level cricket under two broad objectives, providing valuable insights for injury prevention and risk mitigation strategies. The first objective of this thesis was to develop a comprehensive understanding of HNF cricket injury epidemiology and the reporting of helmet usage. A systematic review was conducted, analysing 29 studies to determine the incidence, nature, and mechanisms of HNF injuries in cricket, the reported use of helmets and ‘gold standard’ definitions. Facial fractures and concussions were the most frequently specified types of injuries, and the impact of the ball was reported as the most common mechanism for sustaining HNF injuries in cricket. Only three studies (10%) reported the use of helmets. The systematic review highlighted the lack of evidence regarding the reporting of HNF cricket injuries according to international cricket consensus injury definitions, as well as the limited data on helmet usage at the time of injury. Additionally, the review identified gaps in evidence concerning HNF injuries across different age groups, levels of play and diverse populations, along with discrepancies in reporting injury-specific mechanisms. Community-level HNF cricket injuries that required hospitalisation in Victoria, Australia, over a decade, spanning from 2007/8 to 2016/17 were also reviewed under the first objective. During this period, Victorian hospitals treated 3,907 HNF cricket injuries. Male participants accounted for a higher number of injuries than female participants, and the age group most commonly requiring hospital treatment was 10–14 years. Open wounds were the most frequent type of injury (30%), and the primary mechanism for HNF cricket injuries during this decade was being hit, struck, or crushed (86%). Our literature review and the hospital study form the ideal platform for injury prevention efforts by establishing HNF injury prevalence and common injury mechanisms. The second broad objective of this thesis was to investigate the use of cricket helmets among cricket participants, to study the ability of Australian cricket participants to perceive injury risk and to explore the knowledge and awareness of concussion assessment and management. An online survey was conducted to address each facet of our second objective. Over 90% of the players and 50% of the officials reported wearing a helmet during the 2018/19 cricket season, but most did not use a neck protector. Most of the helmets used met the recommended British Standards, and the most common brand used was Masuri. For most of the players and officials who participated in our survey, comfort, and ability to prevent HNF injuries were the two most important factors affecting their decision to purchase a cricket helmet. More than 80% of players and almost 50% of officials expressed the belief that helmets were not necessary for activities such as bowling and fielding at a distance from the batter. Yet, the fact that more than 80% of all participants expressed their willingness to keep using helmets under compulsory regulations indicates that implementing mandatory helmet rules might result in a significant increase in helmet adoption and enhance the overall safety of the sport. Over 70% of our survey participants demonstrated satisfactory levels of knowledge regarding concussion assessment and management. These findings suggest that the potential for severe complications stemming from concussions related to cricket could be reduced, particularly in light of the limited availability of qualified medical professionals at the community-level. The strong understanding of concussion guidelines among our survey participants implies that they would be inclined to prioritise safety and choose helmets that align with the recommended safety standards. In summary, this PhD research has achieved its objective of making the first large-scale scientific contribution to enhance safety and prevent HNF injuries among participants of community-level cricket in Australia. Additionally, this research effectively assessed the participants’ knowledge, comprehension and attitudes regarding utilising protective helmets and the importance of following Cricket Australia’s concussion guidelines.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
How to raise a ghost : the haunted house as a metaphor for the haunted self
- Authors: Proposch, Melissa
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: This investigation takes an artistic autoethnographic journey in search of the haunted self. As an entangled form of research, it weaves the narrative and analytical into reciprocal relationships. Its methodology and conclusions tell a ghost story. An investigation of one’s haunted self is by nature an examination of personal ghosts and family shadows. This research documents a process of discovery, of looking for and finding my interior haunted house and the psychic home of family trauma and secrets. An examination of this tender and volatile site calls for intuitive and caring exploration and reading. Confinement during Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns further brought into focus my actual home as a site of exhumed memories. There, I developed strategies for attunement to the signs and stories of family ghosts. This process led to newly imagined narrative approaches for artmaking. The story of the haunted house is dark and curious, offering a metaphor for the negative psychological space of the family home, and embracing dystopian aesthetics. Metaphors play with meaning and draw symbolic likenesses to make their language expansive. This research explores how a visual language made for ghost story telling can draw upon the symbolic and metaphorical to express the nebulous and unsettling. It also examines the inherent spectrality of some arts technologies and their capacity to cultivate space and give voice to our phantasmagoric other. This investigation has also been informed by the practice of two artists for whom invocations of the ghostly are conceptually fundamental. Through engagement with their haunted selves, Tracey Moffatt and Louise Bourgeois provide raw access to the personal, familial, and societal shadows which haunt us all. Autoethnographers prefer to reveal meaning through process rather than declarative statements. The journey into my imaginary shadowlands culminates in the retrieval of a haunted object as artwork. Invoking the smoke and mirrors of nineteenth century spiritualism, this work embodies the notion of the artist as medium, calling upon tacit experience to bring forth image, then dialogue, and therein, the communion to be found in shared meaning. Partial fulfilment of requirements for Master of Arts
- Description: Thesis
- Authors: Proposch, Melissa
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: This investigation takes an artistic autoethnographic journey in search of the haunted self. As an entangled form of research, it weaves the narrative and analytical into reciprocal relationships. Its methodology and conclusions tell a ghost story. An investigation of one’s haunted self is by nature an examination of personal ghosts and family shadows. This research documents a process of discovery, of looking for and finding my interior haunted house and the psychic home of family trauma and secrets. An examination of this tender and volatile site calls for intuitive and caring exploration and reading. Confinement during Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns further brought into focus my actual home as a site of exhumed memories. There, I developed strategies for attunement to the signs and stories of family ghosts. This process led to newly imagined narrative approaches for artmaking. The story of the haunted house is dark and curious, offering a metaphor for the negative psychological space of the family home, and embracing dystopian aesthetics. Metaphors play with meaning and draw symbolic likenesses to make their language expansive. This research explores how a visual language made for ghost story telling can draw upon the symbolic and metaphorical to express the nebulous and unsettling. It also examines the inherent spectrality of some arts technologies and their capacity to cultivate space and give voice to our phantasmagoric other. This investigation has also been informed by the practice of two artists for whom invocations of the ghostly are conceptually fundamental. Through engagement with their haunted selves, Tracey Moffatt and Louise Bourgeois provide raw access to the personal, familial, and societal shadows which haunt us all. Autoethnographers prefer to reveal meaning through process rather than declarative statements. The journey into my imaginary shadowlands culminates in the retrieval of a haunted object as artwork. Invoking the smoke and mirrors of nineteenth century spiritualism, this work embodies the notion of the artist as medium, calling upon tacit experience to bring forth image, then dialogue, and therein, the communion to be found in shared meaning. Partial fulfilment of requirements for Master of Arts
- Description: Thesis
Human rights for or by the people? Securing economic, social and cultural rights in a post-war/post-conflict context
- Authors: Fernando, Dinesha
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: This grounded theory (GT) study explores the economic, social and cultural (ESC) conditions and associated rights in post-war Sri Lanka during the past 10 years (2009– 2019). Tamils have been left in a challenging position after the war in terms of how other citizens have been perceiving them and their uniqueness has been disputed in terms of their rights. The overall position of the Tamils in the country has changed in recent history, which is a unique situation not only for the Tamils but also for the whole country. The 30-year Sri Lankan civil war is an important example of transformations during resettlement and the transitions back to normalcy. For many years, the war produced serious loss of life, assets and property, and in addition to these losses, the majority of people were affected either directly or indirectly. It is probably without choice that over the past decades, the Sri Lankans have faced significant economic, social, and cultural rights (ESCR) challenges, especially in the north of the country. In the 10 years since the Sri Lankan Government brought an end to the devastating civil war, the country has seen improvements in the overall security and freedom of movement, infrastructure, investment, and growth; yet there remain many ESCR challenges. This thesis identifies the forces that have been acting for and against securing ESCR for minority Tamils in post-war Sri Lanka. Specifically, the thesis identifies the strategies to secure ESCR in a post-war situation when ESCR are absent or insecure. The grounded-up nature of this thesis explores capturing the ESCR-related post-war experiences, attributes and learnings rather than gathering facts and describing acts. The thesis was designed to address the research questions in a direct manner: (1) What are the forces acting for and against securing ESCR for minority Tamils in post-war Sri Lanka; and (2) What would be the most effective strategies for securing ESCR for minority Tamils in post-war Sri Lanka? This constructivist grounded theory study collected qualitative data through in-depth, one-on-one semi-structured interviews and observations. In an effort to chart and examine what individuals and communities do in the absence of secure ESCR, I uncovered surprising and interesting coping strategies adopted by communities in their efforts to secure ESCR. A significant aim of this study was to share the results/findings with regional policymakers, especially in the north of Sri Lanka. Furthermore, with the availability of funds, this study could be expanded to incorporate a larger context in the form of a book published to assist in improving the lives of war-affected victims’ in terms of future access, promotion, protection and enjoyment of ESCR.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Fernando, Dinesha
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: This grounded theory (GT) study explores the economic, social and cultural (ESC) conditions and associated rights in post-war Sri Lanka during the past 10 years (2009– 2019). Tamils have been left in a challenging position after the war in terms of how other citizens have been perceiving them and their uniqueness has been disputed in terms of their rights. The overall position of the Tamils in the country has changed in recent history, which is a unique situation not only for the Tamils but also for the whole country. The 30-year Sri Lankan civil war is an important example of transformations during resettlement and the transitions back to normalcy. For many years, the war produced serious loss of life, assets and property, and in addition to these losses, the majority of people were affected either directly or indirectly. It is probably without choice that over the past decades, the Sri Lankans have faced significant economic, social, and cultural rights (ESCR) challenges, especially in the north of the country. In the 10 years since the Sri Lankan Government brought an end to the devastating civil war, the country has seen improvements in the overall security and freedom of movement, infrastructure, investment, and growth; yet there remain many ESCR challenges. This thesis identifies the forces that have been acting for and against securing ESCR for minority Tamils in post-war Sri Lanka. Specifically, the thesis identifies the strategies to secure ESCR in a post-war situation when ESCR are absent or insecure. The grounded-up nature of this thesis explores capturing the ESCR-related post-war experiences, attributes and learnings rather than gathering facts and describing acts. The thesis was designed to address the research questions in a direct manner: (1) What are the forces acting for and against securing ESCR for minority Tamils in post-war Sri Lanka; and (2) What would be the most effective strategies for securing ESCR for minority Tamils in post-war Sri Lanka? This constructivist grounded theory study collected qualitative data through in-depth, one-on-one semi-structured interviews and observations. In an effort to chart and examine what individuals and communities do in the absence of secure ESCR, I uncovered surprising and interesting coping strategies adopted by communities in their efforts to secure ESCR. A significant aim of this study was to share the results/findings with regional policymakers, especially in the north of Sri Lanka. Furthermore, with the availability of funds, this study could be expanded to incorporate a larger context in the form of a book published to assist in improving the lives of war-affected victims’ in terms of future access, promotion, protection and enjoyment of ESCR.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Keynes from below : a social history of Second World War Keynesian economics
- Authors: Coventry, Cameron
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: The macroeconomic agenda known as Keynesianism was highly contentious when it was introduced to Australia during the Second World War. Using a ‘history from below’ approach – correctly understood as a society-wide analysis – this thesis reveals the debates and the participants in the social nexus that considered the work of the British economist John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946). It shows that the populous willed a break from the status quo, ranging in favour of socialism to a non-capitalist third way. Support for Keynesianism was isolated to capital and the political right wing, with labour, centrists, the left and far-left strongly opposed. As the war progressed, apathy set in and Keynesianism came to be seen by opponents as either a non-capitalist third way or as the triumph of the possible over the desirable socialist “new order”. From 1936, Keynes had popularised a new economics based on full employment planning that quickly displaced ‘laissez faire capitalism’ in the minds of economists and policymakers. As war broke out, Keynes submitted a war finance plan for public consideration in the United Kingdom. Essentially, the plan addressed the practical aspects of managing an economy experiencing full employment. It contained measures to reduce wage growth to counter rising inflation, welfare for mothers and children to protect their well-being – but also the population growth essential to future economic growth – and the partial repayment of seized wages at the end of the war that would form the basis of post-war “reconstruction”. The Keynes plan generated interest in Australia which rapidly turned to speculation about its applicability. A fierce debate raged, divided on broad political lines, for two years that would shift public opinion and contribute significantly to the rise of the Curtin government (1941-45). However, once enthusiasm for reconstruction waned, it was this government that brought about post-war Keynesianism.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Coventry, Cameron
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: The macroeconomic agenda known as Keynesianism was highly contentious when it was introduced to Australia during the Second World War. Using a ‘history from below’ approach – correctly understood as a society-wide analysis – this thesis reveals the debates and the participants in the social nexus that considered the work of the British economist John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946). It shows that the populous willed a break from the status quo, ranging in favour of socialism to a non-capitalist third way. Support for Keynesianism was isolated to capital and the political right wing, with labour, centrists, the left and far-left strongly opposed. As the war progressed, apathy set in and Keynesianism came to be seen by opponents as either a non-capitalist third way or as the triumph of the possible over the desirable socialist “new order”. From 1936, Keynes had popularised a new economics based on full employment planning that quickly displaced ‘laissez faire capitalism’ in the minds of economists and policymakers. As war broke out, Keynes submitted a war finance plan for public consideration in the United Kingdom. Essentially, the plan addressed the practical aspects of managing an economy experiencing full employment. It contained measures to reduce wage growth to counter rising inflation, welfare for mothers and children to protect their well-being – but also the population growth essential to future economic growth – and the partial repayment of seized wages at the end of the war that would form the basis of post-war “reconstruction”. The Keynes plan generated interest in Australia which rapidly turned to speculation about its applicability. A fierce debate raged, divided on broad political lines, for two years that would shift public opinion and contribute significantly to the rise of the Curtin government (1941-45). However, once enthusiasm for reconstruction waned, it was this government that brought about post-war Keynesianism.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Mental health nurses’ attitudes, empathy and caring efficacy towards consumers with co-existing mental health and drug and alcohol problems : a mixed methods study
- Authors: Palavila, Roopalal
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Background: Dual diagnosis is a significant cause of disability worldwide and accounts for 13% of the disease burden in Australia. In 2014-15, more than half of emergency hospital admissions in Australia were due to psychological and behavioural problems associated with illegal substance use. Mental health nurses play a critical role in caring for consumers with dual diagnosis. However, there is a shortage of evidence about mental health nurses’ attitudes, empathy, and caring efficacy towards these consumers. Materials and Methods: This concurrent mixed methods study examined mental health nurses’ attitudes, empathy, and caring efficacy towards consumers with dual diagnosis in Australian mental health settings. Data were collected between December 2019 and November 2020. A total of 103 mental health nurses completed the Comorbidity Problems Perceptions Questionnaire, 96 completed the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire, and 84 completed the Caring Efficacy Scale. Seventeen mental health nurses participated in semi-structured interviews. The data were analysed using regression, themes and joint displays. Results: Mental health nurses displayed a positive attitude (M = 83.97, SD = 28.49), empathy (M = 47.71, SD = 8.28) and caring efficacy (M = 145.70, SD = 19.92) towards consumers with dual diagnosis. Factors identified as contributing to a positive attitude were a high level of work experience (
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Palavila, Roopalal
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Background: Dual diagnosis is a significant cause of disability worldwide and accounts for 13% of the disease burden in Australia. In 2014-15, more than half of emergency hospital admissions in Australia were due to psychological and behavioural problems associated with illegal substance use. Mental health nurses play a critical role in caring for consumers with dual diagnosis. However, there is a shortage of evidence about mental health nurses’ attitudes, empathy, and caring efficacy towards these consumers. Materials and Methods: This concurrent mixed methods study examined mental health nurses’ attitudes, empathy, and caring efficacy towards consumers with dual diagnosis in Australian mental health settings. Data were collected between December 2019 and November 2020. A total of 103 mental health nurses completed the Comorbidity Problems Perceptions Questionnaire, 96 completed the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire, and 84 completed the Caring Efficacy Scale. Seventeen mental health nurses participated in semi-structured interviews. The data were analysed using regression, themes and joint displays. Results: Mental health nurses displayed a positive attitude (M = 83.97, SD = 28.49), empathy (M = 47.71, SD = 8.28) and caring efficacy (M = 145.70, SD = 19.92) towards consumers with dual diagnosis. Factors identified as contributing to a positive attitude were a high level of work experience (
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Optimising water quality outcomes for complex water resource systems and water grids
- Authors: Dey, Sayani
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: As the world progresses, water resources are likely to be subjected to much greater pressures than in the past. Even though the principal water problem revolves around inadequate and uncertain water supplies, water quality management plays an equally important role. Availability of good quality water is paramount to sustainability of human population as well as the environment. Achieving water quality and quantity objectives can be conflicting and becomes more complicated with challenges like, climate change, growing populations and changed land uses. Managing adequate water quality in a reservoir gets complicated by multiple inflows with different water quality levels often resulting in poor water quality. Hence, it is fundamental to approach this issue in a more systematic, comprehensive, and coordinated fashion. Most previous studies related to water resources management focused on water quantity and considered water quality separately. However, this research study focused on considering water quantity and quality objectives simultaneously in a single model to explore and understand the relationship between them in a reservoir system. A case study area was identified in Western Victoria, Australia with water quantity and quality challenges. Taylors Lake of Grampians System in Victoria, Australia receives water from multiple sources of differing quality and quantity and has the abovesaid problems. A combined simulation and optimisation approach was adopted to carry out the analysis. A multi-objective optimisation approach was applied to achieve optimal water availability and quality in the storage. The multi-objective optimisation model included three objective functions which were: water volume and two water quality parameters: salinity and turbidity. Results showed competing nature of water quantity and quality objectives and established the trade-offs. It further showed that it was possible to generate a range of optimal solutions to effectively manage those trade-offs. The trade-off analysis explored and informed that selective harvesting of inflows is effective to improve water quality in storage. However, with strict water quality restriction there is a considerable loss in water volume. The robustness of the optimisation approach used in this study was confirmed through sensitivity and uncertainty analysis. The research work also incorporated various spatio-temporal scenario analyses to systematically articulate long-term and short-term operational planning strategies. Operational decisions around possible harvesting regimes while achieving optimal water quantity and quality and meeting all water demands were established. The climate change analysis revealed that optimal management of water quantity and quality in storage became extremely challenging under future climate projections. The high reduction in storage volume in the future will lead to several challenges such as water supply shortfall and inability to undertake selective harvesting due to reduced water quality levels. In this context, selective harvesting of inflows based on water quality will no longer be an option to manage water quantity and quality optimally in storage. Some significant conclusions of this research work included the establishment of trade-offs between water quality and quantity objectives particular to this configuration of water supply system. The work demonstrated that selective harvesting of inflows will improve the stored water quality, and this finding along with the approach used is a significant contribution to decision makers working within the water sector. The simulation-optimisation approach is very effective in providing a range of optimal solutions, which can be used to make more informed decisions around achieving optimal water quality and quantity in storage. It was further demonstrated that there are range of planning periods, both long-term (>10 years) and short-term (<1 year), all of which offer distinct advantages and provides useful insights, making this an additional key contribution of the work. Importantly, climate change was also considered where it was found that diminishing water resources, particularly to this geographic location, makes it increasingly difficult to optimise both quality and quantity in storage providing further useful insights from this work.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Dey, Sayani
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: As the world progresses, water resources are likely to be subjected to much greater pressures than in the past. Even though the principal water problem revolves around inadequate and uncertain water supplies, water quality management plays an equally important role. Availability of good quality water is paramount to sustainability of human population as well as the environment. Achieving water quality and quantity objectives can be conflicting and becomes more complicated with challenges like, climate change, growing populations and changed land uses. Managing adequate water quality in a reservoir gets complicated by multiple inflows with different water quality levels often resulting in poor water quality. Hence, it is fundamental to approach this issue in a more systematic, comprehensive, and coordinated fashion. Most previous studies related to water resources management focused on water quantity and considered water quality separately. However, this research study focused on considering water quantity and quality objectives simultaneously in a single model to explore and understand the relationship between them in a reservoir system. A case study area was identified in Western Victoria, Australia with water quantity and quality challenges. Taylors Lake of Grampians System in Victoria, Australia receives water from multiple sources of differing quality and quantity and has the abovesaid problems. A combined simulation and optimisation approach was adopted to carry out the analysis. A multi-objective optimisation approach was applied to achieve optimal water availability and quality in the storage. The multi-objective optimisation model included three objective functions which were: water volume and two water quality parameters: salinity and turbidity. Results showed competing nature of water quantity and quality objectives and established the trade-offs. It further showed that it was possible to generate a range of optimal solutions to effectively manage those trade-offs. The trade-off analysis explored and informed that selective harvesting of inflows is effective to improve water quality in storage. However, with strict water quality restriction there is a considerable loss in water volume. The robustness of the optimisation approach used in this study was confirmed through sensitivity and uncertainty analysis. The research work also incorporated various spatio-temporal scenario analyses to systematically articulate long-term and short-term operational planning strategies. Operational decisions around possible harvesting regimes while achieving optimal water quantity and quality and meeting all water demands were established. The climate change analysis revealed that optimal management of water quantity and quality in storage became extremely challenging under future climate projections. The high reduction in storage volume in the future will lead to several challenges such as water supply shortfall and inability to undertake selective harvesting due to reduced water quality levels. In this context, selective harvesting of inflows based on water quality will no longer be an option to manage water quantity and quality optimally in storage. Some significant conclusions of this research work included the establishment of trade-offs between water quality and quantity objectives particular to this configuration of water supply system. The work demonstrated that selective harvesting of inflows will improve the stored water quality, and this finding along with the approach used is a significant contribution to decision makers working within the water sector. The simulation-optimisation approach is very effective in providing a range of optimal solutions, which can be used to make more informed decisions around achieving optimal water quality and quantity in storage. It was further demonstrated that there are range of planning periods, both long-term (>10 years) and short-term (<1 year), all of which offer distinct advantages and provides useful insights, making this an additional key contribution of the work. Importantly, climate change was also considered where it was found that diminishing water resources, particularly to this geographic location, makes it increasingly difficult to optimise both quality and quantity in storage providing further useful insights from this work.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Physical and emotional touchpoints influencing user journeys : how mothers navigate through the maternity and early childhood development service systems in a rural Victorian city
- Authors: O'Neill, Carina
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: The quality of maternity and early childhood development service systems has a profound impact on children’s capacity to grow, learn and thrive throughout their lifespans. This research study investigated the experiences of first-time mothers attempting to navigate complex, disjointed service systems in a small rural Australian city. The study aimed to identify the critical touchpoints that first-time mothers often encountered when navigating maternity and early childhood development service systems from conception to school and then generate a broader understanding of how the individual and collective user might navigate through this period. In my capacity as the manager of a major early childhood service in this small city, I was able to apply my critical, reflexive insights of the service to the development of this research study. This descriptive, retrospective study employed a qualitative methodology. A novel, user-centred design approach – drawing upon the concept of service touchpoints – was applied to explain families’ experiences of using services from the point of their child’s conception until the commencement of school. A self-selected sample of eight first-time mothers participated in the study. Comprehensive, tape-recorded interviews were conducted with the mothers that incorporated innovative tools for generating ideas and identifying critical touchpoints during the mothers’ user journey. The data was analysed to produce four products: a cross-case, thematic analysis of the families’ experiences; a visual user journey map containing the physical and emotional service touchpoints for each individual family; and two customer journey maps (one showing physical touchpoints; the other showing emotional touchpoints) to visually represent the typical user’s experience. The four major themes that emerged were: (1) dissonance between expectations and the lived reality; (2) the continuum of support from ideal to going “above and beyond”; (3) social isolation and lack of information; and (4) the need to become experts/advocates to make informed choices. The two conjoint customer journey maps revealed that a lack of service knowledge, unclear processes and disruptions in service transitions impacted on the physical service experience. However, surprisingly, it was the emotional – rather than the physical –touchpoints that were most significant for these mothers.
- Description: Masters of the Arts
- Authors: O'Neill, Carina
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: The quality of maternity and early childhood development service systems has a profound impact on children’s capacity to grow, learn and thrive throughout their lifespans. This research study investigated the experiences of first-time mothers attempting to navigate complex, disjointed service systems in a small rural Australian city. The study aimed to identify the critical touchpoints that first-time mothers often encountered when navigating maternity and early childhood development service systems from conception to school and then generate a broader understanding of how the individual and collective user might navigate through this period. In my capacity as the manager of a major early childhood service in this small city, I was able to apply my critical, reflexive insights of the service to the development of this research study. This descriptive, retrospective study employed a qualitative methodology. A novel, user-centred design approach – drawing upon the concept of service touchpoints – was applied to explain families’ experiences of using services from the point of their child’s conception until the commencement of school. A self-selected sample of eight first-time mothers participated in the study. Comprehensive, tape-recorded interviews were conducted with the mothers that incorporated innovative tools for generating ideas and identifying critical touchpoints during the mothers’ user journey. The data was analysed to produce four products: a cross-case, thematic analysis of the families’ experiences; a visual user journey map containing the physical and emotional service touchpoints for each individual family; and two customer journey maps (one showing physical touchpoints; the other showing emotional touchpoints) to visually represent the typical user’s experience. The four major themes that emerged were: (1) dissonance between expectations and the lived reality; (2) the continuum of support from ideal to going “above and beyond”; (3) social isolation and lack of information; and (4) the need to become experts/advocates to make informed choices. The two conjoint customer journey maps revealed that a lack of service knowledge, unclear processes and disruptions in service transitions impacted on the physical service experience. However, surprisingly, it was the emotional – rather than the physical –touchpoints that were most significant for these mothers.
- Description: Masters of the Arts
Statistical assessment of Australian bushfire conditions : long-term changes and variability
- Authors: Biswas, Soubhik
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: In the wake of increasing bushfire impacts in recent decades across the Australian landscape, questions arise regarding the role played by weather conditions, climate variability and long-term climate change. This thesis seeks to quantify the following components that can influence fire risk: (1) the effects of weather and mean climate conditions, (2) large-scale drivers of natural climate variability, (3) the influence of extreme weather events and (4) the contribution of long-term anthropogenic climate change. Bushfire risks associated with weather and climate factors in Australia are generally assessed using indices such as the Forest Fire Danger Index (FFDI). The FFDI is used in this study, calculated from daily values of rainfall, relative humidity, temperature and wind speed, providing a generalised approach for combining those four weather factors known to influence fire behaviour. This study also aims to fill several knowledge gaps in the literature. For example, a comprehensive study of climatology, variability and trends in Australia's fire weather conditions was never attempted before using a high-resolution and a very long-term fire weather dataset. The fire weather conditions were analysed using a long-term FFDI dataset constructed from 20th Century reanalysis climatic data with bias correction applied because reconstructed weather datasets like 20th Century reanalysis products often show systemic biases. Various statistical bias correction approaches based on quantile-quantile matching were compared, and a spline-based method was selected due to its higher precision in correcting a distribution for the purposes of this study. The relationship of this calibrated FFDI dataset with the climate drivers of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), Southern Annular Mode (SAM) and Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO) was analysed. Results are mapped to show the regional and seasonal fluctuations in the severe fire weather across Australia during different combinations of ENSO, IOD, and SAM phases. During the austral spring and summer seasons, the highest frequency of severe fire weather conditions occurred for the combination of positive ENSO (i.e., El Nino), positive IOD and negative SAM. The calibrated FFDI dataset derived from bias-corrected Twentieth Century Reanalysis data was further used to study the long-term climate change trends in Australian fire weather conditions. A general positive trend in the number of extreme FFDI days was reported across Australia, except for New South Wales in Spring where a statistically non-significant negative trend was observed. Temperature and relative humidity were found to be the most critical climatic variables influencing fire weather trends across the country, noting that relative humidity is partly based on temperature. The applications of this work range from being useful for various stakeholders in framing new climate change adaptation policies to being used for seasonal outlooks and planning by fire management teams.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Biswas, Soubhik
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: In the wake of increasing bushfire impacts in recent decades across the Australian landscape, questions arise regarding the role played by weather conditions, climate variability and long-term climate change. This thesis seeks to quantify the following components that can influence fire risk: (1) the effects of weather and mean climate conditions, (2) large-scale drivers of natural climate variability, (3) the influence of extreme weather events and (4) the contribution of long-term anthropogenic climate change. Bushfire risks associated with weather and climate factors in Australia are generally assessed using indices such as the Forest Fire Danger Index (FFDI). The FFDI is used in this study, calculated from daily values of rainfall, relative humidity, temperature and wind speed, providing a generalised approach for combining those four weather factors known to influence fire behaviour. This study also aims to fill several knowledge gaps in the literature. For example, a comprehensive study of climatology, variability and trends in Australia's fire weather conditions was never attempted before using a high-resolution and a very long-term fire weather dataset. The fire weather conditions were analysed using a long-term FFDI dataset constructed from 20th Century reanalysis climatic data with bias correction applied because reconstructed weather datasets like 20th Century reanalysis products often show systemic biases. Various statistical bias correction approaches based on quantile-quantile matching were compared, and a spline-based method was selected due to its higher precision in correcting a distribution for the purposes of this study. The relationship of this calibrated FFDI dataset with the climate drivers of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), Southern Annular Mode (SAM) and Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO) was analysed. Results are mapped to show the regional and seasonal fluctuations in the severe fire weather across Australia during different combinations of ENSO, IOD, and SAM phases. During the austral spring and summer seasons, the highest frequency of severe fire weather conditions occurred for the combination of positive ENSO (i.e., El Nino), positive IOD and negative SAM. The calibrated FFDI dataset derived from bias-corrected Twentieth Century Reanalysis data was further used to study the long-term climate change trends in Australian fire weather conditions. A general positive trend in the number of extreme FFDI days was reported across Australia, except for New South Wales in Spring where a statistically non-significant negative trend was observed. Temperature and relative humidity were found to be the most critical climatic variables influencing fire weather trends across the country, noting that relative humidity is partly based on temperature. The applications of this work range from being useful for various stakeholders in framing new climate change adaptation policies to being used for seasonal outlooks and planning by fire management teams.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy