List of Titles

'You Beauty' Alex Jesaulenko An historical exploration of the migrant who became a legend

- Eddy, Daniel

Authors: Eddy, Daniel
Date: 2019
Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
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Description: The Austrian-born Alex Jesaulenko played football in the Victorian Football League (VFL) from 1967 to 1981. His rise to national prominence emerged during a period of great change within both Australian society and Australian rules football. This thesis, through a critical biographical approach, examines for the first time Jesaulenko’s early life, looking at his migrant experience and the role that Australian rules football played in aiding his integration into Australian society. It is not a kick-and-handball analysis of Jesaulenko’s entire football career; that has been extensively covered within copious amounts of primary and secondary sources. Instead, it explores his migrant journey – an important aspect of Jesaulenko’s life which has been largely overlooked – and the key developmental years of sporting education prior to emerging as a VFL champion. It concludes with one of, if not the most, iconic moments in the game’s history: Jesaulenko’s mark in the 1970 VFL grand final, which cemented his name within the Australian sporting consciousness. Australian rules football, and sport more generally, holds a unique place within society. Footballers, it can be argued, are archetypes for our daily dreams and aspirations; exalted figures that we afford status which few will experience in their everyday lives. Therefore, it is through the prism of Jesaulenko’s journey that we can learn more about the role Australian rules football has played for migrants integrating into Australian society.
Description: Doctor of Philosophy

Latrobe Valley circular industrial ecosystem

- Ghayur, Adeel

Authors: Ghayur, Adeel
Date: 2019
Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
Full Text: false
Description: Climate change, energy security, pollution and increasing unemployment in the face of automation are four critical challenges facing every region in the twenty-first century, including the Latrobe Valley in Victoria, Australia. The Valley – location of the largest brown coal deposits and forest industry in the southern hemisphere – is undergoing unprecedented and rapid changes. Its ageing brown coal power plants are retiring and replacements are not planned, leading to job insecurity. Solutions are needed that ensure continued economic activity in the region whilst allowing for the Valley to contribute its fair share in the fight against the climate change. The aim of this study is to investigate a possible local solution that could help tackle these issues of the Latrobe Valley in addition to plastic pollution and energy insecurity. Transitioning from linear to circular materials flow is one possible solution that favours sustainability and job security. Consequently, a multiproduct succinic acid biorefinery is modelled, acting as an industrial hub in a potential Latrobe Valley circular economy. This allows for employment creation in the value-addition of its platform chemicals into carbon negative and environment-friendly products. Additionally, such a biorefinery concept has the capacity to tackle Post-combustion CO2 Capture (PCC) industry’s wastes. It is anticipated that any future utilisation of brown coal as an energy vector would entail PCC to ensure carbon neutrality. A PCC industry produces CO2 and amine wastes that require adequate disposal. The modelled biorefinery has the capacity to valorise both. The simulation and the techno-economic analysis show the modelled Carbon Negative Biorefinery consumes 656,000 metric tonnes (t) of pulp logs and 42,000 t of CO2 to produce 220,000 t of succinic acid, 115,000 t of acetic acid and 900 t of dimethyl ether, annually. Biorefinery’s CAPEX and OPEX stand at AU$ 635,000,000 and $ 180,000,000 respectively. The calculated Minimum Selling Price for succinic acid is $ 990/t, only 6.4% higher than a typical biorefinery. Subsequently, biorefinery’s capacity as an anchor tenant is also simulated via technical evaluations of four value-added products: • Poly(butylene succinate) as biodegradable polymer replacing petro-plastics – simulation results show 1 t of succinic acid produces 0.19 t of tetrahydrofuran and 0.44 t of poly(butylene succinate); • Carbon fibre for insulation products, sporting goods and foams – 1 t of lignin and 0.8 t of acetic anhydride produce 0.8 t of carbon fibre; • Succinylated lignin adhesive for replacing urea-formaldehyde in the wood industry – simulation results show the biorefinery concept having the capacity to valorise both waste amine and CO2 from a PCC plant; and • Renewable fuels like hydrogen as energy vectors – a small biorefinery can potentially provide dozens of gigawatt hours of stored power for backup and peak demands, annually. In summary, results of this research are: • A biorefinery can valorise PCC plant wastes; • Multiproduct succinic acid biorefinery is economically viable; • Renewable fuels are ideally suited as energy storage vectors for a renewable energy grid both in developing and developed countries; • Bioproducts can reduce CO2 emissions thereby mitigate climate change; • Bioproducts can replace petro-products and reduce pollution; • Bioproducts can replace construction industry materials associated with CO2 emissions; • Biorefineries can help a region transition from a linear to a circular economy; and • Circular economies have the potential to generate secure jobs. In conclusion, this research identifies platform biochemicals as potential key drivers in a linear economy’s transition to a circular economy.
Description: Doctor of Philosophy

Making junior cricket safer for Sri Lanka : Creating opportunities for injury prevention

- Gamage, Prasanna

Authors: Gamage, Prasanna
Date: 2019
Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
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Description: With the immense popularity of the game of cricket in Sri Lanka, school level cricket is played competitively and socially by a large number of participants. As in many other sports, musculoskeletal injuries are a common occurrence in cricket. Exposure to hot and humid environments in Sri Lankan conditions during outdoor cricket play can also pose a risk for junior cricketers. To date, there has been no attempt to examine injury or illness among Sri Lankan junior cricketers, which hinders opportunities for injury prevention. The first aim of this thesis was to examine musculoskeletal injuries with a view to identifying injury incidence and associated risks during competitions. Specific injuries among different groups of cricketers were identified including 46.0% in fielders, 25.4% in bowlers and 20.3% in batters. Injury risk perceptions of junior cricketers recognised that these injuries were common, and highlighted the role of coaches and school cricket teachers in supporting junior cricketers. The second aim of the thesis was to study the potential impact of exertional heat illnesses (EHI) during cricket play. A considerable variation in heat stress risk parameters (climate, duration, and intensity of play) were observed among cricketers during test-cricket play. Study of risk perceptions related to EHI showed the importance of understanding EHI risks such as humidity and use of helmets. The results of this PhD have been provided to Sri Lankan Cricket and school cricket authorities with recommendation to develop and implement injury preventive measures such as use of helmets during batting to minimise the high number of match-time-loss facial injuries, and educating junior cricketers in modifying their perceived risk attitudes and beliefs related to musculoskeletal and EHI risks. Overall, this PhD has met the aim of completing the first large-scale scientific contribution towards promoting safety and preventing injuries among Sri Lankan junior cricketers.
Description: Doctor of Philosophy

Malmsbury bluestone and quarries : Finding holes in history and heritage

- Walter, Susan

Authors: Walter, Susan
Date: 2019
Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
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Description: Malmsbury bluestone was used widely from 1856 in buildings in Victoria, throughout Australia, and in New Zealand. It features in many structures listed on heritage registers, yet its presence is barely recognised. This largely results from the stone quarries, buildings and the men who laboured with it being absent from modern Australian historiography. The fame previously associated with the stone was lost when stone use for structural purposes, and the associated stone skills, declined; a situation exacerbated by poor recognition of the stone industry’s role in building our nation through heritage citations of structures. Inspired by E. P. Thompson, this thesis uses Critical Inquiry though microhistory and landscape analysis to regain the stone’s fame and rescue stoneworkers from the condescension of history. A detailed analysis of quarries, structures, the bluestone industry, and a rarely-attempted total reconstitution of the lives of 194 vital stoneworkers, reveals a valuable cultural heritage currently undervalued and at risk. Malmsbury stoneworkers came from diverse backgrounds but worked co-operatively to promote and sustain a local industry which supplied a nationally-vital building material, despite the absence of a regulatory framework to protect their lives and rights. Scientific methods document the geological properties of the stone and demonstrate how, in the absence of science, skilled stoneworkers nevertheless identified and worked a valuable resource. Modern science could however be used to test building stones in a non-destructive manner to determine the sources of currently unidentified building stones. This thesis significantly contributes to the limited discourse on the history and heritage of Australian stone use through the perspectives of cultural landscapes, labour history and built and cultural heritage. Malmsbury bluestone truly was the standard of excellence and, along with stoneworkers, warrants more extensive recognition in Australia’s Heritage registers.
Description: Doctor of Philosophy

Tropical cyclone tracks in CMIP5 models : Statistical assessment and future projections

- Bell, Samuel

Authors: Bell, Samuel
Date: 2019
Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
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Description: Tropical cyclones (TCs) can have devastating social and economic impacts on coastal communities situated all around the globe. The impact of anthropogenic induced climate change on TC activity has attracted widespread scientific interest over the past decade, resulting in the development of a variety of approaches for TC projection in climate models. However, many uncertainties remain, including those associated with the TC detection algorithm and climate model inter-dependencies that impact projection results. This thesis seeks to address these uncertainties, as well as filling several knowledge gaps in the literature such as limited TC projection studies in the Southern Hemisphere and a global need for regional-scale TC track density projections. The independent TC detection and tracking algorithm utilised in this thesis is first evaluated to determine if it can simulate a realistic TC track climatology in reanalysis data. By way of cluster analysis, model-detected and observed TC tracks are compared and objective criteria for a consistent “TC track” definition are established. Regional-scale TC track projections are then examined in each TC basin around the globe. The exact methodology of cluster analysis in each basin is slightly modified to accommodate basin-scale differences in track climatology but generally follows a cluster assessment of TC tracks in observations, historical climate simulations and future climate projections using results from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) models. Regional impacts of the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on TC tracks are also examined in current- and future-climates. Projection results are found to be supportive of existing studies, especially in the North Pacific and the Southern Hemisphere. Isolation of TC tracks into clusters indicated that the regional dominance of ENSO is well simulated by the CMIP5 models. Several regional changes in TC activity are noted and attributed to projected changes in the large-scale environment, and changes in ENSO-specific conditions.
Description: Doctor of Philosophy

Characterisation of the deformation behaviour of unbound granular materials using repeated load triaxial testing

- Zhalehjoo, Negin

Authors: Zhalehjoo, Negin
Date: 2018
Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
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Description: Unbound Granular Materials (UGMs) are used in the base/subbase layers of flexible pavements for the majority of roads around the world. The deterioration of pavements increases with the increase of traffic loadings. To ensure the long-term performance and serviceability of pavement structures through a realistic design, the precise evaluation and comprehensive characterisation of the resilient and permanent deformation behaviour of pavement materials are essential. The present PhD study aims to investigate the characterisation of the resilient and permanent deformation behaviour of four road base UGMs sourced from quarries in Victoria, Australia, using Repeated Load Triaxial (RLT) testing. The triaxial system used in this study is instrumented with four axial deformation measurement transducers to achieve highly precise measurements and to evaluate the effect of instrumentation on the resilient modulus of UGMs. The resilient Poisson’s ratio of the studied UGMs is also determined using a radial Hall-Effect transducer. Moreover, a series of permanent deformation tests is performed to precisely characterise the axial and radial permanent deformation behaviour of UGMs and investigate the factors that may significantly influence the accumulated axial and radial permanent deformations. Finally, three permanent deformation models incorporated with a time-hardening procedure are employed to predict the magnitude of permanent strain for multiple stress levels of the RLT test. The predictions using the employed models are then compared against the measured values to evaluate the suitability of the models and to identify the model that best predicts the strain accumulation behaviour of the tested UGMs. While this study focuses on the resilient and permanent deformation behaviour of four Victorian UGMs under repeated loading, the knowledge generated from this comprehensive investigation will contribute towards the global development of more reliable methods for evaluating the long-term performance of pavement structures and minimising road maintenance and repair costs.
Description: Doctor of Philosophy

Decision making processes within educated intercultural marriages in Australia

- Alnaimi, Suleiman

Authors: Alnaimi, Suleiman
Date: 2018
Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
Full Text: false
Description: In recent years, the world–wide phenomena of globalization and increasingly flexible social norms have contributed to an increase in intercultural relationships, particularly in multicultural societies. Intercultural relationships have a higher risk of failure and lower marital satisfaction than same-culture marriages. The negotiation of important family decisions are known to lead to marital conflict, however few studies have examined how successful, intercultural couples make important decisions and maintain marital satisfaction. Six intercultural couples who met the criteria were recruited and interviewed (ie.12 individuals).Couples were interviewed longitudinally on how they make important family decisions. The educational levels of participants ranged from college degree to PhD degree. The participants represented diverse cultural backgrounds. The various racial and/or ethnic identifications of the intercultural married couples in this study represented the diversity of the racial and/or ethnic mixes in intercultural marriages within the general population. Prior to completing the conjoint, face to face interviews, each couple completed the Schwartz Value Survey to elicit their individual values. Values are known to motivate and underpin decisions and vary from culture to culture. Interviews revealed that, although cultural differences were clearly evident, these differences did not prevent effective decision making amongst intercultural couples. Instead, couples were successfully turning cultural differences into minor issues or even opportunities. Couples often managed three cultures within the nuclear family as all couples had children being raised in Australia. Couples reported that keys to marital success included developing common values, working towards agreed goals and awareness of their spouse’s culture, support and open communication. Intercultural couples interviewed displayed positive attitudes of commitment to their marriage, each other and family. Couples focused on what was best for the family when making decisions. They held firm beliefs that they were not that different from their partner, despite cultural differences. Themes to emerge from qualitative analysis of the interviews as factors underpinning successful inter-cultural marriages across the participants include shared faith, similar values and the creation of a third culture within an emerging global culture. Cultural differences were not found to be a significant factor when major family decisions were made. This thesis is the first to examine decision making among successful intercultural couples. Qualitative study has investigated couple decision-making from the same cultural background. This current study generates new insights on intercultural couple’s decision making processes, and provides unique perspectives on how successful, well-adjusted and highly educated intercultural couples negotiate important family decisions. The findings of this study have the potential to add to the limited knowledge available on intercultural marriage and cross-cultural adjustment and has implications for counsellors and marriage / family therapists working with cross-cultural couples.
Description: Doctor of Philosophy

Green bonds : Do they bring sustainability to environmentally friendly projects?

- Nanayakkara, Madurika

Authors: Nanayakkara, Madurika
Date: 2018
Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
Full Text: false
Description: This study was motivated by the urgent requirement to scale up the global green bond (GB) market to meet the trillion-dollar financial requirement of environmental resilience projects worldwide, and by the absence of prior scientific investigations to determine solutions to the GB market’s problems from different perspectives. Three empirical studies were conducted to provide a holistic view of the GB market. The first study investigated the perception gaps of different stakeholders in the GB market in terms of assessing the ‘greenness’ of projects funded through GBs, investors’ expectations of GB investments, and the factors hindering the growth of the GB market. A qualitative method was employed with document review, followed by interviews, a questionnaire survey and peer debriefing. The study found that both the demand and supply sides of the GB market are inadequate to meet the world’s green investment requirements. The main obstacles hindering the market growth are fear for greenwashing, definitions that lack clarity, the absence of large-scale issues, and the high costs associated with complex reporting processes and third-party certifications. The second study assessed the influence of GB principles on investor demand for GBs, using global GBs issued for the period 2007 to 2016. Bid–ask spread and yield spread were used to measure the investor demand. The results indicated a significant positive relationship between the degree of compliance and investor demand. The third study compared the credit spreads of corporate GBs and conventional bonds, measured by option-adjusted spread daily data for the period 2016 to 2017 worldwide. Hybrid method of panel data regression was employed to analyse the data, and found that GBs are traded at a premium in the world market, compared with conventional bonds. This thesis suggests several policy implications based on the findings of these studies to scale up the GB market as a new source of financing.
Description: Doctor of Philosophy

Lime stabilisation of an Australian silty clay and its application in construction of excavation retaining walls by cutter soil mixing

- Ranjbar Pouya, Kaveh

Authors: Ranjbar Pouya, Kaveh
Date: 2018
Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
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Description: Coode Island Silt (CIS) is one of the predominant geological units in Melbourne, Australia. Having high compressibility and low shear strength, CIS is considered a problematic soft soil that challenges the construction of infrastructure in the region. To tackle such challenges, one practical approach is the application of ground improvement techniques such as in situ soil mixing. This PhD study focuses on the application of Cutter Soil Mixing (CSM) for the construction of excavation retaining walls in CIS. Although cement is widely used in most CSM projects, this study investigates the suitability of different lime types available in the Australian market as a potential alternative to cement for the stabilisation of CIS. To investigate the effect of lime stabilisation, a comprehensive geotechnical characterisation of untreated and lime treated CIS is performed. Four different lime types are used: agricultural lime, quicklime, hydrated lime and slag lime. Based on the results obtained from strength tests, slag lime was found to be the most effective among the four types that were tested. The optimum slag lime to CIS ratio is then found for the construction of retaining walls in CIS. Having the geotechnical characterisation of untreated and treated CIS from the laboratory experiments, a series of two-dimensional and three-dimensional finite element method (FEM) analyses were conducted to investigate the applicability and reliability of the selected mixing ratio for the construction of CSM excavation retaining walls in CIS. A nonlinear constitutive soil model was employed, calibrated and verified to be used in FEM analyses to investigate both the stability factor of safety and excavation-induced deformations. The results obtained for both undrained and fully coupled flow deformation analyses prove that CSM panels can be constructed by mixing slag lime and CIS to act as retaining walls to allow for deep excavation in CIS.
Description: Doctor of Philosophy

Wild deer as potential reservoirs of economically important gastrointestinal parasites in South Eastern Australia

- Panozzo, Jacqueline

Authors: Panozzo, Jacqueline
Date: 2018
Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
Full Text: false
Description: Gastrointestinal (GI) parasite infection of ruminant livestock can be a source of significant economic loss for farmers. Appropriate animal management and drug treatments can reduce the transmission and subsequent effect of GI parasite infections on ruminant livestock productivity. However, transmission of infection from outside sources, such as wildlife, can make GI parasite control measures in livestock ineffective. In Australia, particularly Victoria, the large population of wild deer now represents a significant biosecurity risk due to the potential ability of economically important GI parasites of livestock to infect deer. This thesis aimed to investigate the presence of GI parasites in three species of Victorian wild deer (fallow, hog and sambar) by screening deer faecal samples through the traditional parasitology technique of faecal egg count (FEC) and through DNA-based molecular techniques of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and next-generation sequencing (NGS). Screening wild deer faecal samples for strongyle parasites via FEC resulted in 15.1% positive samples. DNA based techniques were significantly more sensitive than FEC, with 60.0% deer faecal samples positive for strongyles. NGS detected DNA of eleven different strongyle species in wild deer faecal samples, including the economically important parasite species of livestock of O. ostertagi, O. leptospicularis, Haemonchus spp., O. radiatum, Trichostrongylus spp. and C. oncophora. Infection with the economically important trematode parasite of livestock, Fasciola hepatica, was also confirmed by worm recovery in hog deer. The same economically important strongyle species were also detected in faecal samples from wild deer co-grazing with cattle. Collectively, this study has indicated that wild deer in Victoria may be significant reservoirs of parasitic diseases of livestock and warrants further investigation.
Description: Doctor of Philosophy

A kinship of creatures : Exploring the mutuality of lived experience

- Ní Shíocháin, Máirín

Authors: Ní Shíocháin, Máirín
Date: 2017
Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
Full Text: false
Description: This practice-led research explores questions of interspecies empathy, mutuality and kinship within the context of visual art. The study is situated broadly within the cross-disciplinary field of Animal Studies and espouses an animal advocacy stance within contemporary arts practice. It addresses concerns about the role of animals in contemporary art and proposes that creating art should not subordinate the ethical treatment of animals. The parameters of this investigation are defined by empathy theory, or Einfühlung. This was deemed an appropriate foundation to underpin the research given its historical association with aesthetic perceptions of works of art as well as empathic responses to other living entities including non-humans. Einfühlung and other contributing conceptual frameworks, including compassionate conservation and animal individuality are thoroughly evaluated in a review of relevant literature. Current arts practice in which the ‘animal’ plays a role is critically examined. The consequences for animals in contemporary art are more often malign than benign and this contrasts with progressive thinking about animal sentience in other areas of philosophical research. In a distillation of the above theoretical concepts, the research further references issues relating to selective application of care for non-human animals, in which the level of consideration is often dependent on human perceptions of the creatures’ status, for example native or introduced animals. The results of the research were revealed through a body of practical work including sculpture, collage, prints and artists’ books which depict a variety of animals and birds, both native and non-native, encountered as part of everyday experience; a visual exploration in which human-perspective classification of animals does not play a part.
Description: Doctor of Philosophy

Age estimation and illicit image detection using a stochastic vision model

- Islam, Mofakharul

Authors: Islam, Mofakharul
Date: 2013
Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
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Description: The main objective of this research is to investigate and implement a robust approach with a view to provide the Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) with a dedicated forensic tool in future for inspecting confiscated PCs from the suspected paedophile to detect pedophilic images automatically and prevent children viewing pornographic and age-inappropriate images at their home and school and adults at their workplace while they are on the Internet. To achieve this goal, we use a novel face descriptor to differentiate child face from adult face based on categorical age specific contextual cues that are based on new knowledge in terms of features or contexts representatives of child and adult face. Given that the craniofacial cues contain enough structural information on visual cues on human face encoded in the form of high level features we can categorize age into adult and children in tandem with low level features. Finally, we will present a novel stochastic vision model based on Markov Random Fields (MRF) prior, which learned the pornographic contextual constraints from the training pornographic images and eventually introduce knowledge on pornography into our proposed stochastic classifier allowing classification of images into pornographic or benign.
Description: Doctor of Philosophy

Nonsmooth optimization algorithms for clusterwise linear regression

- Mirzayeva, Hijran

Authors: Mirzayeva, Hijran
Date: 2013
Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
Full Text: false
Description: Data mining is about solving problems by analyzing data that present in databases. Supervised and unsupervised data classification (clustering) are among the most important techniques in data mining. Regression analysis is the process of fitting a function (often linear) to the data to discover how one or more variables vary as a function of another. The aim of clusterwise regression is to combine both of these techniques, to discover trends within data, when more than one trend is likely to exist. Clusterwise regression has applications for instance in market segmentation, where it allows one to gather information on customer behaviors for several unknown groups of customers. There exist different methods for solving clusterwise linear regression problems. In spite of that, the development of efficient algorithms for solving clusterwise linear regression problems is still an important research topic. In this thesis our aim is to develop new algorithms for solving clusterwise linear regression problems in large data sets based on incremental and nonsmooth optimization approaches. Three new methods for solving clusterwise linear regression problems are developed and numerically tested on publicly available data sets for regression analysis. The first method is a new algorithm for solving the clusterwise linear regression problems based on their nonsmooth nonconvex formulation. This is an incremental algorithm. The second method is a nonsmooth optimization algorithm for solving clusterwise linear regression problems. Nonsmooth optimization techniques are proposed to use instead of the Sp¨ath algorithm to solve optimization problems at each iteration of the incremental algorithm. The discrete gradient method is used to solve nonsmooth optimization problems at each iteration of the incremental algorithm. This approach allows one to reduce the CPU time and the number of regression problems solved in comparison with the first incremental algorithm. The third algorithm is an algorithm based on an incremental approach and on the smoothing techniques for solving clusterwise linear regression problems. The use of smoothing techniques allows one to apply powerful methods of smooth nonlinear programming to solve clusterwise linear regression problems. Numerical results are presented for all three algorithms using small to large data sets. The new algorithms are also compared with multi-start Sp¨ath algorithm for clusterwise linear regression.
Description: Doctor of Philosophy

Understanding the Barriers to Improving Occupational Health and Safety in a Medium Sized Business: “An Insider’s View”

- Teusner, Annabel

Authors: Teusner, Annabel
Date: 2013
Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
Full Text: false
Description: Medium sized workplaces are often grouped with small enterprises, yet they can have unique characteristics compared to more intensively studied small and large organisations, however, these differences are often not clearly recognised. The food processing industry is often part of the small and medium sized enterprises (SME) group and has a higher rate of accidents, injury and disease compared with many other industry groups. To improve safety performance in medium enterprises (within the food processing industry), there is a need to identify the perceived barriers to improving OHS amongst managers, supervisors, and process workers. This research provides a unique insider’s point of view of a food packing room within a food manufacturing plant in Melbourne. It is a single case design study, focusing on a specific medium sized enterprise, using insider research and an ethnographic approach to gain a greater understanding of the perceived barriers to improving OHS. The first part of this research focused on understanding the safety culture of the organisation, from different hierarchical perspectives, using Hudson’s Evolution of Safety Cultures model. The second part utilised the Health Belief model to identify the barriers to improving OHS from multiple perspectives of managers, supervisors and process workers. Following the analysis of the results, five barriers were identified: (i) fragmentation of group perspectives; (ii) poor communication between and within the hierarchical groups; (iii) limited OHS training and competency; (iv) inadequate management commitment to OHS; and (v) lack of empowerment. This created tensions amongst and between the groups. However, further examination of these findings suggested a deeper reason for the difficulty in improving the OHS, which was affecting the organisation. The most significant barrier to improving OHS at this workplace was the learned helplessness that had developed over a period of time and had filtered through all hierarchical groups. A reflection on the choice of methodology (insider research) and the importance of ethical considerations and the depth of meaning that was drawn from this research has been presented in this thesis. Learned helplessness has been discussed in the context of a medium sized enterprise and its significance to the contribution to OHS literature. Recommendations have been provided in terms of addressing learned helplessness within a medium sized enterprise, by changing the way individuals think, using learned optimism. Other changes that have been presented have included organisation design, facilitating improved communication and goal setting, and the investigation into the supporting role of supply chains toward OHS initiatives.
Description: Doctor of Philosophy

Learning Bayesian networks based on optimization approaches

- Taheri, Sona

Authors: Taheri, Sona
Date: 2012
Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
Full Text: false
Description: Learning accurate classifiers from preclassified data is a very active research topic in machine learning and artifcial intelligence. There are numerous classifier paradigms, among which Bayesian Networks are very effective and well known in domains with uncertainty. Bayesian Networks are widely used representation frameworks for reasoning with probabilistic information. These models use graphs to capture dependence and independence relationships between feature variables, allowing a concise representation of the knowledge as well as efficient graph based query processing algorithms. This representation is defined by two components: structure learning and parameter learning. The structure of this model represents a directed acyclic graph. The nodes in the graph correspond to the feature variables in the domain, and the arcs (edges) show the causal relationships between feature variables. A directed edge relates the variables so that the variable corresponding to the terminal node (child) will be conditioned on the variable corresponding to the initial node (parent). The parameter learning represents probabilities and conditional probabilities based on prior information or past experience. The set of probabilities are represented in the conditional probability table. Once the network structure is constructed, the probabilistic inferences are readily calculated, and can be performed to predict the outcome of some variables based on the observations of others. However, the problem of structure learning is a complex problem since the number of candidate structures grows exponentially when the number of feature variables increases. This thesis is devoted to the development of learning structures and parameters in Bayesian Networks. Different models based on optimization techniques are introduced to construct an optimal structure of a Bayesian Network. These models also consider the improvement of the Naive Bayes' structure by developing new algorithms to alleviate the independence assumptions. We present various models to learn parameters of Bayesian Networks; in particular we propose optimization models for the Naive Bayes and the Tree Augmented Naive Bayes by considering different objective functions. To solve corresponding optimization problems in Bayesian Networks, we develop new optimization algorithms. Local optimization methods are introduced based on the combination of the gradient and Newton methods. It is proved that the proposed methods are globally convergent and have superlinear convergence rates. As a global search we use the global optimization method, AGOP, implemented in the open software library GANSO. We apply the proposed local methods in the combination with AGOP. Therefore, the main contributions of this thesis include (a) new algorithms for learning an optimal structure of a Bayesian Network; (b) new models for learning the parameters of Bayesian Networks with the given structures; and finally (c) new optimization algorithms for optimizing the proposed models in (a) and (b). To validate the proposed methods, we conduct experiments across a number of real world problems. Print version is available at: http://library.federation.edu.au/record=b1804607~S4
Description: Doctor of Philosophy

Longitudinal data modelling using penalized splines and ranked set sampling

- Al Kadiri, Mohammad

Authors: Al Kadiri, Mohammad
Date: 2012
Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
Full Text: false
Description: "Longitudinal studies, where data is collected by measuring the same experimental units several times over a relatively long period, are becoming increasingly common. Conventional statistical approaches have limitations when applied to the analysis of longitudinal data ... Practical limitations of longitudinal analysis that relate to missing data and large data set sizes were explored in this thesis with the application of a sampling technique known as Ranked Set Sampling (RSS). We developed this sampling method, which has not previously been applied to longitudinal data, for fixed and mixed-effects models. This thesis also illustrated inference techniques to estimate these models after selecting sample units by RSS."
Description: Doctor of Philosophy

Teachers' experiences of the implementation of Teaching Games for Understanding in an Australian Independent secondary school

- Curry, Christina

Authors: Curry, Christina
Date: 2012
Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
Full Text: false
Description: With the movement to evolving classroom practices and pedagogies to enhance student-centered learning environments across all Key Learning Areas, there has been growing concern about how educators can produce high quality, intellectual learning experiences within physical education. To provide much-needed understanding of teachers' experiences of the implementation of a TGfU (Teaching Games for Understanding) teaching approach, this study aimed to identify the ways in which individual teachers, adopt, embrace or alternatively resist TGfU as an innovative pedagogy. - Taken from abstract.
Description: Doctor of Philosophy

The lived experience of security and contentment for latency aged children in shared care, post-separation : a descriptive phenomenological enquiry

- Sadowski, Christina

Authors: Sadowski, Christina
Date: 2012
Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
Full Text: false
Description: "As a result of complex social, economic and legislative factors, the number of children in shared time arrangements (in which children spend equal, or near-equal time, with both parents post-separation) has risen steadily and incrementally in Australia and internationally. Despite the increasing numbers of children in this arrangement, conceptualisations of and discussions about shared care remain largely devoid of children's perspectives about their experiences. As a result, little is known about how children experience this way of living. This study used a descriptive phenomenological approach to explore latency aged (aged 8-12) children's lived experience of security and contentment, and their absence, in a shared care time arrangement." "Interviews were conducted with sixteen children across a diversity of living arrangements (levels of parental cooperation and conflict; self-selected and Court-ordered; day-to-day patterns) who had current or recent experience living in shared care. From this pool of interviews, the eight richest and detailed protocols were selected for descriptive phenomenological analysis. Through a process of detailed analytic exploration of these eight individual descriptions of phenomena under investigation (security and contentment in shared care; the absence of security and contentment in shared care), the core constituents of each phenomenon were discerned. From these, General Structures representing the essence, or the invariants common to all experiences under investigation, were identified. This thesis introduces a child-generated phenomenology of security and contentment, and their absence, in shared care. This phenomenology is based on the careful analysis of children's pre-reflective narrative descriptions, describing core aspects of this arrangement that contribute to their felt security and contentment, and core aspects that compromise it. Ultimately, this thesis presents the child's lived experience of feeling securely shared by parents in the context of a shared time living arrangement. "
Description: Doctor of Philosophy

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