Description:
Freshwater ecosystems are among the most threatened in the world (MEA 2005) and have been identified as one of the ten Australian ecosystems most vulnerable to tipping points. The floodplain lakes and wetlands (billabongs) of the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB) are hotspots of productivity and diversity and provide important breeding, feeding and refuge habitat for a range of floodplain river biota, as well as important ecosystem goods and services by way of flood mitigation, nutrient cycling and sediment trapping. Nonetheless, MDB billabongs are threatened by water resource and agricultural development and climate change. In recognition of these threats, water dependent ecosystems of the MDB are currently subject to expensive and controversial management measures involving water buy backs estimated to cost up to $30 billion and the subsequent delivery of environmental water. The need to understand the critical drivers of change and the internal system interactions that underlie ecosystem responses in floodplain river ecosystems has never been greater. This project will develop ecosystem response models that will not only identify the critical threatening drivers, but also provide the guidance necessary to rehabilitate these important ecosystems.
Description:
Freshwater ecosystems are among the most threatened in the world (MEA 2005) and have been identified as one of the ten Australian ecosystems most vulnerable to tipping points. The floodplain lakes and wetlands (billabongs) of the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB) are hotspots of productivity and diversity and provide important breeding, feeding and refuge habitat for a range of floodplain river biota, as well as important ecosystem goods and services by way of flood mitigation, nutrient cycling and sediment trapping. Nonetheless, MDB billabongs are threatened by water resource and agricultural development and climate change. In recognition of these threats, water dependent ecosystems of the MDB are currently subject to expensive and controversial management measures involving water buy backs estimated to cost up to $30 billion and the subsequent delivery of environmental water. The need to understand the critical drivers of change and the internal system interactions that underlie ecosystem responses in floodplain river ecosystems has never been greater. This project will develop ecosystem response models that will not only identify the critical threatening drivers, but also provide the guidance necessary to rehabilitate these important ecosystems.
Description:
The vibrations induced by machine faults help in diagnosis and prognosis of the machine. It is crucial for the fault diagnostic system to extract resonant frequency band which carries useful information about the defect frequencies and contains maximum signal to noise ratio. The spectral orientation of the resonant frequency band varies with the variation in machine dynamics. The existing techniques which employ wavelet transformation to exploit the signal energy distribution among different frequency sub-bands, are based on fixed decomposition level and do not optimize the wavelet parameters according to varying machine dynamics. The proposed study develops a novel technique: Adaptive Wavelet Decomposition and Resonance Frequency Estimation (AWRE) which estimates the positioning of the resonant frequency band based on adaptive selection of the wavelet decomposition levels. The results for the simulated as well as actual vibration data demonstrate that the proposed technique estimates the bandwidth of the resonant frequency band quite effectively.
Description:
This paper draws on qualitative interviews with young people to theorise the relationship between notions of responsibility and the process of intersubjectivity and recognition for young people experiencing homelessness. It is argued that homelessness as a cultural trope carries a symbolic burden, associated with notions of irresponsibility, passivity, and moral failure. The paper argues that for young people who are or have experienced homelessness, these associations must be reflexively negotiated in the course of managing their intersubjective ties to achieve the recognition as worthy subjects which is a condition of meaningful subjectivity. This recognition is achieved in cultures of sociability in the context of literal homelessness, although when some young people move out of literal homelessness, they seek intersubjective ties from new sources of recognition associated with symbolic capital that the young people themselves recognise. Part of this process is a definition of previous intersubjective ties which is characterised by notions of irresponsibility and moral failure. Furthermore, young people in this project reconstruct the notion of responsibility, allowing the experience of morally worthy intersubjective selves in the context of the kind of institutional dependence intrinsic to the experience of homelessness.
Description:
This paper draws on qualitative interviews with young people to theorise the relationship between notions of responsibility and the process of intersubjectivity and recognition for young people experiencing homelessness. It is argued that homelessness as a cultural trope carries a symbolic burden, associated with notions of irresponsibility, passivity, and moral failure. The paper argues that for young people who are or have experienced homelessness, these associations must be reflexively negotiated in the course of managing their intersubjective ties to achieve the recognition as worthy subjects which is a condition of meaningful subjectivity. This recognition is achieved in cultures of sociability in the context of literal homelessness, although when some young people move out of literal homelessness, they seek intersubjective ties from new sources of recognition associated with symbolic capital that the young people themselves recognise. Part of this process is a definition of previous intersubjective ties which is characterised by notions of irresponsibility and moral failure. Furthermore, young people in this project reconstruct the notion of responsibility, allowing the experience of morally worthy intersubjective selves in the context of the kind of institutional dependence intrinsic to the experience of homelessness.
Description:
Mining of narrow vein mineralisation, invariably depending on the mining method selected, involves the extraction of both ore and waste rock. The level to which mining of waste rock can be minimised depends on numerous factors, but patticularly the thickness and dip of the deposit. Resue mining is a method of mining that allows spl it face firing within stopes to allow waste and ore to be mined separately, allowing dilution to be minimised. This paper examines the technique of resue firing and its applicabil ity to the mi ning of narrow vein deposits. Panicular emphasis is placed on the conditions in which resue mi ning presents a suitable option for mining of narrow veins.
Description:
Mining of narrow vein mineralisation, invariably depending on the mining method selected, involves the extraction of both ore and waste rock. The level to which mining of waste rock can be minimised depends on numerous factors, but patticularly the thickness and dip of the deposit. Resue mining is a method of mining that allows spl it face firing within stopes to allow waste and ore to be mined separately, allowing dilution to be minimised. This paper examines the technique of resue firing and its applicabil ity to the mi ning of narrow vein deposits. Panicular emphasis is placed on the conditions in which resue mi ning presents a suitable option for mining of narrow veins.
Description:
Resue or split face firing has the potential to separate ore and waste rock into separate muck piles within a stope. Thus split face firing has the potential to reduce dilution of the ore stream to be transported to the surface for subsequent processing. It also potentially reduces the total amount of broken rock needing to be transported out of the mine as the waste material is physically separated from the ore as part of the balsting process. Waste can therefore be used directly from the stope to backfill other mining areas. This paper reports on the results of split face firing trials at the Hillgrove mine in NSW and analyses the results of these blasts.
Description:
The modern consumer seeks to maximise the value they derive from all their marketing exchanges. While there are two ways this can be achieved, current academic interest is typically focused on just one: increasing the hedonic benefits obtained from shopping. This study focuses on the other side of the equation: increasing value by decreasing the time, space and effort costs of shopping. Utilising a survey of consumer households, this study examines the importance of convenience in a multi-purpose shopping context. Analysis revealed that consumers prefer and visit most frequently, the retail form they consider most convenient. Moreover, the greater the convenience they associate with an attribute, the greater the importance they assign to it.
Description:
The modern consumer seeks to maximise the value they derive from all their marketing exchanges. While there are two ways this can be achieved, current academic interest is typically focused on just one: increasing the hedonic benefits obtained from shopping. This study focuses on the other side of the equation: increasing value by decreasing the time, space and effort costs of shopping. Utilising a survey of consumer households, this study examines the importance of convenience in a multi-purpose shopping context. Analysis revealed that consumers prefer and visit most frequently, the retail form they consider most convenient. Moreover, the greater the convenience they associate with an attribute, the greater the importance they assign to it.
Description:
This paper presents a study of mature-age student perceptions of the university services that enhance academic outcomes and encourage retention. The study explored whether mature-age undergraduates needed, or were interested in, student services, and whether these services enhanced students’ educational experience. A survey was sent to mature-age undergraduates at a U.S. public university. Respondents in this study used some student services, but found few that were helpful to them and did not perceive that many of the services were accessible to them. They further indicated that they would be interested in adult-centred services, and considered these critical to their ongoing academic success. Respondents perceived that the university did not consider them in planning programs and that their experience at the university could be enhanced by this consideration. This study documented that mature-age undergraduates have different student service needs and support a stronger emphasis on adult-focused services. Adult-centred student services can indicate to mature-age undergraduates’ that their presence and participation is valued by the university, encourage community building, and increase retention. Student services are well placed within universities to facilitate and encourage this community-building in mature-age undergraduates.
Description:
This paper presents a study of mature-age student perceptions of the university services that enhance academic outcomes and encourage retention. The study explored whether mature-age undergraduates needed, or were interested in, student services, and whether these services enhanced students’ educational experience. A survey was sent to mature-age undergraduates at a U.S. public university. Respondents in this study used some student services, but found few that were helpful to them and did not perceive that many of the services were accessible to them. They further indicated that they would be interested in adult-centred services, and considered these critical to their ongoing academic success. Respondents perceived that the university did not consider them in planning programs and that their experience at the university could be enhanced by this consideration. This study documented that mature-age undergraduates have different student service needs and support a stronger emphasis on adult-focused services. Adult-centred student services can indicate to mature-age undergraduates’ that their presence and participation is valued by the university, encourage community building, and increase retention. Student services are well placed within universities to facilitate and encourage this community-building in mature-age undergraduates.
Description:
Concerns about increasing welfare costs and shortfalls of labour supply have brought with them calls to prolong working lives. However, current Australian public policy is inadequate if the nation wishes to make the best use of its ageing workforce. Present approaches to both public policy and advocacy have the potential to be harmful in terms of their response to age barriers in society. A piecemeal set of measures lacking legitimacy have emerged, with objectives that lack a road-map for how they will be achieved. Present policy efforts to prolong working lives may also stigmatise those who retire from the paid workforce as no longer pulling their weight in a society where being retired is increasingly viewed as a kind of unemployment. This chapter challenges the basis of efforts to tackle issues of ageing and work, offering a set of principles that aim to overcome contradictions and disjunctions present in current advocacy
Description:
Since the origins of contemporary neo-Paganism in the 1950s, neo-Pagan communities have been riven by conflicts surrounding the appropriation of art, ritual, music and identity from colonised indigenous cultures. Fundamental views of ethnically owned cultural property and heritage are juxtaposed with notions of universal ownership reflecting post modern cosmopolitanism. These perspectives of cultural appropriation and belonging are profoundly shaped by the twin concerns of needing to maintain a sense of authenticity in ritual, symbolism and belief, and by access to public representation which is shaped by a long history of colonial and post-colonial engagement with indigenes. Furthermore, issues of wealth, power and representation and the structural issues of cultural transmission within indigenous and neo-Pagan communities further complicate the issues surrounding cultural ownership and identity. The paper argues that the experience of romanticism and empire are central to understanding the appropriation of the indigenous by neo-pagan communities but also recognises that deep connections and genuine commitment to shared communicative discourse in a contemporary cultural context are part of this relationship. This paper negotiates these issues in relation to the engagement of neo-Pagan discourses with colonial indigenous culture in relation to romantic constructions of ethnicity, community, language and cultural property.
Description:
Being a significant stakeholder in the graduates' employment outcomes, it is vital to understand employers' perceptions of graduates' work-readiness. However, existing information systems (IS) literature focuses mainly on the perceptions of students or universities. This paper aims to fill this gap by analysing scoping interviews conducted with graduate recruiters and industry experts in Australia regarding attributes that can improve graduates' employment prospects in the information and communication technology industry. A preliminary investigation based on grounded theory identified three emergent themes from the data: behaviors, skills, and knowledge levels. Based on the findings, this study proposes an IS graduate work-readiness framework that can help universities to develop academic programs aimed at enhancing desirable skills and attitudes among IS graduates' employment.
Description:
Rate of change is an important mathematical concept. Research referring to students’ difficulties with this concept spans more than twenty years. Research suggests that problems experienced by some calculus students are likely a result of pre-existing limited or incorrect conceptions of rate of change. This study investigated 23 Victorian Year 10 students’ understanding of rate as revealed by phenomenographic analysis of interviews. Eight conceptions of rate of change emerged. Four important aspects of the concept were identified and gaps in students’ thinking defined. In addition, the employment of phenomenography, to reveal conceptions of rate, is described in detail.
Description:
The reversible data hiding is an emerging technology that uses the redundancy of the carrier (typically digital images) to embed secret information and ensure the reversibility of the carrier and hidden information. In recent year, a number of reversible data hiding algorithms based on prediction error expansion have been developed. In prediction error expansion, prediction on the center pixel is made based on its neighbor pixels. The data embedding is conducted by the modification on the histogram made from prediction error expansion. Therefore, the accuracy of prediction on pixel is the key to improve the performance of the algorithm. In this paper, we propose a new reversible data hiding based on directional prediction and multiple histograms modification and design the corresponding reversible hiding rules. Compared to the existing algorithms, experimental results show that the proposed method can reduce distortion to the image at given embedding capacity.
Description:
Recently, more and more attention is paid to reversible data hiding (RDH) in encrypted images because of its better protection of privacy compared with traditional RDH methods directly operated in original images. In several RDH algorithms, prediction-error expansion (PEE) is proved to be superior to other methods in terms of embedding capacity and distortion of marked image and multiple histograms modification (MHM) can realize adaptive selection of expansion bins which depends on image content in the modification of a sequence of histograms. Therefore, in this paper, we propose an efficient RDH method in encrypted images by combining PEE and MHM, and design corresponding mode of image partition. We first divide the image into three parts: W (for embedding secret data), B (for embedding the least significant bit(LSB) of W) and G (for generating prediction-error histograms). Then, we apply PEE and MHM to embed the LSB of W to reserve space for secret data. Next, we encrypt the image and change the LSB of W to realize the embedding of secret data. In the process of extraction, the reversibility of image and secret data can be guaranteed. The utilization of correlation between neighbor pixels and embedded order decided by the smoothness of pixel in part W contribute to the performance of our method. Compared to the existing algorithms, experimental results show that the proposed method can reduce distortion to the image at given embedding capacity especially at low embedding capacity.
Description:
On 23 September 2015 under Government Resolution No34/2015, the Timor-Leste Government (RDTL) adopted the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for attainment by 2030. The ‘roadmap’, as set up by the Prime Minster (PM), His Excellency Dr Rui Maria de Araújo and his SDG Working Group, specified the need to ‘harmonise’ the SDGs in the context of its strong commitment to the 2011-2030 Strategic Development Plan (SDP). This ‘roadmap’ approach was endorsed by the RDTL (2017). This paper reviews the roadmap by asking the following question: How has the RDTL been able to harmonise the SDGs with the existing SDP that currently guides policy in the economy? Based on an ‘eco- sustainable framework’ originally developed in Courvisanos (2005), this paper identifies both achievements and limitations of this roadmap. A deep six-month country-wide field-based method was undertaken for this review. Elements of a transition path towards an alternative sustainable development economic development for this fledgling nation are noted at the end.
Description:
On 23 September 2015 under Government Resolution No34/2015, the Timor-Leste Government (RDTL) adopted the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for attainment by 2030. The ‘roadmap’, as set up by the Prime Minster (PM), His Excellency Dr Rui Maria de Araújo and his SDG Working Group, specified the need to ‘harmonise’ the SDGs in the context of its strong commitment to the 2011-2030 Strategic Development Plan (SDP). This ‘roadmap’ approach was endorsed by the RDTL (2017). This paper reviews the roadmap by asking the following question: How has the RDTL been able to harmonise the SDGs with the existing SDP that currently guides policy in the economy? Based on an ‘eco- sustainable framework’ originally developed in Courvisanos (2005), this paper identifies both achievements and limitations of this roadmap. A deep six-month country-wide field-based method was undertaken for this review. Elements of a transition path towards an alternative sustainable development economic development for this fledgling nation are noted at the end.
Description:
This project developed as a result of some inconclusive data from an investigation of whether a relationship existed between the use of formative assessment opportunities and performance, as measured by final grade. We were expecting to show our colleagues and students that use of formative assessment resources had the potential to improve performance. This first study, done in semester 1 2002, indicated that there was no apparent relationship even though the students reported how useful they found the resources. This led us to ask if there was a transition effect such that students were not yet working in an independent way and making full use of the resources, and/or whether in order to see an effect we needed to persuade non-users of the resources to become users before investigating if use can be correlated with improvement in performance. With the 2002-3 NextEd ASCILITE Research Grant we set out to repeat our project and to look at use and usefulness of resources in both first and second semester, to encourage non-users to become users and to investigate use with performance. Now our story has a different ending.