The floristic composition and regeneration characteristics of Buloke (Allocasuarina luehmannii) woodland of the Wimmera, Victoria
- Authors: Macaulay, Lisa Ann
- Date: 2006
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: "The pre-settlement distribution and character of Wimmera Buloke woodlands are described based on historical data including early parish plans. It is suggested the open structure of these woodlands was maintained by relatively frequent fire. The floristic composition of the most intact Wimmera Buloke woodland remnants was intensively surveyed. Five floristic communities are described based on computer-based analysis of species presence data. Eight 'pre-settlement Buloke woodland types' are described based on surface soil texture categories and average annual rainfall zones. Native daisies, chenopods and shrubs are components of the understory that differentiate the 'pre-settlement Buloke woodland types'. [...] A series of experiments was undertaken with the aim of determinig the factors responsible for the paucity of Allocasuarina luehmannii regeneration in remnant Wimmera bushland." Digital file does not include CD with Appendix and fold-out map on back cover see print version.
- Description: Master of Applied Science
- Description: "The pre-settlement distribution and character of Wimmera Buloke woodlands are described based on historical data including early parish plans. It is suggested the open structure of these woodlands was maintained by relatively frequent fire. The floristic composition of the most intact Wimmera Buloke woodland remnants was intensively surveyed. Five floristic communities are described based on computer-based analysis of species presence data. Eight 'pre-settlement Buloke woodland types' are described based on surface soil texture categories and average annual rainfall zones. Native daisies, chenopods and shrubs are components of the understory that differentiate the 'pre-settlement Buloke woodland types'. [...] A series of experiments was undertaken with the aim of determinig the factors responsible for the paucity of Allocasuarina luehmannii regeneration in remnant Wimmera bushland."
Traversing the great divide! : preparing social work and welfare students for rural practice in Australia
- Authors: Green, Rosemary
- Date: 2006
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Description: "This professional doctorate portfolio presents the results of my investigations into how to better prepare social work and welfare students for rural practice in Australia."--p. 2.
"That fella paints like me" : exploring the relationship between Abstract art and Aboriginal art in Australia
- Authors: Brooks, Terri
- Date: 2005
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: "This research project explores the possibility of a relationship between Abstract art and Aboriginal art in Australia from the mid twentieth century to present. [...] The investigation commences with background information on the history and origins of Abstraction, including the influence of 'primitive art' upon leading practitioners in this field during the movement's formation, before moving to Australia and focussing on two Australian painters. [...] The text also reflects on the rise of the perception of Aboriginal art from being seen as cultural curios in the mid 20th century to its current status as an internationally recognised art movement."--p. 2.
- Description: Master of Arts (Visual Arts)
Approximations for some classes of optimal control problems with state constraints and repetitive control systems
- Authors: Dymkou, Siarhei
- Date: 2005
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text: false
- Description: This report presents the investigation on the research work "Approximations for some classes of optimal control problems with state constraints and repetitive control systems". This report mainly gives the theoretical part of the research which is based on the numerical methods that are developed. It is conjectured that the corresponding algorithms will be realized as computer programs after which they can be used in practical work.
- Description: Master of Information Technology
Electrokinetic remediation of arsenic contaminated soils
- Authors: Mewett, John
- Date: 2005
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: "Arsenic is a common soil contaminant in Australia and worldwide. There is a need to find safe, effective and economic methods to deal with this problem. The soils used in this research were collected from central Victoria. They were contaminated with arsenic by historic gold mining activity or by past sheep dipping practices. This research investigated ten different leaching agents for their effects on three different arsenic contaminated soils. [...] Electrokinetic experiments were conducted on three arsenic contaminated soils. [...] The arsenic in these soils appears to be relatively stable and immobile under oxidising conditions. The soils had a high iron content which assists in the stabilisation of arsenic. This is beneficial with respect to the environmental impact of the arsenic contamination, however, it remains an obstacle to low cost electrokinetic remediation."
- Description: Masters of Applied Science
Incidence and aetiological factors in the development of medial tibial stress syndrome
- Authors: Diacogiorgis, Dimitri
- Date: 2005
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: The aim of this 13 week prospective study was to investigate whether differences in hip, knee, ankle, subtalar, or first metatarsophalangeal joint (MPJ) range of motion and physical activity levels increase a person's likelihood of developing medial tibial stress syndrome (MTSS)." --p.2.
- Description: Master of Applied Science
Spiritual awareness of professional nurses in the western region of Victoria: Investigation of a significant component of holistic heath care
- Authors: Lea, Dorothy
- Date: 2005
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: A desire to more fully understand the impact of altered states of spiritual health on the general health of patients has been a focus of recent research activity. Studies have explored the meaning of spirituality held by patients and nurses, the spiritual needs of patients, and methods of providing spiritual care in nursing. However, few studies have investigated nurses’ own spiritual health and the significance this may have on the provision of holistic nursing care. The aim of this study, therefore, was to inform nursing regarding the spiritual health of nurses and the influence that nurses’ own spiritual health has on their ability to provide holistic nursing care to their patients. The study was conducted in two phases using both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. Phase one consisted of a survey of Division 1 nurses currently employed in the Grampians region of Victoria to describe key dimensions of their spiritual health. This survey provided biographical data and, through the use of the “Shalom Measure of Spiritual Health”, discovered the ideal of spiritual health held by nurses as well as the nurses’ perception of patient needs pertaining to the achievement of spiritual health. Phase two utilised Naturalistic Inquiry to further explore the meaning of spirituality and spiritual health held by nurses, and the methods of achieving these for nurses and patients. The findings revealed that although nurses perceive the spiritual dimension of patient care to be important, they feel ill-equipped to provide this aspect of care. In addition, the major support for nurses, who themselves experience spiritual distress whilst at work, comes from colleagues. Further, prevailing health care systems in place do not always lend themselves to holistic approaches to care. This study identifies the need for nurse education to redress the clearly inadequate preparation nurses are given for this aspect of their role. Health care policy-makers and administrators also have a responsibility to consider all dimensions of care when designing and implementing health care guidelines and systems.
- Description: Master of Nursing
Thread of truth
- Authors: Hughes, Judith
- Date: 2005
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: "It is thought that phobias are caused by a fear of the unknown and can be overcome by self-help learning resulting in better understanding. Observation and scientific investigation have been used to create a body of artwork for the purpose of helping to desensitize people who suffer from arachnophobia. Field trip collections, photography, printmaking and installations have been used to capture, explore and create visual artworks that have been designed to highlight fact-based features of spiders and their webs."
- Description: Master of Arts (Visual Arts)
A computer-mediated framework to facilitate group consensus based on a shared understanding ConSULT
- Authors: Afshar, Faezeh
- Date: 2004
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters , PhD
- Full Text: false
- Description: "Group decision-making usually involves a process of discussion and evaluation of alternatives. Important aspects of a group decision support system are: freedom to participate; the ability to explicitly present points of view; the ability to augment or oppose views by supporting evidence and reasoning; and the ability to use and consider other additional views .... The overall aim of this work is to develop an approach that can alleviate some of the problems associated with group commuication and consensus decision-making by effectively supporting group discussions towards consensus. Towards achieving this goal we have developed an approach called ConSULT (Consensus based on a Shared Understanding of a Leading Topic) as a computer-mediated framework to allow argumentation, collection and evaluation of discussion and group decision-making. This approach employs existing theories and techniques in computer-mediated communication, argumentation, Delphi and voting." -- Abstract.
- Description: Master of Information Technology
- Description: "Group decision-making usually involves a process of discussion and evaluation of alternatives. Important aspects of a group decision support system are: freedom to participate; the ability to explicitly present points of view; the ability to augment or oppose views by supporting evidence and reasoning; and the ability to use and consider other additional views .... The overall aim of this work is to develop an approach that can alleviate some of the problems associated with group commuication and consensus decision-making by effectively supporting group discussions towards consensus. Towards achieveing this goal we have developed an approach called ConSULT (Consensus based on a Shared Understanding of a Leading Topic) as a computer-mediated framework to allow argumentation, collection and evaluation of discussion and group decision-making. This approach employs existing theories and techniques in computer-mediated communication, argumentation, Delphi and voting." -- Abstract.
A neural network approach for predicting the direction of the Australian stock market index
- Authors: Tilakaratne, Chandima
- Date: 2004
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: This research investigated the feasibility and capability of neural network-based approaches for predicting the direction of the Australian Stock market index (the target market). It includes several aspects: univariate feature selection from the historical time series of the target market, inter-market analysis for finding the most relevant influential markets, investigations of the effect of time cycles on the target market and the discovery of the optimal neural network architectures. Previous research on US stock markets and other international markets have shown that the neural network approach is one of most powerful techniques for predicting stock market behaviour. Neural networks are capable of capturing the non-linear stochastic and chaotic patterns in the stock market time series data. This study discovered that the relative return series of the Open, High, Low and Close prices of the target market, show 6-day cycles during the studied period of about 14 years. Multi-layer feedforward neural networks trained with a backpropagation algorithm were used for the experiments. Two major testing methods: testing with randomly selected test data and forward testing, were examined and compared. The best neural network developed in this study has achieved 87%, 81% 83% and 81% accuracy respectively in predicting the next-day direction of the relative return of the Open, High, Low and Close prices of the target market. The architecture of this network consists of 33 input features, one hidden layer with 3 neurons and 4 output neurons. The best input features set includes the relative returns from 1 to 6 days in the past of the Open, High, Low and Close prices of the target market, the day of the week, and the previous day’s relative return of the Close prices of the US S&P 500 Index, US Dow Jones Industrial Average Index, US Gold/Silver Index, and the US Oil Index.
- Description: Master of Information Technology by Research
An evaluation of a new test of reactive agility
- Authors: Sheppard, Jeremy
- Date: 2004
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text: false
- Description: "The purpose of this study was to investigate the test-retest and inter-rater reliability of a new test of agility, as well as the validity of the test to distinguish between players of differing ability in Australian Rules Football (ARF). In addition, the study's third purpose was to identify the relationships between straight-sprinting (SS), a sprint with planned change of direction (CODS), reactive strength (RS), and the new test of agility (Reactive Agility Test, RAT)."
- Description: Master of Applied Science
An exploration of the reasons why 10 women from central Victoria chose to birth at home
- Authors: Kelson, Lynette
- Date: 2004
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text: false
- Description: Master of Nursing
- Description: An exploration of the reasons why 10 women from central Victoria chose to birth at home
Casuarina pauper (belah) woodlands of northwest Victoria : monitoring and regeneration
- Authors: Callister, Katrina
- Date: 2004
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: "The study focused on C. pauper woodland in northwest Victoria, an area where the recent establishment of the Murray-Sunset National Park (MSNP) provides an ideal opportunity to manage these woodlands to promote regeneration"
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Our own beds : a tale of metamorphosis
- Authors: Green, Georgina
- Date: 2004
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text: false
- Description: "This research project visually explores the concept of "living story" through an installation. Entitled "Our own beds", the installation uses narrative with an emphasis on personal perspective and lived experience in the manner of Jack Kerouac's writings."
- Description: Master of Arts
Quoting landscape : an investigative journey across the landscape of the Westen district of Victoria
- Authors: Donald, Colin
- Date: 2004
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: "This research project aims to provide a contemporary visualisation of "specific sites." The visualisation of these selected landscapes will draw upon and add to existing traditions of representation of this region, embedding my experiences within this dialogue."
- Description: Master of Arts (Visual Arts)
The influence of glycerol hyperhydration on run performance within an Olympic distance triathlon
- Authors: Van Ewyk, Gerald
- Date: 2004
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: This study was designed to determine the impact of glycerol hyperhydration, compared with a placebo hyperhydration, on the run performance during an Olympic distance triathlon. Ten competitive triathletes (mean peak oxygen consumption, VO2 peak = 65.5 ± 5.5 ml.kg.-1min-1) undertook two simulated Olympic Distance Triathlons in 31° C and 61% relative humidity. The trials were split into two work phases: a fixed workload phase comprising a 18-20 min swim and a 60 min cycle and, a self regulated time trial run over 10 kilometres conducted on a treadmill. One hundred and fifty min prior each trial, either a glycerol solution (1 g.kg.-1 body mass (BM) in a 4% carbohydrate – electrolyte drink) or a placebo of equal volume of the 4% carbohydrate-electrolyte solution was ingested over one hour. The total fluid intake in each trial was 23 ml.kg.-1 BM. A randomised, double blind, cross over design was used. Due to either 1) the arduous nature of the trials 2) the side effects associated with the ingestion of glycerol 3) or the combination of the two aforementioned reasons, only five of the 10 subjects completed the final 10 km self regulated time trial for both treatments. Only the data obtained from these five subjects were reported in this study. Glycerol ingestion expanded body water over the placebo by 154 ml (26%). At 60 and 90 min after the start of drinking, urine output was significantly higher with glycerol than placebo treatment (216.4, 366.4 ml vs 81.0, 242.0 ml, respectively) but significantly higher at 120 min in the placebo (421.6 ml vs 131.2 ml). There were no significant differences in heart rate and rectal temperature during the swim and cycle phases. However, there were significant increases in heart rate (at 5, 10, 15, 25 and 30 min) and rectal temperature (at 5, 20 and 30 min) during the 10 km run in the glycerol trial. The mean 10 km run time for the placebo trial was 40 min 21 sec (± 2.9 min) while the glycerol trial was 39 min 22 sec (± 2.0 min). The mean difference of 2.1% in finishing time between trials was not significant. Three of the five subjects in the glycerol trial improved their 10 km time by 7.0, 2.4 and 2.7%, respectively. The finishing time for one subject did not change for both trials while another subject had deteriorated by 2.3% in the glycerol trial. In the glycerol treatment, five subjects complained of bloating and nausea while only one subject complained of feeling unwell in the placebo treatment. Data from this study have shown that glycerol hyperhydration did not significantly improve performance while plasma volume expansion and subsequent lower rectal temperature and lower heart rates were not evident. The exact mechanisms of how glycerol hyperhydration can improve performance warrant further investigation.
- Description: Masters in Applied Science
Using digital image analysis for assessing the quality of wheat and barley
- Authors: Armstrong, Bruce
- Date: 2004
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: This thesis explores the issues involved in developing a relatively low-cost digital imaging analysis (DIA) system fot the quality assessment of wheat and barley using commonly available equipment. It also explores the capability of such a system to provide rapid and accurate assessments.
- Description: Master of Applied Science by research
"Drugs on the mind" : dual diagnosis : the experience of mental health professionals
- Authors: Soar, Rod
- Date: 2003
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: Recent publicity has focused on the problems created by the usage of illicit drugs in the community. The growing use of illicit drugs throughout the Grampians region and the lack of resources and professional services available to regional and rural areas raise many questions as to treatment options and the accessibility and appropriateness of drug and alcohol and mental health services. Despite the fact that mental health professionals in rural/regional areas are expected to deliver the most appropriate care to individuals with a comorbid drug and alcohol and psychiatric disorder, a number of these rural/regional mental health professionals have limited preparation and experience in dealing with dual diagnosis issues. This phenomenological study focuses on the area of dual diagnosis, specifically the experiences of health professionals who care for clients diagnosed with a serious mental illness and a coexisting drug and alcohol disorder. Results are described in the form of four themes, which emerged from data collected during in-depth interviews with 13 mental health professionals who care for clients with a dual diagnosis. The themes captured in this research will be described using metaphors as headings. The first theme Sink or swim represents mental health professionals’ initial preparation to care for this group of complex clientele. Treading water symbolises mental health professionals’ endeavours to keep their head above water and reflects on their feelings while endeavouring to do so. Rowing against the tide describes mental health professionals’ understanding of clients’ drug misuse, which impacts greatly on the level of care.
- Description: Master of Nursing
A study of health changes after client-centred, team-based rehabilitation
- Authors: MacPhail, Maureen
- Date: 2003
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: "This study explores the role of rehabilitation as a link between illness and health by describing global and subjective change after rehabilitation."
- Description: Master of Applied Science
Changing rural general practitioner practice : Evaluating health assessment uptake
- Authors: McGrath, Alicia
- Date: 2003
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: The Enhanced Primary Care Package aimed to improve health and quality of life through enhancing primary health care for those over 75 years, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders over 55 years and those with chronic conditions and multidisciplinary needs. A multi-level approach was implemented to promote the package. West Vic Division of General Practice conducted the General Practice Education Support and Community Linkages implementation program for the package in Western Victoria and focused on health assessments for those over 75 years. This research investigated what factors affected change in rural general practitioner practice through surveying general practitioners and collecting Health Insurance Commission data prior to and following the program. Patients were also interviewed to determine acceptance of health assessments and nurse involvement. The program increased awareness, but had little effect on increasing uptake, as only 53% of general practitioners began undertaking health assessments. However the general practitioners indicated an increased frequency of health assessment prescription. Health Insurance Commission data suggested an immediate increase in the use of the assessments, however the rate fluctuated and then declined. Lack of sustained uptake of the program was not associated with remuneration, as 77% of general practitioners did not regard finance as a barrier. Respondents’ major barrier was time (40% pre-education, 73% post-education). This data reflected a rural environment where general practitioners face competing priorities, time constraints, workforce shortage and long consultation lists. A notable change did however occur from practice nurse employment as the involvement of a practice nurse generally resulted in patient satisfaction with the assessment. It was apparent that a complex multifaceted and longer-term view is needed to address factors which limit rural general practitioners’ ability to change. This needs to be addressed at the Commonwealth level and not in isolation in order to produce an integrated framework to enhance and promote, rather than demand change.
- Description: Master of Applied Science