- Authors: Iles, Lyndsey
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Thesis , EdD
- Full Text: false
- Description: "This thesis explores the impact of the implementation and embedding of the Restorative Practices philosophy and practices into a Year Prep to Year Twelve College in Victoria from the perspective of the students, staff and community members. The amalgamation of a number of small regional primary, specialist and secondary schools in 2005 resulted in a less than satisfactory consolidated school environment. Students and staff reported that they felt unsafe in the new college, and that, consequently, the opportunities for learning were severely compromised. The school and community were thus required to attempt a reinvigoration of the school culture to meet the needs of the students and staff of the new college. It was found that within the context of developing a safe and supportive learning environment, relationships were central to the new approaches towards learning. In this process, it was found that the notion of cultural change became intertwined with the building of relationships between students and students, and students and staff. Thus, this study centred on understanding, from a case study perspective, how the approaches developed by this school for behaviour management have changed over the duration of the research, and how the iterative process of cultural change reflected a growing awareness among staff of the key issues in promoting mutual respect across the whole school.
- Description: Doctor of Education
Nonsmooth and derivative-free optimization based hybrid methods and applications
- Authors: Long, Qiang
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: "In this thesis, we develop hybrid methods for solving global and in particular, nonsmooth optimization problems. Hybrid methods are becoming more popular in global optimization since they allow to apply powerful smooth optimization techniques to solve global optimization problems. Such methods are able to efficiently solve global optimization problems with large number of variables. To date global search algorithms have been mainly applied to improve global search properties of the local search methods (including smooth optimization algorithms). In this thesis we apply rather different strategy to design hybrid methods. We use local search algorithms to improve the efficiency of global search methods. The thesis consists of two parts. In the first part we describe hybrid algorithms and in the second part we consider their various applications." -- taken from Abstract.
- Description: Operational Research and Cybernetics
- Authors: Long, Qiang
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: "In this thesis, we develop hybrid methods for solving global and in particular, nonsmooth optimization problems. Hybrid methods are becoming more popular in global optimization since they allow to apply powerful smooth optimization techniques to solve global optimization problems. Such methods are able to efficiently solve global optimization problems with large number of variables. To date global search algorithms have been mainly applied to improve global search properties of the local search methods (including smooth optimization algorithms). In this thesis we apply rather different strategy to design hybrid methods. We use local search algorithms to improve the efficiency of global search methods. The thesis consists of two parts. In the first part we describe hybrid algorithms and in the second part we consider their various applications." -- taken from Abstract.
- Description: Operational Research and Cybernetics
Partnership rhetoric and risk realities : the implications of risk in government/non-government family services partnerships
- Authors: McDonald, Kelsey
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: "This empirical study examined risk transfer from the government to the non-government sector within a public/non-profit child and family services delivery partnership. The focus of the investigation was to determine if risk had been transferred from the government to the non-government partner, and how this had impacted on welfare practice, service provision and outcomes for service users. A case study of a 2007 government/non-government child protection and child and family services partnership in the state of Victoria, Australia provided the context for the study. The research framework involved a predominantly qualitative methodology, with the researcher embedded at two Victorian Community Service Organisations (CSOs) for a 12-month period." -- Taken from Abstract.
- Description: Doctorate of Philosopy
- Authors: McDonald, Kelsey
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: "This empirical study examined risk transfer from the government to the non-government sector within a public/non-profit child and family services delivery partnership. The focus of the investigation was to determine if risk had been transferred from the government to the non-government partner, and how this had impacted on welfare practice, service provision and outcomes for service users. A case study of a 2007 government/non-government child protection and child and family services partnership in the state of Victoria, Australia provided the context for the study. The research framework involved a predominantly qualitative methodology, with the researcher embedded at two Victorian Community Service Organisations (CSOs) for a 12-month period." -- Taken from Abstract.
- Description: Doctorate of Philosopy
The effect of an eight week jump training program performed on indoor and sand surfaces on verticle jump performance in elite volleyball players
- Authors: Riggs, Michael
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: Purpose – The main purpose of this study was to determine the effect of an 8-week jump training program, completed on either a hard or sand surface, on vertical jump performance in elite volleyball players. It was of major interest to determine if training on one surface yielded meaningful gains on the other surface. Further, this study sought to determine if the short term jump training program was effective for developing leg muscle function. Method – Eighteen elite national and state volleyball players were split into two groups and trained on either a hard surface (HS, n=10) or a sand surface (SS, n=8). The participants completed 1380 jumps during the 8-week training program progressing from 120-jumps/week to 240-jumps/week. Participants were assessed on both a hard and a sand surface, pre and post training, on volleyball performance tests the block jump (BJ), spike jump (SPJ), as well as leg muscle function via ground reaction force (GRF) data collected during countermovement jump (CMJ), squat jump (SJ) and drop jump (DJ) performance. Results – The HS group demonstrated significant gains in jump height for BJ on the hard surface (2.6%, p= 0.033) and sand surface (6.7%, p= 0.019) while the SS group only made significant gains in BJ on the sand surface (9.8%, p= 0.009). Neither group demonstrated significant (p<0.05) gains in SPJ performance. Strong correlations between pre intervention BJ and SPJ data suggested a level of consistency in the participants jumping ability regardless of the type of surface or skill (jump). GRF data demonstrated that leg muscle function predictors accounted for 86-89% of the variance associated with volleyball performance jump tests (BJ, SPJ). Conclusion – The 8-week jump training program did not greatly improve the overall vertical jump performance of elite volleyball players. It appears surface does impact performance directly but any gains made from training on either surface are not necessarily isolated to performance on the same surface being trained on. Interestingly, SPJ performance did not demonstrate a strong link to DJ variables, in fact, within this study it appears that the skill of performing a BJ and SPJ are closely related, both rely heavily upon concentric power and this is part of why such strong correlations were seen between the two jump types.
- Description: Masters of Human Movement
- Authors: Riggs, Michael
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: Purpose – The main purpose of this study was to determine the effect of an 8-week jump training program, completed on either a hard or sand surface, on vertical jump performance in elite volleyball players. It was of major interest to determine if training on one surface yielded meaningful gains on the other surface. Further, this study sought to determine if the short term jump training program was effective for developing leg muscle function. Method – Eighteen elite national and state volleyball players were split into two groups and trained on either a hard surface (HS, n=10) or a sand surface (SS, n=8). The participants completed 1380 jumps during the 8-week training program progressing from 120-jumps/week to 240-jumps/week. Participants were assessed on both a hard and a sand surface, pre and post training, on volleyball performance tests the block jump (BJ), spike jump (SPJ), as well as leg muscle function via ground reaction force (GRF) data collected during countermovement jump (CMJ), squat jump (SJ) and drop jump (DJ) performance. Results – The HS group demonstrated significant gains in jump height for BJ on the hard surface (2.6%, p= 0.033) and sand surface (6.7%, p= 0.019) while the SS group only made significant gains in BJ on the sand surface (9.8%, p= 0.009). Neither group demonstrated significant (p<0.05) gains in SPJ performance. Strong correlations between pre intervention BJ and SPJ data suggested a level of consistency in the participants jumping ability regardless of the type of surface or skill (jump). GRF data demonstrated that leg muscle function predictors accounted for 86-89% of the variance associated with volleyball performance jump tests (BJ, SPJ). Conclusion – The 8-week jump training program did not greatly improve the overall vertical jump performance of elite volleyball players. It appears surface does impact performance directly but any gains made from training on either surface are not necessarily isolated to performance on the same surface being trained on. Interestingly, SPJ performance did not demonstrate a strong link to DJ variables, in fact, within this study it appears that the skill of performing a BJ and SPJ are closely related, both rely heavily upon concentric power and this is part of why such strong correlations were seen between the two jump types.
- Description: Masters of Human Movement
The physiology of road cycling : New testing and training methodologies for competitive cyclists
- Authors: Clark, Bradley
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Objective: The objective of this project is to describe and test the efficacy of new testing and training techniques for competitive cyclists. Methods: Physiological variables and cycling performance were measured during a graded exercise test (GXT) and a novel, computer-simulated, variable gradient 20-km cycling time-trial. Initially, data collected from the time-trial and GXT were used to establish the reliability of the time-trial, determine the laboratory correlates of hilly cycling performance and examine the pacing pattern during hilly cycling performance. Then, results from a series of GXT’s and time-trials were used to establish the effects of a brief period of overload training on the physiology and performance of competitive cyclists. Results: Power output and performance time measured during a computer simulated 20-km variable gradient cycling test were reliable, however reliability diminished with increasing time between trials. Performance in variable gradient time-trial correlated strongly with absolute measures of physiological variables; however the strength of correlations increased when variables were measured relative to body mass. Power output was highest during the first four and last two kilometres of a variable gradient time-trial. Additionally, there were large differences in power output between consecutive one kilometre segments throughout the trial, particularly when the difference in gradient between segments was greater. Performance in the variable gradient time-trial improved substantially following a brief period of overload training. Performance improvement corresponded with adaptation in important physiological determinants of cycling performance, namely maximal oxygen uptake, lactate threshold and gross efficiency. Conclusions: Variable gradient, cycling time-trial tests can be used to detect meaningful changes in performance, evoke dynamic distribution of power output and are best suited to cyclists who produce high power outputs relative to body mass. The current project also determined that a brief period of overload training induces physiological adaptation and substantial improvement in cycling performance in competitive cyclists. Sport scientists, coaches and cyclists can use this information to determine the testing and training techniques used in preparation for competition.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Clark, Bradley
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Objective: The objective of this project is to describe and test the efficacy of new testing and training techniques for competitive cyclists. Methods: Physiological variables and cycling performance were measured during a graded exercise test (GXT) and a novel, computer-simulated, variable gradient 20-km cycling time-trial. Initially, data collected from the time-trial and GXT were used to establish the reliability of the time-trial, determine the laboratory correlates of hilly cycling performance and examine the pacing pattern during hilly cycling performance. Then, results from a series of GXT’s and time-trials were used to establish the effects of a brief period of overload training on the physiology and performance of competitive cyclists. Results: Power output and performance time measured during a computer simulated 20-km variable gradient cycling test were reliable, however reliability diminished with increasing time between trials. Performance in variable gradient time-trial correlated strongly with absolute measures of physiological variables; however the strength of correlations increased when variables were measured relative to body mass. Power output was highest during the first four and last two kilometres of a variable gradient time-trial. Additionally, there were large differences in power output between consecutive one kilometre segments throughout the trial, particularly when the difference in gradient between segments was greater. Performance in the variable gradient time-trial improved substantially following a brief period of overload training. Performance improvement corresponded with adaptation in important physiological determinants of cycling performance, namely maximal oxygen uptake, lactate threshold and gross efficiency. Conclusions: Variable gradient, cycling time-trial tests can be used to detect meaningful changes in performance, evoke dynamic distribution of power output and are best suited to cyclists who produce high power outputs relative to body mass. The current project also determined that a brief period of overload training induces physiological adaptation and substantial improvement in cycling performance in competitive cyclists. Sport scientists, coaches and cyclists can use this information to determine the testing and training techniques used in preparation for competition.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
The warrior woman in contemporary romance fiction
- Authors: Chivers, Marian
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: Master of Arts by Research
- Description: The warrior woman is a recurring figure in myth and history. She could be seen as an ambiguous character as she challenges patriarchal assumptions about gender roles with her capability for masculine aggression while being recognisably female and “feminine”. In the new millennium, she has reappeared as the action heroine in films, televisions, comics and video games and she has also infiltrated romance fiction, a genre often considered one of the most conservative genres in terms of gender roles and equality. The Silhouette Bombshell line was created by the multinational publisher Harlequin to capitalise on the popularity of “action heroines” in popular culture. The romance genre, perhaps the most derided of all scorned literature, is often accused, particularly by feminist critics, of reinforcing the patriarchal structure of society. This thesis examines how this character type in romance fiction can provide a means to question and even subvert traditional or patriarchal gender expectations. It will undertake the close examination of the first six books of the Athena Force series, which were published in 2004-2005 as part of the Silhouette Bombshell line. Both the warrior woman and the romance genre are defined and historically reviewed, together with an outline of the workings of the contemporary romance industry with regard to category, genre and publishing guidelines. There follows a detailed analysis of the warrior woman character as she appears in the Athena Force series with regard to agency, violence, sisterhood, professional career, performance of femininity and romantic relationships. This study of the warrior woman in romance fiction challenges many critical and social preconceptions about the romance genre in general, and its treatment of gender roles in particular
- Authors: Chivers, Marian
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: Master of Arts by Research
- Description: The warrior woman is a recurring figure in myth and history. She could be seen as an ambiguous character as she challenges patriarchal assumptions about gender roles with her capability for masculine aggression while being recognisably female and “feminine”. In the new millennium, she has reappeared as the action heroine in films, televisions, comics and video games and she has also infiltrated romance fiction, a genre often considered one of the most conservative genres in terms of gender roles and equality. The Silhouette Bombshell line was created by the multinational publisher Harlequin to capitalise on the popularity of “action heroines” in popular culture. The romance genre, perhaps the most derided of all scorned literature, is often accused, particularly by feminist critics, of reinforcing the patriarchal structure of society. This thesis examines how this character type in romance fiction can provide a means to question and even subvert traditional or patriarchal gender expectations. It will undertake the close examination of the first six books of the Athena Force series, which were published in 2004-2005 as part of the Silhouette Bombshell line. Both the warrior woman and the romance genre are defined and historically reviewed, together with an outline of the workings of the contemporary romance industry with regard to category, genre and publishing guidelines. There follows a detailed analysis of the warrior woman character as she appears in the Athena Force series with regard to agency, violence, sisterhood, professional career, performance of femininity and romantic relationships. This study of the warrior woman in romance fiction challenges many critical and social preconceptions about the romance genre in general, and its treatment of gender roles in particular
Towards an understanding of the strategic influence of the occupational health and safety professional
- Authors: Pryor, Pam
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: As indicated by the emergence of occupational health and safety (OHS) professional bodies in the United States of America (1911), United Kingdom (1945) and Australia (1949), OHS advisors have had a role in industry for over 50 years. However, despite changes in legislation and in the major paradigm for OHS together with changes in the industrial and economic environment, it appears that the role of the OHS professional has changed little from the technically-oriented, people-focused, compliance approach of 50 years ago. It appears that senior managers may not seek the input of OHS professionals on strategic business matters that may impact on workplace health and safety, and the activities of OHS professionals do not position themselves to be influential with senior managers. This lack of strategic influence may be inhibiting improvement in OHS in Australian workplaces. This document outlines the rationale, research framework and research design for a study that applied grounded theory analysis methods to data collected through interviews of senior managers and OHS professionals, supported by observations, to develop a theory and model to explain the way OHS professionals interact with senior managers and how the manager processes and perceives OHS professional advice. The implications for OHS professional practice are presented in the form of a letter to a young colleague. The outcomes of this research should assist OHS professionals in developing the capability to enhance the acceptance of OHS professional advice at senior levels of management and so optimise safety and health in Australian workplaces.
- Description: Master of Applied Science (Research)
- Authors: Pryor, Pam
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: As indicated by the emergence of occupational health and safety (OHS) professional bodies in the United States of America (1911), United Kingdom (1945) and Australia (1949), OHS advisors have had a role in industry for over 50 years. However, despite changes in legislation and in the major paradigm for OHS together with changes in the industrial and economic environment, it appears that the role of the OHS professional has changed little from the technically-oriented, people-focused, compliance approach of 50 years ago. It appears that senior managers may not seek the input of OHS professionals on strategic business matters that may impact on workplace health and safety, and the activities of OHS professionals do not position themselves to be influential with senior managers. This lack of strategic influence may be inhibiting improvement in OHS in Australian workplaces. This document outlines the rationale, research framework and research design for a study that applied grounded theory analysis methods to data collected through interviews of senior managers and OHS professionals, supported by observations, to develop a theory and model to explain the way OHS professionals interact with senior managers and how the manager processes and perceives OHS professional advice. The implications for OHS professional practice are presented in the form of a letter to a young colleague. The outcomes of this research should assist OHS professionals in developing the capability to enhance the acceptance of OHS professional advice at senior levels of management and so optimise safety and health in Australian workplaces.
- Description: Master of Applied Science (Research)
Walking the trade route to a dead end? Exploring journey stories of early completers of Victorian School Vocational Programs
- Authors: Grinham, Fiona
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: In Victoria, there are some school students who, having completed Year 11, as Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) Intermediate students, leave school. They do not go on to complete Year 12 [or equivalent] either in other institutions or as part of an apprenticeship or traineeship. This group of students is quite a substantial proportion of the total VCAL student cohort, and their numbers are increasing every year. This behaviour is juxtaposed with government policy that is emphasizing youth participation in schools or vocational alternatives. The Compact with Young Australians (COAG, 2009) set a new target of 90% attainment of Year 12 or equivalent by 2015 and expects an additional 92,527 young people across Australia (23,500 in Victoria) to remain in school. A survey of the literature indicates that there is a significant gap in our knowledge of what behavioural intentions drive vocational students to leave school early. By using in-depth conversations with selected students, this study seeks to determine the factors that students see act as drivers in their decision to get to this level, and then to leave school. This study provides, in the words of the students, some of the reasons for their choice for their non-continuance of the secondary school programs that are available to them. This will enable education policy makers to understand these students’ perspectives and to examine the VCAL programs in a new light. As educators, they can then respond to the challenge to develop and sustain vocational programs and retention strategies that will engage young people and assist them to build work-ready skills.
- Description: Master of Business (Research)
- Authors: Grinham, Fiona
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: In Victoria, there are some school students who, having completed Year 11, as Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) Intermediate students, leave school. They do not go on to complete Year 12 [or equivalent] either in other institutions or as part of an apprenticeship or traineeship. This group of students is quite a substantial proportion of the total VCAL student cohort, and their numbers are increasing every year. This behaviour is juxtaposed with government policy that is emphasizing youth participation in schools or vocational alternatives. The Compact with Young Australians (COAG, 2009) set a new target of 90% attainment of Year 12 or equivalent by 2015 and expects an additional 92,527 young people across Australia (23,500 in Victoria) to remain in school. A survey of the literature indicates that there is a significant gap in our knowledge of what behavioural intentions drive vocational students to leave school early. By using in-depth conversations with selected students, this study seeks to determine the factors that students see act as drivers in their decision to get to this level, and then to leave school. This study provides, in the words of the students, some of the reasons for their choice for their non-continuance of the secondary school programs that are available to them. This will enable education policy makers to understand these students’ perspectives and to examine the VCAL programs in a new light. As educators, they can then respond to the challenge to develop and sustain vocational programs and retention strategies that will engage young people and assist them to build work-ready skills.
- Description: Master of Business (Research)
Why firms in China go green and how they market green?
- Authors: Song-Turner, Helen
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Since the late 1970s China has strived to build a globally competitive market economy based on a range of industry sectors, focusing on manufacturing and allied industries. By 2014 the size of China’s economy is second only to that of the United States of America. A challenge in this context and situation—where economic growth is still a key area of policy focus for the government—is dealing with associated environmental matters and issues. By the turn of the 21st Century, environmental issues were receiving an unprecedented degree of attention from the Chinese Government, and one of the subsets of this issue is the concept of green marketing. A question arises regarding the possibilities of successful growing firms in China applying the concepts, principles and practices which embody green marketing within a rubric and context of sustained economic development. To gain a deep understanding of ways in which the concepts, applications and conditions of green marketing actually work in China, this research explores why firms in China go green and how they market their green products and services in China using an emic approach that emphasizes an indigenous, within culture perspective of firms’ behaviour in the Chinese context. Related to the research question this research explores a range of possible motivating factors and ascertains features of key influential stakeholders which might well influence firms’ green marketing approaches and practices in China. These firms are exceptional in the way they have addressed green marketing. The research undertaken seeks to identify ways in which these factors translate in marketing terms within a green marketing paradigm. Given that green marketing is arguably where economic development and environmental matters tend to interact and intersect within a market economy, this research provides insights to how sustainable Chinese firms deal with this complex and important issue. The use of a case study approach, across a range of industry sectors and in a variety of locations in China, provides depth and realism to this research. The result of this research contribute significantly to the understanding of how Chinese managers perceive ecological sustainability and expand firm stakeholder theory by identifying key influential stakeholders in proactive green decisions. The ways in which firms define and identify key influential stakeholders in their green decisions are influenced by resource dependency, the institutional power of the stakeholders, and moderated by firm’s characteristics and life cycle stages. Firms operating in a strong government-driven setting derive four conceptual green motivations—philosophical and social responsibility, management of risk reduction, competition pressure, and special events— that offer insights on understanding firms’ green behaviours and green orientations in China.
- Authors: Song-Turner, Helen
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Since the late 1970s China has strived to build a globally competitive market economy based on a range of industry sectors, focusing on manufacturing and allied industries. By 2014 the size of China’s economy is second only to that of the United States of America. A challenge in this context and situation—where economic growth is still a key area of policy focus for the government—is dealing with associated environmental matters and issues. By the turn of the 21st Century, environmental issues were receiving an unprecedented degree of attention from the Chinese Government, and one of the subsets of this issue is the concept of green marketing. A question arises regarding the possibilities of successful growing firms in China applying the concepts, principles and practices which embody green marketing within a rubric and context of sustained economic development. To gain a deep understanding of ways in which the concepts, applications and conditions of green marketing actually work in China, this research explores why firms in China go green and how they market their green products and services in China using an emic approach that emphasizes an indigenous, within culture perspective of firms’ behaviour in the Chinese context. Related to the research question this research explores a range of possible motivating factors and ascertains features of key influential stakeholders which might well influence firms’ green marketing approaches and practices in China. These firms are exceptional in the way they have addressed green marketing. The research undertaken seeks to identify ways in which these factors translate in marketing terms within a green marketing paradigm. Given that green marketing is arguably where economic development and environmental matters tend to interact and intersect within a market economy, this research provides insights to how sustainable Chinese firms deal with this complex and important issue. The use of a case study approach, across a range of industry sectors and in a variety of locations in China, provides depth and realism to this research. The result of this research contribute significantly to the understanding of how Chinese managers perceive ecological sustainability and expand firm stakeholder theory by identifying key influential stakeholders in proactive green decisions. The ways in which firms define and identify key influential stakeholders in their green decisions are influenced by resource dependency, the institutional power of the stakeholders, and moderated by firm’s characteristics and life cycle stages. Firms operating in a strong government-driven setting derive four conceptual green motivations—philosophical and social responsibility, management of risk reduction, competition pressure, and special events— that offer insights on understanding firms’ green behaviours and green orientations in China.
A conceptual model of physical performance in Australian Football
- Authors: Mooney, Mitchell
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Objective: The objective of this project was to identify the relative influence of valid physical parameters to elite Australian Football performance. Methods: Data was collected on match performance variables (i.e. coaches’ votes, number of ball disposals, champion data rank), match exercise intensity measures (m∙min-1, m∙min-1 above and below 15 km∙h-1 and Load™∙min-1) and physical capacities (yo-yo intermittent recovery test level 2, maximum oxygen uptake, running economy, relative aerobic intensity, maximal aerobic speed and maximal accumulated oxygen deficit) on elite and recreational Australian footballers. These variables were modelled to determine the logical sequence and relative importance towards match performance. Results: The results indicate a sequential physical path to Australian Football performance. The yo-yo intermittent recovery test (level 2) performance influenced match exercise intensity (m∙min-1 >15 km∙h-1& Load™∙min-1) which in turn, affected Australian Football performance (number of ball disposals and coaches’ votes). This sequence was altered by experience, playing position and neuromuscular fatigue. The number of interchange rotations also influenced match exercise intensity throughout the match. Furthermore, the yo-yo intermittent recovery test (level 2) was found to be determined by a complex interaction of physical capacities. However, yo-yo intermittent recovery (level 2) performance was most influenced by maximum oxygen uptake, relative aerobic intensity and maximum aerobic speed. Conclusion: This dissertation showed Australian Football performance is a complex and dynamic system influenced by many variables interacting with each other in a sequential path. Sports scientists and coaches may utilise this information as a framework to evaluate Australian Football performance matches.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Mooney, Mitchell
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Objective: The objective of this project was to identify the relative influence of valid physical parameters to elite Australian Football performance. Methods: Data was collected on match performance variables (i.e. coaches’ votes, number of ball disposals, champion data rank), match exercise intensity measures (m∙min-1, m∙min-1 above and below 15 km∙h-1 and Load™∙min-1) and physical capacities (yo-yo intermittent recovery test level 2, maximum oxygen uptake, running economy, relative aerobic intensity, maximal aerobic speed and maximal accumulated oxygen deficit) on elite and recreational Australian footballers. These variables were modelled to determine the logical sequence and relative importance towards match performance. Results: The results indicate a sequential physical path to Australian Football performance. The yo-yo intermittent recovery test (level 2) performance influenced match exercise intensity (m∙min-1 >15 km∙h-1& Load™∙min-1) which in turn, affected Australian Football performance (number of ball disposals and coaches’ votes). This sequence was altered by experience, playing position and neuromuscular fatigue. The number of interchange rotations also influenced match exercise intensity throughout the match. Furthermore, the yo-yo intermittent recovery test (level 2) was found to be determined by a complex interaction of physical capacities. However, yo-yo intermittent recovery (level 2) performance was most influenced by maximum oxygen uptake, relative aerobic intensity and maximum aerobic speed. Conclusion: This dissertation showed Australian Football performance is a complex and dynamic system influenced by many variables interacting with each other in a sequential path. Sports scientists and coaches may utilise this information as a framework to evaluate Australian Football performance matches.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Age estimation and illicit image detection using a stochastic vision model
- Authors: Islam, Mofakharul
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text: false
- 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
An investigation into the agronomic factors affecting sustainability, surface hardness and rotational traction on community-level football grounds during drought conditions.
- Authors: Ford, Phillip
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Excessive hardness and rotational traction are the factors most associated with non-contact, ground-related injury risk in football. Irrigation has the greatest influence on surface hardness, and also in determining the turfgrass species that can be sustained. However, irrigation is prohibited on many Australian community-level grounds during drought. This thesis investigated the influence of various agronomic factors on surface hardness and on rotational traction, with the aim of devising strategies to reduce ground-related injury risk in drought conditions. In replicated plots tested over a drought period, Clegg hardness values on a football ground peaked at 160 gravities when turfgrass coverage was present, compared to values in excess of 200 gravities when turf coverage was absent. If the Clegg threshold was set at 160 g for community-level football, many grounds would stay open for play provided they sustained turfgrass coverage. In southern mainland Australia during drought and without irrigation, only a drought-resistant species such as couchgrass (Cynodon dactylon and hybrids) could do this. However, couchgrass has been linked by past epidemiological evidence to a higher risk of knee injury than perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne), which was attributed to couchgrass having a higher rotational traction. In data presented in this thesis, perennial ryegrass actually had significantly higher rotational stiffness than couchgrass on four out of eight assessment dates. Consequently, there appears no reason to favour perennial ryegrass and to recommend against the use of couchgrass for reasons concerning rotational traction. Furthermore, the largest range in rotational traction was between areas of full grasscover compared to denuded areas. The thesis concluded that the ability to sustain turfgrass coverage provided the most effective agronomic solution for moderating both hardness and rotational traction on community-level football fields, and that a turfgrass species should be selected primarily on its ability to best sustain that coverage.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Ford, Phillip
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Excessive hardness and rotational traction are the factors most associated with non-contact, ground-related injury risk in football. Irrigation has the greatest influence on surface hardness, and also in determining the turfgrass species that can be sustained. However, irrigation is prohibited on many Australian community-level grounds during drought. This thesis investigated the influence of various agronomic factors on surface hardness and on rotational traction, with the aim of devising strategies to reduce ground-related injury risk in drought conditions. In replicated plots tested over a drought period, Clegg hardness values on a football ground peaked at 160 gravities when turfgrass coverage was present, compared to values in excess of 200 gravities when turf coverage was absent. If the Clegg threshold was set at 160 g for community-level football, many grounds would stay open for play provided they sustained turfgrass coverage. In southern mainland Australia during drought and without irrigation, only a drought-resistant species such as couchgrass (Cynodon dactylon and hybrids) could do this. However, couchgrass has been linked by past epidemiological evidence to a higher risk of knee injury than perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne), which was attributed to couchgrass having a higher rotational traction. In data presented in this thesis, perennial ryegrass actually had significantly higher rotational stiffness than couchgrass on four out of eight assessment dates. Consequently, there appears no reason to favour perennial ryegrass and to recommend against the use of couchgrass for reasons concerning rotational traction. Furthermore, the largest range in rotational traction was between areas of full grasscover compared to denuded areas. The thesis concluded that the ability to sustain turfgrass coverage provided the most effective agronomic solution for moderating both hardness and rotational traction on community-level football fields, and that a turfgrass species should be selected primarily on its ability to best sustain that coverage.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Broadening the concept of school: how a re-configuration of school must be inclusive of students who are "put at" a disadvantage
- Authors: Peters, Edward (Keith)
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: This thesis critically examines how students enrolled in state-funded schools can be ‘put at’ a disadvantage. I do this through examining two techniques of exclusion that stimulate student disconnection from school: first, the ways in which standards-based and performativity-driven learning outcomes are implemented to shape how student success is determined. Secondly, I examine how discourses around power control curriculum and student identity instil monological learning structures that normalises standards-based learning outcomes. Challenging this, I allow the voices of my co-researchers, the students in my thesis, to speak back to confront these school-based policies that allow disconnection to occur. Examining school policy and student voice at the point where they intersect allowed me to undertake an evaluation of how schools adversely affect students, and what students say they want from their experience of schooling. The final theme I develop is based on student and agency worker voice and what they say school-based learning should become. Relational learning and learning that develops students ethically emerged as fundamental strengths of what enriching learning transactions should look like. I argue that creating relational learning spaces develop challenging environments that can lead students to ethically understand their identity within complex social and cultural lifestyles. I argue that the ways in which schools are organised to administer time and space must be radically overhauled if this is to be achieved.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Peters, Edward (Keith)
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: This thesis critically examines how students enrolled in state-funded schools can be ‘put at’ a disadvantage. I do this through examining two techniques of exclusion that stimulate student disconnection from school: first, the ways in which standards-based and performativity-driven learning outcomes are implemented to shape how student success is determined. Secondly, I examine how discourses around power control curriculum and student identity instil monological learning structures that normalises standards-based learning outcomes. Challenging this, I allow the voices of my co-researchers, the students in my thesis, to speak back to confront these school-based policies that allow disconnection to occur. Examining school policy and student voice at the point where they intersect allowed me to undertake an evaluation of how schools adversely affect students, and what students say they want from their experience of schooling. The final theme I develop is based on student and agency worker voice and what they say school-based learning should become. Relational learning and learning that develops students ethically emerged as fundamental strengths of what enriching learning transactions should look like. I argue that creating relational learning spaces develop challenging environments that can lead students to ethically understand their identity within complex social and cultural lifestyles. I argue that the ways in which schools are organised to administer time and space must be radically overhauled if this is to be achieved.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Pillay, Manikam
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: This study investigated whether safe work method statements (SWMS) enhance or hinder resilience engineering (RE) as a health and safety management strategy in the Victorian construction industry. It is an important study because SWMS have been legislated by the federal and state governments as a fundamental risk control strategy for high-risk construction work; yet there is little empirical evidence to support this policy decision. Research on safety rules and procedures (to which SWMS can be associated) suggests they are not followed to the letter but adapted to suit context, and this adaptation is an important aspect of RE, a recent innovation in health and safety management.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Internet banking fraud detection using prudent analysis
- Authors: Maruatona, Omaru
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: The threat posed by cybercrime to individuals, banks and other online financial service providers is real and serious. Through phishing, unsuspecting victims’ Internet banking usernames and passwords are stolen and their accounts robbed. In addressing this issue, commercial banks and other financial institutions use a generically similar approach in their Internet banking fraud detection systems. This common approach involves the use of a rule-based system combined with an Artificial Neural Network (ANN). The approach used by commercial banks has limitations that affect their efficiency in curbing new fraudulent transactions. Firstly, the banks’ security systems are focused on preventing unauthorized entry and have no way of conclusively detecting an imposter using stolen credentials. Also, updating these systems is slow and their maintenance is labour-intensive and ultimately costly to the business. A major limitation of these rule-bases is brittleness; an inability to recognise the limits of their knowledge. To address the limitations highlighted above, this thesis proposes, develops and evaluates a new system for use in Internet banking fraud detection using Prudence Analysis, a technique through which a system can detect when its knowledge is insufficient for a given case. Specifically, the thesis proposes the following contributions:
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Maruatona, Omaru
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: The threat posed by cybercrime to individuals, banks and other online financial service providers is real and serious. Through phishing, unsuspecting victims’ Internet banking usernames and passwords are stolen and their accounts robbed. In addressing this issue, commercial banks and other financial institutions use a generically similar approach in their Internet banking fraud detection systems. This common approach involves the use of a rule-based system combined with an Artificial Neural Network (ANN). The approach used by commercial banks has limitations that affect their efficiency in curbing new fraudulent transactions. Firstly, the banks’ security systems are focused on preventing unauthorized entry and have no way of conclusively detecting an imposter using stolen credentials. Also, updating these systems is slow and their maintenance is labour-intensive and ultimately costly to the business. A major limitation of these rule-bases is brittleness; an inability to recognise the limits of their knowledge. To address the limitations highlighted above, this thesis proposes, develops and evaluates a new system for use in Internet banking fraud detection using Prudence Analysis, a technique through which a system can detect when its knowledge is insufficient for a given case. Specifically, the thesis proposes the following contributions:
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Legitimising harm : A critical ethnography of gambling in a community
- Authors: Greenslade, Deborah
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: This thesis reports on a community study which explored the relationship between a small rural community and its club based poker machines. That enquiry aimed to broaden the general research focus from the dominant conceptualisation of individual gambling pathology to a community-level analysis. The theoretical and epistemological stance was also shifted, away from positivism (with its focus on measurable cause/effects), towards a critical constructionist approach. Employing ethnography, the research comprised extended community engagement, observation, document analysis and 51 individual interviews. Critical theory was applied to issues of ideology, discourse and power associated with poker machine gambling within the macro sociopolitical and local community contexts. The study found that, despite significant opposition, poker machines inveigled their way into this community with the support of powerful economic and political forces and influential club members. Location of the machines within an established club embedded them within networks of community relationships. Disbursement of community benefit ensnared many community members as beneficiaries of poker machine losses and rendered them complicit in gambling harms. The research identified that at times community ideology and interests acted as a powerful force against the establishment and expansion of poker machine gambling. Conversely, community ideology and interests also acted to legitimate the presence and operation of poker machines and to suppress opposition. This reflects the complex and contested nature of the construct of community. Reproduction of dominant gambling discourses, including those which frame gambling harm as pathology and an issue of individual responsibility, operate to conceal and condone gambling harms. These discourses marginalise and disempower community members harmed by gambling, while legitimating the club’s deployment of poker machines. This has helped to maintain existing arrangements and to support the shared and powerful interests of the state, the gambling industry, and venues.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Greenslade, Deborah
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: This thesis reports on a community study which explored the relationship between a small rural community and its club based poker machines. That enquiry aimed to broaden the general research focus from the dominant conceptualisation of individual gambling pathology to a community-level analysis. The theoretical and epistemological stance was also shifted, away from positivism (with its focus on measurable cause/effects), towards a critical constructionist approach. Employing ethnography, the research comprised extended community engagement, observation, document analysis and 51 individual interviews. Critical theory was applied to issues of ideology, discourse and power associated with poker machine gambling within the macro sociopolitical and local community contexts. The study found that, despite significant opposition, poker machines inveigled their way into this community with the support of powerful economic and political forces and influential club members. Location of the machines within an established club embedded them within networks of community relationships. Disbursement of community benefit ensnared many community members as beneficiaries of poker machine losses and rendered them complicit in gambling harms. The research identified that at times community ideology and interests acted as a powerful force against the establishment and expansion of poker machine gambling. Conversely, community ideology and interests also acted to legitimate the presence and operation of poker machines and to suppress opposition. This reflects the complex and contested nature of the construct of community. Reproduction of dominant gambling discourses, including those which frame gambling harm as pathology and an issue of individual responsibility, operate to conceal and condone gambling harms. These discourses marginalise and disempower community members harmed by gambling, while legitimating the club’s deployment of poker machines. This has helped to maintain existing arrangements and to support the shared and powerful interests of the state, the gambling industry, and venues.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
Nonsmooth optimization algorithms for clusterwise linear regression
- 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
Revealing the essence of the sacred
- Authors: Nash, Vikki
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: This research project, ‘Revealing the Essence of the Sacred’, examines the archetypal forms of the dot, cross and the mandorla. Their appearance and meaning are traced back through history and across cultures. The commonalities between the physical act of making imagery using these pared back abstracted forms and the experience, in the maker, of embodied immanence are examined. By extension the research also considers how creating and contemplating artwork can be a curative spiritual practice. I identify how the artwork correlates with, and is informed by, my spiritual practice. The research takes a phenomenological approach and is based on my own subjective experience of bodily sensed knowledge whilst making and viewing the image. Intuitively accessing the source or essence of the subject matter has been a primary motivating factor in the images used in the artwork. This approach is grounded in the innate belief that what has been distilled and purified has great transformative power. Informing this is an alignment with both the Jungian Collective Unconscious and the ancient Indian spiritual system of Tantra. The artworks, rendered within a ritualistic structure and using abstracted form, are an individual expression of the universality of intuitive mark making. A similar connection is established in the practice of contemporary artists who strongly identify with a level of spirituality in their personal lives
- Description: Master of Arts
- Authors: Nash, Vikki
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: This research project, ‘Revealing the Essence of the Sacred’, examines the archetypal forms of the dot, cross and the mandorla. Their appearance and meaning are traced back through history and across cultures. The commonalities between the physical act of making imagery using these pared back abstracted forms and the experience, in the maker, of embodied immanence are examined. By extension the research also considers how creating and contemplating artwork can be a curative spiritual practice. I identify how the artwork correlates with, and is informed by, my spiritual practice. The research takes a phenomenological approach and is based on my own subjective experience of bodily sensed knowledge whilst making and viewing the image. Intuitively accessing the source or essence of the subject matter has been a primary motivating factor in the images used in the artwork. This approach is grounded in the innate belief that what has been distilled and purified has great transformative power. Informing this is an alignment with both the Jungian Collective Unconscious and the ancient Indian spiritual system of Tantra. The artworks, rendered within a ritualistic structure and using abstracted form, are an individual expression of the universality of intuitive mark making. A similar connection is established in the practice of contemporary artists who strongly identify with a level of spirituality in their personal lives
- Description: Master of Arts
Secure network solutions for cloud services
- Authors: Huang, Chengcheng
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: Securing a cloud network is an important challenge for delivering cloud services to cloud users. There are a number of secure network protocols, such as VPN protocols, currently available to provide different secure network solutions for enterprise clouds. For example, PPTP, L2TP, GRE, IPsec and SSL/TLS are the most widely used VPN protocols in today’s securing network solutions. However, there are some significant challenges in the implementation stage. For example, which VPN solution is easy to deploy in delivering cloud services? Which solution can provide the best network throughput in delivering the cloud services? Which solution can provide the lowest network latency in delivering the cloud services? This thesis addresses these issues by implementing different VPNs in a test bed environment set up by the Cisco routers. Open source measurement tools will be utilized to acquire the results. This thesis also reviews cloud computing and cloud services and look at their relationships. It also explores the benefits and the weaknesses of each securing network solution. The results can not only provide experimental evidence, but also facilitate the network implementers in development and deployment of secure network solutions for cloud services.
- Description: Master of Computing (Research)
- Authors: Huang, Chengcheng
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Thesis , Masters
- Full Text:
- Description: Securing a cloud network is an important challenge for delivering cloud services to cloud users. There are a number of secure network protocols, such as VPN protocols, currently available to provide different secure network solutions for enterprise clouds. For example, PPTP, L2TP, GRE, IPsec and SSL/TLS are the most widely used VPN protocols in today’s securing network solutions. However, there are some significant challenges in the implementation stage. For example, which VPN solution is easy to deploy in delivering cloud services? Which solution can provide the best network throughput in delivering the cloud services? Which solution can provide the lowest network latency in delivering the cloud services? This thesis addresses these issues by implementing different VPNs in a test bed environment set up by the Cisco routers. Open source measurement tools will be utilized to acquire the results. This thesis also reviews cloud computing and cloud services and look at their relationships. It also explores the benefits and the weaknesses of each securing network solution. The results can not only provide experimental evidence, but also facilitate the network implementers in development and deployment of secure network solutions for cloud services.
- Description: Master of Computing (Research)
The presence and role of Thiamine and Riboflavin in the malting and brewing industries
- Authors: Hucker, Barry
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Thiamine and riboflavin vitamers are present in a wide range of foods including beer. They play critical roles in a variety of enzymatic complexes and can promote and maintain metabolism. Currently, the presence and role of these vitamers in the malting and brewing industry has not been widely explored. This research has investigated the effects of various malting and brewing processes on the final thiamine and riboflavin vitamer content of finished beer. In order to achieve this, a highly accurate and reproducible HPLC (spike recovery > 95 %; RSD < 5.0 %) method was developed that allowed the separation of thiamine diphosphate (TDP), thiamine monophosphate (TMP), thiamine, riboflavin 5-phosphate (FMN) and riboflavin in various sample matrices. This method was utilised to determine the vitamer content of various cereals and malts and it was found that malting vastly alters the thiamine content of malted barley, while it has minimal effect on riboflavin content. When malted barley is roasted, all vitamers are rapidly degraded. The mashing process releases the various vitamers into a solution and this release is dependent on temperature and enzymatic activity, while wort boiling significantly reduces the vitamer content of the wort. During fermentation, the thiamine content of wort is quickly utilised within the first six hours of standard fermentations and the uptake of this vitamin is not affected by increases in wort gravity. Meanwhile riboflavin is only poorly utilised during these fermentations. Post-fermentative additives, such as the addition of tannic acid and potassium metabisulphite, negatively affect the vitamin content of the final product while phosphorylated forms of these vitamins are greatly affected by the addition of many post-fermentative processing aids/additives. The presence of both thiamine and riboflavin can enhance the spoilage of beer by known brewery spoilage organisms, and the incorrect storage of bottle-conditioned beer can negatively affect the vitamin and organoleptic properties of the final product. These various steps involved in the production of beer greatly affect the final vitamin content, and this knowledge helps to explain the large variation in the thiamine and riboflavin vitamer content of a survey of 204 commercially available beers. This survey concluded that despite the large variations within particular styles of beer, lagers contain the least amount of thiamine compared to ales, stout/porters and wheat beers. However the average riboflavin content of the tested beers was statistically similar (p = 0.608) across all of the styles. This is due to the limited utilisation of this vitamin during fermentations.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Hucker, Barry
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: Thiamine and riboflavin vitamers are present in a wide range of foods including beer. They play critical roles in a variety of enzymatic complexes and can promote and maintain metabolism. Currently, the presence and role of these vitamers in the malting and brewing industry has not been widely explored. This research has investigated the effects of various malting and brewing processes on the final thiamine and riboflavin vitamer content of finished beer. In order to achieve this, a highly accurate and reproducible HPLC (spike recovery > 95 %; RSD < 5.0 %) method was developed that allowed the separation of thiamine diphosphate (TDP), thiamine monophosphate (TMP), thiamine, riboflavin 5-phosphate (FMN) and riboflavin in various sample matrices. This method was utilised to determine the vitamer content of various cereals and malts and it was found that malting vastly alters the thiamine content of malted barley, while it has minimal effect on riboflavin content. When malted barley is roasted, all vitamers are rapidly degraded. The mashing process releases the various vitamers into a solution and this release is dependent on temperature and enzymatic activity, while wort boiling significantly reduces the vitamer content of the wort. During fermentation, the thiamine content of wort is quickly utilised within the first six hours of standard fermentations and the uptake of this vitamin is not affected by increases in wort gravity. Meanwhile riboflavin is only poorly utilised during these fermentations. Post-fermentative additives, such as the addition of tannic acid and potassium metabisulphite, negatively affect the vitamin content of the final product while phosphorylated forms of these vitamins are greatly affected by the addition of many post-fermentative processing aids/additives. The presence of both thiamine and riboflavin can enhance the spoilage of beer by known brewery spoilage organisms, and the incorrect storage of bottle-conditioned beer can negatively affect the vitamin and organoleptic properties of the final product. These various steps involved in the production of beer greatly affect the final vitamin content, and this knowledge helps to explain the large variation in the thiamine and riboflavin vitamer content of a survey of 204 commercially available beers. This survey concluded that despite the large variations within particular styles of beer, lagers contain the least amount of thiamine compared to ales, stout/porters and wheat beers. However the average riboflavin content of the tested beers was statistically similar (p = 0.608) across all of the styles. This is due to the limited utilisation of this vitamin during fermentations.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy