http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/ The University of Queensland en Fez http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:158499 This thesis is about understanding the Urban Informal Sector (UIS)' phenomenon in Colombo, Sri Lanka. While there has been much debate about the UIS in developing countries, including Sri Lanka, it is evident that there has only limited research into ways to identify its importance and to find pragmatic ways to support it. Nowhere in Sri Lanka is the importance of the UIS more evident than in the urban landscape of Colombo City - the largest urban center and the commercial capital. In fact, the UIS is indispensable to Colombo, so much so that Sanderatne (1 99 1 :7 1) states that 'indeed, without the informal sector, food supply would diminish to famine levels, transport would grind to a halt, and urban basic needs such as food and clothing would be unaffordable for the majority of urban dwellers'. The UIS in developing cities like Colombo has increasingly been recognised as a key to promoting economic growth and employment to reducing poverty. However, at the same time, the UIS also poses serious problems including traffic congestion, public health and hygiene, and it is often seen as an eye-sore. In addition, UIS workers themselves face a number of problems as a result of a hostile institutional environment including: lack of legal status; poor access to resources, markets and services; and harassment and/or eviction. The role of the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) and its ability to manage the UIS in Colombo City presents similar problems to the sector's management in most cities in developing countries. Much of CMC's problems associated with the UIS emanate from the institutional arrangements. The problems can be identified in the roles of the various 'players' in the city and their rules and regulations, and how these are enforced through incentives and transaction cost which in turn impact on the UIS. Whilst a number of theories are on offer to address these problems, the powerful concepts embodied in the theoretical foundations of the New Institutional ~conomics~ (NIE) provided the most promising framework. These NIE concepts include: 'players of the game' (including their assumptions and objectives); and 'rules of the game' (including their incentives and transaction costs). Based on these concepts, a NIE framework applicable to the UIS was formulated. This thesis adopts the case study research strategy propounded by Yin (2003) which entails a detailed qualitative analysis of selected case studies. Three case studies have been selected in Colombo, viz. street vendors, home-based workers and collectors of recyclable materials (botal pattaray). The qualitative data for analysing each of the three case studies has been derived from two sources. Firstly, through formal interviews and informal discussions with relevant players such as the CMC (eg. Mayor; Municipal Members of Council; and various departments and divisions); nationallcentral and provincial government ministries and departments; non-governmental organisations; media; private sector; trade unions; academic and research organisations; politicians; international organisations; the police; and the general public. Secondly, the results of these interviews have been checked for credibility, and where possible have been supported by, documentary evidence such as policies, regulations and newspaper articles. The qualitative data obtained through this method has then been organised and presented using the NVivo software. This NIE framework was then applied to each of the three selected case studies. The principal findings from the case study analysis are: first, the need to introduce a new assumption (referred to as socio-cultural orientation) that governs player behaviour; second, the distinction between formally espoused objectives and informal objectives followed by the players; third, the emergence of 'informal' players and their informally crafted rules that impact on the UIS; and finally, this study has demonstrated that the ' ~ a l ' rules that govern player behaviour rest in the complex relationship between the formal and informal 'rules of the game', and this relationship between the two sets of rules could be either 'substitutive' or 'complementary'. Using the principal findings from the case studies, the thesis proposes extensions to the NIE framework. The resultant framework from this study has important implications for urban local authorities in developing countries, particularly as an urban planning tool that can be used to understand and successfully manage the UIS. Areas for new research emanating from this study are also outlined. 2008-11-21T00:00:00Z Shuaib, Ahmed Fikreth http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:195299 A new methodology is developed to calculate density of states of interstellar and atmospheric clusters that takes account of their loosely bound nature and incorporates kinetically important angular momentum constraints explicitly. The method is based on classical phase space integration for the intermonomer modes of the cluster with imposition of the constraints of selected total energy and total angular momentum. It achieves considerable efficiency via essentially analytic evaluation of the momentum space integrals coupled with efficient Monte Carlo sampling of configurations. The derivation for the equation for the density of states is outlined and all steps in the simplification of the accessible momentum space volume are detailed. The method is tested rigorously against an entirely analytic result obtained for the ideal case of a dimer with spherical top fragments and no interaction potential. Interstellar applications of the new approach are presented for (HCN)2 and (CO)2. The new intermononmer density of states has been integrated over metastable states to obtain the intermonomer partition function, which in turn is used to calculate the metastable equilibrium constants for interstellar clusters, which in turn is used tocalculate the second order rate constant of overall dimer formation in the interstellar environment. Atmospheric applications of the new approach are presented for (H2O)2. The new intermonomer density of states is convoluted with the intramonomer density of states to obtain the convoluted density of states. This convoluted density of states is then integrated over total energy and angular momentum to obtain the anharmonic partition function, which in turn is used to calculate the equilibrium constant for atmospheric clusters, which in turn is used to calculate the third order rate constant for overall dimer formation in the atmospheric environment. Kinetic quantities are also calculated with the intermonomer and convoluted density of states for interstellar and atmospheric clusters, respectively. These densities of states are combined with RRKM theory to compute unimolecular dissociation rate constants, which are then averaged with respect to the thermal capture flux distribution to compute average lifetimes as a function of temperature. 2010-02-12T00:00:00Z Sarah Windsor http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:278043 2012-07-24T00:00:00Z Berkman, Paul James http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:240884 The characterization of porous solids is an important topic because of the significant role that they play in many industries and everyday life. For example, activated carbon is used in water purification and in odor removal from air, carbon molecular sieves are used for the separation of gases with similar molecular dimensions but different structures and zeolites are used in the petro-chemistry for the cracking processes. Choosing the best porous material for a specific process is a challenging task for scientists and engineers. The selection of a particular porous solid is carried out by matching the physical and chemical properties of the solid with the requirements of the process, for example, when the separation of gases using molecular sieves, the pore size distribution is compared with the size of gas molecules for the selection of a proper adsorbent. This is why the proper characterization of porous solids is critical for its potential applications. This has been recognized by the scientific community since the early 19th and in 1958 the first symposium to discuss in particular the characterization of porous solids was organized. Currently the importance of this topic is still being recognized, and this is evidenced in the IUPAC’s sub-committee dedicated exclusively to the characterization of porous solids and the two main symposia on characterization: Characterization of Porous Solids (COPS) and Characterization of Porous Materials Workshop. Currently, there is a wide range of methods for the characterization of porous solids; however these methods are somewhat ambiguous and do not agree with each other. Among all these methods gas adsorption is the preferable method, because it is inexpensive and can be carried out in most laboratories. That is why the main aim of this work is to study the characterization of porous solids by using adsorption. Molecular simulation and particularly Monte Carlo simulation has shown great potential for the study of gas adsorption. This is because Monte Carlo in its grand canonical ensemble mimics the process carried out in a volumetric apparatus. In this study grand canonical Monte Carlo simulation is used to derive the adsorption isotherms that are used subsequently to characterize the porous solids structures. This work proposes that the key concept for the characterization of porous solids is accessibility. What that entails is that the physical properties of a porous solid vary with the probe molecule used, and this is completely consistent with the molecular sieving concept, which is failed to be recognized by the conventional characterization methods. For example the void spaces in a porous solid are different if they are measured with argon and xenon; this is because these two probe molecules are different in size and approach the solid surface differently. The accessible properties presented here are accessible volume, accessible geometrical surface area and accessible pore size distribution. These properties are based on the accessible volume proposed recently by Do and co-workers. Two main approaches to the characterization of porous solids are presented. One is for the characterization of solids whose structures are known such as metal-organic frameworks and another is for solids whose structures are unknown such as porous carbons. The first approach is developed based on a Monte Carlo integration method, while the second is based on the new concept of using the total amount that is introduced into a volumetric adsorption apparatus. These two approaches are tested with the characterization of different porous solids. The characterization methods proposed here are robust and unambiguous and they show great potential as a new standard for the characterization of porous solids. The final part of this study considers the computer synthesis of a char structure. A Monte Carlo simulation method is proposed to obtain a number of char structures. The computer synthesis of the char structure is carried out by mimicking the experimental process. The resultant simulated char structures are characterized by using the above characterization methods and the results agree well with the experimental properties of char. 2011-05-17T00:00:00Z Luis Herrera Diaz http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:246900 The coal fired power plants are one of the oldest, most common and wide spread generators of electricity. They utilise heat generated by burning coal, that is pulverised in different type of grinding machines selected based on the coal type that is being processed, to produce steam power. For bituminous coal, vertical spindle pulverisers are the preferred and most common equipment for pulverisation. In this thesis, the vertical spindle pulverisers were of interest and their operation is modelled. In order to achieve this goal, a sampling procedure was developed to collect samples from these pulverisers. A standard procedure for sample analyses was followed; and when required, new experimental and sampling tools were developed and manufactured. A multi-component data set of five industrial scale surveys was produced for the pulveriser operating at different coal and air flow conditions. The multi-component data are based on size and ash content as well as density for one test and the feed samples. The selected samples were classified into size-by-size density bins by float/sink density analysis. One of the general outcomes of using multi-component data was confirmation of the mineral matter accumulation in the mill showing its dependency on size. Moreover, the multi-component data were utilised to calculate the flow rates and unknown particle size distributions of the mill interior streams by mass balancing. Hence, the mill interior streams particle size distributions and flow rates, as well as size-by-size ash content distributions were obtained; thus the circulating loads that develop in the pulveriser were calculated. This information was used in constructing the ball feed stream via combining the reject streams with the coal fed to the pulveriser, which is the key stream to compute comminution information and model parameters. The mass balanced streams information were utilised to evaluate the classifications that occur in the pulveriser. The model parameters describing the classification curves that correspond to the two different zones in the pulveriser were found to be closely related to the operational conditions. A 3D multi-component breakage function was developed with the results obtained from compressive breakage tests. It is observed that the coal and mineral matter differ in breakage behaviour. This difference was incorporated into the 3D breakage model in order to be able to predict the breakage of these component particles and their composites. The mass balanced stream information together with the multi-component breakage function was utilised to successfully determine the rate of breakage of particles in the grinding zone. The model parameters describing the rate of breakage of the particles were found to be related to the operational variables. A demonstration of the developed approach was done using a simulator which linked comminution and classification models based on size and density components, to work in closed circuit operation. The classification function used in the overall simulation model was changed to an efficiency curve model based on settling velocities of particles to enable integration of both density and size of particles into the model; rather than employing empirical relations developed based only on particle size. Similarly, parameters for rate of breakage of particles have differed from that of parameters calculated during the computations for open circuit grinding conditions. The results obtained from the simulation studies were satisfactory in describing the existing conditions that occur in the pulveriser at all the sampled conditions. In conclusion, a mathematical model of an industrial scale ball-and-race pulveriser was developed by determining the effect of operational variables on the comminution and classification operations within the pulveriser. 2011-09-01T00:00:00Z Ozer, Can http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:158126 2008-11-21T00:00:00Z McEwan, David Bernard http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:106284 2007-08-24T00:00:00Z Cornwell, Petrea Lee. http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:266726 There are two main purposes of this project. The first purpose was to understand Singapore secondary schools PE teacher-coaches' motivational profiles and the climate they created in the Singapore school context. The second purpose was to examine the psycho-social effects of an intervention programme aimed at PE teacher-coaches adopting an autonomous supportive climate in a co-curricular sporting activity (CCA) setting. Specifically, the impact of the intervention on the participants (student-athletes) behaviours was examined. This project used self-determination theory (SDT) and achievement goal theory (AGT) as theoretical frameworks for examining the motivations of actors and the motivational climates in the physical activity settings. According to self-determination theory, human flourishment is facilitated by the satisfaction of three fundamental psychological needs, which are the needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. The major theoretical tenet of achievement goal theory is that individuals strive to demonstrate ability and avoid showing incompetence and has been successful in explaining and predicting beliefs, affects, responses, and behaviours in achievement settings. In Singapore, PE teachers perform inter-related roles such as teaching PE and sports coaching (CCA). The Singapore Education Ministry's policies provide guidelines for PE teachers to engage students to be more physically active in school. Nevertheless, there is a possible mismatch between policies and the practices of PE teacher-coaches in schools due to external pressures (e.g., winning) which might influences pedagogical practices. The present investigations were conducted to enhance understanding of the dual roles of PE teacher-coaches in Singapore secondary schools; that is teaching and coaching. In pursuit of this aim, the following two studies were conducted. In Study 1, the motivational profiles and the motivational climates created by the PE teacher-coaches in Singapore secondary schools were investigated. Employing a quantitative methodology, 98 PE teacher-coaches and 882 student-athletes from 32 Singapore secondary schools took part in this study. Results from a mixed-model analysis of variance (ANOVA) to investigate role and gender differences in the motivational profile of the PE teacher-coaches revealed there were significant main effects for role and types of motivations as well as for the interaction effect between role and types of motivations. However, there was no significant main effect for gender differences among the PE teacher-coaches. A significant interaction indicated that amotivation (AM) in teaching role was lower than that in coaching role, whereas non-self-determine extrinsic motivation (non-SDEM) in the teaching role was higher than that in coaching role. Nonetheless, a significant interaction revealed that self-determined motivation (SDM) in the teaching role was higher than in the coaching role. Contrary to the proposed hypothesis, it was found that the PE teacher-coaches in Singapore secondary schools generally present a significantly higher levels of SDM than non-SDEM and AM in both contexts. In this study, a key retention and motivational strategy used by the Ministry of Education (Singapore) is to reward teachers based on performance of schools with monetary incentives (e.g., connect plan, monetary performance bonus); however, these rewards did not appear to influence the SDM of PE teacher-coaches. Moreover, similar patterns were found where PE teacher-coaches and student-athletes alike reported a higher form of mastery climate than performance climate in both settings. However, student-athletes perceived a stronger performance climate compared to that reported by the PE teacher-coaches in both settings. Study 2 involved an intervention programme in the development of an autonomy-supportive learning environment in the coaching context to examine whether a change in teacher-coaches' behaviours (i.e., employing the seven pedagogical behaviours proposed by Mageau & Vallenrand, 2003) produced satisfaction of the psychological needs, adaptive forms of motivations and subsequent positive motivational outcomes. PE teacher-coaches (n=3) and the student-athletes under their responsibility (n=70) participated in this second study. Two PE teacher-coaches and 54 student-athletes, from two schools, were involved in the intervention programme while the remaining participants were in the control group setting. After a 24-week intervention programme, the study found that student-athletes' perceptions of their coaches' autonomy-supportive behaviours were significantly increased through the intervention program. Furthermore, compared with the control group, student-athletes' in the intervention group indicated that their perceptions of SDM and motivational consequences (reduced boredom and reduced effort) were significantly improved over the intervention period. Further evaluation using path analysis assessed the motivational sequence described by Mageau and Vallerand (2003) and Ntoumais (2001). Changes in scores pre- to post- intervention revealed that an autonomy-supportive environment was positively related to two of the three basic psychological needs (i.e., perceived autonomy and perceived relatedness) but not perceived competence for both intervention schools in comparison with the control school. However, the model showed that perceived competence was positively associated with SDM and non-SDEM at the post intervention data. Perceived autonomy was highly correlated with the three broad forms of motivations: positive associations with SDM and non-SDEM and negative associations with AM. Importantly, the indirect effects of autonomy-supportive environment on perceived effort via to the satisfaction of autonomy need and SDM (i.e., autonomy-supportive environment -> autonomy -> SDM -> effort) were tenable in the model based on the intervention groups' data at post intervention, whereas the same indirect effects were untenable in the model based on the both groups at baseline data. In conclusion, this research has contributed to our understanding of the motivational process of the PE teacher-coaches, and the motivational climate they created in teaching and coaching contexts in Singapore schools. The key findings revealed that an autonomy supportive environment had a positive effect on student-athletes' satisfaction of psychological needs. Perceived autonomy and competence and was found to be a significant predictor of SDM and non-SDEM, thus ultimately, enhanced their perceived effort towards their participation in the CCA. The results from this research project support previous argument by Ryan and Deci (2002) which suggested that relatedness may be a more distal determinate of SDM relative to perceived competence and autonomy. Moreover, the findings of this project also support previous research (Biddle, 1994; Feltz, 1988) that showed, perceive competence plays a central role in all forms of physical activity and thus play an important role in determining SDM. 2012-02-02T00:00:00Z Mohamed Aris http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:242775 Rock breakage is a highly energy intensive process for the mining industry. As energy becomes more expensive and there is an increasing drive toward sustainability the relationship between the energy efficiently of rock breakage processes become ever more important. As such, much effort is directed toward the development of predict models for breakage to maximise the efficiency of the process with respect to energy. To date, most models of rock breakage have focused on the correlation between energy and the efficiency of the breakage with little focus on how the rock breakage processes occur. In order to examine the cracking of rock samples in more detail a selection of small cylindrical samples 13.4 mm in diameter and 16mm long were tested. Samples of sandstone, basalt, marble and granite were tested from various quarries around Brisbane. A combination x-ray tomography and microscopy was used to map the damage that occurs between impacts and the results were correlated with acoustic measurements. The measurements enabled quantification of how energy is absorbed by rock samples v from low energy impacts and how it correlated with the high frequency acoustic emissions. For granite and basalt samples, it was found that upright loaded samples required more impacts to break at the same energy compared with sideways loaded samples. For brittle samples, the crack velocity was also shown to be higher for samples impacted in the sideways loading orientation. Analysis of the non contact acoustic measurement showed that there was no correlation between different frequency bandwidth and the energy applied or absorbed during the breakage event. Audio emissions above 5-15 kHz correlated well with crack velocity in the two brittle rocks tested. An analysis of the ultrasonic data using a short time period shows that the onset of cracking can be determined by using high frequency audio data. Analysis of brittle samples showed no apparent changes to the particle structure until the sample fails. In non-brittle sandstone samples, changes to the voids around the impact area are observed during repeated impacts. Texture related breakage is observed to occur, with tensile cracks shown to propagate around inclusions in both the granite and basalt rock samples. The contact area (between the impactor and the sample) is also important as there was cracking and fracturing around the impact area followed by tensile cracking outside the contact area. Simulation of the size of the contact area, using Hertz Midlin theory shows that the contact area stays approximately the same size for all sized particles and therefore the breakage around the contact area becomes more significant as the particle size gets smaller. A reanalysis of current comminution theories show that the t10 parameter is proportional to the surface area created using an impact for any given size fraction tested. A reanalysis of the work from Banini, 2000 shows that the size dependence that was observed is more likely an artefact of using the t10 parameter rather than surface area created. Using the data from Pauw and Mare, 1988 it can be concluded that if breakage occurs the surface area created is proportional to the energy applied vi on the single impact. If there is no breakage then there is no or little new surfaces created within the sample. A further examination of the work from Banini, 2000 shows that there is evidence of texture related breakage in 2 out of the 7 ore types tested, with self similar relationships not observed in all size fractions that were tested. This is consistent with some minerals cleaving along predetermined cleavage planes (such as Broken hill Galena ore), which are no longer evident as the samples get smaller. Naranayan (1985) and Awachie (1983) observed the size distribution of progeny particles had a self similar relationship. In 5 out of 7 rock types tested by Banini, it was found that the relationship between the t75 and the t10 parameter was uniform for all sized particles, however in 2 out of 7 this relationship changed. A cause of this is likely to be variability of rock texture of these samples. There have been a number of breakage models used in comminution to predict the relationship between the energy applied and the breakage achieved. The models are empirical in nature based on the results of controlled testing. They do not examine the breakage mechanisms. As energy efficiency becomes more important with the rising cost of electricity and a continued focus on sustainability, there is a need to understand breakage better so that the platform for improving breakage methods can be set. In order to examine the cracking to rock samples in more detail, small cylindrical rock samples of 13.4mm in diameter and approximately 16mm in length were impacted, repeatedly at low energies until the sample failed. The aims of this thesis is to use the short impact load cell to measure the energy and stress applied to the sample through repeated impacts and use acoustic measurement and x-ray tomography to quantify the damage that occurs to the samples between impacts. The energy that was applied to the samples was selected so that the samples did not generally fail on the first impact to the sample. The main aim of this these was quantifying how energy is absorbed by rock samples from low energy impacts. The information from the Short Impact Load Cell was used to measure how energy was absorbed by the rock samples. Audio and ultrasonic emissions were measured to vii show if there was any damage accruing to the rock samples from these low energy impacts. X-ray tomography and microscopy was used as a second means of quantifying damage to samples from impacts of low energy. 2011-06-23T00:00:00Z Rodney Hocking http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:278415 2012-08-01T00:00:00Z Indriasari, Rahayu http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:245615 The notion of parliamentary democracy lies in the supremacy of the legislature where it is the source of policy, law and power; however, the capacity of the legislature to hold the executive accountable has been questioned in academic and political circles. It is a commonplace opinion nowadays that legislative institutions have become redundant or ‘rubber stamps’ of the executive because they are ineffective in providing surveillance of the executive branch of government. The decline in the powers and status of the legislature is usually attributed to the existence of disciplined party structures and the level of resources commanded by the executive. Others argue a contrary view that legislatures have not declined but rather adapted to new situations and developed new legislative mechanisms to influence and scrutinise the executive in the contemporary period. Most scholars have noted that the relative powers of legislatures may be easy to discuss in general terms but it is difficult to make definitive generalisations without detailed examination of specific cases. Therefore, rather than merely speculating from the divergent theories on the effectiveness of legislatures, this study takes a nuanced approach to the performance of legislatures by comparing two cases from widely different contexts. It is accepted that party organisations and the expanded range of government activity have diminished the wider constitutional functions in both contexts. The main questions investigated here relate to the capacity of legislatures to influence the behaviour of the executive and scrutinise its decisions - what factors make legislatures effective or ineffective and in what areas and how can their effectiveness be increased? The two cases selected for the study are the state Legislative Assembly of Queensland (Australia) and the state Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh (India). Archival documents were analysed and interviews were conducted with former and current Members of Parliament and Members of the Legislative Assembly in both places. The mechanisms for exerting the legislature’s influence or ensuring executive accountability operate through various parliamentary devices and procedures which were therefore the primary focuses of the thesis. The devices examined in the two cases were based on Reid and Forrest’s classification of legislative procedures and devices. These are financial legislation which includes budgetary debates and scrutiny of the estimates; non-financial legislation which includes scrutiny of bills; and non-legislative measures which include parliamentary questions, debates/discussion during plenary session and the work of parliamentary committees. The two case studies provide four conclusions. Firstly, the legislature as an institution has not declined in all aspects as it is still relevant and useful for functioning democracies. It performs several functions which no other institution can perform. Secondly, parliamentary scrutiny and accountability of the executive was found to be relatively weak in both cases; however, the legislatures were able to effectively discuss and ventilate public grievances and influence the executive to some extent. Thirdly, executive domination and manipulation of the legislature was observed in both cases, which meant that accountability functions operated only to an extent that they did not cause political embarrassment or challenge the survival of the executive. Fourthly, in Queensland the perceived ‘decline of parliament’ was associated with members’ perception of its role as a ‘theatre’ for serving party political interests and individual career advancement whereas in Uttar Pradesh the decline was due to members’ disengagement from parliamentary business compared to other roles. The thesis will conclude by suggesting recommendations based on this analysis to improve the effectiveness of the legislatures in scrutinising and influencing the executive. 2011-08-16T00:00:00Z Suman Ojha http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:243138 In the sport of motorcycle racing, where participants reach speeds in excess of 300km/hour, it can be expected that they exhibit different personality characteristics and behaviour to participants in other less extreme types of sports. This study sought to examine the motivations for participation in the extreme sport of motorcycle road racing in Australia. More specifically, the study investigated the relationship between the theoretical constructs of serious leisure, flow state, sensation seeking personality and the sport motivations of motorcycle riders in Australia. A mixed method approach was used with qualitative interviews being conducted with an expert panel of motorcycle riders to initially determine the underlying concepts that related to the sport of motorcycle racing. The analysis of interview data and subsequent review of the relevant literature revealed that the concepts relating to serious leisure, the flow state, sensation seeking personality dispositions, and sport motivation were appropriate underlying theories to explore in the second phase of the study. A number of standardised scales and survey items that had been successfully used in previous studies were used to collect data with respect to the research questions posed for this study. The survey instrument was posted to all licensed motorcycle racers in Australia with a response of 370 completed surveys (27%) recorded. The mean age of the respondents was 40 years of age, with the majority of respondents (97%) being male. Motorcycle road racing was vi the principal sport for 85% of respondents with their involvement in road racing extending for an average of nine years. The first research question for the study sought to determine if riders exhibited the sensation seeking personality trait and did it act as a key motivator for engagement in motorcycle road racing? Male riders achieved very high E-Thrill and Adventure subscale (E-TAS) scores and these high scores may be a key to determining the personality characteristics of potential racers. The second research question tested whether motorcycle road racing competitors exhibited deviant behaviour. The results found that younger riders were more likely to sustain injuries than older riders, and that the more injuries that were sustained, the higher their score on the E-Thrill and Adventure subscale (E-TAS). This indicates that the changing sensations from injury were a major motivating factor for study respondents despite the pain involved. The third research question asked whether motorcycle racers were more highly intrinsically or extrinsically motivated to engage in this sport. Study results revealed that Australian motorcycle road racers were more highly intrinsically motivated than they were extrinsically motivated. In fact, all three intrinsic motivation measures rated in the top three rankings. This result would indicate that motorcycle racers freely chose to participate, value the competition and judge it to be important to them as individuals. The fourth research question posed in this study related to whether riders regarded road racing as a serious or casual leisure activity. A significant positive correlation was found between the ranking of a rider in a rider hierarchy and their serious leisure scores. This finding indicates that riders in professional teams were more likely to consider motorcycle road racing as a form of serious leisure. This finding also served to confirm the importance of the second criteria of serious leisure or study respondents, which was ‘a tendency to have a career in the chosen field’. The fifth research question sought to explore how motorcycle road racers experienced the flow state? Study findings revealed that younger riders were more likely to experience a high flow state as they competed on the track. This finding is consistent with other study results which reinforced the fact that motorcycle road racers reported a very high subscale score for the autotelic dimension of the Flow State Scale, which is defined as the sum of all the other flow experiences. In summary, the findings of this study make a significant contribution to advancing an understanding of the motivations and personality characteristics that Australian motorcycle road racers possess. Firstly, the thesis itself is the first comprehensive review of its type of the motivations for why individuals engage in the sport of motorcycle racing in Australia and vii reflects a critique of literature from a diverse range of sources not previously undertaken. Secondly, a range of motivational theories have been applied to the extreme sport of motorcycle racing and the study findings offer an insight into the sport not previously available. Thirdly, the main personality traits that are critical to explaining why individuals sustain their involvement as a motorcycle road racer in Australia have been identified. This, in itself, is an important study outcome as motorcycle road racing event organisers need to be fully cognizant of the fact that by their engagement, riders simply want the opportunity to be on the track racing, and to try their best to win if at all possible. Any prize money that they might receive via their efforts is a secondary concern and is not considered by them as a primary motivating factor. Rather, study results revealed that in fact it is the level of intrinsic motivation experienced that keeps the riders returning to such an extreme sport, even if injured, as racing is what each individual freely seeks to do. 2011-06-30T00:00:00Z Marilyn Jan Lewis http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:281833 2012-09-13T00:00:00Z Wise, Graham http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:292235 2013-02-24T16:51:54Z Paul, Mathew http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:287553 2012-12-19T14:14:28Z Anderson, Colin http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:273352 2012-04-30T00:00:00Z Steindl, Stanley R. (Stanley Richard) http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:283773 2012-10-23T00:00:00Z Jensen, Birger. http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:221675 2010-11-19T00:00:00Z Wilkins, Trevor A. http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:196925 Inlet-injection was motivated by the possibility for skin-friction reduction in the combustion chamber of a flight style, three-dimensional, scramjet engine. High Mach number flight, where skin friction in the combustion chamber is a significant proportion of the overall drag, is the regime of interest for this type of reduction. This is a result of high Mach number supersonic flow within the combustion chamber, coupled with high densities due to the compression process. The flight condition of interest was chosen to be Mach 8.0 at an altitude of 30km. This choice was dictated by near-term flight-testing capabilities. The approach was to design an inlet with a reduced contraction ratio. This would produce a relatively low-density combustion-chamber flow, that would, in turn, lead to lower viscous drag. Due to low temperatures in the combustion chamber, as a result of the reduced compression, a novel method of ignition was required. This fluid-dynamic ignition technique made use of inlet injection together with flow non-uniformities generated by the inlet. The inlet chosen for this purpose was a rectangular-to-elliptical-shape-transition inlet or REST inlet. The focus of the investigation, was therefore, to determine the potential for performance improvement using inlet injection of fuel. The general approach to the investigation was experimental, using a scramjet model consisting of inlet, combustion chamber and a truncated nozzle. Flow-path thrust-potential was used as the primary performance parameter, where the term `thrust-potential' is used to indicate the lack of full expansion. A secondary performance metric was combustion efficiency, determined by matching one-dimensional analysis to experimental pressure distributions. In addition to inlet-injection, conventional injection into the combustion-chamber was tested as the performance baseline. Based on findings from these tests, two additional methods of injection were investigated both having a combination of inlet and combustion-chamber injection. The general findings showed that inlet injection, in comparison to combustion-chamber injection, produced an increase in performance in terms of thrust-potential and combustion efficiency for supersonic combustion. This occurred over a range of equivalence ratios up to 1.0. However, the maximum thrust developed by inlet injection was limited by engine unstart. In terms of the maximum thrust-potential, combustion-chamber injection exceeded that of inlet injection but significantly higher fuelling was required and poor combustion efficiency persisted. In order to offset the limit in thrust production due to unstart, an alternative fuelling method was implemented. This took the form of partial injection of the fuel in the combustion chamber in combination with inlet injection. An increase in thrust-potential and combustion efficiency as a result of increased fuel coverage in areas of the combustion chamber, which were fuel lean under inlet-injection. A thrust potential level similar to that of combustion-chamber injection was achieved with significantly higher combustion efficiency and consequently a lower fuelling level. This type of combined-injection is an attractive option for fuel delivery at the nominal flight condition. An additional finding for combustion-chamber and combined injection was that very high equivalence ratios led to separated flow in the combustion chamber and isolator. This was a result of excessive heat release producing an adverse pressure gradient in the engine. This mode of operation showed high levels of thrust-potential at equivalence ratios in excess of 1.0. Although interesting, these findings were outside the scope of the investigation since the flow within the combustion chamber is no longer purely supersonic. 2010-02-26T00:00:00Z James Turner http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:222869 2010-11-29T00:00:00Z Wongpinunwatana, Nitaya. http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:158019 Stepped chutes have been used as hydraulic structures for more than 3.5 millennia for different purposes: For example, to dissipate energy, to enhance aeration rate in the flow and to comply with aesthetical functions. They can be found acting as spillways in dams and weirs, as energy dissipators in artificial channels, gutters and rivers, and as aeration enhancers in water treatment plants and fountains. Spillways are used to prevent dam overtopping caused by floodwaters. Their design has changed through the centuries. In ancient times, some civilizations used steps to dissipate energy in open channels and dam over-falls in a similar fashion as natural cascades. However, in the first half of the twentieth century, the use of concrete became popular and the hydraulic jump was introduced as an efficient energy dissipator. In turn, the use of a stepped geometry became obsolete and was replaced with smooth chutes followed by hydraulic jump stilling basins. In recent years, new construction techniques and materials (Roller Compacted Concrete RCC, rip-rap gabions, wire-meshed gabions, etc.) together with the development of new applications (e.g. re-aeration cascades, fish ladders and embankment overtopping protection or secondary spillways) have allowed cheaper construction of stepped chutes, increasing the interest in stepped chute design. During the last three decades, research in the hydraulics of stepped spillways has been very active. However, studies prior to 1993 neglected the effect of free-surface aeration. A number of studies since this time have focused on air-water flows in steep chutes (θ ≈ 50o). But experimental data is still scarce, and the hydraulic performance of stepped cascades with moderate slope is not yet understood. This study details an experimental investigation of physical air-water flow characteristics down a stepped spillway conducted in two laboratory models with moderate slopes: the first model was a 3.15 m long stepped chute with a 15.9o slope comprising two interchangeable-height steps (h = 0.1 m and h = 0.05 m); the second model was a 2.5 m long, stepped channel with a 21.8o slope comprising 10 steps (h = 0.1 m). Different arrangements of turbulence manipulators (vanes) were also placed throughout the chute in the second model. A broad range of discharges within transition and skimming flow regimes was investigated to obtain a reliable representation of the air-water flow properties. Measurements were conducted using single and double tip conductivity probes at multiple span wise locations and at streamwise distances along the cavity between step edges to obtain a complete three-dimensional representation of the flow. Although the present study was conducted for two moderate slope chutes (θ = 15.9º & 21.8o), it is believed that the outcomes are valid for a wider range of chute geometry and flow conditions. The purpose of this study is to improve the understanding of turbulent air-water flows cascading down moderate slope stepped chutes, and gain new understandings of the interactions between aeration rate, flow turbulence and energy dissipation; scale effects are also investigated. The study provides new, original insights into air-water turbulent flows cascading down moderate slope stepped spillways not foreseen in prior studies, thus contributing to improve criterion designs. It also presents an extensive experimental database (available in a CD-ROM attached at the end of this thesis) and a new design criterion that can be used by designers and researchers to improve the operation of stepped chutes with moderate slopes. The present thesis work included a twofold approach. Firstly, the study provided a detailed investigation of the energy dissipative properties of a stepped channel, based upon detailed airwater flow characteristics measurements conducted with sub-millimetric conductivity probes. Secondly, the study focused on the microscopic scale properties of the airwater flow, using the experimental data to quantify the microscopic scale physical processes (e.g. momentum transfer, shear layer development, vertical mixing, airbubbles/ water-droplets break-up and coalescence etc.) that are believed to increase the flow resistance in stepped canals. The study highlighted the tridimensionality of skimming flows and hinted new means of enhancing flow resistance by manipulating turbulence in the stepped chute. Basic dimensional analysis results emphasized that physical modelling of stepped chutes is more sensitive to scale effects than classical smooth-invert chute studies and thus suggested that the extrapolation of results obtained from heavily scaled experimental models should be avoided. The present study also demonstrated that alterations of flow recirculation and fluid exchanges between free-stream and cavity flow affects drastically form losses and in turn the rate of energy dissipation. The introduction of vanes demonstrated simple turbulence manipulation and form drag modification that could lead to more efficient designs in terms of energy rate dissipation without significant structural load on the stepped chute. 2008-11-21T00:00:00Z Gonzalez, Carlos A. http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:286410 2012-11-28T00:00:00Z Dam Truong http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:106690 2007-08-24T00:00:00Z Rajapaksha, Upendra. http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:158117 2008-11-21T00:00:00Z Morgan, Denise (Denise Ann) http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:158123 The purpose of this critical commentary is to explore the concept of the composerperformer relationship. In order to do so, it will consider some famous composer-violinist partnerships, which have produced repertoire reflecting both musicians’ contribution - Johannes Brahms and Josef Joachim, Dmitri Shostakovich and David Oistrakh, and Alfred Schnittke and Gidon Kremer. In addition, the commentary also seeks to ground itself in my own experience, and document the process of commissioning and performing a solo work for violin. It explores the relationship between composer Joseph Twist and myself as a violinist, specifically relating to the work performed in my final recital in March 2005, and allows me to experience first hand the composer-performer dynamic and compare my experience with those I have researched. 2008-11-21T00:00:00Z Morgan, Christy J. http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:290149 2013-01-28T13:51:17Z Lathouras, Athena http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:158151 Occupational stress research can be characterised as embarking on a new chapter driven by varying work environments and job characteristics that have resulted from increased globalisation, changing socio-political developments, and technological advancement. Consequently, there is a need to ensure that theories of occupational stress remain relevant and current with respect to modern organisations and their employees. This situation has prompted researchers to propose new theoretical perspectives and methodologies in order to facilitate a better understanding of the work stressor-employee adjustment process in organisations. In this respect, researchers have identified the need to investigate the role of broader contextual factors within the dynamic transaction between the individual and the environment in order to more fully understand the occupational stress process (e.g., Cooper, Dewe, & O’Driscoll, 2001). One such potential moderator is organisational culture (i.e., the guiding assumptions, shared values, and artefacts that are representative of an organisation; Schein, 1985). Organisational culture has been referred to as an influential organisational force, pervasive and powerful (Howard, 1998). However, a review of literature reveals caveats in the knowledge of organisational culture and its relative influence on the experience of work stressors and the adjustment of employees. Research has yet to extensively examine the work stressor-employee adjustment relationship as a function of organisational culture. In this thesis, it is posited that different types of organisational culture might be associated with different stressors that influence employee adjustment. Such a proposition adds another dimension to existing occupational stress research. Overall, this thesis sought to investigate the relationships between organisational culture, workplace stressors, and employee adjustment. In order to conduct this research, Study 1 employed primarily qualitative methodology to initially explore potential differences relating to organisational cultures and workplace stressors. To further explore the potential relationships identified within Study 1, quantitative data (combined from three organisations) formed the basis for three separate sets of analyses presented in Chapters 4, 5, and 6. Each study is briefly reviewed below. First, interview data was collected from six organisations representing the four organisational cultures (N = 77) identified by the Competing Values Framework (CVF: Quinn & Rohrbaugh, 1983); a framework that combines two axes (structure - flexibility vs. control, and focus - internal vs. external) to create four organisational culture types. This study aimed to determine whether manifestations and perceptions of work stressors differed as a function of the four organisational cultures. For each culture type, between 13 and 24 employees were interviewed. The results revealed that work stressors within organisational cultures were manifested as a function of the primary organisational values, and that human relations culture stressors were additionally related to others not abiding the primary workplace values. Further, results revealed that several employees (within the flexible-type cultures especially) described workplace events more as a challenge than stressful, and that these employees reported a similarity between themselves and the organisation. These findings suggested that a person’s fit or congruence with the organisational culture might be an important facet of the investigation of organisational culture, perceptions of work stressors, and employee adjustment. This exploratory investigation informed the three separate sets of analyses conducted in Study 2 of this thesis which were all based on combined data collected from three participating organisations (N = 256). First, Study 2a sought to further investigate the relationships between organisational culture, work stressors, and employee adjustment using questionnaire methodology in a sample of employees drawn from three different organisations (N = 256). Employees were grouped based on their dominant perceptions of flexible (i.e., human relations and open systems) and control (i.e., rational goal and internal process) organisational cultures. It was predicted that perceptions of a flexible culture would be associated with more favourable levels of organisational, job, and social stressors, as well as employee adjustment (employee health and job-related attitudes), compared to the group of employees who perceived their workplace to be high on control characteristics. Results of MANCOVA analyses in Study 2a revealed that ratings of organisational stressors (e.g., lack of resources) and social stressors (e.g., interpersonal conflict), and job-related attitudes (e.g., job satisfaction, organisational commitment, intentions to leave) were significantly more favourable for those perceiving flexible- compared to controltype organisational cultures. A significant multivariate effect was not found for job stressors or employee health; however, mean levels for all stressor and employee adjustment outcomes were more favourable in flexible- than control-type organisational cultures, overall. Responding to the themes of Study 1 relating to the notion of person-environment fit, Study 2b investigated the extent that person-organisation value congruence predicted employee adjustment. Drawing on scant research, it was first expected that highendorsement congruence of person and organisational values would be associated with higher levels of job-related attitudes. Extending the scope of existing research, Study 2b also sought to determine the effects of value congruence on psychological health and physiological stress-related symptoms. Providing some support for hypotheses, polynomial regression analyses revealed that congruence effects associated with jobrelated attitudes were generally most favourable for high-value endorsement congruence. This effect was not replicated with respect to psychological health, which was highest for only very high and very low value endorsement congruence. Overall, support for value congruence effects was relatively weak. Lastly, Study 2c further examined the ‘person-organisation match’ theme and investigated the effects of direct perceptions of fit (i.e., subjective fit) with organisational goals and values. It was predicted that higher perceptions of subjective fit with the organisation’s values and goals would mitigate the effect of work stressors on employee adjustment. The results revealed considerable support for the buffering effects of high subjective fit on the negative impacts of work stressors on psychological health, physiological symptoms, job satisfaction, and intentions to leave. Interestingly, results also revealed that the buffering effect favoured those perceiving low subjective fit on psychological health; those perceiving high subjective fit were not protected against the effects of perceived lack of training on their psychological health, suggesting that perceptions related to feeling under-trained had a more deleterious psychological impact on those who perceived themselves to fit within the organisational culture. This unexpected result is discussed in terms of a possible perceived breach of psychological contract for those perceiving high subjective fit with the organisational culture. Overall, the results of this program of research have several significant theoretical implications. First, the results demonstrate the considerable influence of organisational culture on work stressor-adjustment relationship as described by transactional theories of stress and coping (e.g., Lazarus, 1990; Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). Indeed, this thesis provides evidence suggesting that organisational culture can have an influence on both perceptions of work stressors and employee adjustment. Second, whilst supporting the existence of the four CVF organisational cultures, the results also indicated that perceptions of flexible- and control-type cultural values were most influential on the work stressor-adjustment relationship. Lastly, the results of this thesis extend the scope and application of person-environment fit theories relating to value congruence and subjective perceptions of fit. As such, the findings suggest that an important element in the investigation of organisational culture and employee adjustment is the degree to which the individual matches the underlying cultural values and goals. 2008-11-21T00:00:00Z Newton, Cameron John http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:286739 2012-12-05T00:00:00Z Leung, Kenneth K. P. http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:281298 2012-09-07T00:00:00Z Alvi, Effat http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:240285 2011-04-19T15:33:28Z Hodkinson, Christopher Stuart. http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:106373 2007-08-24T00:00:00Z Scholl, Lesa Anne http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:106957 2007-08-24T00:00:00Z Guan, Zhengrong. http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:155142 2008-09-18T00:00:00Z Mr Simon Parkin http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:105983 2007-08-24T17:55:42Z Al-Issa, Ali Said Mohammed. http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:158383 From his first starring role as the macho Jean-Claude in Bertrand Blier’s controversial Les Valseuses (1973), Gérard Depardieu’s imposing presence has left an indelible impression on cinema audiences – not only in his native France, but across the world. Through his enormous body of work (over 150 films), his enormous body has become the object of the collective gaze. This body, however, is the site of a paradox that has achieved the status of myth – rather than functioning as an unambiguous signifier of machismo, Depardieu’s power to fascinate the gaze appears to rest more on his ability to project a “feminine” fragility and vulnerability. This “brute au coeur tendre” (brute with the tender heart), as he has become universally known, takes apparent delight in challenging the boundaries of sex and gender – as attested by his extraordinarily diverse choice of roles, his unique performance style, and the ubiquitous references to his so-called femininity in countless media texts. Depardieu’s negotiation of gender has not necessarily been received as subversive. Ginette Vincendeau, for example, has argued that the actor’s incorporation of the feminine works to marginalise “real” women, while at the same time reinforcing his own (very heterosexual, very hegemonic) masculinity. It will be the contention of this thesis, however, that such arguments are unnecessarily reductive, in that they function to reinforce, rather than deconstruct, essentialist, binary-ordered notions of gender. In order to avoid the limitations of this approach, and to more thoroughly investigate the complexities of Depardieu’s persona and the diverse range of masculinities that he embodies, this thesis will apply aspects of Jungian theory (specifically, Jung’s theory of contrasexuality) to the close reading of a number of key films in the actor’s corpus. The final two chapters, which specifically address Depardieu’s embodiment of the queer, will also draw on Judith Butler’s theory of performativity. The plurality of gender being a key tenet of this investigation, the films presented for analysis have been chosen to represent a range of masculinities that Depardieu has embodied thus far. Moreover, to better reflect the diversity of the actor’s corpus, the selection has been drawn from a variety of genres – including auteur, mainstream Hollywood, comedy, drama, and heritage films. In contrast to the narrow focus of most Freudian-influenced approaches to gender, Jungian theory allows for plurality and fluidity by positioning the gender binary within the subject. From this broadened perspective, Depardieu’s relationship with the feminine can be understood as an ongoing performance of the process of individuation, the archetypal quest for wholeness through the balanced integration of masculine and feminine. 2008-11-21T00:00:00Z Ward, Wendy H. http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:158023 Specification animation has become a popular technique in industry, particularly for validation in model-based design processes. Animation tools provide the ability to explore and visualise the behaviour of a model without needing to study its internal workings. Formal refinement techniques should also be of interest to industry since they support verifiably correct transformations of system models towards implementation. So far, however, refinement techniques are not widely used. Their application requires a high degree of mathematical skill, even with the currently available tool support. Better tool support is needed to make refinement techniques accessible to industry. In this thesis we investigate the application of existing specification animation and visualisation tools to problems in refinement theory. We show how animation and visualisation can be used to support verification, by refinement, and validation, by comparing the behaviour of a refined specification against its abstract specification. Such techniques can be used to explain and/or improve the understanding of a refinement and to check for the presence of errors in a refinement, for example, before attempting a proof. In the most challenging cases, data refinements, the designer needs to supply an abstraction relation in order to prove the refinement. We initially assume that an abstraction relation is provided as an input to the verification and validation tasks. However, finding abstraction relations is hard, and is currently a matter of trial and error. We therefore study the problem of finding abstraction relations. We show that, if an abstraction relation exists, there is always a unique weakest abstraction relation and at least one minimal abstraction relation, and we describe algorithms for finding both the weakest abstraction relation and minimal abstraction relations. These algorithms can be applied to small finite-state systems to produce abstraction relations in terms of explicit values of state variables. We then investigate a symbolic algorithm for finding abstraction relations, which can be applied to systems with infinite states, to produce abstraction relations in predicate form. The theory and the algorithms we develop thus make it possible for us to extend our animation-based verification and validation techniques so that they can be used without providing a complete abstraction relation. Additionally our extended techniques can help a designer construct an abstraction relation or check a proposed one. 2008-11-21T00:00:00Z Robinson, Neil John http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:205787 The Australian paralysis tick, Ixodes holocyclus causes a potentially fatal paralysis in domestic animals, livestock and humans with companion animals (mainly dogs) most commonly affected. Current treatment regimes include administration of a commercial tick anti-serum (TAS), prepared as hyperimmune serum in dogs, to neutralise the effects of the toxin. However, each new batch must be standardised using an expensive and highly subjective bioassay performed in neonatal mice. There is currently an urgent need for a more cost effective and rapid in vitro assay that can be more objectively and accurately quantified. Further understanding of the composition of the toxin molecule is also required to develop toxin-specific reagents necessary for these assays. One of the main objectives of this study was to develop a suitable immunoassay to replace the existing mouse bioassay for assessing batches of tick anti-sera for use in tick paralysis therapy in dogs. Initially an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was established to detect and quantify antibody specific for I. holocyclus toxin in dog sera. Using a partially purified antigen extracted from I. holocyclus salivary glands, good discrimination was achieved between reactive (hyperimmune) and non-reactive (naïve) sera. The hyperimmune dog sera reacted very strongly with the antigen compared to negligible reactions of serum from dogs not exposed to I. holocyclus. The reactions of hyperimmune sera were also significantly weaker to a non-toxin antigen control extracted from the salivary glands of the non-toxic tick Rhipicephalus microplus, indicating the assay was detecting toxin-specific responses. Furthermore, each of the hyperimmune sera that reacted strongly and specifically with the I. holocyclus antigen in the ELISA also strongly neutralised toxin in the mouse bioassay. Together these findings support the suitability of this ELISA for assessing the potency of batches of commercial dog hyperimmune sera for use as therapy for tick paralysis in dogs. Sera from dogs that were experimentally infested with ticks and sera from patient dogs, presenting at veterinary clinics with signs of tick paralysis, were also screened for antibodies to I. holocyclus antigen using the ELISA. Twenty-eight out of 29 sera from animals with single or multiple exposures to ticks failed to recognise the I. holocyclus antigen indicating the ELISA is not suitable as a diagnostic test to detect toxin-specific antibodies in animals with limited exposure to I. holocyclus infestation. A panel of toxin-specific monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) was produced as research tools to analyse and purify tick toxin components. Rats were successfully immunised against tick toxin using a combination of inoculation of partially purified salivary gland antigen and exposure to tick infestation. The latter approach preserved the native confirmation of the toxin using a natural route of immunisation and rats were chosen due to their high tolerance of multiple tick infestations over several days. While fusion of rat spleen cells with mouse myeloma cells has been reported several times in the literature, the resulting hybridomas are unstable with fastidious culture requirements. Optimisation of the culture conditions revealed that most rat-mouse hybridoma lines grew best in serum-free medium supplemented with 5% foetal bovine serum. Of 600 hybridomas produced, only 12 were shown to be specific for the Ixodes antigen, as determined by ELISA. A selection of these hybridomas representing various patterns of affinity and/or antigen specificity were further analysed for toxin-neutralising ability in a mouse bioassay. Notably, the most potent toxin-neutralising mAb in mice, showed a specific but relatively moderate reaction to Ixodes antigen in the ELISA. The most potent toxin-neutralising mAbs inactivated toxin as strongly as the commercial TAS used for immunotherapy in dogs with tick paralysis. This suggests that mAbs may present an alternative source of immunotherapy, providing a potentially endless supply of a highly consistent reagent and negating the need to use live animals for both the production of tick antiserum and the continual testing of reagent batches. The toxin-neutralising mAbs were also used to analyse I. holocyclus toxin in polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) and Western blot to identify specific toxin proteins. The most potent neutralising mAbs consistently recognised high MW proteins (100-200 kDa) in a smeared pattern. Although this was contrary to previous reports of low molecular weight components (3-5 kDa) in holocyclotoxin, this study was the first to use mAbs prepared to native toxin. The large molecular weight structures likely represent presucursors to, or complexes of the smaller peptides, previously identified. When the Toxin-neutralising mAbs were assessed as ligands to affinity purify toxin components from crude Ixodes SG extracts, toxin components of 110 and 32 kDa were consistently identified. These purified proteins represent good candidates for N-terminal sequencing to further identify the toxin components in I.holocyclus salivary glands. 2010-06-02T00:00:00Z Sonja Hall-Mendelin http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:284155 The first Queensland railway was almost entirely imported. It relied on imported expertise - the contractor was Peto Brassey & Betts, a firm based in England, with a peripatetic Irish consultant Abraham Fitzgibbon as Chief Engineer and a London agent Sir Charles Fox appointed to select materials. Many workers were brought from Britain and most of the materials were imported, including complete pre-fabricated bridges and buildings. In past studies, the railway has been treated as a local project but this thesis argues that it should be viewed as part of a major global movement. After the collapse of the boom period of railway building in Britain, engineers and contractors began increasingly to work in other countries, taking British experience and British practices with them. They often had existing personal and professional connections which were maintained as they travelled around the globe. In the Australian colonies, these connections influenced some of the early decision-making – the engineering advice in Queensland, for example, resulted in the importation of some expensive and unnecessary items; it also resulted in break of gauge which has created problems and inefficiencies right up to the present day. The engineers and contractors, with their professional connections and previous work experience, are the key to understanding the early colonial railway but very little had been written about them in relation to Queensland history. The thesis provides new research to fill gaps in knowledge including a major focus on the Chief Engineer Abraham Fitzgibbon. The research shows that the current explanations for some events and decisions in Queensland, while not incorrect, are simplistic and ignore underlying causes. It also shows that in spite of its distance from Britain and America, the Queensland Government was knowledgeable about railway matters but its decision-making processes were poor. 2012-10-31T00:00:00Z Buchanan, Robyn http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:106078 2007-08-24T17:59:50Z Luciano, Michelle. http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:284338 2012-11-05T00:00:00Z Mardle, Bryan David http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:106161 2007-08-24T00:00:00Z Banini, George Agbeko. http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:107185 2007-08-24T00:00:00Z Lawrence, Sandra A. http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:258179 2011-10-20T00:00:00Z Miller, Steven M http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:244673 2011-07-27T00:00:00Z Muda, Ab. Rahim. http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:215498 2010-09-03T00:00:00Z Munro, Bruce Martin. http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:185509 This thesis investigates aspects of the ecology, morphology, bioacoustics, genetic relatedness, biogeography and taxonomy of cicadas in the Pauropsalta annulata Goding and Froggatt species complex, across their entire eastern Australian geographical distribution. These cicadas seem to emerge at the same sites annually, although the exact duration of their life cycle is not known. They are wary and mobile insects, with individuals generally taking flight at the first sign of disturbance, which makes them challenging to record, capture and observe. The males produce distinctive calling songs that have a consistent rhythmic structure, which is critically important for attracting females. In most cases, the songs are biphasic, with a penetrating introductory or "buzzing" component that apparently functions in mate attraction and a strongly structured cueing or "lilting" component for mate localisation. Initially Pauropsalta annulata was thought to comprise a single species with some degree of geographically structured variation in its calling song. Consequently, various "song types" had been recognised, but their precise relationship to one another had never been investigated. Therefore the structure of their calling songs were compared statistically across individuals of three song types, and this revealed four discrete clusters that were demonstrated to be independent of one another and consistent in their calling song structure. Plotting the geographical distributions of these cicadas revealed that each of the P. annulata song types is independently distributed geographically, with areas of overlap that are relatively small. Calling song structure is consistent for each song type across extensive geographical space and this structure holds even into areas of sympatry. One song type showed consistent differences from the others in male genitalia structure, and female ovipositor length differs significantly among three of the other song types. Each song type was found to be strongly associated with a small number of tree species and these associations are maintained into areas of sympatry. The spatial ecological and morphological comparisons in song structure, plant associations and morphology made in this study demonstrate that the P. annulata song types actually represent a complex of cryptic species. Two of the song types appear to intergrade in areas of sympatric overlap in terms of calling songs, plant associations and morphology, and thus represent subspecies as defined in population genetics terms. The components of the male calling song were then investigated to determine their specific functions and thus how they could delimit species boundaries. Significant differences were found in dominant song frequency between three of the four species, and may contribute to differential mate attraction. Both components of the song of each species have the same dominant frequency. Consistent differences were also evident, among species and subspecies, in the rhythmic structure of the "lilting" component of the male calling song. This component contains repeated phrases and each one of these provides a cue to which the conspecific female may respond. Her response is timed for the brief silent interval between the phrases. At this point the calling song becomes a duet, which enables the male to locate the female, as he actively searches for her on the surrounding branches at this stage. The calling song is discussed in terms of random mating within gene pools of these cicadas and in terms of its role as part of their broader fertilisation mechanism. A molecular analysis of the P. annulata species complex was performed to examine the phylogenetic relationships across 12 species and four subspecies defined in this study, and estimate divergence times within the group. Individual specimens were sampled widely across the geographical distributions of the species and subspecies where possible to account for genetic variation across space. DNA sequences from two loci were amplified: mitochondrial CO1 ("barcoding region") and a large intron from the dynamin nuclear gene. Separate phylogenies were reconstructed for each locus using maximum parsimony procedures and Bayesian posterior sampling with implementation of a relaxed molecular clock. The phylogenies from both genes provided strong support for the monophyly of the P. annulata species complex, and nine of the species were monophyletic based on the CO1 gene. The remaining three emerged non-monophyletic. Based on a clock calibration of 0.0165s/s/myr, the monophyletic clades represented by extant P. annulata species diverged about 4.5-8.0 million years ago. Those species that emerged non-monophyletic had shallower divergences, with the exception of one species, which exhibited haplotype diversity that conferred up to 13.2% sequence divergence between allopatric populations in CO1. Dynamin produced a broadly similar phylogenetic pattern to that of CO1, but the relationships among individuals across the species and subspecies that emerged non-monophyletic differed substantially. This lack of congruence between the two genomes, in combination with the dominance of internal haplotypes in both loci, indicates an overall pattern of deep coalescence rather than interspecific hybridization. Therefore the molecular data do not provide an alternative definition of species limits in the P. annulata species complex, despite some emerging non-monophyletic in this analysis. Sound interpretation of the phylogenetic pattern discovered here would not have been possible without the acoustic, ecological and geographical investigations on species limits that preceded this work. To determine what biological and climatic factors influence the present day distributions of these cicadas, the distributions of two of the most closely related species in the P. annulata species complex were compared with the distributions of the tree species with which each is mainly associated. Because a large part of their life cycle is subterranean, soil texture, pH, electrical conductivity and force required for surface penetration were compared across sites where each of the cicadas occur in sympatry and allopatry. Finally, the influence of temperature and rainfall variables were investigated by testing 'predicted distribution' models (formed using positive distribution records) against negative records for both sets of variables, individually and in combination. The results show that the extent of the distribution of the cicada species is substantially less than that of the associated tree species. The geographical distributions of one of the species may be influenced more by rainfall, or a combination of temperature and rainfall, whereas the other species appears to be more influenced by temperature alone. Both species tolerate soils with a wide range of pH levels, electrical conductivity and forces required for surface penetration. They both showed a strong association with soils that had a silt loam texture, with only few records from sandy soils. However, none of the soils sampled where the cicadas occurred were heavy clays, which suggests that the physical properties of such soils may provide an unsuitable environment for the nymphal stages of the life cycle of these particular cicadas. The resolution of species limits within the P. annulata species complex allowed the redescription of Pauropsalta annulata Goding and Froggatt sensu stricto and the description of 11 new species belonging to the P. annulata species group, all from eastern Australia. Two of these species comprise two subspecies each, also all new. New distribution records and calling song data are documented for the allied species, P. ayrensis Ewart, which is redescribed to include the characters newly recognised in the present study as significant taxonomically with respect to Pauropsalta cicadas. The treatment includes comprehensive descriptions of the morphology and calling songs of the species and subspecies, and separate descriptive keys are provided for both sets of characters. The new taxa comprise P. artatus sp. nov., P. corymbiae sp. nov., P. decorus sp. nov., P. graniticus sp. nov., P. inversus inversus subsp. nov., P. i. laboris subsp. nov., P. notialis notialis subsp. nov., P. notialis incitatus subsp. nov., P. simplex sp. nov., P. subtropicus sp. nov, P. torrensis sp. nov. and P. tremulus sp. nov. Areas of hybridization between P. n. notialis subsp. nov. and P. n. incitatus subsp. nov. are also documented, together with their calling songs and morphology, which justifies their subspecific status. The P. inversus subspecies are allopatric, but consistently differ in the duration between phrases of the calling song. Finally, the results and conclusions are amalgamated into a critical reassessment of what defines species limits and the most appropriate approaches to investigating species limits in sexual organisms. Some historical discussions are revisited, such as the question of the reality of species and how species are perceived under the premises of neoDarwinism. The realism of species demands that species limits are most realistically defined in terms of their fertilisation mechanism, for this delimits the gene pool and thus the distribution of adaptations (the calling song of cicadas, for example). 2009-11-09T00:00:00Z Lindsay Popple http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:278382 2012-07-31T00:00:00Z Christopher Ian Clague http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:216770 2010-09-21T00:00:00Z Bullock, Keith Joseph. http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:217413 Abstract Earlier views on emotional processing and ageing characterised older age as a period of reduced emotional responding. At present, older age is recognised as a time where emotional experience is more salient and better controlled. However, the nature of older adults’ affective reactions remains unclear. Few studies have investigated age differences in emotional reactivity using the current standard picture-viewing methodology. A Pilot Study and seven experiments investigated the subjective, physiological and behavioural aspects of emotional experience, as well as the relationship between age and emotional learning. The Pilot Study investigated whether pictures from the International Affective Picture System are suitable to elicit emotion in older people. Experiments 1a and 1b investigated age-related differences in subjective responses to affective stimuli. Separate groups of younger, middle-aged and older adults viewed different subsets of affective pictures and provided valence, arousal, dominance (and fear) ratings using the Self-Assessment Manikin (SAM). The rating studies indicated that rated pleasantness did not differ across age. Prominent age-related differences were revealed for rated arousal. Older adults rated pleasant arousing pictures as less arousing and low arousing pleasant pictures as more arousing than did younger and middle-aged adults. Older compared to younger adults reported a higher perceived dominance in relation to arousing unpleasant pictures. This basic pattern was found in both experiments. Experiments 2 and 3 investigated whether the differences in ratings extend to the behavioural level of emotional experience. The effects of stimulus arousal (high versus low) on the evaluative categorization of pictures and on affective priming were investigated in three age groups. The evaluative categorisation task (Experiment 2) assessed whether age-related differences in rated arousal would be apparent in the speed of picture evaluation. Picture-valence and arousal interacted in determining evaluation speed for older as well as younger adults. The Affective Priming task (Experiment 3) assessed the impact of prime arousal on implicit picture evaluation. Affective priming was evident in all age groups, and prime arousal modified affective priming in a fashion similar to all age groups. Taken together, the behavioural data suggest no effect of the age differences in subjective ratings of stimulus arousal. Experiment 4 investigated the physiological manifestations of emotion. In phase 1, younger and older adults viewed a set of 24 affective IAPS pictures while their obicularis, zygomaticus and corrugator EMGs, skin conductance and heart rate were recorded. In phase 2, all participants provided subjective ratings for the same set of 24 pictures and a second set of 24 pictures not viewed in Phase 1. The subjective ratings replicated those of Experiment 1a. Differences in emotion driven physiological responding were evident. Blink magnitude was modulated by valence, but not in a way that differed between the age groups. Arousal did not modulate startle in ways that differed between the age groups. Corrugator activity was modulated by valence, with larger activity during arousing unpleasant and neutral than during pleasant pictures, but no difference during arousing unpleasant compared to neutral pictures. This pattern of corrugator activity did not differ with age. Zygomaticus activity during trials without a startle probe was enhanced during arousing pleasant relative to neutral and unpleasant pictures and did not differ across age. Overall SCR activity was reduced in older adults and both age groups showed larger skin conductance responses to arousing pleasant and unpleasant relative to neutral pictures. Regarding arousal, older adults showed lower SCR activity overall and the basic response pattern did not differ across age. Older adults showed less heart rate deceleration overall. Younger adults showed a triphasic waveform pattern, with larger initial deceleration whereas older adults showed less deceleration towards the end of picture presentation regardless of picture valence. Arousal did not modulate heart rate responses for either age group. Older adults showed less acceleration overall and more acceleration for arousing unpleasant and pleasant relative to neutral pictures, with no difference between arousing unpleasant and pleasant pictures. These findings suggest that older adults differ from younger adults in subjective and physiological responses to pictures. Experiment 5 investigated whether emotional learning differs for older people. Younger, middle-aged and older participants completed eight blocks of differential evaluative learning including a contingency reversal after four blocks. Participants provided valence ratings and expectancy judgments after each training block and post experiment. Like younger participants, the older and middle-aged participants detected contingency changes quickly and efficiently. Emotional learning, however, was reduced and did not respond to contingency changes in the same manner as in younger participants. This research extends previous studies that provided a mixed view of the subjective and physiological aspects of emotionality with increasing age. Taken together, age differences that manifest in the subjective experience of emotional arousal, and present to some extent in physiological responding do not appear to extend to the behavioural level of emotional processing. These findings have important implications for researchers, clinicians and aged-care practitioners who may rely solely on self-reported emotional reactivity. This research may have diagnostic implications for aiding the identification of cognitive and emotional changes or mood disorders in older age. 2010-09-29T00:00:00Z Bronwyn Massavelli http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:158555 Obtaining higher sugar yield is a major focus of sugarcane variety improvement programs, however the complex genome of sugarcane has hindered research and development of the crop. Sorghum and sugarcane are both members of the Andropogoneae tribe and comparative mapping has revealed a high level of synteny among the two closely related species. Sorghum is a diploid species with a small genome unlike sugarcane which has one of the most complex genomes of any organism. Particular varieties of sorghum, known as sweet sorghums or sorgos, accumulate high levels of sugar in stalk juice near the time of maturity, as does sugarcane. Based on this relationship between sorghum and sugarcane, this study aimed to investigate sweet sorghum as a genetic and physiological model for sugar accumulation in sugarcane. An F6 recombinant inbred line (RIL) segregating population with 184 progeny lines was developed from a cross between R9188, a dwarf conversion of the sweet sorghum line Rio, and R403463-2-1, a Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries (QDPIF) elite grain sorghum R-line. The population was evaluated in two field trials for 16 agronomic traits and eight sugar-related traits. A genetic linkage map of R9188 x R403463-2-1 was constructed integrating 225 polymorphic bands produced by 38 AFLP™ primer pairs, 37 Xtxp SSR and six sugarcane SSR markers. The constructed map had 16 linkage groups (LG), of which 10 could be assigned a chromosome on the basis of shared markers between this map and previously published maps of sorghum and sugarcane, and spanned a total length of 2012.9 cM (including unknown LG). Eleven traits were analysed for QTL identification; seven sugar-related traits (sucrose content, glucose content, fructose content, sugar content, sucrose yield, sucrose to sugar ratio and Brix) and four agronomic traits (height, DTF, total dry matter and grain yield). Fifty-five marker were associated with the 11 traits from the two field trials, of which 15 were identified in both trials which is not unexpected considering the high heritability of the traits in the field trials. QTL generally colocated to five major locations. QTL from R9188 were found for sucrose content, sugar content and sugar yield on chromosomes SBI-01, SBI-05 and LG-U6. R9188 also contributed QTL for Brix on SBI-05 and LG-U6, and sugar content on SBI-03. QTL from R403463-2-1 were found for sucrose content and sucrose yield on SBI-10, and glucose content on SBI-07. QTL for height, days to flowering and total dry matter, were located on SBI-01 from R403463-2-1, and on LG-U6 from R9188. QTL for grain yield from both R403463-2-1 and R9188 were found on SBI-03. Three of the sorghum chromosomes (SBI-01, SBI-03 and SBI-05) that contained QTL for sugar-related traits, also contained sugarcane SSRs that mapped in sugarcane to three homology groups (2, 3 and 4) with strong QTL for sugar-related traits suggesting that similar loci for sugar-related traits are being detected between sweet sorghum and sugarcane. Field and glasshouse trials were conducted to investigate the accumulation of sugars spatially within the stem and developmentally at anthesis and post-black layer in sweet sorghums. A stem sugar profile in sweet sorghums had not previously been created at post-black layer and it was found that in the glasshouse trial, the sucrose increased toward the base of the stem, in the same manner of accumulation seen in sugarcane. Like sugarcane, the sucrose in the sweet sorghums accounted for 90% of the soluble solids (sucrose to total ratio) at the end of the crop cycle. A comparison of profiles was also conducted between a sweet and grain sorghum, fertile sorghum and their sterile counterpart, sweet sorghum and the dwarf conversion, and high Brix and low Brix progeny of the R9188 x R403463-2-1 population. At post-black layer, the sweet sorghum had higher sucrose than the grain sorghum, and higher sugars were found in the sterile versions compared to the fertile versions. Sugar accumulation had not been previously investigated in dwarf converted sweet sorghums; R9188, the dwarf version of Rio, was significantly lower in whole-plant sucrose at post-black layer, but no difference was noted in individual stem sections. No clear distinction could be made between the high Brix lines and the low Brix lines, sampled at post-black layer, for sugar-related traits at a whole-plant or stem section level. The genetic relationship of sweet and grain sorghums, within S. bicolor ssp. bicolor, was investigated for the first time. Ninety-five genotypes, including 31 sweet sorghums and 64 grain sorghums, representing all five races within the subspecies bicolor, were screened with 277 polymorphic AFLP™ markers. The sweet sorghum lines were largely distinguished from the others, particularly by a group of markers located on SBI-08 and SBI-10, and although the clusters obtained did not group clearly on the basis of racial classification; the sweet sorghum lines often clustered with grain sorghums of similar racial origin thus suggesting that the high stem sugar in sweet sorghums occurred independently or was independently selected in several different genetic backgrounds within S. bicolor ssp. bicolor. In this study, great steps have been made in determining the use of sweet sorghum as a genetic and physiological model for sugar accumulation in sugarcane. From a genetic perspective, similar loci for sugar-related traits were detected between sweet sorghum and sugarcane, thus indicating that sweet sorghum is likely to be a good genetic model for sugar accumulation in sugarcane. In sweet sorghum, the markers associated with the sugar-related traits will be a valuable resource for future markerassisted selection for these traits in a sweet sorghum breeding program. However, the diversity study suggested that the high stem sugar in sweet sorghum occurred independently or was independently selected in several different genetic backgrounds, which is in contrast to the possible monophyletic origin of high stem sugar in sugarcane. From a physiological perspective, the sucrose levels increased toward the base of the stem in sweet sorghum and accounted for 90% of the soluble solids at the end of the crop cycle, in the same manner of accumulation seen in sugarcane, suggesting that sweet sorghum could be a physiological model for sugarcane. Thus, sweet sorghum could be used as both a genetic and physiological model for sugarcane. 2008-11-21T00:00:00Z Ritter, Kimberley Belle