UQ Theses (RHD) - Official collection - UQ eSpace

A Bayesian Belief Network Approach to Codesign

Amelia Azman — 2011-10-27T00:00:00Z

In the early 21st century, more researchers are exploring the knowledge-based technique in solving the hardware/software partitioning process replacing the common heuristic approach. By utilising the knowledge-based approach, this could help to reduce the search space in finding a feasible partitioning solution. Meanwhile, in another research field, the Bayesian Network analysis has been attracting attention for various applications. One of the latest trends is to use the Bayesian Network to solve the partitioning problem. In this thesis, we present our novel algorithm that combines the Bayesian Network with the Constraint Satisfaction Problem (CSP) to perform the partitioning and scheduling process. Our methodology supports a multi-processor embedded system. This thesis also presents our new equation to represent the linking knowledge between nodes to improve the Bayesian Network analysis evaluation process. A new metric to represent the propagation information has also been introduced in this thesis. This research work is part of a larger reconfigurable smart camera project. Hence, our targeted platform is FPGAs. Since there is limited logic space on an FPGA and we have the requirement for real-time throughput, we have also included the area and time constraint conditions in our proposed algorithm. In order to demonstrate the efficiency of our algorithm, we have performed several experiments including the use of JPEG encoder as a demonstration of real image processing application on a smart camera system. We then continue to increase the number of nodes in a task-graph using a random task generator, TGFF, to test the efficiency and evaluate the computation time of our algorithm. The results from the experiment indicate that our Bayesian Network-based partitioning and scheduling algorithm can produce promising codesign solutions.

Abdominal binders- giving breath and voice to people who have suffered a spinal cord injury

Wadsworth, Brooke Melinda — 2012-10-23T00:00:00Z

A Biochemical and Molecular Characterisation of Non-Casein Proteins of the Baboon (Papio hamadryas), Pig (Sus scrofa domestica) and Marsupial (Monodelphis domestica)

Andrew Hall — 2010-11-22T00:00:00Z

As a result of studies undertaken for this thesis, a new protein expressed in the milk of pigs was identified. This new protein was identified as a highly polymorphic proline-rich protein (PRP) and observed to be present in high concentrations throughout lactation. N-terminal sequencing of an internal fragment identified the protein as having homology to the human salivary proline-rich proteins that have been attributed with the abilities to bind various fimbriated bacteria, precipitate tannins and inhibit calcium phosphate precipitation. This is the first time that PRP has been described in the milk of any species. Large numbers of porcine milk samples were examined by isoelectric focussing and resulted in the identification of five codominant alleles that were confirmed using dam/daughter data. As part of the study I isolated, sequenced and named the gene encoding porcine milk PRP, PREX1 (proline-rich protein EcoNI/XagI subfamily gene 1), and in the process demonstrated it to be composed of a large block of tandem repeat sequence which shows variable length polymorphism with five alleles being identified. Further, PREX1 was localised to SSC5q using a porcine somatic cell hybrid panel and confirmed by radiation hybrid mapping. The identification of PRP was serendipitous whilst further characterising the anomalous expression of porcine β-lactoglobulin described by Bell et al. (1981a). The cause of the anomalous β-lactoglobulin expression was not further investigated in this study following the identification of PRP in milk, which was considered to be of greater scientific and comparative interest. However, before investigation ceased, I was able to demonstrate that porcine β-lactoglobulin was present in both glycosylated and non-glycosylated forms in all porcine milk samples investigated. Following separation by isoelectric focussing in an immobilized pH gradient (pH 4.1-5.1) and using N-terminal amino acid sequencing, the threonine in position 4 was identified as being glycosylated. This is only the second β-lactoglobulin known to be glycosylated, the other is bovine β-lactoglobulin Dr (Bell et al 1970). Another significant finding was the identification of a colostral specific form of β-lactoglobulin which is present from day 1 through to day 5 of lactation. It too is glycosylated and has a characteristically lower than normal pI. In addition to the work investigating the whey proteins of pig milk, baboon and Monodelphis domestica milks were briefly characterised. This involved the identification and cDNA sequence determinations of β-lactoglobulin and α-lactalbumin in the baboon and Monodelphis milks respectively. Baboon β-lactoglobulin was identified and characterised by various electrophoretic techniques. Three variants were identified in a group consisting of both species and hybrid animals. The complete β-lactoglobulin cDNA sequence was determined using RT-PCR and routine cloning procedures with primers designed from N-terminal sequence data and from homologous regions of aligned sequences from a number of species. This was the first primate β-lactoglobulin to be sequenced and is the longest β-lactoglobulin (168 residues) yet identified. In order to compare the South American marsupials with the highly characterised Australian marsupials I undertook the qualitative characterisation of the non-casein milk proteins of Monodelphis domestica. Significant findings to arise from this work include the identification of a novel α-lactalbumin whose protein N-terminal sequence revealed 10 unique residues, not seen in any similar sequences, in the first 35 residues. The full-length cDNA sequence was determined and demonstrated that Monodelphis α-lactalbumin is unique compared with all known α-lactalbumins in having 21 amino acid residues, of a total of 125 residues, which are positionally unique. In addition Monodelphis α-lactalbumin has an insertion of two residues at positions 15 and 16 respectively which, to date, has only been documented in monotremes.

A biography of Crawford Munro: A vision for Australia's water and a survey of twentieth century Australian science biography

Leonard Humphreys — 2010-01-21T00:00:00Z

1. The biography of Crawford Munro (1904-76) describes his early life in Toowoomba and Sydney, and his maturation as an engineer, working for Sydney Water, Sydney Technical College and in the production of Cruiser tanks in World War II. He was a large confident man with a big voice and an optimistic, humorous personality. As the Foundation Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of New South Wales Munro was liberal, fostered humanist studies and developed the School of Engineering with a unique emphasis on water engineering. He recruited excellent staff for research and postgraduate education who led the nation across all phases of hydrology and hydraulics. Munro developed a remarkable, rational solution for flood mitigation at Launceston, and actively promoted research, partly through the Australian Water Research Foundation and the Institution of Engineers, Australia. He was much involved with predicting flood runoff, developing benefit/cost relations for irrigation schemes, which led him into public controversy, and other hydrological projects. Munro’s attempts to raise social consciousness about water problems, his multi-disciplinary approach to the evaluation of water resources and his campaigns for the collection of stream and rainfall data helped provide a better basis for proper planning. In his later years he undertook the first Australian environmental impact study. The concluding chapter outlines a vision for the current management of Australia’s water. Munro posed necessary questions about measuring the supply of water and bringing the demand of water into synchrony with its supply, while providing water security in terms of its availability and quality. He raised the debate about the balance between sustaining environmental flows, utilizing water for agriculture and secondary industry, and maintaining the health of communities. Munro hoped equitable decision making would emerge from public engagement on these issues. 2. Twentieth century science biography in Australia is the province of a group of elite male scientists, whose interests cover wide disciplinary fields; it is focused on popular imagination: health, food and adventure (Antarctica) accounting for fifteen of the seventeen scientists. Empathy for the subject is a significant feature of the nineteen biographers, of whom five are scientists. This small genre is often supported by institutions in small print runs. A key role of biography is to place through science history a more epistemologically plausible version of events. Public discourses of science treated in the essay include conflict about the attribution of scientific discovery, the vocation of the scientist as a contributor to a wider social polity, the light biography sheds on sources of creativity and the evolution of the research and culture of institutions. The biographer attempts to generate a personal portrait of the scientist which conveys authority about the significance and origins of his or her scientific discoveries and their impact in the wider social context. Daniel Söderqvist’s affirmation of the existential approach which ‘emphasizes the freedom and responsibility of the human individual’ resonates with the candidate as expressing characteristics of the lives of many Australian scientists in their passion for intellectual discovery, their motivation to self-empowerment, and their readiness top step outside their social conditioning. This essay extends Söderqvist’s paradigm to the context of Australian science biography and indicates some constraints on its depiction which arise in the practice of writing science biography. Some epistemological issues are raised in the texts, especially when dealing with oral history and family mythology, and thematic, thematic within a chronological framework or chronological structures of the text are compared. The level of detail and context influence the sustainability of the reader’s interest. Case studies of the biographies written by the candidate (Ian Clunies Ross, Samuel Wadham, Allan Callaghan, Victor Trikojus, Raymond Hoffenberg and Crawford Munro) illustrate issues which arise in the writing of science biography. The dominant question is the relationship of the biographer to the subject, and this determines the voice the reader hears. The motivation of the biographer may arise in varying degrees of empathy felt for the subject. The high affinity the candidate had for Clunies Ross and Hoffenberg causes him to offer a defence against the charge of hagiography, and the selectivity and subjectivity of the biographer is evident in the arrangement and presentation of factual material. The motivation of the biographer is additionally directed to the communication of the subject’s research outputs to the wider Australian community, and in the case of Callaghan, Wadham and Clunies Ross there was a specific programmatic function of advancing the status of agricultural science. It is argued that the description of the public life of the subject needs to be complemented from the private life if the biographer is ‘to view the world through the eyes of the subject’.

Aboriginality and the Northern Territory intervention

Alissa Macoun — 2012-06-22T10:37:20Z

This thesis examines the construction of Aboriginality in recent public policy reasoning through identifying representations deployed by architects and supporters of the Commonwealth’s 2007 Northern Territory Emergency Response (the intervention). Debate about the Northern Territory intervention was explicitly situated in relation to a range of ideas about appropriate Government policy towards Indigenous people, and particularly about the nature, role, status, value and future of Aboriginality and of Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders. This project involves analysis of constructions of Aboriginality deployed in texts created and circulated to explain and justify the policy program. The aim of the project is to identify the ideas about Aboriginality deployed by the intervention’s architects and supporters, and to examine the effects and implications of these discourses for political relationships between Indigenous people and settlers in Australia. This thesis will argue that advocates of the Northern Territory intervention construct Aboriginality in a range of important ways that reassert and reinforce the legitimacy of the settler colonial order and the project of Australian nationhood, and operate to limit Aboriginal claims. Specifically, it is argued that in linking Aboriginality to the abuse of Aboriginal children, the intervention’s advocates and supporters establish a political debate about the nature and future of Aboriginality within a discursive terrain in which the authority and perspectives of Indigenous people are problematised. Aboriginality is constructed in this process as both temporally and spatially separated from settler society, and in need of coercive integration into mainstream economic and political arrangements. Aboriginality is depicted by settler advocates of intervention as an anachronism, with Aboriginal people and cultures understood as primitive and/or savage precursors to settlers who are represented as modern and civilised. As such, the communities seen as the authentic home or location of Aboriginality represent a threat to Aboriginal children as well as to settlers. These constructions function to obscure the violence of the settler order, provide justification or moral rehabilitation for the colonising project, and reassert the sovereignty of the settler state. The resolution offered by the intervention’s advocates is a performance or enactment of settler sovereignty, representing a claim over and through both the territory of Aboriginal people and the discursive terrain of nationhood.

A Bourdieuan analysis of contemporary principal practice : an interview study of Queensland secondary school principals

Addison, Bruce Vincent William. — 2008-11-21T00:00:00Z

Abusive Head Trauma: Incidence and Associated Factors in Queensland

Melissa Kaltner — 2011-06-17T00:00:00Z

Abstract Aims Abusive head trauma (AHT) has been the focus of considerable research in recent years. Little research on AHT has been conducted in the Australian context despite the serious nature of injuries evident in AHT cases. The studies presented within this thesis establish the incidence of AHT in the state of Queensland, Australia, and identify factors associated with its occurrence. Incidence Studies Two studies were designed to provide the first Australian AHT incidence estimates. The first study examined the incidence of both severe and less severe AHT within the north Brisbane area. The second study undertook a state-wide examination of AHT, ascertaining severe cases and extrapolating findings from the Brisbane based study to estimate the total incidence of AHT across the state of Queensland. North Brisbane Incidence Study. The study presented in Chapter 3 examined the occurrence of AHT in north Brisbane, Queensland. Retrospective review of medical records for infants aged 0 to 24 months presenting with head injury during the five year period of 2004 to 2008 to the Royal Children’s Hospital Brisbane was undertaken. AHT cases were identified through use of an algorithm. The study established the incidence of coded AHT in addition to presumed AHT, indicating rates of 8.4 (CI = 4.1 – 15.8) severe and 13.7 (CI = 7.7 – 22.2) less severe cases per 100,000 infants. The study provided the information necessary to estimate the full span of AHT incidence within the state, as was conducted in the following study. State-wide Incidence Study. The study presented in Chapter 4 ascertained the incidence of AHT in Queensland. Data linkage between the Queensland Trauma Registry and the Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian’s Child Death Register was undertaken in order to identify all cases of severe AHT occurring in Queensland infants aged less than 24 months during the four year period of 2005 to 2008. An incidence of 11.9 (CI = 6.2 – 19.7) cases of severe AHT and 17.7 (CI = 10.7 – 27.2) cases of less severe AHT per 100,000 Queensland infants was established by the study, providing the first large-scale estimate of Australian AHT incidence. Associated Factors Studies Two studies examined infant and injury characteristics associated with AHT in the Australian context. The north Brisbane based study allowed for investigation into factors associated with AHT in this population, with comparison made between AHT cases of varying severity levels and coding types. The following study examined factors associated with severe AHT across the state of Queensland, comparing injury and infant characteristics in cases of AHT to those of alternate injury types. Infant Characteristics Associated with AHT in North Brisbane. The study presented in Chapter 5 investigated factors sharing a relationship with AHT within north Brisbane. Infants of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status were found to be more frequently represented in cases of AHT than within the infant population in the area. No significant differences in AHT cases of varying severity or coding types were identified. Infant and Injury Characteristics Associated with AHT in Queensland. The study presented in Chapter 6 examined the infant characteristics and injury factors associated with severe AHT in Queensland. In order to examine factors associated with AHT, multivariate comparisons between AHT, other injury, accidental head injury and abusive non head injury were made. Results highlighted the specificity of young infant age to the occurrence of AHT and demonstrated two peaks in the occurrence of AHT by age, with the first at 2 months and a peak of late-onset cases evident at 9 months. The findings indicated that infant sex was not associated with AHT. ATSI infants were found to be overrepresented in injury cases on a whole. The findings highlighted the range of socio-economic backgrounds in which infants experiencing AHT resided. The relative clinical complexity of AHT injuries was clear, with infants experiencing AHT requiring longer lengths of stay and demonstrating injuries of higher severity than infants experiencing other injury types. Conclusion The studies presented within this thesis provide the first Australian incidence estimates for AHT, and detail the infant characteristics and injury profile associated with its occurrence. The findings indicate a rate of AHT in Queensland which is comparable to that documented in international examinations and to many other well-researched causes of infant morbidity and mortality. The studies highlight the relative frequency of AHT in the Australian context and provide the foundation of knowledge necessary for Australian based AHT incidence monitoring and prevention program design.

Accent Classification from Speech Samples by Use of Machine Learning

Pedersen, Carol — 2010-06-18T00:00:00Z

Acceptance and Use of the Service Oriented Computing Paradigm: the IT Professionals’ Perspective

Ilse Baumgartner — 2009-12-17T00:00:00Z

The thesis “Acceptance and use of the Service Oriented Computing paradigm: the IT professionals’ perspective” focuses on the question: what are the critical factors that influence IT professionals’ intentions to accept and use the Service Oriented Computing (SOC) approach to systems development? This work considers IT professionals as the key stakeholders in the SOC acceptance and use process and argues that the acceptance and practical use of SOC depends – at an early acceptance stage – primarily on the individual-level acceptance decisions made by senior IT professionals working for an organisation. Consequently, SOC acceptance and use (in its early stage) is seen as a bottom-up process driven, and to a high degree controlled, by the “early adopters” (Rogers 1995) of this technological paradigm (i.e. involved senior IT professionals). Although SOC is considered the enabling technological approach in many different future areas (e.g. eBusiness, eGovernment, eScience etc.), very little research exists on the process of practical acceptance of this paradigm, in particular focusing on the perspective of the “early stage” key stakeholders of this acceptance process, namely the IT professionals. This thesis consists of four major parts. First, it reviews existing literature on technology acceptance and use and confirms the absence of an established theoretical framework in the domain of individual-level technology acceptance in the IT industry. Second, based on data collected in a series of exploratory interviews with senior IT practitioners, an initial model explaining the acceptance and use of SOC among IT professionals is being proposed. Third, the derived model is revised and reformulated using an eGovernment case study. And forth, based on the refined model, a survey instrument is developed, pilot-tested and administered to senior IT professionals currently using the SOC approach to systems development in their professional work. This thesis makes a contribution to IS research in several ways. While there exists extensive, well-grounded and well-accepted research in the domain of “IT end-user” individual-level technology acceptance, the research on technology acceptance in the IT industry (i.e. technology acceptance by the IT professionals) is very limited, and nearly all studies carried out in this IS research field are concerned with established approaches or technologies. The current study is among the few examining the perspective of “early adopters” or “innovators” (Rogers 1995) instead of investigating the acceptance process of “early majority” or even “late majority”. Moreover, to the author’s knowledge it is the first study examining the process of individual-level SOC acceptance with a particular focus on the perspective of the “early stage” key stakeholders of this acceptance process, namely the IT professionals. One of the additional strengths of the study is the usage of multiple research methodologies – exploratory open-ended interviews, qualitative case study and web-based survey. This research is expected to be very interesting to researchers focusing on technology acceptance in general and on technology acceptance in the IT industry in particular. This research might also be of interest to IT practitioners considering to accept and use the SOC approach in their future applications.

Accidental Authors – Students experiment with making writing explicit during their Research Higher Degree

Naomi Anastasi — 2009-09-03T00:00:00Z

The implicit position of writing during Research Higher Degree (RHD) candidature shapes how students in science approach the task of writing their theses. The dedication of universities to the principles of research has pushed writing to the fringes of the research higher degree. When writing is pushed to the fringes, it is rarely taught explicitly as an integral part of the postgraduate program. This research has found that students who are concerned with writing a thesis often require writing to be discussed explicitly during their education. In response to the absence of explicit instruction on writing, students turn to the principles of research to discover how to write their theses. However, students find that writing belongs to a different epistemological tradition than scientific research. This investigation found that as students realise that research is different from writing, they often write their theses by mimicking the work of other published authors in the same field. These findings emerge from eight semi–structured interviews with linguistically homologous students from a science faculty at a research-intensive university in Australia. These interviews show that students are initiating their own writing groups to learn more about writing. This research presents a case study which culminates in recommendations about how to re-position writing as an explicit discourse requiring attention during the research higher degree. These writing recommendations are developed in this research by analysing the principles of writing programs, examining the literature on writing groups, and reflecting the experience of students during the research higher degree.

Accommodating the Discarnate: Spirit houses in contemporary urban Thailand

Michael Pearce — 2010-10-28T00:00:00Z

In Thailand, many house compounds are adorned with small shrines dedicated to locality and guardian spirits. The shrines are known by various names; in English they are popularly referred to as ‘spirit houses’, in Thai they are called sǎn phrá phuum and sǎn câw thí. This study is offered as an ethnographic exploration into the religious dimensions of accommodating discarnate entities within these two shrines, and addresses the pervasiveness of locality and guardian spirits in contemporary urban Thailand. In short, my thesis is that Thai spirit houses are evidence for a relational episteme in contemporary urban Thailand, and they objectify relationships between people and the spirits of particular places. Such objectifications are instrumental in the mediation of the phenomenology of places. Spirit houses come in many guises and exhibit stylistic variance, something evidenced via the myriad spiritual structures in Thailand established for the veneration of various discarnate entities. These include: rural guardian spirits that form the village-oriented religions of ethnic minorities such as Hmong and Karen, Chinese and Hindu deities, ancestors, ex-monarchs, and other historical figures. In light of the diversity, the focus of this thesis is tapered to an ethnographic discussion of two particularly salient shrines that are popular features of the places where people establish their home in urban areas that are culturally dominated by the ‘central Thai’ or Siamese, who are predominately Buddhist. These two structures house and provide an appropriate apparatus for the propitiation of various discarnate entities, which are either inexorably associated with the place or invocated in order to protect the human occupants of the place. The ubiquity of these shrines throughout contemporary Thailand has been noted in popular literature intended for a general readership; however, it is surprising that very little scholarship has been directed towards spirit houses. Where the Thai practice of housing spirits has been briefly addressed within both scholarly and popular literature, the two main types have been conflated and their stark differences glossed over. Thus the primary task of this thesis is to address the spirit house lacuna within the study of Thai popular religion by providing an ethnographic description and discussion of this popular expression of contemporary urban religiosity. This thesis will demonstrate that although the shrines are by-and-large grouped together as a single praxis, they are installed for divergent types of spirits. The spirit house referred to as sǎn phrá phuum is installed within the house compound for a single tutelary angelic being that is conceived of as descending from a heavenly realm to protect human beings. Sǎn câw thí on the other hand, is home to any number of locality and/or ancestor spirits possessing strong associations with a place. Such diversity is exemplary for the multivalence and prosperity-orientation which characterises Thai popular religion during the contemporary period. Whilst providing practical means for negotiating immanent and materially-oriented anxieties, the shrines also reflect Buddhist millennialist concepts. The spirits for which the shrines are installed are thus engaged with very clear outcomes in mind; protection and the avoidance of various misfortunes that are often framed in the context of Thai Buddhism’s rationalisation, decline, and subsequent mediation at the hands of a bureaucratized sangha. The shrines are a substantive indication that contemporary Thais have defied the kind of rationalizing disenchantment intended to remove practices labelled ‘superstitious’, ‘animist’, or ‘magical’ from Thai Buddhism. Yet spirit houses themselves do not constitute a millennial or new religious movement. This thesis will demonstrate that spirit houses in contemporary urban Thailand may be well represented by the notion of ‘vernacular religion’, a theoretical approach to the study of ‘lived religion’ which helps avoid the hierarchical dichotomization of particular examples into sub-categories such as folk /official or the Little/Great tradition. Engaged within the context of the country’s rapid modernisation and the rationalisation of the monastic sangha, spirit houses incorporate many cultural and social voices, rendering classifications that centre upon notions of ‘folk religion’ or ‘popular Buddhism’ problematic. I will argue that the shrines do not represent an unbroken line to a pre-Buddhist and indigenous animism. Traditionally, animism has been understood as an underdeveloped bedrock upon which more sophisticated expressions of religion became founded. The ethnographic data presented in this thesis engages in a critique of the scholarly term ‘animism’. Yet I do not seek to jettison the term entirely. Rather, more recent and critical discussions of animism do not connote a layered or archaeological approach to religion. My argument flows from the recent resurrection of the term ‘animism’ within scholarly discourse, and implementations of ‘new-animism’ as signifying relational epistemologies. Animism in the present context is no longer cast as a specific religious doctrine, nor does it represent inferred erroneous thinking by those who were assumed to be ‘under-developed’ in an evolutionary sense when contrasted with the West. Rather, ‘animism’ may be one fundamental modality by which human beings socially engage the world, and understand their relationships with other actors in it. The discussion of spirit houses in this thesis posits that the shrines are instrumental within a Thai phenomenology of place. Within the Thai context, experience of the social reality is highly relational, and this may extend somewhat to the physical environment. The spirit or genius loci of particular places and the human experience of such places largely depend upon which ‘geniuses’ may be located where. The type of entity and its identity reveal something about how contemporary urban Thais frame their experience of home-place. I will discuss Thai spirit houses in terms of an animist or relational epistemology, which informs the socially-construed phenomenology of particular places. This is but one method of acknowledging that human beings’ relationships with places are contingent upon relating appropriately, and the shrines represent the objectification of social relationships involving discarnate entities as Thai people act in the world.

Accounting for ecosystem dynamics and uncertainty in conservation planning

Hedley Grantham — 2009-07-13T00:00:00Z

A systematic approach to planning, decision-making and management has become best-practice in conservation over the past two of decades. The field of ‘systematic conservation planning’ is concerned with identifying cost-effective places and actions to protect biological diversity. Past research has focused on static assessments. However, given the fact that biological diversity and processes that threaten its persistence vary in space and time, conservation assessments might need to be made in a dynamic context. In addition, we must explicitly account for the trade-offs associated with implementing conservation actions and investing in improved knowledge and learning to reduce uncertainty on where, how and when to act. The aim of this thesis was to develop novel approaches for accounting for both ecosystem dynamics and uncertainty in conservation planning. Ecosystems are generally treated as static in conservation planning despite many being spatially and temporally dynamic. For example, pelagic marine ecosystems are quite dynamic because ecological processes, such as eddies, that produce resources that many species depend on can be erratic. In chapter two we explored the issue of developing a system of fixed protected areas that consider the physical and biological dynamics typical of the pelagic realm. The approach was to maximize the representation of key fisheries species and species of conservation concern due to significant declines in their abundance, within a network of protected areas. We also ensured that protected area design reflected system dynamics and this was achieved by representing key oceanographic process (such as upwellings and eddies), and biological processes (such as the abundance of small pelagic fish) in protected areas. To account for the variability where these processes occur, we used time series data to find both predictable areas and anomalies, assuming that their past location was somewhat reflective of their future locations. Implementing conservation actions that are fixed in space and time are probably not the most effective strategy in ecosystems that are dynamic. This is because of the movements of particular species. For example, many species have distributions and abundances that change seasonally and might only require temporary management in particular areas. In chapter three, we tested the utility of three approaches to implementing fisheries closures to reduce bycatch in the South African Longline Fishery; 1) time closures, 2) permanent spatial closures and 3) episodic spatial closures. In chapter three, we identified these closures using an existing database containing catch and bycatch data from 1998 to 2005. There was variation where and when different species were caught as bycatch, and it was determined seasonal area closures were the best strategy. This was because it achieved the same conservation objectives for bycatch species as the other types of closures, but impacted less on the long-lining industry. While this result is intuitive, it demonstrated quantitatively, how much more effective moveable management can be. Decisions on where conservation actions are implemented are always based on incomplete knowledge about biological diversity. It is generally assumed that gathering more data is a good investment for conservation planning. However, data can take time and incur costs to collect and given habitat loss, there are both costs and benefits associated with different levels of investments in knowledge versus conservation implementation. In chapter four, the aim was to determine the return on investment from spending different amounts on survey data before undertaking a program of implementing new protected areas. We found that, after an investment of only US$100,000, there was little increase in the effectiveness of conservation actions, despite the full species dataset costing at least 25 times that amount. Surveying can take time because of expertise limitations, logistics and funding shortfalls. Biological diversity may be lost while data collection occurs conversely, not collecting enough data can lead to erroneous decisions. Additionally, resources spent on learning may be better spent on other actions. In chapter five, in a series of retrospective simulations, we compared the impact of spending different amounts of time collecting biological data prior to the implementation of new protected areas. The aim was to find the optimal survey period given the trade-off between gaining knowledge to improve conservation decisions while there is concurrent loss of habitat. We discovered that surveying beyond two years rarely increased the effectiveness of conservation decisions, despite a substantial increase in the knowledge of species distributions. Often there are choices between different actions and uncertainty as to which are the most effective. In chapter six, we discuss how the principles of adaptive management might be applied to conservation planning. Improving future management decisions through learning should be viewed as essential in all conservation plans but such learning is often included as a minor step, or is completely ignored. In this chapter we provide a brief overview of an adaptive framework for conservation planning and ideas for future research.

Accurate location service for 3G cellular networks

Kumar-Mills, Dinesh — 2008-06-13T00:00:00Z

A Collision of Ideas: An Institutional analysis of the 1995 Industry Commission’s Inquiry into Charitable Organisations in Australia

Jeffrey Johnson-Abdelmalik — 2011-01-10T00:00:00Z

Abstract Economic, social and political change over the last three decades, driven by public choice theory and New Managerialism has impacted on the nonprofit community welfare sector in Australia. While there is little doubt that the sector is being called upon to carry a larger burden of welfare service delivery, there is less clarity around the impact of these changes on the values of the sector and its institutional forms and structure. A considerable body of research in Australia and New Zealand has been produced which both seeks to defend the values and cultures of the sector, and to find ways to adapt to changing circumstances. Less empirical work has been done on understanding the institutional form of the sector itself. This research project takes the opportunity presented by the Industry Commission’s 1995 “Inquiry into Charitable Organisations” to examine how institutionalised ideas are deployed in a discursive contestation with managerial ideas, and how this contestation reflects on a process of institutional change. Political, economic and sociological theories are assessed for their capacity to address questions around the role of the sector with particular reference to its relationship with government, organisational behaviour under conditions of change and the changing ideas of the sector. Each of these theories provides important insights into one of more of these dimensions; however, their theoretical scope is not broad enough to address questions across all dimensions. Neoinstitutional theory provides explanations across both institutional stability and changes and is adopted as the theoretical lens. The analysis demonstrates that conceptualising institutional structures across normative, cultural and regulative dimensions and observing how ideas are deployed, manipulated and changed provides insight into institutional change processes. 46 documents from the 699 submissions and transcripts from organisations in the nonprofit community welfare sector were selected by purposive sampling for thematic analysis, which reduced the text to manageable code around ideas such as ‘altruism’, ‘accountability’ or ‘competition’. The identification of themes was then followed by interpretation utilising selected tools of discourse analysis, the most important of which was recontextualisation, or the process by which texts,words, ideas and discourses are rearranged and incorporated into other texts, in this case the reworking of all these ideas into the final report and recommendations of the Inquiry. The analysis reveals that the legitimacy of normative and cultural ideas provides the sector with a counterweight to managerial ideas, in defence of established institutional forms. However, the analysis also reveals that the normative and cultural framework is decoupled from the regulative framework. In ordinary language this means that there is no close matching of what organisational representatives say that they believe in and how they put those ideas into practice. This was demonstrated by the relative paucity of policy ideas which they produced which could have articulated their normative framework. The analytical conclusions therefore provide a practical dimension, pointing to how the sector can act to shape its institutional form, and a theoretical dimension, deepening the understanding of the institutional change process.

A comparative study of cancer incidence, diagnosis, treatment and survival between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in Queensland

Suzanne Moore — 2010-08-16T00:00:00Z

Abstract Context: The burden of cancer for Indigenous people in general has not been comprehensively explored, despite increasing evidence that Indigenous people have significantly greater morbidity and mortality due to the disease than other Australians. This population-based study broadly examines for the first time, the management and outcome of cancer for Indigenous people in Queensland, Australia. Objective: To compare cancer incidence and mortality rates for Indigenous people with those for the whole state of Queensland (Phase One) and then compare and contrast clinical features, cancer treatment and survival of Indigenous people with cancer to a matched cohort of non-Indigenous people with cancer, also diagnosed or treated in the Queensland public health system (Phase Two). Setting and design: Phase One used data for the period 1997 to 2006, ascertained from the population-based Queensland Cancer Registry, to calculate cancer incidence and mortality rates among Indigenous people and the whole Queensland population. Phase Two was a population-based study comparing Indigenous cancer cases diagnosed between 1998 and 2004, to a random sample of non-Indigenous people diagnosed with the same incident cancers, matched for age, sex and degree of rurality. For comparability, only those diagnosed or receiving treatment in a Queensland public health facility were included. Methods: Phase One: Age-standardised rates of cancer incidence and mortality were calculated using both the total 2001 Australian population and the World Standard Population as the standard populations. Phase Two: Clinical data pertaining to cancer stage, prevalence of comorbidities, treatment and time to treatment were collected from Queensland Health records. Descriptive analyses examined differences between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people for all cancers combined and for three individual cancer groups, namely lung, head and neck, and breast. Chi-squared analysis and Fishers Exact test were used for comparisons of categorical data (proportions), t-tests for normally-distributed data (means), and non-parametric tests (Kruskal-Wallis) for non-normally-distributed data (medians). Logistic regression was used to assess crude and adjusted proportional differences, and Cox regression for crude and adjusted survival analyses, accounting for stage of cancer at diagnosis, the presence of comorbidities, socioeconomic status, and cancer treatment. Results: Phase One: A total of 1936 incident cancer cases occurred among the Indigenous population of Queensland in the period 1997 to 2006, corresponding to an annual incidence rate of 172 per 100,000. This was significantly lower than for the Queensland population as a whole (Standard Incidence Ratio 0.79, 95% CI 0.75, 0.82), while cancer mortality rates were significantly higher in Indigenous people (Standardised Mortality Ratio 1.36, 95% CI 1.28, 1.45). Phase Two: Compared to their non-Indigenous counterparts similarly cared for in the public health system, Indigenous people diagnosed with cancer were more socially disadvantaged and had a greater number of comorbidities. Despite being diagnosed with similar stages of cancer, they were less likely to receive any cancer treatment, including palliative treatment, and somewhat less likely to receive curative treatment than their non-Indigenous counterparts. A much greater proportion of Indigenous people than non-Indigenous people who did not receive treatment were found to have comorbid diseases, and to a lesser extent proportionately more Indigenous women received no treatment. Indigenous people experienced worse overall cancer survival when stage, socioeconomic status, and comorbidities were taken into account (HR =1.20, 95% CI 1.05, 1.37) but this survival difference was no longer apparent after treatment uptake was also included in the model. With respect to the three selected study cancers, Indigenous patients with lung cancer were diagnosed with a similar cancer stage and had a greater number of comorbidities. There was no survival disadvantage for Indigenous male patients, however significantly more Indigenous women with lung cancer did not receive treatment and their survival was significantly worse than for their non-Indigenous counterparts. Indigenous patients with head and neck cancers had similar socioeconomic status and number of comorbidities compared to their non-Indigenous counterparts, and there was no significant difference in cancer stage. They received less treatment and their survival was significantly worse even after adjustment for lack of treatment (HR= 1.88 95% CI 1.10, 3.20). Indigenous women with breast cancer had significantly lower socioeconomic status and more comorbidities but stage at diagnosis was similar and in contrast to other cancers studied, Indigenous women with breast cancer were as likely to received cancer treatment and survival was similar to non-Indigenous women. For Indigenous people with cancer overall, and for those with lung, head and neck or breast cancers, who did receive treatment, there was little to no difference in the treatment administered compared to non-Indigenous cancer patients. Conclusions: Overall Indigenous people in Queensland had lower cancer incidence but higher mortality than the overall Queensland population. Among Queenslanders whose circumstances were comparable (excluding those who had treatment only in the private system), Indigenous people with all cancers combined still experienced somewhat worse cancer survival than their non-Indigenous counterparts, largely accounted for by lower socioeconomic status and poorer overall health. Differential survival was not apparent overall after lack of treatment had been taken into account however, differences in treatment and survival varied greatly by cancer type, ranging from significantly worse for Indigenous people with head and neck cancer for example, to no difference for Indigenous women with breast cancer. The lack of cancer treatment associated with observed survival differences in general appeared to reflect the greater comorbidity present in Indigenous cancer patients. Besides attention to alleviation of the underlying disadvantage and poor baseline health of Indigenous people with cancer, greater cross-cultural attention to their health care needs, including the development of culturally appropriate cancer information material, would also seem beneficial in improving the outcomes of Indigenous cancer patients.

A comparison of solid wastes as low-cost adsorbents and immobilizing agents for heavy metals

Ya-feng Zhou — 2011-06-16T00:00:00Z

The purpose of this research was to evaluate the use of inorganic and organic wastes of industry and municipalities as adsorbents and immobilizing agents of heavy metals from aqueous solutions and from a Pb/Zn-contaminated alkaline soil. The use of such materials as adsorbents and immobilizing agents would reduce the cost and need for their disposal as well as reducing pollution of ground and surface waters from contaminated effluent streams and reducing the bioavailability of metals in contaminated soils. In the first study, the adsorption capacity of seven inorganic solid wastes [air-cooled blast furnace (BF) slag, water quenched BF slag, steel furnace slag, coal fly ash, coal bottom ash, water treatment sludge, and red mud] for Cd2+, Cu2+, Pb2+, Zn2+ and Cr3+ was determined in batch adsorption experiments. All materials had the ability to remove metal cations from aqueous solution and their relative adsorption abilities increased greatly with increasing pH. The magnitude of adsorption at pH 6.0 followed the general order: Cr3+ ≥ Pb2+ ≥ Cu2+ > Zn2+ = Cd2+. The quantities of previously adsorbed Pb and Cd desorbed in 0.01 M NaNO3 electrolyte were very small but those removed with 0.01 M HNO3, and more particularly 0.10 M HNO3, were substantial. Water treatment sludge was shown to maintain its Pb and Cd adsorption capability over eight successive cycles of adsorption/regeneration using 0.10 M HNO3 as a regenerating agent. By contrast, for BF slag and red mud, there was a pronounced decline in adsorption of both Pb and Cd after only one regeneration cycle. This was explained in terms of residual surface alkalinity being a key factor contributing to the high adsorption capability of the latter two materials and that acid pre-treatment resulted in neutralization of much of this alkalinity. It was concluded that alum water treatment sludge showed greatest potential as an adsorbent. In the second study, the adsorption/desorption and regeneration capacity of two different samples of alum water treatment sludge for removal of Pb(II), Cr(III) and Cr(VI) (i.e. CrO42-) from aqueous solution was investigated. Adsorption characteristics of the two samples were generally similar. Adsorption isotherm data for all three ions fitted equally well to Freundlich and Langmuir equations. Maximum adsorption capacity and indices of adsorption intensity both followed the order: Cr(III) > Pb(II) > Cr(VI). Kinetic data correlated well with a pseudo-second-order kinetic model suggesting the process involved in adsorption was chemisorption. Adsorption was pH-dependant with percentage adsorption of Cr(III) and Pb(II) increasing from < 30% to 100% between pH 3 and 6 whilst that of Cr(VI) declined greatly between pH 5 and 8. Pb(II) and Cr(III) were effectively desorbed with HNO3 (at 0.10 and 0.50 M concentrations) and Cr(VI) by NaOH (at 0.01, 0.10 and 0.50 N concentrations). It was concluded that water treatment sludge is a suitable material for development of a low-cost adsorbent for removal of heavy metal cations and anions from wastewater streams. The metal (Cd2+, Cu2+, Pb2+, Zn2+ and Cr3+) adsorption capacity, from aqueous solution, of seven organic wastes (slash pine, red gum and western cypress bark, composted green waste, prawn exoskeletons, spent brewery yeast and mill mud from a sugar mill) was evaluated in the third study. All materials had substantial adsorption capacity for metal cations and spent yeast was the least effective. The order of selectivity of metals at pH 6.0, as evaluated by Langmuir qmax and Freundlich Kf values, was: Cr3+ > Cu2+ > Pb2+ > Zn2+ ≥ Cd2+. For pine bark, compost, mill mud and prawn shell, quantities of previously adsorbed Pb and Cd desorbed in 0.01 M NaNO3 electrolyte were negligible. However, HNO3 at concentrations of 0.10 M and 0.50 M HNO3 was effective at removing both adsorbed Pb and Cd. When 0.10 M HNO3 was used as the regenerating agent, pine bark and compost maintained their Pb and Cd adsorption capacity over 8 successive adsorption/regeneration cycles. By contrast, mill mud and prawn shell showed a noticeable decrease in adsorption capacity after only one regeneration cycle. This was attributed to their significant CaCO3 content (which is acid-soluble) that contributes substantially to their adsorption capacity. Compost, and to a lesser extent pine bark, showed great potential as a low-cost adsorbent. In the fourth study, five of the most effective adsorbents identified in the above studies (water treatment sludge, BF slag, red mud, compost and mill mud) were evaluated as metal immobilizing agents in an alkaline Pb/Zn-contaminated soil. Materials were incubated with the soil for a period of 12 months at rates of 5 and 10% w/w, after which, Rhodes grass was grown in the soils in a greenhouse study. Addition of BF slag, water treatment sludge and red mud markedly reduced acetic acid-, DTPA-, and EDTA-extractable Zn levels, while addition of mill mud, compost and red mud lowered acetic acid and DTPA-extractable Pb concentrations. Applications of red mud, mill mud and compost caused a significant increase in grass yield. Rhodes grass biomass was negatively correlated with both concentrations of extractable Pb in the soil and plant tissue Pb concentrations. Red mud was the most effective material for reducing the extractability of both Pb and Zn. From the research, it was concluded that in relation of both adsorption capacity and desorption/regeneration capability, water treatment sludge and composted green waste showed great potential as effective, low-cost adsorbents, and materials such as water treatment sludge, BF slag, red mud, and mill mud showed good potential as immobilizing agents. Where multielement adsorption or immobilization of metals is required, a combination of adsorbent materials is likely to be most effective.

A Computable General Equilibrium Analysis of Biofuel Promotion Policy in Thailand

Suthin Wianwiwat — 2011-08-19T00:00:00Z

Thailand’s economy is susceptible to global energy crises because about half of its energy supplies are sourced from overseas. Consequently, in January 2009, the National Energy Policy Council approved a 15-year renewable energy development plan (2008-2022) focusing on increasing the use of domestic alternative energy, particularly biomass fuel to replace fossil fuel imports. However, at this stage there is limited knowledge about the economic implications of implementing this plan, including the price effects and output impacts on other sectors. The main objective of this study is to develop a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model for Thailand which features several energy-specific enhancements. A database for 2008 was constructed by utilising data from the most recently available 2005 Thailand Input-Output table and various additional sources of information. The model is employed to simulate a number of potential policies to achieve the biofuel targets contained in the 15-year renewable energy development plan. The first set of four experiments conducted on bio-liquid fuel policy include: (i) promoting moderate use of ethanol by discontinuing gasoline-95 use and promoting E20; (ii) promoting aggressive use of ethanol by discontinuing gasoline-95 use, promoting E20, and discontinuing gasoline-91 use; (iii) promoting moderate use of biodiesel by setting B4 as standard diesel and B7 as alternative diesel; and (iv) promoting aggressive use of biodiesel by setting B5 as standard diesel and B10 as alternative diesel. The second set of four policy experiments conducted on biomass-based energy policy include: (i) allowing small power producers (SPPs) to sell an additional 136 MW of biomass-generated electricity; (ii) allowing very small power producers (VSPPs) to sell an additional 136 MW of electricity; (iii) allowing SPPs to sell an additional 136 MW of biomass-generated electricity and 1,066 MW for VSPPs; and (iv) implementing the third policy combined with promoting other agricultural waste use in electricity generation. The third set of four experiments of integrated biofuel policy include: (i) promoting ethanol and biodiesel use with no increase in fuel tax rates on gasohol constant; (ii) promoting ethanol and biodiesel use with increase in fuel tax rates on gasohol to neutralise the fuel tax revenue; (iii) promoting ethanol, biodiesel, and bioelectricity use, while holding the adder cost (subsidy) paid to VSPPs constant; and (iv) promoting ethanol, biodiesel, and bioelectricity use with increasing the adder cost to 0.5 baht per kWh. The simulation results indicate that in the short run, the integrated policy of promoting biofuel use tends to cause an adverse impact on the economy due to a decline in employment and consumption, while in the long run, the adverse effect on the economy is reversed via an increase in aggregate investment and real wages. Biofuel and biofuel feedstock sectors are the major beneficiaries including construction, mining, and non-metallic products. There is a moderate decline in imports of fossil fuels, while food security is not jeopardised by the policy as it causes no significant increase in food prices. In addition, implementing the bio-liquid fuel promotion policy is likely to achieve the target for biodiesel but not for ethanol. This is because the target for ethanol use is too high given the current structural constraints. Other measures such as setting E20 as standard gasohol and promoting E85 use should be implemented at a later stage. In addition, the policy of discontinuing gasoline use, replacing B2 with B5, and B5 with B10 needs to be phased in to avoid a shortage of ethanol and biodiesel. Furthermore, implementing the biomass-based electricity promotion policy is unlikely to be achievable due to a large increase in the prices of biomass. Therefore, increasing the government subsidy paid to biomass-based VSPPs to 0.5 baht per kWh could be an alternative measure to promote the use of bioelectricity. The work begun in this study could be extended in future work by expanding the database to include modern biofuels such as jatropha curcas biodiesel and cellulosic ethanol as well as electricity from wind and solar energy. Future work could also incorporate carbon emissions, given concerns over climate change and the need to consider how Thailand could benefit from carbon credits.

A Concept-Driven Approach to Object-Oriented Analysis and Design

Ven Yu Sien — 2010-03-19T00:00:00Z

The Unified Modelling Language (UML) and object-oriented analysis and design (OOAD) have become essential topics in both academia and industry. UML is the accepted standard modelling language for describing object-oriented (OO) systems for analysis and design, and many UML CASE tools have been built and are used in academia and industry. OO technology and UML is an ongoing area of research, and many applications have been developed using OO technology. However, observations on current software development practices in some computer companies have shown that many OO software developers are not adopting recognised OOAD techniques. Both information technology (IT) students at higher educational institutions and professionals have in general found difficulty in grasping OO concepts, and the role that UML diagrams play in the design of the analysis and design solution. They particularly find difficulty in performing abstractions of real-world problems within the context of OOAD. They are unable to effectively build class diagrams from the problem domain because they essentially do not know ‘what’ to model. They therefore prefer to start coding software applications before building the analysis and design artifacts. Most of these students invariably prefer to focus on the implementation phase of a software development lifecycle and consider the preceding analysis and design phases superfluous. The overall goal of this thesis is to contribute to a significant improvement in the way students and software developers analyse and design their OO systems. We present a new approach by introducing concept mapping as a tool to help novices in OOAD produce more appropriate UML class and sequence diagrams. The class and sequence diagrams are selected because they represent the essential static and behavioural aspects of a problem domain. The former is fundamental to the OO modelling process and the latter is one of the most widely used dynamic diagrams in UML. Concept mapping is a popular tool used in education for facilitating learning, comprehension and the development of knowledge. Within the context of OOAD, we propose to use concept maps as a graphical representation of fundamental concepts, and their relationships and responsibilities within a problem domain. A static concept map derived from expanded use cases (use case narratives) can subsequently evolve into a class diagram containing information on classes, attributes, associations and generalisation-specialisation hierarchies. A dynamic concept map derived from an expanded use case can evolve into a sequence diagram containing information on the interaction of objects (and their messages) to fulfil the responsibilities of a particular scenario of the use case. In this thesis, a study is initially conducted to investigate in detail the difficulties undergraduate students have when producing UML class and sequence diagrams. The results of the study reveal and confirm some of the fundamental problems that students have with OO modelling. In order to address these problems, a concept-driven approach is developed to help novices produce more appropriate UML class and sequence diagrams. The effectiveness of this approach is evaluated by three different experiments. The data from these experiments is analysed and there is sufficient statistical evidence to support the claim that the participants produce more appropriate class and sequence diagrams after being taught concept mapping techniques. As a result of this positive outcome, a set of guidelines is developed for teaching OO modelling with concept maps. These guidelines could be integrated into existing OOAD courses to help software engineering educators resolve some of the difficulties they face when teaching OOAD.

A consumer value theory of innovation in 3G mobile phones: a grounded theory approach

Ferrers, Richard Anthony — 2013-02-01T15:34:51Z

A Contextual Approach for Ethical Analysis in Clinical Genetics

Madelyn Peterson — 2009-09-20T00:00:00Z

Genetic medicine is an emerging area of healthcare which constantly raises novel ethical challenges in the clinical realm due to its capacity to reveal information that has deeply personal meaning. Genetic tests can reveal more than is strictly essential for immediate medical care because they can diagnose conditions that cannot be cured, treated or effectively managed. The diagnosis of a genetic condition in one individual can have repercussions throughout an extended family, and genetic knowledge has created innovative, technologically driven, reproductive options. For clients of genetic counselling, moral choice does not readily result from uncluttered logic or easy personal preference, nor does it involve the application of sterile principles and laws, but is a much richer process involving personal history and culture, as well as reflection upon personal values, current resources and projected life goals. For these reasons, I question the validity of the exclusive use of a narrow version of Principlism, as it is commonly operationalised, for the medical sub-specialty of clinical genetics. Its heavy emphasis on individual autonomy, which has become synonymous with clinical medicine, does not take into account the fact that most genetic tests have little or no immediate clinical utility, or that genetic medicine is primarily about the way in which genetic conditions pass through families, and management of recurrence risks by choice of reproductive options. Therefore, the aim of this dissertation is to develop and explore a broader contextual moral framework, which is better suited to deliberation about complex ethical dilemmas in clinical genetics, than the current dominant approach which tends to follow a restrictive and non-inclusive application of Principlism. To achieve this aim, I have started with a review of relevant history and socio-political forces that have shaped the current status of the genetic medicine, and examined the evolution of current attitudes that underpin recognition, analysis and management of the ethical challenges in genetic medicine. I have analysed the manner in which Principlism and other normative theories are employed by bioethicists and clinicians in response to ethical dilemmas, and presented an alternative approach which employs a broader contextual ethical framework. I have devised an approach which attends to the importance of both current social opinion, and the tradition of evidence-based medicine, with reference to selected traditions in philosophical analysis. vi In conclusion, I advocate attention to concrete circumstances, which includes recognition of historical development, which has shaped current medical and wider social values, beliefs, norms and attitudes political context, including critical analysis of relevant political motivations social context, particularly situational power structures, trust relationships and relational obligations personal values, resources and experiences of the stakeholder(s) the range of realistically available options for the stakeholder(s) the impact of economic limits, which might be institutional and / or personal And, to achieve this objective of building a ‘thick’ ethical discourse, I propose a series of questions, which can be readily utilised by genetic and non-genetic health professionals as well as other members of society to work towards resolutions that represent a balance of fairness, economic responsibility with scarce resources, and socially acceptability. This approach appropriately attends to the relational and communicative aspects of moral dilemmas in clinical genetics, and is likely to yield more meaningful (and less likely paternalistic) conclusions, which would be of greater value to our morally pluralist society.

A Cop, a Thief, and a Priest ...and some bad grammar: An Unruly Un-Love Story and the First Nations Fiction Diction Essay That Goes With It

Jesse Macpherson — 2010-07-26T00:00:00Z

This dissertation is comprised of two distinct but related components. The larger component is a short novel, titled A Cop, a Thief and a Priest. This is the story of three very different men, the woman they all want, her daughter who gets in the way, the secrets they all try to hide, and a few bedtime stories. Plus a Canadian Native or two. And maybe a bomb, as well. This work of fiction is written with a shifting perspective and varying degrees of adherence to the rules of grammar, depending on the narrator and characters in the scene. The story focuses on seriously flawed people in potentially harmful, though ceaselessly humorous, relationships and how they try to choose the best out of the poor options in front of them. In the course of the novel several Native Canadian/First Nations characters appear. Some are characters within the story, and others are cast members of several bedtime stories told by the three primary male characters. As I am not Canadian First Nations, I had concerns over writing dialogue and characterization of Canadian Native characters. In response to these misgivings, the accompanying critical essay component of this dissertation deals with the issue of a non-Native author writing Native characters. The thesis essay explores this question in the fiction of three Canadian authors who are not Canadian First Nations. I examine specifically their use of grammatical errors in the dialogue of their Native characters as a device to present diction as an element of the character’s status, education, gender, age, race or culture. The three authors chosen are W.P Kinsella, Anne Cameron, and Thomas King. These writers use diction variously, and each is scrutinized according to guidelines drawn from writing theory texts, commercial writing guides, and writing practice prescriptions from successful authors. The conclusions are considered in the crafting of my own First Nations characters.

A Corpus-Driven Study of Loanwords: Synchronic and Diachronic Change of English-Derived Words in Contemporary Japanese

Mayuko Inagawa — 2011-04-14T00:00:00Z

This thesis explores the linguistic evolution of certain loanwords, more specifically, English-derived words in the contemporary Japanese language over place and time via a corpus-driven approach, with special reference to word frequency and usage. The purpose is twofold: to identify how, and to what extent the application and implication of English-derived words used in the Japanese language have diverged from their counterparts in English (i.e., over space); and to examine how and to what extent the word frequency and the usage of English-derived words used in the Japanese language have changed over a fifteen-year period between 1991 and 2006 (i.e., over time). These goals are achieved by an analysis of corpora consisting of Mainichi newspaper articles published in 1991 and 2006. The main argument is that both place and time are significant factors in language change dynamics, and such change involves intra- and extra-linguistic factors. Japanese has a long history of borrowing words from other languages, and a significant number of loanwords exist in the Japanese lexicon. Loanwords are called gairaigo in Japanese, which literally means “words that come from outside”. Among these loanwords from foreign languages, English is by far the most prominent source for gairaigo, and words of English origin have become an indispensable part of Japanese. Gairaigo have been a fascinating topic in scholarly work, and a great deal of research on loanwords has been carried out from diverse points of view. Some of these look at the process of nativisation that the loanword undergoes whilst being adopted into Japanese, others look at the functions of gairaigo, the social and cultural issues concerning gairaigo, people’s attitude towards loanwords, and impacts of gairaigo upon English/Japanese language learning, and so on. Despite the existence of substantial studies on loanwords in the Japanese language, empirical research into language change of certain English-derived words, with special focus on word usage or meaning over place and time, is scarce. First, from the point of view of language change over place, similarities and differences in word usage between English-derived words in contemporary Japanese and their parent words in English have yet to be fully examined. It is known that there is a gap in word usage between the two languages. However, this observation tends to be overwhelmingly based on intuition, mapped by one’s linguistic knowledge of the two languages (i.e., English and Japanese) and/or descriptions based on introspections. It has hardly ever been derived directly from texts and presented in a systematic and informed way. In addition, contrary to the availability of extensive research demonstrating language change in the proportion of gairaigo in the Japanese language over time, there has been little research conducted that focuses on the language change of loanwords in word usage over time. It is evident that the number of gairaigo has grown over the decades, but an inquiry into whether or not, and to what extent the usage or meaning of loanwords in the Japanese language have changed over time has not yet been carried out. Investigating not only change in the number of gairaigo but also in their word usage/application is essential in order to capture a more accurate picture of language change in loanwords in the contemporary Japanese language. Responding to this unexplored field, this study first describes and quantifies the extent of language change in word frequency and usage of loanwords originating from English in the contemporary Japanese language over place and time by employing a corpus-driven approach, which allows both quantitative and qualitative interpretations of language behaviour. Findings show that both place and time are forces lying behind language change of certain English words in Japanese. In terms of place the results demonstrate that it is often the case that loanwords have undergone semantic modification whilst being adopted into Japanese and/or in the course of their use in the language. This modification includes meaning narrowing and broadening. This study further discusses the etymology of such Japanese-specific usage from the viewpoint of the shortening of words, influence of the receipt language (i.e., Japanese), and semantic extension of the words of the donor language (i.e., English). Regarding time, this thesis identifies that time is also a highly significant factor contributing to language change, demonstrating that some English-derived words in Japanese have changed in word frequency and/or meaning over years. The findings confirm that language change occurs in response to social and cultural change in the society. It is argued that such language change can be effected by fashion trends, economic climate, consumption behaviour, and social events, for example.

A corpus linguistic approach to intercultural education in the foreign language course: reflecting on multicultural France with Australian students

Lucia Drago — 2012-02-17T00:00:00Z

The present investigation is intended to encourage reflection on culture and identity in the French as a foreign language classroom through work on selected French key-words relating to immigration and national identity. Following recent developments in the historiography of migrations (Teulières 2007; Létourneau 2009; Pitti 2008), a pedagogical approach to French multicultural society was proposed to tertiary students of French in Australia, through the exploration of a variety of vocabulary items relating to people, places and issues. Firstly the researcher identified relevant key-words in French media discourses, and then the students who participated in a pedagogical trial analyzed meanings and use of these key-words. The method of analysis was informed by Corpus Linguistics (Sinclair 1996; Tognini-Bonelli 2000) according to Data-Driven Learning (Johns 1991), which was applied to concordances extracted from news websites and blogs. In order to work on up-to-date language and culture, key-words and their surrounding linguistic context were retrieved through the Web from current media discourses which form part of the contemporary collective memory (Moirand 2007). The key-words selected evoked issues related to the cultural diversity in French society. The methodologically-mixed approach to the project we designed and the subsequent implementation of a pedagogical trial led to the identification of lexical networks for four key-words: "identité nationale", "enfants de l’immigration", "Français de souche" and "jeunes des banlieues". Moreover, this investigation devoted extensive attention to learners’ views, with regard to both their evaluations of the concordance-based activities implemented in 2008, and their experiences of multicultural backgrounds shared during a "table ronde" with French guests. The learners’ perspective on concordance-based activities is believed to assume great importance in the framework of applications of Corpus Linguistics (see, for instance, Yoon & Hirvela 2004). The experiences of multicultural identities which were narrated by participants in the "table ronde" revealed several forms of "hybridation" of cultural identities (Pitti 2008). This thesis is addressed to teachers of Foreign Languages wishing to use linguistic analysis as a means for learners to gain access to cultural understanding. Outcomes of the implemented pedagogical trial represent a socio-constructivist model which highlights the valuable contribution of students in terms of interpreting vocabulary, assessing learning processes and bearing witness to experiences of multicultural identity.

Acquisition of word order in Chinese as a foreign language: An error taxonomy

Jiang, Wenying Wendy — 2008-11-21T00:00:00Z

Research in the field of Chinese second/foreign language (L2) acquisition, at present, does not match the increasing demand to learn Chinese as an L2, given that Chinese is the fastest growing foreign language (FL) in countries such as Japan, South Korea, the United States, Canada and Australia. There is a significant gap between Chinese L2 acquisition research and the large body of literature in second language acquisition (SLA), which mainly focuses on English L2. The need for more research in Chinese SLA is compelling. Particularly, research in Chinese L2 word order acquisition requires more attention because word order plays a more complex role in Chinese than in English. Chinese relies heavily on word order for information structuring of a sentence because this language lacks other means, such as verb endings indicating tense and aspect, to accomplish this function. Due to the different roles word order plays in Chinese and English, adult English-speaking learners find Chinese word order acquisition very challenging. Chinese L2 word order errors frequently occur in learners L2 production. However, Chinese L2 researchers and teachers are left with no means to adequately describe and explain these errors for instruction purposes. This dissertation develops such a means a comprehensive taxonomy of Chinese L2 word order errors. This taxonomy organizes these errors into a logical system of classification. Through the classification, explicit description of various Chinese L2 word order errors is achieved, and specific sources of these errors are traced. Data was collected from 116 native-English-speaking learners of Chinese at a large university in Australia. The Chinese L2 learners were divided into three proficiency levels based on their institutional status. Four hundred and eight word order errors were extracted by qualitatively analyzing the learners written samples. Among the 408 word order errors, 404 (99%) are successfully classified into different categories according to a new criterion proposed in this dissertation. The new taxonomy provides a principle-based description and explanation of various Chinese L2 word order errors. A word order error is deemed to constitute an error when it violates a relevant word order principle (or sub-principle). These principles not only explain why an error is an error but also provide a means for correcting the error. In a pedagogical sense, the directness and explicitness in explaining word order errors achieved by employing this taxonomy cannot be achieved by relying on any other sources of errors available in the literature. The new taxonomy overcomes the limitations of existing taxonomies in the literature that are either superficial, or unsystematic, or not empirically testable. For example, it draws on the Cognitive Functionalist Approach of L2 acquisition. Both its description and explanation of Chinese L2 word errors go beyond superficiality. The approach maintains that adult L2 learners conceptualization of the world is initially based on their L1. Their conceptualization of the world imposes constraints on the linguistic structures of their L2. Therefore, errors may occur when English learners of Chinese impose their conceptualization based on the English language onto the Chinese structures. The new taxonomy is systematic because it categorizes word order errors using one criterion. New categories emerging from the data and the existing categories from the literature are incorporated into one system. Finally, the new taxonomy is empirically testable because many new categories emerged from the data. It is an open-ended rather than a closed system. New categories can be added as necessary. The dissertation finds that violation of relevant word order principles has a high explanatory value for the various word order errors encountered in the data. This has clear pedagogical implications. Chinese L2 learners generally lack awareness of the word order principles (and sub-principles) on which the new taxonomy is based. These principles and sub-principles are seen to be of considerable importance to the acquisition of Chinese L2 word order. In order to improve learners word order performance, the results of this study indicate that it is imperative for the basic Chinese word order principles be included in a CFL curriculum.

Action-based research for rodent management in mixed cropping systems - bridging the research-extension divide

Nguyen, Thi My Phung — 2012-10-24T00:00:00Z

Action research on the ministry of Spiritual Companion of staff members in three Catholic schools in northern New South Wales

Karan Varker — 2011-09-09T00:00:00Z

ABSTRACT A notable issue which has emerged within the Australian Catholic Education System in recent times is the need to develop processes for supporting the spiritual formation of Catholic school teachers. In the Catholic Christian tradition spiritual formation concerns, in part, growth in personal understanding of and practice of Christian spirituality. Catholic Church authority suggests that one way of engaging in spiritual formation of Catholic school educators is through personalised accompanying which gives precedence to personal relationship, dialogue and attentive listening (CCE 2002, para. 62). This partly describes a ministry of a spiritual companion within the Australian Catholic school. This action research, carried out over three years, offers reasons and suggestions as to the need for and value of the spiritual companioning ministry of Catholic school staff members, particularly in relation to colleagues who are teachers. The approach used in this action research study is that of the spiritual companion as a reflective practitioner and it relates to the research focus question: What understandings, virtues, personal capacities, practical skills and action plans do I need to develop effective spiritual companioning of staff members in Australian Catholic primary and secondary schools? The literature review of the research concerns elements of Christian spirituality, the daily reality, issues, expectations, and responsibilities which affect teachers employed in the Catholic school, as well as ways of nourishing an everyday spirituality relevant to teachers’ lives. The place of spiritual companioning within Christian spirituality, which includes its origins, traditions and developments, is briefly discussed. Spiritual companioning in comparison to related functions within the Catholic school is also examined. To ensure that this ministry had a firm theological basis, during this research the spiritual companion, as a reflective practitioner, operated within the framework of pastoral theology and its related “pastoral cycle”. This is a cyclic approach which involves a process of observing, planning, acting, reflecting and reviewing. It includes critical correlation of scripture and theology with secular sources. Journal recording of significant incidents and the assistance of critical friends were significant, as was validation of the spiritual companioning process offered by colleagues through evaluation questionnaires. A provisional model for this spiritual companioning ministry has been developed and hypothetical qualities and qualifications are offered. After three years of critical reflection, of being present to and walking with colleagues in this ministry and in conversation with a network of persons involved in spiritual formation of Catholic school educators, I have realised that many Catholic school teaching and administrative staff members are seeking and are grateful for opportunities for spiritual formation and guidance. They recognise these also as means through which they might enrich their personal lives by engaging with their innate wisdom, keep balance in their busy lifestyles, and grow in an understanding of what it means to have an educational vocation in the Catholic school. Given these possibilities, as well as the desire of Catholic Education authorities that Catholic school educators be offered on-going and sustained spiritual formation (CCE 2002), it would seem that now may be a kairos, or favourable time, for the ministry of spiritual companioning of Catholic school staff members.

Action research used for teacher professional learning in Samoa: a journey of dilemmas, learning and prospects

Faoagali, Susan Lupe — 2012-09-20T00:00:00Z

Actions speak louder than words : accelerating national policies for obesity and related chronic illness

Gross, Paul — 2008-11-21T00:00:00Z

In 2006, over 60% of adult Australians are obese or overweight as measured by Body Mass Index (weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared). Adult and childhood obesity is growing at about one percentage point per year. A central tenet of this thesis is that with such prevalence and growth rates of the human girth, obesity is a major public policy issue that has a large direct cost in the burden of related chronic conditions and an even larger hidden cost of lost productivity that is not being addressed by governments in Australia. With yet another report on obesity imminent from the National Obesity Task Force, I argue that Australia needs to replace its reliance on talk-fests about obesity by government policies that redefine obesity as a national health priority area requiring immediate collective action by households, the food, drink and advertising industries, health insurers and the federal and state governments. The obesity epidemic requires embedding into Medicare and private health insurance the types of economic incentives that are now reducing the risks of unhealthy lifestyles in other parts of the world, emphasizing the role of personal responsibility in changing unhealthy lifestyles. While all these initiatives are, given the current chasm between federal and statelterritory governments, rather difficult to implement, I argue that policies are required to prevent obesity in all age groups, and complacency is not an option. This thesis makes six substantive contributions to the policy debate on obesity in Australia. First, it identifies the types of direct treatment costs and the hidden costs of workloss (absenteeism) and lost productivity while at work (presenteeism) that are generated by highly prevalent chronic disorders that are poorly managed in Australia. Second, it provides new estimates of the costs of obesity, overweight and physical inactivity in 2004105, identifying both the direct and indirect costs of chronic conditions associated with these three risk factors. Third, it analyses data from a small pilot study of weightloss in Australia using a new behavioural model, concluding that policies that buttress self-efficacy and intrinsic motivations should be considered in government policy for obesity. Fourth, drawing on the new discipline of behavioural economics, it concludes that regulation of advertising of food and drinks to children is unlikely to be as effective as economic incentives that enhance the sense of personal responsibility. Fifth, it proposes changes in the economic incentives within the Medicare and private health insurance systems, and it identifies gaps in workplace health promotion that should be remedied by gradual changes in workers' compensation insurance and new tax incentives to employers. Sixth, it recommends the creation of a new National Council on Obesity and Chronic Disease headed by a Parliamentary Secretary responsible to the Cabinet for the development of cross-portfolio strategies and the creation of public-private partnerships against obesity and chronic conditions. The last recommendation emerges as a preferred alternative to leaving all major decisions on obesity and related chronic conditions in the hands of politically-charged bodies such as the Council of Australian Governments (COAG). The thesis concludes with a set of recommendations on macro-environments that need to be considered in devising new policies to attack the obesity epidemic on both the demand side (i.e., the population) and the supply side (i.e., all providers of care, all payers for such care and all suppliers of dietary intakes who can influence weightloss behaviour), all influenced by new economic and behavioural incentives for healthier diets and physical activity rather than by government regulatory zeal.

Activated CMRF-56 Immunoselected Cells: A Potential Anti-Myeloma Vaccine

Jennifer Hsu — 2010-04-29T00:00:00Z

The Mater Medical Research Institute proposes to undertake a Phase I clinical trial using CMRF-56 immunoselected blood dendritic cells (BDC) loaded with control and myeloma-associated tumour peptide antigens for the treatment of multiple myeloma (MM) patients with minimal residual disease. This thesis describes some of the fundamental pre-clinical in vitro experiments undertaken in preparation for this trial so as to maximise the potential of this vaccine to induce myeloma-specific immune responses. These experiments involved determining the parameters for optimal activation of the CMRF-56 immunoselected cell preparation and exploring the potential of novel myeloma peptide antigens to induce anti-myeloma cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) responses. CMRF-56 immunoselected cell preparations, containing predominately myeloid BDC, monocytes and B cells, were prepared from both healthy donors and myeloma patients. Activation of this preparation with granulocyte macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) was found to increase co-stimulatory molecule expression by and survival of BDC, improve peptide- and lysate-specific CTL induction, and, in combination with prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), improve chemokine-specific migration of BDC. Following optimisation of in vitro CTL generation protocols, GM-CSF activated CMRF-56 immunoselected cells were examined for their ability to induce myeloma-specific immunity. Using lysate from myeloma cell line U266 as an antigen source, a polyclonal T cell pool was generated within which peptide specific CTL recognising myeloma antigens Muc1, HM1.24/BST2, DKK-1 and CT-7/MAGE-C1 could be identified. Furthermore, GM-CSF activated CMRF-56 immunoselected cells pulsed with HLA-A*201 restricted peptides derived from Muc1, HM1.24/BST2 and CT-7/MAGE-C1 could induce CTL capable of lysing both peptide- and myeloma cell line targets in both healthy donors and myeloma patients. These results provide the first evidence of immunogenic HLA-A*201 restricted epitopes of novel myeloma antigen CT-7/MAGE-C1. The data collected in this study supports the application of GM-CSF activated CMRF-56 immunoselected cells loaded with defined myeloma peptide antigens for the therapeutic vaccination of MM patients with minimal residual disease.

Activation of Cys-loop Receptors by Ivermectin

Timothy Lynagh — 2011-05-30T00:00:00Z

Ivermectin is a successful anthelmintic and insecticide that activates with nanomolar potency glutamate-gated chloride channels (GluClRs) that are present in invertebrate targets and absent in mammals. In recent years, it has been shown to enhance mammalian Cys-loop receptors, including the inhibitory glycine receptor (GlyR), but at micromolar concentrations. It is unclear how ivermectin interacts with these receptors, although evidence suggests that the binding site is distinct from that of normal agonists and likely in the transmembrane domain. The present study aimed to 1) identify structural differences between parasite GluClRs and the human GlyR that contribute to the large difference in potency at these receptors, 2) describe the ivermectin binding site and/or mechanism of activating the channel and 3) develop an ivermectin-sensitive receptor for neuronal silencing. The results suggested that the side-chain of one amino acid in the third membrane-spanning helix determines ivermectin sensitivity of GluClR and GlyR subunits and that this and other amino acids at an intersubunit interface are likely to interact with the ivermectin molecule. This information allowed for the development of a mutant GlyR that was sensitive to ivermectin and insensitive to glycine, that should serve as a neuronal silencing receptor.

Active Audition for Robots using Parameter-Less Self-Organising Maps

Berglund, Erik Johan — 2008-11-21T00:00:00Z

How can a robot become aware of its surroundings? How does it create its own subjective, inner representation of the real world, so that relationships in the one are reflected in the other? It is well known that structures analogous to Self-Organising Maps (SOM) are involved with this task in animals, and this thesis undertakes to explore if and how a similar approach can be success- fully applied in robotics. In order to study the environment-to-abstraction mapping with a minimum of guidance from directed learning and built-in design assumptions, this thesis examines the active audition task in which a system must determine the direction of a sound source and orient towards it, both in horizontal and vertical direction. Previous explanations of directional hearing in animals, and the implementation of directional hearing algorithms in robots have tended to focus on the two best known directional clues; the intensity and time differences. This thesis hypothesises that it is advantageous to use a synergy of a wider range of metrics, namely the phase and relative intensity difference. A solution to the active audition problem is proposed based on the Parameter- Less Self-Organising Map (PLSOM), a new algorithm also introduced in this thesis. The PLSOM is used to extract patterns from a high-dimensional input space to a low-dimensional output space. In this application the output space is mapped to the correct motor command for turning towards the source and focusing attention on the selected source by filtering unwanted noise. The dimension-reducing capability of the PLSOM enables the use of more than just two directional clues for computation of the direction. This thesis presents the new PLSOM algorithm for SOM training and quantifies its performance relative to the ordinary SOM algorithm. The mathematical correctness of the PLSOM is demonstrated and the properties and some applications of this new algorithm are examined, notably in automatically modelling a robot's surroundings in a functional form: Inverse Kinematics (IK). The IK problem is related in principle to the active audition problem - functional rather than abstract representation of reality - but raises some new questions of how to use this internal representation in planning and execution of movements. The PLSOM is also applied to classification of high-dimensional data and model-free chaotic time series prediction. A variant of Reinforcement Learning based on Q-Learning is devised and tested. This variant solves some problems related to stochastic reward functions. A mathematical proof of correct state-action pairing is devised.

Active awareness: supporting the intentional disclosure of awareness information in collaborative systems

Rittenbruch, Markus Maria — 2012-09-13T00:00:00Z

Acumen, Ambivalence and Ambiguity: Stories of women with asthma

Rose, Gabrielle Maree — 2008-11-21T00:00:00Z

Australia has one of the highest prevalence rates of asthma in the world and is one of the leading countries in the public health approach to the problem. Yet despite advances biomedical and public health discourses still provide various definitions of asthma and, at times, contradictory models of aetiology, treatment and prevention. These contrasting views are disseminated to the public by the media and in clinical encounters: they inform medical practice, pharmaceutical policy, and public perceptions and responses to the illness. In this thesis I explore the convergences and discrepancies in the representation of asthma and contrast these with the lived experiences of women with asthma. The thesis draws on research undertaken in Queensland, Australia, with women with asthma, and with their physicians and other people working in the field of asthma policy, practice and research. It is a medical anthropological approach to the problem of asthma and uses qualitative and quantitative methods in the collection of data. It then triangulates the qualitative and quantitative findings. The quantitative data are presented first and these are juxtaposed with the qualitative findings. The major concepts to emerge from the qualitative data include the acumen women have in terms of knowledge of their asthma; ambivalence in managing their asthma; and ambiguity in terms of the quality of their life. The findings of the research demonstrate that women with asthma, and the institutions in place to deal with it, suffocate, metaphorically keeping bodies just below the surface, suppressing their life in lieu of their illness. The central argument in this thesis is that despite positive advances in the area of asthma research, policy and practice, the continuing reliance on medical and public health models for the creation of knowledge in the area of chronic illness fails to adequately respond to the needs of women with asthma. The fundamental outcome of the research shows that the social and cultural capital a woman with asthma has in relation to knowledge, attitudes and practices, translates into disposition towards the management of her chronic condition. This is sometimes in direct contrast with existing knowledges. I argue that instead of research and practice that focuses on the deficits in knowledge of people with asthma, an asset-based approach to the problem of asthma one that focuses on existing knowledge, attitudes and practices of these women may assist in managing the chronic illness condition in a more effective fashion.

Acupuncture Management of Frozen Shoulder

Lee, David Robert Kittak — 2008-11-21T00:00:00Z

Background: Frozen shoulder or idiopathic adhesive capsulitis is an enigma of musculo-skeletal medicine. It is a difficult condition to treat and its etiology is still unknown. Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate whether acupuncture has a role in the management of frozen shoulder. Objectives: An in-depth literature review was conducted on all aspects related to the current concepts and treatments for frozen shoulder. Although there were discussions on associated conditions and possible causes of frozen shoulder, there is currently no consensus on its management. Acupuncture has been used successfully as a treatment for frozen shoulder by many eastern practitioners. Unfortunately, their claims could not be substantiated due to a lack of properly conducted clinical trials. An acupuncture treatment protocol for the management of frozen shoulder was designed based on both Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Anatomical principles. This protocol was then tested with a clinical trial. Methods: A pilot study, using a prospective case series of 20 patients suffering with the adhesive phase of frozen shoulder, was conducted to test the effectiveness of the acupuncture treatment protocol. This study included specific selection and exclusion criteria; an objective assessment of the range of movement and subjective assessments on the quality of life and pain. All data were collated and analysed with SPSS version 12. The pretreatment and post-treatment data were tested using both parametric paired sample t test and non-parametric Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Results: The patients profile confirmed the affected age group and gender distribution to be similar to those in the literature search. Unfortunately, due to the small sample size, there were no significant associated conditions demonstrated. There were twice as many cases of primary frozen shoulder than secondary frozen shoulder in this study. These analyses suggested that there were significant changes in all three areas of assessment range of shoulder movement, quality of life and visual analogue pain scale (p<0.001). At completion of treatment, the result revealed that the acupuncture treatment protocol was successful in 60%, and moderately successful in 15%, of the 20 cases tested. This outcome was compared with the study by Omari and Bunker which showed only 12% success with conservative western medical treatments, suggesting that acupuncture may be better than conservative western medical treatments. Conclusion: Acupuncture treatment is less costly and has minimal side effects. It should be part of the non-procedural modalities offered to patients suffering with frozen shoulder. For patients who have failed western conservative managements, a trial of acupuncture treatment should be considered prior to embarking on the more invasive interventions..

Acute care in medical inpatients: risk factors, care models and outcomes

Alison Mudge — 2011-02-02T00:00:00Z

Efficient and effective management of medical patients poses a major challenge to clinicians, administrators and policy makers. Significant achievements in efficiency have largely absorbed the impact of population ageing over the past two decades, but an emphasis on efficiency might compromise functional outcomes and increase readmission rates in this vulnerable patient group. AIMS: The aim of this research was to improve understanding of the characteristics and outcomes of general medical patients, to inform improvements in care. Specific aims were to:  describe the characteristics and outcomes of a large, representative cohort of general medical patients;  measure the impact of an interdisciplinary care model on outcomes, with a focus on length of stay, functional outcomes, and readmissions;  determine whether beneficial outcomes were confined to particular patient subgroups; and  investigate risk factors for adverse functional outcomes and readmissions. METHODS: The principal study was a pseudo-randomised controlled trial of interdisciplinary care for general medical patients, enrolling all consecutive general medical patients over 24 weeks. The intervention included greater allied health staffing, consistent interdisciplinary care teams, consistent team communication and explicit discharge planning. Control patients received usual care from a consistent medical team with allied health referral. Baseline data were collected prospectively at admission from nursing and medical assessments. Length of stay, discharge destination and diagnosis were collected at the time of discharge. Functional status was obtained from nursing reports of preadmission, admission and baseline dependency in six activities of daily living. Readmissions and cost-weight (a severity surrogate) were obtained from the hospital information systems. Mortality at 6 months was obtained from the state-wide death registry. Characteristics and outcomes were described for all patients. Outcomes were compared between the intervention and control groups. Subgroup analyses explored the impact of age, frailty and residential aged care. Findings regarding functional status and readmissions were then examined in greater detail using multivariate analyses, adjusting for recognised confounders identified through systematic literature reviews. RESULTS: 1538 patients were enrolled, 746 in the control and 792 in the intervention group. Two thirds were aged over 65 years, of whom 19% came from residential aged care (RAC) and 65% met frailty criteria. Mean length of stay was 7.5 days, 5% of patients died in hospital, 15% died within 6 months of discharge and 30% were readmitted to hospital. Nearly 30% had pre-existing impairments in one or more activity of daily living, 42% had new functional deficits at the time of admission, 5% had new or further decline in hospital, and 23% still had greater functional impairments than usual at the time of hospital discharge. The intervention arm demonstrated a trend to reduction in length of stay (0.5 days; 95% CI -0.2, 3.2; p=0.18) and a significant reduction in in-hospital functional decline (3.2% versus 5.5%; p=0.04), consistent with previous studies. Unexpected findings were a reduction in in-hospital mortality (3.9% versus 6.4%; p=0.03) and a low rate of in-hospital decline. Older age, frailty markers and RAC origin were strongly associated with poorer outcomes. Marked mortality benefits from the intervention were seen in the RAC subgroup. Amongst patients aged over 65, we observed a high rate of functional decline occurring before hospital admission (pre-hospital decline) and a low rate of in-hospital decline. Predictors of pre-hospital in-hospital and post-hospital functional changes differed. In order to promote improved functional recovery in older patients, the interdisciplinary care model was refined to include a more pro-active approach to early functional rehabilitation. This functional independence model was implemented in a pilot controlled trial, and demonstrated greater functional improvement in the intervention group (median increase in modified Barthel index 8.5 versus 3.5 in the control group, p=0.025). Using confounders identified in a systematic literature search, multivariate techniques were used to explore predictors of hospital readmissions and examine alternative approaches to dealing with deaths in readmission analysis. This analysis confirmed a previous hospital admission as a powerful predictor of future readmission. A prospective observational study of 142 older medical patients who had already had two recent hospital admissions revealed that chronic diseases, malnutrition and depression were significant predictors of further readmission. This may inform future post-hospital interventions. CONCLUSIONS: These studies advance our understanding of the complex interplay between characteristics, care models and outcomes in medical patients. They highlight some of the methodological challenges involved in health services research, including the potential interactions between outcomes, which may influence study results and interpretation. They contribute to design of future studies by defining risk factors to consider as confounders and/or potential intervention targets. Importantly, the principal study has resulted in a major permanent change in clinical practice at the RBWH, has informed the design of other general medical services and has improved research capacity. Our ongoing multidisciplinary research program will continue to improve the quality of care for a large and vulnerable group of patients.

Adaptation by prediction: Reading the play in robot soccer

David Michael Ball — 2008-08-20T00:00:00Z

ADAPTATIONS TO HOST PLANTS IN SELECTED AUSTRALIAN PERGID SAWFLIES

Anne-Marie Elizabeth Mckinnon — 2011-02-21T00:00:00Z

Abstract This thesis examines some key aspects of the host associations of Australian pergid sawflies and their adaptations to their hosts. The Australian pergid sawflies form a diverse and interesting group, although somewhat under studied. They have a typically Gondwanan distribution (Australia, Papua New Guinea and the Neotropics, with the exception of four species of Acordulcera in North America and Canada), and the host associations of pergids in Australia show strong links with the evolution of the Australian flora. Sawflies have specialised adaptations to their hosts. One of these is the presence of a scopa mandibularis (SM) and oesophageal diverticula in Perginae sawfly larvae (Schmidt et al., 2000). The apparent function of the SM is to filter out toxic oils from the leaves of their myrtaceous (Eucalyptus) hosts and to direct them into the diverticula for storage and defence. To investigate how the SM functions in relation to the diverticula, the amount of oil stored by feeding larvae that had the SM removed was compared with the amount stored by intact larvae. Removal of the SM led to a greater quantity of oil reaching the gut of the larvae, although this was then quickly digested through enzymatic activity (Chapter 2). The other Myrtaceae feeding sawflies in the subfamilies Pterygophorinae, Phylacteophaginae and Euryinae (Schmidt and Smith, 2006) do not have any such structures for host toxin removal and storage, and it is thought that they break toxins down using biochemical pathways, although this needs further investigation. The next chapter focuses on the phylogenetic relationships and host associations of Australian pergid sawflies. Lophyrotoma analis is the only species in the subfamily Pterygophorinae to be associated with a Polygonaceae host. The other species all feed on plants in the family Myrtaceae. To help establish whether this species has undergone a host switch from Myrtaceae,, its phylogenetic placement relative to the other species within the Pterygophorinae needs to be confirmed. For this purpose, DNA sequence data were obtained from representatives of five of the seven pergid subfamilies, with particular emphasis on the Pterygophorinae (Chapter 3). Results strongly support the placement of L. analis within the subfamily Pterygophorinae. A trait reconstruction of ancestral hosts shows a prevalence of Myrtaceae as the ancestral host for Australian Pergidae, including the Pterygophorinae. The evidence therefore suggests that L. analis underwent a host switch from Myrtaceae to a Polygonaceae host, but more research is needed to establish the timing of this divergence. Aspects of the host switch in L. analis are examined experimentally in Chapter 4. Choice and no choice experiments were performed to test whether L. analis could still associate with a myrtaceous host species. A range of Myrtaceae and Polygonaceae species were used in these experiments, with all of the former being host plants used by other sawfly species within the Pterygophorinae. The Myrtaceae used included species with leaf oils, such as Eucalyptus and Melaleuca, and also species that do not have such oils (e.g. Syzygium). Plants in the family Polygonaceae included representatives from the genera Rumex, Polygonum and Persicaria. Female oviposition and larval feeding responses to each plant were recorded (Chapter 4). Females oviposited, at least to some extent, on all Polygonaceae species tested, but most consistently on Rumex, and also on Persicaria when given no choice. By contrast, no oviposition was recorded on any of the Myrtaceae species that were tested. Larvae fed successfully on all Rumex species tested, but they showed no signs of feeding, produced no frass and perished in a short time when they were placed on any other plants, whether Polygonaceae or Myrtaceae. The results demonstrate that L. analis can no longer associate with Myrtaceae, and successful interactions with Polygonaceae are limited to Rumex species. Through techniques varying from laboratory work (molecular analysis) to field studies (host testing and host records), the co-radiation of Australian sawflies and their hosts have been investigated, with specific emphasis on the host switch of L. analis. The final chapter of this thesis discusses the host associations of Australian pergid sawflies, with particular emphasis on explanations of how L. analis may have switched to Polygonaceae. Further research into host associations and adaptations of Pergidae is also recommended. References Schmidt S & Smith DR. 2006. An annotated systematic world catalogue of the Pergidae (Hymenoptera). Contributions of the American Entomological Institute 34, 1-207. Schmidt S, Walter GH & Moore CJ. 2000. Host plant adaptations in myrtaceous-feeding Pergid sawflies: essential oils and the morphology and behaviour of Pergagrapta larvae (Hymenoptera, Symphyta, Pergidae). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 70, 15-26.

Adapting optimisation techniques for improved conservation management in large state spaces

Samuel Nicol — 2011-02-20T00:00:00Z

The stakes are high for conservation managers charged with making timely decisions about endangered species. Wrong decisions can result in species extinction, but the precise state of the population in the future cannot be predicted. Stochastic Dynamic Programming (SDP) is the primary tool used by conservation scientists to optimise management decisions in the face of uncertain population dynamics over time. SDP considers the probable effects of a range of management actions and matches each state of the system with the action that is most likely to lead to the management objective being achieved. While SDP gives the globally optimal solution to a problem, its application is limited by the ``curse of dimensionality''. Adding new state variables to a problem exponentially increases the size of the state space, so state spaces become extremely large with only a few state variables. The time to compute the SDP solution increases polynomially with the size of the state and action spaces, meaning that SDP becomes computationally intractable for problems with large state spaces. Because of this, ecological modellers are forced to greatly simplify complex ecological processes. In this dissertation we present methods to circumvent the curse of dimensionality in conservation management problems. The methods that we introduce were developed in the fields of artificial intelligence and operations research. Our aim is to study the benefits of these methods in conservation and demonstrate that optimisation of complex ecological models is possible and can also make new problems accessible. In chapter 2, we examine the question: are many small habitat patches better than a few large ones? The question is notoriously hard because the state space of the problem increases exponentially with both the number of patches that can be added to the system and the size of each patch. To answer the question in the general case is very difficult because the number of potential patch configurations is infinite. We use a spatially implicit metapopulation model with equidistant patches and apply the model to an endangered Southern Emu-wren (Stipiturus malachurus intermedius) population. We find that SDP techniques out-perform heuristic algorithms and argue that SDP must be applied on a case-by-case basis to solve this difficult problem. The problem in chapter 2 demonstrates the complexity created by large state spaces and shows that management based on plausible rules of thumb can be ineffective. In chapters 3 and 4, we introduce two simulation-based algorithms that give optimal local solutions for any sized state space. Both algorithms trade the guarantee of global optimality for a faster local approximation by implementing SDP using only the states that are most likely to be visited rather than all possible states. Chapter 3 solves a spatially explicit fish metapopulation persistence problem using Kearns, Mansour and Ng's sparse sampling algorithm. The algorithm is very useful for problems with multiple habitat variables such as the fish metapopulation because the speed of the algorithm is independent of the size of the state space. However the speed of the algorithm depends on how far into the future we simulate. We use the case study to explore the trade off between minimising sampling error by sampling further into the future and reducing algorithm run-time. For the fish metapopulation, we find that looking three timesteps into the future gives us the best results that we can achieve with this algorithm. Chapter 4 improves upon the Kearns algorithm by implementing Peret and Garcia's heuristic sampling algorithm, which controls the sampling error while simulating. By keeping the error contained, we are able to set a maximum number of simulations and be assured that the algorithm will find the best possible solution given the constraints of our computing power. The algorithm is used to solve two case studies with extremely large state or action spaces. We first solve a spatially explicit malleefowl (Leipoa ocellata) metapopulation management problem with a very large action space. The model is interesting because we can take multiple actions in one timestep, subject to a budgetary constraint. We find that Peret and Garcia's algorithm out-performs a plausible rule of thumb and performs as well as SDP using a modest computational budget. In a second case study, we solve a ring-structured metapopulation problem with 33 million states. This is roughly three orders of magnitude larger than the largest problem that can be solved with SDP. In chapter 5, we take a different approach to dealing with large state spaces and reduce the size of the state space with an intelligent discretization algorithm. We use the Continuous U-Tree (CU-Tree) algorithm to compactly discretize a continuous state space using the Washington sea otter population as a case study. New states are only added where they are statistically necessary to maintain the optimal value function. By using CU-Tree, we reduce the number of states from 72 down to 13 states. The CU-Tree algorithm reduces the state space sufficiently so that the effects of partial observability on the optimal solution can be considered. This cannot be done when the state space is large. We use two methods to solve the sea otter Partially Observable Markov Decision Process (POMDP), which is a decision problem where the true state of the population is uncertain. We find that the sea otter population can be managed assuming perfect observability. This dissertation presents just a few of the techniques available in the artificial intelligence and operations research literature for solving large state space optimal management problems in conservation. We show in the dissertation that using large state space optimisation methods allows us to both to expand the domain of problems that can currently be optimised and to answer previously insoluble questions in conservation biology.

Adaptive crosstalk cancellation and Lattice aided detection in multi-user communications

Mandar Gujrathi — 2010-05-25T00:00:00Z

Digital subscriber lines (DSL) have revolutionised the provision of high speed data over the ‘last mile’. Subscribers demand even more bandwidth and the penetration of the service is now nearly universal. While it is feasible to provide improved broadband services on the new very high speed DSL, such as VDSL2/3, one of the greatest challenges to further improvements in speed is the problem of crosstalk. Operating over the unused higher frequencies of the twisted pair network, this technology is subjected to electromagnetic coupling among the wires, limiting the DSL data rate and service reach. Crosstalk suppression methods such as zero-forcing or decision feedback mainly use block processing. However, to cope with the time-varying VDSL environment huge computational costs can be incurred. In contrast, adaptive processing approaches are much simpler and are more beneficial to track such a channel environment. An adaptive canceller uses a training sequence and the convergence speed depends on the number of crosstalk coefficients it has to estimate. In a populated DSL binder, only a few of the crosstalking neighbours to a particular user are significant. With the aim to reduce the computational complexity in such environments, this thesis introduces the concept of detection-guided adaptive crosstalk cancellation for DSL. We propose a least-squares test feature to detect and concentrate the adaptation only on the dominant crosstalking coefficients. In comparison to conventional adaptive cancellers, the cancellers proposed in this thesis demonstrate early convergence. Thus, by incorporating the test feature, these cancellers have to detect only the most significant canceller coefficients and therefore, the length of the training sequence is reduced. Together with enhanced adaptive cancellation with a low run-time complexity and improved convergence, the greatest advantage obtained here is in the bandwidth efficiency. While enhanced adaptive cancellation is a bandwidth-efficient approach, the frequent re-transmission of training sequences may still be required for a rapidly changing VDSL channel. Again, this can be a disadvantage in terms of bandwidth consumption. To overcome this difficulty, we propose fast-converging unsupervised cancellers with an aim to improve the bandwidth efficiency by not transmitting a training sequence. An added advantage obtained here is that this would enable Internet service providers to include multiple or improved broadband services within a single subscription. Certain properties of the DSL channel ensure the communication channel is properly conditioned. This ensures the basis vectors of the channel matrix are near-orthogonal and hence, the linear cancellers, such as zero-forcing perform near-optimally. However, this is not the case with wireless channels. We investigate user detection in wireless channels using the principle of lattice reduction. User detection can also be seen as a search for the closest vector point in the lattice of received symbols. Though a maximum likelihood (ML) detector facilitates optimal user-detection, it has exponential complexity. We identify that the closest vector problem can be cast as a non-linear optimisation problem. Using the periodicity of the maximum likelihood function, we first present a novel algorithm that approximates the ML function using the Taylor series expansion of a suitable cosine function. With the aim of minimising the approximation error, we represent the ML function as a Fourier Series expansion and later, propose another approximation using Jacobi theta functions. We study the performance of these approximations when subjected to a suitable unconstrained optimisation algorithm. Through simulations, we demonstrate that the newly-developed approximations perform better than the conventional cancellers, close to the ML and, importantly, converging in polynomial time.

Adaptive Interactive Expectations: Dynamically Modelling Profit Expectations

William Paul Bell — 2010-04-18T18:52:25Z

This thesis aims to develop an alternative expectations model to the Rational Expectations Hypothesis (REH) and adaptive-expectations models, which provides more accurate temporal predictive performance and more closely reflects recent advances in behavioural economics, the ‘science of complexity’ and network dynamics. The model the thesis develops is called Adaptive Interactive Expectations (AIE), a subjective dynamic model of the process of expectations formation. To REH, the AIE model provides both an alternative and a complement. AIE and REH complement one another in that they are diametrically opposite in the following five dimensions, agent intelligence, agent interaction, agent homogeneity, equilibrium assumptions and the rationalisation process. REH and AIE stress the importance of hyper-intelligent agents interacting only via a price signal and near zero-intelligent agents interacting via a network structure, respectively. The complementary nature of AIE and REH provide dual perspectives that enhance analysis. The Dun & Bradstreet (D&B 2008) profit expectations survey is used in the thesis to calibrate AIE and make predictions. The predictive power of the AIE and REH models is compared. The thesis introduces the ‘pressure to change profit expectations index’, px. This index provides the ability to model unknowns within an adaptive dynamic process and combine the beliefs from interactive-expectations, adaptive-expectations and biases that include pessimism, optimism and ambivalence. AIE uses networks to model the flow of interactive-expectations between firms. To overcome the uncertainty over the structure of the interactive network, the thesis uses model-averaging over 121 network topologies. These networks are defined by three variables regardless of their complexity. Unfortunately, the Bayesian technique’s use of the number of variables as a measure of complexity makes it unsuitable for model-averaging over the network topologies. To overcome this limitation in the Bayesian technique, the thesis introduces two model-averaging techniques, ‘runtime-weighted’ and ‘optimal-calibration’. These model-averaging techniques are benchmarked against ‘Bayes-factor model-averaging’ and ‘equal-weighted model-averaging’. In addition to the aggregate called all–firms, the D&B (2008) survey has four divisions, manufacturing durables, manufacturing non–durables, wholesale and retail. To make use of the four divisions, the thesis introduces a ‘link-intensity matrix’ based upon an ‘input-output table’ to improve the calibration of the networks. The transpose of the table is also used in the thesis. The two ‘link-intensity matrices’ are benchmarked against the default, a ‘matrix of ones’. The aggregated and disaggregated versions of AIE are benchmarked against adaptive-expectations to establish whether the interactive-expectations component of AIE add value to the model. The thesis finds that AIE has more predictive power than REH. ‘Optimal-calibration model-averaging’ improves the predictive performance of the better-fitting versions of AIE, which are those versions that use the ‘input-output table’ and ‘matrix of ones’ link-intensity matrices. The ‘runtime-weighted model-averaging’ improves the predictive performance of only the ‘input-output table’ version of AIE. The interactive component of the AIE model improves the predictive performance of all versions of the AIE over adaptive-expectations. There is an ambiguous effect on prediction performance from introducing the ‘input-output table’. However, there is a clear reduction in the predictive performance from introducing its transpose. AIE can inform the debate on government intervention by providing an Agent-Based Model (ABM) perspective on the conflicting mathematical and narrative views proposed by the Greenwald–Stiglitz Theorem and Austrian school, respectively. Additionally, AIE can provide a complementary role to REH, which is descriptive/predictive and normative, respectively. The AIE network calibration uses an ‘input-output table’ to determine the link-intensity; this method could provide Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) and Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) with a way to improve their transmission mechanism. Furthermore, the AIE network calibration and prediction methodology may help overcome the validation concerns of practitioners when they implement ABM.

Adaptive Phase Measurements

Berry, Dominic William — 2008-11-21T00:00:00Z

In this thesis I consider the general problem of how to make the best possible phase measurements using feedback. Both the optimum input state and optimum feedback are considered for both single-mode dyne measurements and two-mode interferometric measurements. I derive the optimum input states under general dyne measurements when the mean photon number is fixed, both for general states and squeezed states. I propose a new feedback scheme that introduces far less phase uncertainty than mark II feedback, and is very close to the theoretical limit. I also derive results for the phase variance when there is a time delay in the feedback loop, showing that there is a lower limit to the introduced phase variance, and this is approached quite accurately under some conditions. I derive the optimum input states for interferometry, showing that the phase uncertainty scales as 1/N for all the common measures of uncertainty. This is contrasted with the |j0> state, which does not scale as 1/N for all measures of phase uncertainty. I introduce an adaptive feedback scheme that is very close to optimum, and can give scaling very close to 1/N for the uncertainty. Lastly I consider the case of continuous measurements, for both the dyne and interferometric cases.

Addiction Neuroethics: The Promises and Perils of Neuroscience Research on Addiction

Adrian Carter — 2009-08-05T00:00:00Z

Drug addiction is a significant problem facing most societies. It is associated with increased violence, crime and mental illness, and is one of the leading causes of preventable mortality and disability in most developed societies, accounting for over 12% of the total burden of disease (Begg et al., 2007). Neuroscience promises to significantly reduce the incidence and severity of addictive drug use, and the harm that it causes, by providing more effective and better targeted treatment of addiction (Volkow and Li, 2005). Proponents argue that an increased understanding of the neurobiological basis of drug addiction will also lend support for more humane social policies. These policies will recognise that addiction is a neuropsychiatric condition that should be treated therapeutically, leading to increased investment in addiction research and treatment (Dackis and O'Brien, 2005; McLellan et al., 2000). Optimism about the benefits of an understanding of the neurobiological basis of addiction needs to be tempered by more critical considerations. Overly simplistic interpretations of what this kind of approach reveals about addiction could result in less welcome consequences, especially if inappropriate use is made of emerging neurotechnologies, such as coerced use of naltrexone implants, population-wide vaccination programs against addiction, or the promotion of heroic ‘cures’ for addiction, such as neurosurgery and deep brain stimulation. This thesis examines both the potentially welcome and unwelcome uses of neurobiological research of addiction with the aims of maximising the benefits, while minimizing any unanticipated harms. I refer to this as Addiction Neuroethics. The primary aims are to examine: (1) the impact that neuroscience research may have upon our understanding of autonomy and self-control in addicted individuals, (2) the implications this understanding may have for how we treat individuals with an addiction; and (3) the conditions under which it would be ethically acceptable to use various technologies emerging from this research. This thesis falls into three parts. First, a concise and accessible summary of the key findings of recent genetic and neuroscience research of addiction is provided. This includes the neuroanatomy of addiction (e.g. the mesolimbic reward pathway), the molecular and cellular biology of addiction, neurocognitive changes, and the role of genetic and environmental vulnerabilities. The second part of this thesis explores how neuroscience research may influence the way that modern societies think about drug use and addiction, and deal with those that suffer from it. This section addresses the central question: do addicted persons have the capacity to make autonomous decisions regarding their own drug use? This raises a number of additional questions. How much responsibility and blame should we attribute to addicted individual’s for their actions? How should society deal with addicted persons, or respond to the harm that they cause? Should society coerce addicted individuals into treatment, and if so, under what conditions? The third part of this thesis examines the ethical issues raised by the use of powerful new technologies that are emerging from neurobiological research on addiction, such as novel psychopharmacologies, depot implants, drug vaccines, neurosurgery and brain stimulation, neuroimaging and genetic testing. The report also considers the more speculative possibility that addiction neurobiology may improve our ability to prevent the development of addiction, for example, by using genetic screening to identify individuals at high risk of addiction and ‘drug vaccines’ to prevent these individuals from becoming addicted. This thesis demonstrates that the chronic use of addictive drugs has significant impacts upon key decision-making regions of the brain (e.g. motivation, memory, impulse inhibition) that affect addicted individuals ability to choose not to use drugs. While the autonomy of addicted individuals is impaired in certain situations, and to varying degrees, it is not extinguished. Rather than deny autonomy, we should aim to engage addicted individuals in ways that increase their autonomy. For example, coerced treatment of addiction may be a valid approach to getting addicted individuals in treatment. However we should avoid overriding the autonomy of addicted individuals by offering treatment as an alternative to punishment for some crimes (e.g. theft to fund drug habit). Such treatment should aim to treat a medical condition, and not be a form of extrajudicial punishment. Addiction is a highly stigmatised condition. This can significantly impact upon the way in which neuroscience research is understood and applied. Scientists, clinicians and policy makers must be mindful of over-enthusiastic applications of novel technologies that may be prematurely embraced and promoted to a desperate and vulnerable population without proper evaluation of the risks, or without considering how these technologies may be used once approved. The treatment of addiction should be judged by its efficacy and safety, as for any other medical treatment. Addicted individuals should be treated as any other individual suffering from a medical condition. The thesis concludes with some general suggestions about the directions in which this debate is likely to develop and identifies areas that will require further analysis and empirical investigation.

Adding gears to the RNA machine: discovery and characterisation of new classes of small RNAs in eukaryotes

Taft, Ryan — 2009-12-17T00:00:00Z

Genome sequencing has yielded unparalleled insights into fundamental biological processes and the genetics that guide them. In contrast to expectations that protein-coding genes would be the primary output of eukaryotic genomes, however, it is now clear that the vast majority of transcription is devoted to noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs). Although originally regarded as 'transcriptional noise', it is now clear that these transcripts are essential regulators of genetic activity. In this thesis I build upon the hypothesis that the genomes of eukaryotes encode a regulatory 'RNA machine' dominated by ncRNAs. In the Introduction (Chapter 1) I discuss how prior gene models may have inadvertently prevented a full understanding of ncRNAs, review the transcriptional landscape of eukaryotes, and examine the biogenesis and function of small regulatory RNAs. In support of a role for ncRNAs in complex metazoa, Chapter 2 presents data showing a positive correlation between the proportion of non-protein-coding DNA and biological complexity, suggesting that the evolutionary trajectory of intricate developmental phenotypes may have been facilitated by ncRNAs. In the following chapters two more 'gears' are added to the RNA machine. Chapter 3 details the discovery of snoRNA-derived RNAs - an evolutionarily ancient class of Argonaute-assocaited RNA whose biogenesis overlaps with microRNAs (miRNAs) and silencing RNAs (siRNAs). Likewise, Chapter 4 reports a new class of ~18 nt transcription initiation RNAs (tiRNAs) derived from regions proximal to transcription start sites. tiRNAs are enriched at GC-rich promoters and regions of active transcription, implicating them in transcriptional regulation. Chapter 5 presents evidence that tiRNAs are restricted to metazoa, and describes a model of RNA Polymerase II dependent tiRNA biogenesis. This thesis concludes with a general discussion of the implications of these findings, and the potential development of RNA therapeutics. Gathering evidence suggests that eukaryotic genomes are driven by a complex and interwoven network of RNA regulatory feedback loops. This thesis takes a small step towards developing a complete picture of this system.

Addressing inequality in consumer transactions

O'shea, Paul — 2012-11-05T00:00:00Z

A design and parametric study into large scale hyperbolic paraboloid shell and lattice structures

Bernasconi, James Glen — 2012-09-23T00:00:00Z

Adiponectin and postprandial inflammatory, oxidative and cardiovascular stress

Liza Phillips — 2010-12-11T00:00:00Z

The epidemic of obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2DM) places an enormous burden on health-care resources. The significant morbidity and mortality associated with these diseases includes a well characterised increased risk of cardiovascular disease. However, the precise links between obesity, metabolic dysfunction, including T2DM, and cardiovascular disease, remain unclear. Although traditionally viewed as an inert storage depot, adipose tissue has emerged as a dynamic endocrine organ, regulating energy balance, appetite, glucose homeostasis, immune function, coagulation and blood pressure through the effects of secreted factors termed adipokines. Pro-inflammatory adipokines include interleukin 6 (IL6), tumour necrosis factor α (TNFα), angiotensinogen, plasminogen activating inhibitor 1, resistin and leptin, while adiponectin is an anti-inflammatory, insulin-sensitising adipokine. A dysregulation of adipokines and the inflammatory response may be an important link between metabolic dysfunction and obesity. Inflammation appears to be as an important modulator of insulin resistance (IR) through inhibitory effects on insulin signaling. Although the inciting trigger remains unclear, adipose tissue, including resident bone-marrow derived macrophages, is the proposed source of these inflammatory mediators. Circulating monocytes and tissue-resident macrophages are also important in modulating systemic insulin sensitivity, while the proinflammatory transcription factor nuclear factor κB (NFκB) appears to play a role in orchestrating the inflammatory response. In addition it has been proposed that macronutrients themselves provoke an acute inflammatory response, and markers of oxidative stress are also elevated postprandially. Although the pathways through which this occurs have yet to be fully elucidated, nutritional fatty acids have recently been shown to induce inflammatory signaling in macrophages through ligand interaction with toll like receptor 4 (TLR4). Endothelial and vascular dysfunction have also been identified in the postprandial period; indeed atherosclerosis has long been proposed as a postprandial phenomenon. Postprandial inflammation and associated oxidative stress may therefore induce a metabolically unfavourable environment, in terms of both IR and associated cardiovascular dysfunction. High fat, high glucose loads appear to be particularly pathogenic. Such macronutrients may represent a greater risk to those with an impaired postprandial “anti-inflammatory” defence such that this population is predisposed to developing metabolic dysfunction. Adiponectin is an anti-inflammatory, anti-atherogenic, insulin-sensitising hormone. An abundant adipokine, adiponectin forms approximately 0.01% of total protein in the serum. Adiponectin is secreted in various multimeric structures; the metabolically important form appears to be the high molecular weight (HMW) multimer. The control of adiponectin secretion is incompletely understood and although produced primarily from adipose tissue, levels are reduced in obesity and T2DM. Increasing evidence suggests adiponectin may play a pivotal role in obesity-related conditions, including metabolic dysfunction and cardiovascular disease, highlighting the possibility for adiponectin replacement or manipulation as a treatment strategy. A central theme in this thesis explores the hypothesis that adiponectin, particularly HMW adiponectin is an important endogenous anti-inflammatory defence following a nutrient challenge and acts to modulate the postprandial inflammatory environment. This intrinsic anti-inflammatory response may mitigate the macronutrient induced pro-oxidant, pro-inflammatory milieu, in order to maintain insulin sensitivity and protect cardiovascular function. Dysregulation of this adipokine in the postprandial period in predisposed individuals, for example those with obesity and T2DM, may account for the metabolic dysfunction and increased cardiovascular risk seen in these subjects. This project will evaluate the inflammatory, metabolic and cardiovascular effects of a high-fat mixed meal in 3 cohorts of men: i) lean healthy ii) obese, non-diabetic and iii) subjects with T2DM. These cohorts will be studied for 6 hours following both a high-fat mixed test meal, and a water control. Adiponectin levels, including HMW multimers, will be evaluated postprandially. Systemic markers of oxidative stress and inflammatory mediators will be measured, in addition to evaluating the NFκB activation in peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Aortic stiffness will be evaluated in the postprandial period, documenting the cardiovascular effects following nutrient challenge. Changes in adiponectin levels postprandially will be evaluated and responses compared across cohorts. Changes in adiponectin will be correlated with inflammation, oxidative stress and cardiovascular function. Systematically characterising the postprandial state will allow confirmation of the available literature demonstrating proinflammatory effects of macronutrients, and extending this to enable comparisons between groups with increasing metabolic dysfunction. Identifying a dysregulation in adiponectin in the postprandial period in subjects with metabolic dysfunction will provide a platform for further investigation into the regulation of adiponectin secretion, including potential avenues for therapeutic manipulation.

A Distributed Quantum System Simulation Environment

Mr Simon Benson — 2011-02-14T00:00:00Z

Computational quantum chemistry and computational spectroscopy such as density functional theory and electron paramagnetic resonance respectively are complementary techniques for the geometric and electronic structural determination of paramagnetic species, for example metalloenzymes and transition metal ion model complexes for the active sites within these enzymes. Spectroscopy and in particular electron paramagnetic resonance have provided a wealth of geometric and electronic structural information on the metal ion active sites in native, enzyme-substrate intermediates and product complexes. In conjunction with quantum chemistry a detailed understanding of the electronic structure of these active sites can be resolved enabling the reaction pathway or catalytic mechanism to be determined. These two complementary quantum chemical and spectroscopic numerical approaches are implemented under a single quantum simulation software environment as a tool for the electronic and structural determination of metalloenzymes and their catalytic pathways. A quantum simulation environment 'iResonanz' is presented that incorporates modern software engineering systems in distributed computing, data management, middleware communication and multidimensional visualization. A data centric simulation model is designed that is adaptable when applied in the modelling, computation and analysis of current and future quantum systems. Data management in this simulation model is achieved through a dynamic data synthesis system which uses a single meta-data definition for the creation of temporal databases containing custom defined quantum parameters and mathematical operators. This synthesis system also simultaneously creates graphical user interface components from the meta-data, allowing interaction with these dynamically generated databases. An asynchronous rendering system is implemented for the exploration of these quantum databases for the visualization and investigation of relationships of quantum parameters and molecular (geometric and electronic) structures within the database. A scalable heterogeneous grid is devised for the load balanced distribution of simulations for the computational steering through multidimensional parameter space of any quantum mechanical computation from the database allowing unique data mining across multiple experiments or simulations. The simulation environment is built on a custom designed component system using an asynchronous middleware technology for the distributed deployment of interface, database and computational components to deliver a completely integrated system for the electronic and structural determination of quantum systems. The flexibility in the design of the iResonanz simulation environment in its object-oriented design allows it to be exploited in a diverse range of scientific, engineering, medical and financial applications. The simulation environment is designed to permit recursive modelling, computation and analysis using a software architecture that is independent of the data structures required in the application. This data abstraction is achieved using a dynamic data synthesis system which will adapt to any computationally intensive process requiring complex data models.

Adolescent Depression: The Effectiveness of Interpersonal Treatments

Gabrielle O'shea — 2011-03-27T00:00:00Z

Adolescent depression is a highly prevalent disorder that is associated wih disruption to family and peer relationships and significant functional impairment. It is chronic and recurrent and has been linked with illicit drug use, suicidal behavours and suicide. IPT-A has been established as an effective treatment for adolescent depression. However, to date there has been little process research into IPT-A. Study One attempted to address this by examining the theoretical underpinnings of IPT-A. It compared a matched sample of 31 depressed adolescents to 31 non-depressed adolescents on a range of constructs considered to be important in the theory and practice of IPT-A, namely, attachment style, communication factors, social factors, and negative life events. It was hypothesized that compared to non-depressed adolescents, depressed adolescents would demonstrate less secure attachment and more insecure attachment, more problematic social and family issues, and more negative life events. The results of Study One provided support for these hypotheses. Study Two examined the efficacy of a 12-week treatment program for depression in adolescents using IPT-A delivered in group and individual formats. The aim was to evaluate both formats to determine whether they were associated with reductions in depressive symptoms and improvements in the interpersonal constructs found in Study One to be associated with depression. Thirty-nine depressed adolescents aged between 13 and 19 years (6 male and 33 female) participated in this study. The results of Study Two demonstrated that IPT-A in both formats is associated with improvements in depression and in the interpersonal variables that IPT-A addresses in therapy. Furthermore, many of these effects endured over the 12-month follow-up period.

Adolescent pathways to mental health services

Wagner, Ingrid — 2008-11-21T00:00:00Z

The age period of adolescence is significant for epidemiologic research because of the emergence of emotional and behavioral problems, which occur during this time. Many studies have shown that few of the adolescents identified as suffering significant psychological disturbance receive help from specialist mental health agencies. The recognition of this gap between identified need in the community and the utilisation of services underlies the pathways model proposed by Goldberg and Huxley (1980). Understanding the pathways by which the distressed person reaches specialist services may assist in the improvement of the quality of mental health care in the community. The studies of pathways have mainly focused on adult populations. However the dominant patterns of General Practitioner and Medical pathways found in these studies are inconsistent with those of adolescents. Their different level of social and emotional development affects both how they seek help and how their problems are perceived by significant others. This study examined the records of initial contact for adolescents aged 12 to 18 years, who were referred to three community based mental health clinics serving a regional health district of Brisbane, during the period of 1 June 1997 to 30 June, 1998. The results showed that the pathways by which adolescents reach mental health services were broader in scope than those of adults. Parent, Education Professionals and General Practitioners were the dominant pathways to service. The factors most commonly presented to mental health services at the initiation of help seeking were familial/life event problems and behavioral problems. A notable feature in the presentations was the alarming and disturbing quality of a substantial proportion of the identified problems. It is considered that the social impact of the problems is a strong precipitant in referral. The significant findings of the study are that the pathways vary by the age and sex of the adolescent, and that some presentation problems are more highly associated with particular pathways.

Adolescents with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Case Studies of the Academic, Behavioural, and Social Differences Over Time of Five Young People in a Flexible Learning Centre

Linda Houston — 2010-09-14T00:00:00Z

ABSTRACT Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is the most commonly diagnosed disorder in children today and has been the subject of great public and academic debate for over a decade. Whilst much of this debate has focussed on clearly defining the disorder and determining its prevalence, in more recent years, research has begun to focus on successful interventions for overcoming the myriad of poor outcomes experienced by children with ADHD. The majority of intervention research, however, has concentrated on medical and behavioural approaches with very little attention being given to the impact of educational and/or academic interventions. Because children with ADHD are at two to three times greater risk of school failure than their peers without ADHD, it is essential that research focuses on educational approaches within school and classroom environments to address this problem. The purpose of the present research was to investigate the academic, social and behavioural differences over time of children diagnosed with ADHD in a Flexible Learning Centre through case studies of five adolescents aged 13 to 17 years who, for a variety of reasons, had been excluded from, denied access to, or had chosen to reject mainstream education. Data for the case studies were collected by means of archival records and recollections, naturalistic observations of the young people in the flexible learning environment, and interviews with the young people and their parents to explore the perceptions of themselves over time and to what they attributed any changes that may have occurred. Moreover, participants were administered a series of tests at two time intervals (approximately nine months apart) focussing on academic achievement (the PROBE Reading test, South Australian Spelling test, Test of Whole Number Computation), self-perception (the Self-Descriptive Questionnaire II) and behavioural outcomes (the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire). Using these multiple forms of data collection, within-case and cross-case analyses were adopted to determine themes, trends, and patterns to support or refute the study questions. Findings from the study indicated that over time there were improvements in the social and behavioural outcomes for the five participants but academic progress was limited. This thesis will explore these and other findings from the study and suggest possible reasons for the findings and implications for future research.