Dissertations / Theses: 'Order of Australia Association' – Grafiati (2024)

Abstract:

Many orchids require mycorrhizal symbioses with fungi for their development and survival. Rhizanthella gardneri the Western Australian underground orchid is associated with the companion plant Melaleuca uncinata and its ectomycorrhizal fungus symbiont. Much less is known about the habitat requirements of its sister species, R. slateri, which occurs in Eastern Australia. The absence of chlorophyll from Rhizanthella gardneri and R. slateri results in total dependency on associations with fungal symbionts. Many ecological and biological aspects of these fascinating orchids remained poorly known, including the identity of the fungal associates and the nature of their tripartite associations with Rhizanthella and Melaleuca. Extremely high specificity of these mycorrhizal relationships is likely to be the most important factor explaining the highly specific habitat requirements of underground orchids. The purpose of this study was to conduct further investigations of the role of the mycorrhizal associations of Australian underground orchids by identifying the fungi involved in these associations, optimising their growth in sterile culture and devising efficient means for synthesising their tripartite associations with R. gardneri and M. uncinata. In total, 16 isolates of fungi were successfully obtained from the two underground orchids and used in a series of experiments to understand both the nature of the fungi and their relationship with orchids. The identity of these fungi was established by using conventional morphological and molecular methods. Cultural and morphological studies revealed that all isolates from R. gardneri and R. slateri were binucleate rhizoctonias with affinities to members of the genus Ceratobasidium. However, the teleomorph state that was observed from the R. slateri symbiont during this study more closely resembled a Thanatephorus species. Further identification using ITS sequence comparisons confirmed that mycorrhizal fungi of Rhizanthella belonged to the Rhizoctonia alliance with relatives that include Thanatephorus, Ceratobasidium, or Rhizoctonia from other continents with over 90% similarity. Most of these related fungi are known as plant pathogens, but some were orchid mycorrhizal fungi. However, the isolates from the two underground orchids were most closely related to each other and formed a discrete group relative to other known members of the Rhizoctonia alliance. Sterile culture experiments determined culture media preferences for mycorrhizal fungi from Rhizanthella and other orchids. A fully defined sterile culture medium designed to more closely resemble Australian soil conditions was formulated. This new medium was compared to undefined media containing oats or yeast extract and recommendations for growth of these fungi are provided. The undefined media based on oats provided the best growth of most fungi, but the new Australian soil media was also effective at growing most orchid mycorrhizal fungi and this fully defined media was less prone to contamination and should provide more reproducible results. A comparison of three methods for inoculating M. uncinata with the underground orchid fungi resulted in the production and characterisation of ectomycorrhizal roots and hyphae formed by fungi isolated from R. gardneri and R. slateri. These underground orchid fungi could easily be distinguished from other mycorrhizal fungi (caused by airborne contamination) by the characteristic appearance of these roots and hyphae. A new system for growing and observing tripartite mycorrhizal associations was devised using pots with side viewing windows and the use of transparent seed packets to contain Rhizanthella seeds. This method allowed all the stages of seed germination to be observed in the glasshouse, culminating in the production of underground orchid rhizomes. Seed germination was only successful when seed was placed directly over active M. uncinata ectomycorrhizas confirmed to belong to the correct fungus by microscopic observations through the side of window pots. The importance of these new scientific discoveries concerning the biology and ecology of the underground orchids and their associated fungi for the recovery of these critically endangered orchids are discussed.

Abstract:

This dissertation examines three under-researched areas which forms the basis of the research questions: 1) whether subjective social network factors influence mental health, 2) whether social network factors influence mental health, depression and anxiety at different life stages, and 3) whether subjective social network factors can mediate the association between mental health and psychological distress. Altogether, this dissertation comprises of six chapters. Chapter 1 outlines the key literature on social network and mental health. The independent variables include social isolation which is the lack of social contact. Social trust refers to an individual’s expectation that others involved in a social relationship can be relied upon to act in ways that are caring towards their interests, while social connectedness measures how people come together and interact with one another. Chapter 2 discusses the research methodology and dataset used in this dissertation. A quantitative design approach was adopted, using the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey. Chapter 3 highlights two published journal papers, which show how social network factors significantly influences mental health at different life stages. In Chapter 4, the association between social network factors and depression or anxiety at different life stages was examined. The results support the earlier notion that social network factors do have a statistically significant influence on depression and anxiety. Chapter 5 examined whether subjective social network factors mediate the association between mental health and psychological distress for individuals with high psychological distress. The findings revealed that the social network factors do mediate this relationship. In Chapter 6, the key findings, recommendations, research and practical implications, and future works are explained.

Abstract:

Silverfish (Order Zygentoma) are quite abundant in Australia but have been largely overlooked. This thesis examines the biodiversity of the Australian fauna at the level of genus, describing at least one representative species from each named genus and some new genera. The endemism of the fauna is evaluated and likely zoogeographic origins proposed. Over 4000 specimens were examined, either collected by the author, borrowed from or examined within museum collections or supplied by organisations and individuals conducting fauna surveys. Twenty- seven new native species are described and two redescribed, bringing the number of named species recorded in Australia to 74. Five new genera are described and four additional genera recorded in Australia for the first time including autochthonous representatives of three subfamilies previously unrecognised as native to Australia (Acrotelsatinae, Lepismatinae and Coletiniinae). No representatives of the families Maindroniidae, Tricholepidiidae and Protrinemuridae were found. The subfamily Acrotelsatinae was redefined following a revision of the enigmatic genus Anisolepisma Paclt, 1967 with the unique structure of the thoracic sterna identified as diagnostic for the subfamily. Contrary to existing opinion, it is suggested that this is a fundamentally different and plesiomorphic character, rather than an apomorphic reduction of the free thoracic sterna. A monograph of the Australian Zygentoma is presented, including a summary of the biology of the order, a key to and diagnoses of the genera, as well as information on the known habitat and distribution of each genus and a discussion of their zoogeography. At the suprageneric level the fauna is less diverse than seen in other zoogeographic regions but appears to be rich in the number of species. The fauna displays a high degree of endemism with 91% of described species and 52% of the genera known only from Australia. Some genera appear to be ancient and probably represent a Pangean element in the Australian fauna. Others appear to have emerged in the late Jurassic when Africa was still joined to Gondwana, while some may have appeared in the Cretaceous or Palaeocene when Australia and South America were connected to Gondwana. More recent links with the Asian fauna are limited and there appears to be no widespread highly mobile global species other than the six introduced anthropophilic species. Maps of the worldwide distribution records extracted from the taxonomic literature are used to discuss the zoogeography of the subfamilies and tribes present in Australia. Molecular data using two mitochondrial genes (16S and COI) as well as a nuclear gene (28S) were compared with detailed morphological and morphometric analysis to examine populations initially determined as Heterolepisma sclerophylla or close to it. Distances of 0.9– 1.8% or greater in 28S, and 7.2–14% in COI were associated with morphologically distinct species. A southern Queensland population was found to be genetically, morphometrically and morphologically very distinct from those collected in NSW and was described as new (Heterolepisma sp. B). Six well-defined barcode clusters (“lineages”) were identified within the NSW populations, each with >4% divergence in COI sequences and each geographically restricted. Intracluster divergences are also large, and despite the well-supported phylogeny no clear “barcode gap” (distinction between intracluster and intercluster distances) was found for three of the six NSW populations. The 28S data distinguished only four of the six COI clusters from NSW with essentially no variation within each cluster. The 28S data generally aligned well with morphological evidence, clearly identifying Heterolepisma sp. B as a distinct species, and supporting also the description of Heterolepisma sp. A even though it only appears to differ from H. sclerophylla in the number of styli. Similar genetic distances are observed in 28S data for H. sclerophylla populations from North Nowra, Glenbrook/Burralow/Nattai and Megalong, however the Broulee and Wellington populations have identical 28S sequences. The low levels of variation in 28S sequences between NSW populations accord with the lack of unambiguous morphological differences.
Doctor of Philosophy

Abstract:

This study investigates the existence of cartel pricing and anticompetitive behavior by the Big4 international providers of auditing services (resulting from the halving in the number of such providers from the Big8 to Big4). Increased audit market concentration, both globally and in Australia, together with the focus by the Big4 in servicing primarily large clients, raises concern about a lessening of competition in the audit marketplace. Using both a composite and dis-aggregated measure for auditor attributes (namely, auditor reputation, industry specialization, provision of non-audit services and auditor tenure), this study provides a comprehensive analysis of the association between four pivotal auditor attributes and the quantum of audit fees and changes in audit fees paid by Australian publicly listed firms during a five-year time frame.The final usable sample includes 600 firm-year observations as data points for the 2001, 2003 and 2005 calendar years (200 firm-years for each year in the aforementioned observation window) and is obtained entirely from publicly available sources, specifically annual reports. Main results from both cross-sectional and longitudinal multivariate analysis indicate that there is no significant association between the four auditor attributes utilized in this study with both audit fees and variation in audit fees. Robustness and sensitivity testing completed also largely support the non-significance of the association between both constructs. This study, therefore, finds no evidence of cartel pricing and anti-competitive behavior by Big4 auditors resulting from increased audit market concentration. Results from this study have clear implications for regulators, investors, scholars, corporate management/firms and auditors.

Abstract:

[Truncated abstract] Rational order and play are often conceptualised as oppositional forces. In modern urban life especially, rational order is presented as destructive of a playful orientation towards life eschewing mystery through coherence, spontaneity through predictability, and contingency through systematic planning. In turn, the postmodern debate often asserts the reinvigoration of free, playful, and contingent individuals whose collective acts are destructive of the rationality of modern order with the present, in contrast to the past, offering a condition of enduring and unremitting uncertainty. This thesis explores the dynamic relation between rational order and play in urban society through an ethnographic account of a public commuter railway in Perth, Western Australia. Notwithstanding this ethnographic setting, the thesis addresses questions of broader significance through an analysis of the railway as an instance of public space and state techno-bureaucratic order. I investigate the creative process through which the state attempts to standardise the various operational components of the railway as well as the reasons underpinning the state's desire to produce what I term a 'clean machine'. In turn, I investigate how differentially positioned actors live within this carefully crafted machine. I do so by following the stories, experiences, and practices of: government administrators charged with building the railway; the managers who oversee the network's operation; the staff members who operate trains, clean stations, and discipline passengers; and the railway's end-users, including passengers and graffiti artists. ... In examining the two tensions of rational order/play and revelation/ concealment, I attempt to explicate how it is that people experience life as simultaneously coherent and serendipitous. In the thesis, I document the ways in which railway officials, passengers, and graffiti artists express a pervasive ambivalence towards their experience of the railway system. On the one hand, these actors experience the railway as a system of constraint that produces 'robotic' behaviours and automated transactions. On the other, they see the railway as a liberating space that enables autonomous expression and spontaneous interaction. By examining these contending experiences and associated sentiments, I highlight the railway as a stimulating site within which to explore the meaning and significance of urban modernity. Lastly, this thesis contributes to debate on the challenges posed by the character of contemporary social processes to anthropological research methodology. I illustrate the utility of such methods as written and photographic diaries as well as mental-mapping exercises, but primarily advocate the documentary and analytical advantages of participant observation in a mobile field-site. I assert that while participant observation poses a number of personal and professional challenges in this setting, these challenges uncover the stimulating complexity of contemporary urban life. To this end, I contest emergent academic commentary that propounds the destabilisation of anthropological techniques in what is frequently described as an equally destabilised world.

Abstract:

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of History, 2007.
Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-10, Section: A, page: 4432. Adviser: Richard Rubinger. Title from dissertation home page (viewed May 19, 2008).

Abstract:

This study investigates both the reproduction and subversion of patriarchal gender relations in sport, with a particular focus on gendered embodiment. The research is fuelled by feminist concerns, especially women's embodied resistance to male domination. It is comprised of case studies of three Australian Rules football teams - a women's, a schoolgirls' and a schoolboys'team. The case studies are based on life-history interviews with players. Data was also collected through participant observation with all three teams. The data are analysed as both individual case studies and also in groups and the analysis is informed by Connell’s (1995) theories of gender construction and gendered embodiment.

Abstract:

In Japan, electronic government has been developed since the enforcement of the Information Disclosure Act and the formulation of the e-Japan Strategy, both in 2001. Such electronic government produces a number of government information services available all over the world via the Internet, including databases of law texts, congressional minutes and white papers, as well as digital archives. At the same time, electronic government raises several issues of preservation of and "permanent public access" to electronic information, accessibility of electronic government, inclusion of government information into libraryservices, and so forth. The author hopes this presentation will facilitate requests and comments from participants for electronic government and government information services in Japan.

Abstract:

Respiratory disease is an important cause of wastage in the Australian horse racing industry and viruses are frequently suspected as aetiological agents of respiratory disease or poor performance by clinicians and trainers but confirmation is seldom attempted. This thesis deals with the potential role of equine herpes virus types 1, 2, 4 and 5 in upper respiratory disease and poor performance in horses in Western Australia.The methodology selected for the identification of equine herpes viruses in tissues of horses was polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and therefore individual PCR assays were developed for the detection of each herpes virus, and then a nested multiplex PCR was developed to detect all four viruses. There was good correlation between the multiplex PCR for the detection of EHV and the detection of virus by isolation in cell culture, although a combination of the 2 techniques provided greater sensitivity than either technique alone. The multiplex PCR described appeared equally sensitive as specific PCR assays using a single set of primers for each individual virus but reduced labour and reagent costs.As latency is a well recognised phenomenon in the equine herpes viruses and the horse is subjected to a number of stresses which might induce reactivation of latent infections, it was hypothesised that there would be a background level of replication of the equine herpes viruses in clinically normal horses. Nasal swabs and peripheral blood leukocytes (PBL) were obtained from 282 clinical normal horses and examined for EHV. The results clearly demonstrated the widespread occurrence of EHV in the clinically healthy horses. The rate of detection of different types of EHV varied, as did the prevalence in young and adult horses. The most common EHV detected was EHV5: in 83.2% of 131 of horses <2 years of age; in 40% of horses >2 years of age.A prospective clinical study was conducted whereby respiratory tract samples and PBL from adult horses with respiratory disease and/or poor performance were examined for equine herpes viruses; the aim was to determine a possible association between equine herpes virus infection and respiratory disease and/or poor performance. The relative incidence of factors identified in the history, signalment, physical and laboratory evaluation of horses in the study population was compared between horses from which EHV was identified in respiratory samples and horses negative for equine herpes virus. The results indicated that equine herpes viruses were important causes of respiratory disease in the study population, and that haematological and cytological data were a poor indicator of such equine herpes virus infection.The occurrence of equine herpes virus in nasal swabs and PBL of weaned or unweaned foals from Thoroughbred breeding establishments was determined and provided data on the occurrence of EHV in association with respiratory disease. EHV5 was detected in nasal swabs and/or PBL at a high prevalence rate in healthy foals and yearling horses but its occurrence was not associated with clinical signs of respiratory disease. In contrast, EHV2 was detected more commonly in nasal swabs and/or PBL from foals with respiratory disease than in similar samples from healthy horses. Experimental infection of 8 horses with EHV2 was attempted and induced clinical signs of respiratory disease, but less severe than observed in the epidemiological studies. The results suggested that EHV2 is associated with mild upper respiratory tract infection in young horses.

Abstract:

Respiratory disease is an important cause of wastage in the Australian horse racing industry and viruses are frequently suspected as aetiological agents of respiratory disease or poor performance by clinicians and trainers but confirmation is seldom attempted. This thesis deals with the potential role of equine herpes virus types 1, 2, 4 and 5 in upper respiratory disease and poor performance in horses in Western Australia. The methodology selected for the identification of equine herpes viruses in tissues of horses was polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and therefore individual PCR assays were developed for the detection of each herpes virus, and then a nested multiplex PCR was developed to detect all four viruses. There was good correlation between the multiplex PCR for the detection of EHV and the detection of virus by isolation in cell culture, although a combination of the 2 techniques provided greater sensitivity than either technique alone. The multiplex PCR described appeared equally sensitive as specific PCR assays using a single set of primers for each individual virus but reduced labour and reagent costs. As latency is a well recognised phenomenon in the equine herpes viruses and the horse is subjected to a number of stresses which might induce reactivation of latent infections, it was hypothesised that there would be a background level of replication of the equine herpes viruses in clinically normal horses. Nasal swabs and peripheral blood leukocytes (PBL) were obtained from 282 clinical normal horses and examined for EHV. The results clearly demonstrated the widespread occurrence of EHV in the clinically healthy horses. The rate of detection of different types of EHV varied, as did the prevalence in young and adult horses. The most common EHV detected was EHV5: in 83.2% of 131 of horses <2 years of age; in 40% of horses >2 years of age. A prospective clinical study was conducted whereby respiratory tract samples and PBL from adult horses with respiratory disease and/or poor performance were examined for equine herpes viruses; the aim was to determine a possible association between equine herpes virus infection and respiratory disease and/or poor performance. The relative incidence of factors identified in the history, signalment, physical and laboratory evaluation of horses in the study population was compared between horses from which EHV was identified in respiratory samples and horses negative for equine herpes virus. The results indicated that equine herpes viruses were important causes of respiratory disease in the study population, and that haematological and cytological data were a poor indicator of such equine herpes virus infection. The occurrence of equine herpes virus in nasal swabs and PBL of weaned or unweaned foals from Thoroughbred breeding establishments was determined and provided data on the occurrence of EHV in association with respiratory disease. EHV5 was detected in nasal swabs and/or PBL at a high prevalence rate in healthy foals and yearling horses but its occurrence was not associated with clinical signs of respiratory disease. In contrast, EHV2 was detected more commonly in nasal swabs and/or PBL from foals with respiratory disease than in similar samples from healthy horses. Experimental infection of 8 horses with EHV2 was attempted and induced clinical signs of respiratory disease, but less severe than observed in the epidemiological studies. The results suggested that EHV2 is associated with mild upper respiratory tract infection in young horses.

Abstract:

We present the calculation of hadronic production of a Higgs boson in association with two jets at next-to-leading order in perturbation theory. We consider amplitudes in an effective theory in which the Higgs couples to gluons in the limit of a large top quark mass. We treat the Higgs as the real part of the complex field φ that couples to the self-dual field strengths. We use modern on-shell inspired methods to calculate helicity amplitudes and we give a detailed review of unitarity based and on-shell methods. Using these unitarity methods we derive the cut-constructible pieces of the general φ-MHV amplitudes in which the positions of the two negative gluons are arbitrary. We then generate the cut-constructible pieces of the φ-NMHV four parton amplitudes. We generate the rational pieces of these amplitudes and the four-gluon φ-MHV amplitude using Feynman diagrams. For the φ-MHV amplitude we also use the unitarity-boostrap method to calculate the rational pieces. We then implement these, and analytic results from previous calculations, into MCFM. Using this program we are able to perform some phenomenological studies at the Tevatron and LHC.

Abstract:

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 297-330).
This doctoral thesis deals with freedom of association and trade unionism in South Africa. Freedom of association is one of the fundamental rights and freedoms enshrined in a number of legal instruments both at the international and municipal levels. Progress and democracy require respect for human rights, including the right to freedom of association at the workplace. Trade unionism is the expression of this right. The development of trade unionism in South Africa is closely related to that of freedom of association and was instrumental to the demise of apartheid. This work provides a theoretical, historical and legal background to freedom of association and trade unionism, both from a comparative and international law perspective. It then investigates the legal and jurisprudential protection of freedom of association and trade unionism under apartheid before dealing with their protection under the post-apartheid legal order. The thesis argues that international law in general and international labour law in particular contributed a lot to the development of freedom of association and trade unionism in South Africa. It concludes that South Africa has gone a long way in protecting freedom of association at the workplace and trade unions played a critical role in the consolidation of democracy in the country. The prospects for the protection of freedom of association and trade unions are good. However, there are also a number of challenges, political, social, economic, and intellectual. These challenges need to be overcome to consolidate democracy and a culture of human rights. The thesis ends with some recommendations for further research to ensure the best protection of freedom of association and trade unions in South Africa and the rest of our continent.

Abstract:

Respiratory disease is an important cause of wastage in the Australian horse racing industry and viruses are frequently suspected as aetiological agents of respiratory disease or poor performance by clinicians and trainers but confirmation is seldom attempted. This thesis deals with the potential role of equine herpes virus types 1, 2, 4 and 5 in upper respiratory disease and poor performance in horses in Western Australia.The methodology selected for the identification of equine herpes viruses in tissues of horses was polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and therefore individual PCR assays were developed for the detection of each herpes virus, and then a nested multiplex PCR was developed to detect all four viruses. There was good correlation between the multiplex PCR for the detection of EHV and the detection of virus by isolation in cell culture, although a combination of the 2 techniques provided greater sensitivity than either technique alone. The multiplex PCR described appeared equally sensitive as specific PCR assays using a single set of primers for each individual virus but reduced labour and reagent costs.As latency is a well recognised phenomenon in the equine herpes viruses and the horse is subjected to a number of stresses which might induce reactivation of latent infections, it was hypothesised that there would be a background level of replication of the equine herpes viruses in clinically normal horses. Nasal swabs and peripheral blood leukocytes (PBL) were obtained from 282 clinical normal horses and examined for EHV. The results clearly demonstrated the widespread occurrence of EHV in the clinically healthy horses. The rate of detection of different types of EHV varied, as did the prevalence in young and adult horses. The most common EHV detected was EHV5: in 83.2% of 131 of horses <2 years of age; in 40% of horses >2 years of age.A prospective clinical study was conducted whereby respiratory tract samples and PBL from adult horses with respiratory disease and/or poor performance were examined for equine herpes viruses; the aim was to determine a possible association between equine herpes virus infection and respiratory disease and/or poor performance. The relative incidence of factors identified in the history, signalment, physical and laboratory evaluation of horses in the study population was compared between horses from which EHV was identified in respiratory samples and horses negative for equine herpes virus. The results indicated that equine herpes viruses were important causes of respiratory disease in the study population, and that haematological and cytological data were a poor indicator of such equine herpes virus infection.The occurrence of equine herpes virus in nasal swabs and PBL of weaned or unweaned foals from Thoroughbred breeding establishments was determined and provided data on the occurrence of EHV in association with respiratory disease. EHV5 was detected in nasal swabs and/or PBL at a high prevalence rate in healthy foals and yearling horses but its occurrence was not associated with clinical signs of respiratory disease. In contrast, EHV2 was detected more commonly in nasal swabs and/or PBL from foals with respiratory disease than in similar samples from healthy horses. Experimental infection of 8 horses with EHV2 was attempted and induced clinical signs of respiratory disease, but less severe than observed in the epidemiological studies. The results suggested that EHV2 is associated with mild upper respiratory tract infection in young horses.

Abstract:

After the turmoil of the 1890s shearing contractors eliminated some of the frustration from shearers recruitment. At the same time closer settlement concentrated more sheep in small flocks in farming regions, replacing the huge leasehold pastoral empires which were at the cutting edge of wool expansion in the nineteenth century. Meanwhile the AWU succeeded in getting an award for the pastoral industry under the new arbitration legislation in 1907. Cultural and administrative influences, therefore, eased some of the bitter enmity which had made the annual shearing so unstable. Not all was plain sailing. A pattern of militancy re-emerged during World War I. Shearing shed unrest persisted throughout the interwar period and during World War II. In the 1930s a rival union with communist connections, the PWIU, was a major disruptive influence. Militancy was a factor in a major shearing strike in 1956, when the boom conditions of the early-1950s were beginning to fade. The economic system did not have satisfactory mechanisms to cope. Unionised shearers continued to be locked in a psyche of confrontation as wool profits eroded further in the 1970s. This ultimately led to the wide comb dispute, which occurred as wider pressures changed an economic order which had not been seriously challenged since Federation, and which the AWU had been instrumental in shaping. Shearing was always identified with bushworker ‘mateship’, but its larrikinism and irreverence to authority also fostered individualism, and an aggressive ‘moneymaking’ competitive culture. Early in the century, when old blade shearers resented the aggressive pursuit of tallies by fast men engaged by shearing contractors, tensions boiled over. While militants in the 1930s steered money-makers into collectivist versions of mateship, in the farming regions the culture of self-improvement drew others towards the shearing competitions taking root around agricultural show days. Others formed their own contracting firms and had no interest in confrontation with graziers. Late in the century New Zealanders arrived with combs an inch wider than those that had been standard for 70 years. It was the catalyst for the assertion of meritocracy over democracy, which had ruled since Federation.

Abstract:

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
After the turmoil of the 1890s shearing contractors eliminated some of the frustration from shearers recruitment. At the same time closer settlement concentrated more sheep in small flocks in farming regions, replacing the huge leasehold pastoral empires which were at the cutting edge of wool expansion in the nineteenth century. Meanwhile the AWU succeeded in getting an award for the pastoral industry under the new arbitration legislation in 1907. Cultural and administrative influences, therefore, eased some of the bitter enmity which had made the annual shearing so unstable. Not all was plain sailing. A pattern of militancy re-emerged during World War I. Shearing shed unrest persisted throughout the interwar period and during World War II. In the 1930s a rival union with communist connections, the PWIU, was a major disruptive influence. Militancy was a factor in a major shearing strike in 1956, when the boom conditions of the early-1950s were beginning to fade. The economic system did not have satisfactory mechanisms to cope. Unionised shearers continued to be locked in a psyche of confrontation as wool profits eroded further in the 1970s. This ultimately led to the wide comb dispute, which occurred as wider pressures changed an economic order which had not been seriously challenged since Federation, and which the AWU had been instrumental in shaping. Shearing was always identified with bushworker ‘mateship’, but its larrikinism and irreverence to authority also fostered individualism, and an aggressive ‘moneymaking’ competitive culture. Early in the century, when old blade shearers resented the aggressive pursuit of tallies by fast men engaged by shearing contractors, tensions boiled over. While militants in the 1930s steered money-makers into collectivist versions of mateship, in the farming regions the culture of self-improvement drew others towards the shearing competitions taking root around agricultural show days. Others formed their own contracting firms and had no interest in confrontation with graziers. Late in the century New Zealanders arrived with combs an inch wider than those that had been standard for 70 years. It was the catalyst for the assertion of meritocracy over democracy, which had ruled since Federation.

Abstract:

Thesis (B. Sc.(Hons))--National Centre for Petroleum Geology and Geophysics, University of Adelaide, 1991.
"National grid reference 1:250 000 - Parachilna SH54-13." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 45-47).

Abstract:

The high prevalence of mental illness is a major public health challenge of the 21st century.Migrant populations are at higher risk of developing mental illnesses and poor well-being due topre- and post-migration challenges and issues, and experience a higher rate of depression, anxiety,schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and other mental problems compared to themainstream population. They are also less happy and less satisfied with their lives than nonmigrants.Of importance to this thesis, Middle Eastern (ME) migrants who originate from one ofthe most crisis- and conflict-prone regions in the world, show very high rates of mental health andwell-being issues due to factors such as trauma and stressors faced prior to migration, languagebarriers, marginalised cultural identity, discrimination, lack of opportunity to use their skills andknowledge, and a highly stressful process of adjustment. If they are young adults, theseexperiences are exacerbated by a wide range of further demanding and often stressful tasks, suchas negotiating education and employment pathways. Despite the understanding of the highprevalence of mental health and well-being problems among the ME migrant group, theircontributing factors are still largely unknown. This points to the significance of research to betterunderstand well-being, as a key aspect of mental health, and its driving and reinforcing factorsamong ME migrants.Socio-cultural factors, comprising acculturation, religious identity, perceiveddiscrimination, perceived social support, and social connectedness, have been identified as factorsthat potentially influence well-being outcomes among migrant populations. Although these factorsare increasingly recognised as important, very little is known about how they contribute to, andthe strength and nature of their association with well-being among migrants, and more specificallyamong ME migrants. Therefore, this thesis aimed to explore the association between socio-cultural factors and well-being among young adult ME migrants in order to inform the development offuture interventions to promote the mental health of this population group.To address the research aim, a cross-sectional survey study was designed. The study wasunderpinned by the positivist paradigm aligned with the use of a quantitative approach where theresearcher collects statistical data using highly structured data collection instruments, and analysesthe data to test theory deductively in order to support or refute it. Data was collected from a sampleof 382 young adult ME migrants in Australia aged between 20 and 39 years using a selfadministeredquestionnaire, through convenience sampling. The findings address existing gaps inthe literature on socio-cultural factors that contribute to the well-being of migrants, and enable adeeper understanding of the pathways through which these factors shape well-being outcomes.The thesis findings are presented in four papers which are published, in press, or under review byinternational peer-reviewed journals.Paper 1 is a validation study with two aims. First, to assess the reliability and validity ofSuinn-Lew Asian Self-Identity Scale (SL-ASIA) using linear and orthogonal approaches. Second,to explore the agreement between the outcomes of linear and orthogonal approaches ofacculturation using SL-ASIA. Data analysis was conducted in three stages. In the two first stages,the linear SL-ASIA, and the orthogonal SL-ASIA were validated respectively, using ConfirmatoryFactor Analysis (CFA), convergent validity, and discriminant validity indices. In the third stage,the agreement between the validated linear and orthogonal SL-ASIA was measured using Cohen’skappa analysis. Based on the findings, both linear and orthogonal SL-ASIAs demonstratedsatisfactory reliability and validity indices. Also, comparing the classifications achieved by thelinear and orthogonal SL-ASIA showed a high level of consistency between the two scales. Paper 2 involved research on the relationship between socio-cultural factors andpsychological well-being among young adult ME migrants with two aims. First, to examine theassociation between socio-cultural factors (i.e. acculturation, perceived social support, andperceived discrimination) and psychological well-being. Second, to investigate the moderatingrole of demographic variables (i.e. gender and education) in the association between socio-culturalfactors (i.e. acculturation, perceived social support, and perceived discrimination) andpsychological well-being. The study findings revealed that mainstream and ethnic acculturation,perceived discrimination and perceived social support all had direct effects on psychological wellbeing.Moreover, perceived discrimination and perceived social support were found to bemediators in the relationship between acculturation and psychological well-being. In addition,gender and education were found as moderators in the associations between ethnic acculturation,perceived social support and perceived discrimination.Paper 3 explored the association between social factors (i.e. religious identity, perceivedsocial support, perceived discrimination, and social connectedness) and psychological well-beingamong young adult ME migrants. The findings showed that all the research variables (i.e. religiousidentity, perceived social support, perceived discrimination, and social connectedness) had directeffects on psychological well-being. The association between religious identity and psychologicalwell-being was found to be mediated by perceived social support, perceived discrimination, andsocial connectedness. Perceived social support had the highest total effect on the psychologicalwell-being among all research variables.Paper 4 aimed to determine the association between socio-demographic factors (i.e.perceived social support, perceived discrimination, gender, education, and marital status) and subjective well-being in young adult ME migrants in Australia. It also aimed to examine themoderating role of perceived social support in the association between perceived discriminationand subjective well-being. Gender, education, marital status, perceived social support, andperceived discrimination contributed significantly to some or all components (i.e. positive affect,negative affect, and life satisfaction) of subjective well-being among ME migrants. Perceivedsocial support was found to have a moderating role in the association between perceiveddiscrimination and subjective well-being.Collectively, the findings of this thesis highlight the significant effects of the selectedsocio-cultural factors on the well-being outcomes among young adult ME migrants in Australia.This research also identifies the associations between the socio-cultural factors in shaping wellbeingoutcomes. The findings from this research can inform professionals and institutions workingwith migrants, including healthcare workers, public health officers, planners, policymakers,educators and researchers, of the importance of considering these socio-cultural factors andprovides recommendations for further action and research. Migrants are important communitygroups in Australia and worldwide and how societies act to promote their health outcomes wouldbenefit not only the migrant groups, but the entire population
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School of Medicine
Griffith Health
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Abstract:

One assumption that underlies much of the contemporary discussion of the meaning of leisure is the association of leisure with freedom. To some people, leisure has a quality that divorces it from society and places it above, and free from, the everyday demands and pressures of life. In contrast, discussions concerning religion suggest that religion pervades into all aspects of day-to-day living including leisure. Whether the focus is on religious institutions or personal expressions of religion, religion is generally considered an influential force on life. On the surface, perceptions of leisure and religion appear to be quite distinct and unrelated concepts. However, there are many occasions when leisure and religion deal with essentially similar elements of life. For example, many people participate in religious activities during their leisure time or alternatively, many people seek religious/spiritual experiences through their leisure activities. While there has been substantial research into both leisure and religion, few studies have focused on the interrelationships or the similarity and consequently, there is a gap in the understanding of these concepts. The purpose of this study is to help fill this void by exploring the relationships between religion and leisure in contemporary Australia.In order to explore this problem, two interlinking research processes were incorporated into the research design. The first phase involved developing the Leisure Meaning Inventory from the four categories of leisure meanings identified by Watkins (1999). This phase also involved the trialing of the various scales used to measure religion namely: religiosity; Christian belief/orthodoxy; denomination; frequency of attendance and prayer; intrinsic religiosity, extrinsic religiosity; and, quest. Each of these measures were administered to several focus groups, and a pilot study. The second phase of the research involved administering the refined instruments to a sample of 475 residents of Brisbane, Australia. The responses to the questionnaires were subsequently studied and analysed using the SPSS data analysis software program. Four important findings concerning leisure and religion were identified. These were: The meaning of leisure in contemporary society appeared to be largely unaffected by religion; however, Religion was associated with the meaning of leisure, when leisure was perceived to be an opportunity for achieving fulfilment in life; The meaning of leisure was affected by gender; and, The Leisure Meaning Inventory was demonstrated to be an effective and useful measure of leisure meaning. It was concluded that leisure was perceived as an aspect of life that did not require a religious response and consequently, the meanings that religious people associated with leisure were no different from those of non-religious members of the population. This finding provided general support for current theories of leisure, which associate leisure with perceptions of freedom. It was also concluded, that when leisure and religion were both focused towards self-fulfilment and actualisation, then religion did have a significant effect. Some people may use leisure experiences as opportunities to gain religious benefits. This approach to leisure may be expressed through: participation in religious duties; seeking out alternative non-traditional religious experiences; or, aspects of religion becoming the leisure experience itself.
Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School of Leisure Studies
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Abstract:

The quality and nature of leadership among the superiors ofreligious teaching orders has not been the subject of much research.This field study examines the criteria by which the Provincial Superior of the Marist Brothers in the Sydney Province of Australia decideson the appointment of his principals. In order to establish an evaluationof these criteria, the concept of leadership in general and educationalleadership are first examined as described in literature. From theliterature a model is chosen against which the leadership of the founderis examined since the spirit of the founder, in this case, Marcellin Champagnat, still pervades the present day members of the order heestablished. The beginnings of the work of the Brothers in Australiawere also important as the pioneers brought with them the spirit ofthe founder and were responsible for a quality of leadership in difficultcirc*mstances, a quality which has become a feature of the work ofthe Brothers. It is evident that the present provincial superioris imbued with the spirit of the founder and that he has succeededin interpreting the criteria laid down in foundation in terms whichare relevant to education today. Certain constraints and factors, specialto a religious teaching order bring about features of leadership whichare not found in lay schools.

Abstract:

Previous researchers have alluded to an association between violence and alexithymia. Nemiah (1978) and H. Krystal (1979) were the first to report sudden outbursts of rage and or aggression in clinical observations of non-offender people with alexithymia. Limited research on the subject matter conducted since the time of those reports demonstrates that alexithymia is prevalent among male violent offenders. Much of the previous research, however, was performed with early assessments methods of alexithymia which often failed to measure all aspects of alexithymia. Furthermore, the exact nature of the association between violent offending and alexithymia is unclear. Given the high costs of violent offending to both society and victims it would appear necessary to assess for the presence of alexithymia among male violent offenders in order to provide appropriate intervention and treatment. The aim of this research was to determine the exact nature of the association between male violent offending and alexithymia. The Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) was employed for this purpose. As the scale had not previously been standardised in Australia, the aim of the first research question was to examine the utility of the cut-off scores and stability of the factor structure with a Western Australian community sample. This was achieved by a comparison of the means of the original Canadian standardisation sample with the means of the Western Australian sample (n = 323). A Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was employed to assess the factor structure. The Canadian cut-off scores proved to be applicable with Western Australian participants and stability of the factor structure was confirmed. Through the analysis, however, some psychometric weaknesses of the scale were revealed. The second research question was aimed at determining the prevalence of alexithymia among male violent offenders in Western Australia. A sample of 79 violent offenders incarcerated in prisons around Western Australia was recruited for Study Two. The results of a chi-square analysis for Study Two demonstrated an association between male violent offending and alexithymia. The aim of the third research question was to determine the exact nature of the association. For this purpose, all the TAS-20 scores of the violent offender sample, males in the community sample and a non-violent offender sample (comprising of 67 male participants) were compared by means of a Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) and post-hoc Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). There were statistically significant differences between community males and both the offender groups, with higher TAS-20 scores for the offender groups. The differences between the two offender groups were not statistically significant. Furthermore non-violent offenders were just as likely as violent offenders to score above the cut-off score on the TAS-20. The results suggest that there is an association between not only alexithymia and violent offending, but also alexithymia and offending in general. The consistent results for all the TAS-20 factor scores further suggest that it is alexithymia in general, rather than a specific aspect of alexithymia that is associated with offending. The current results are discussed in terms of forensic, clinical and research implications.

Abstract:

In this thesis the production of a Higgs boson in association with a hadronic jet at the Large Hadron Collider is studied using the effective interaction between the Higgs boson to gluons induced by a heavy quark. The Leading Order (LO), Next- to-Leading Order (NLO) and Next-to-Next-to-Leading Order (NNLO) perturbative QCD corrections are studied for all of the parton channels. The infrared (IR) diver- gent behaviour of the various contributions to the partonic cross section is regulated using the antenna subtraction formalism. This method has previously been used at NNLO in the calculation of three jets production in the e+e− annihilation and for the gluonic dijet production via proton collision. The research presented in this thesis extends the antenna formalism to include scattering processes in which the initial state parton changes its identity. All contributions to the pp → H+jet pro- cesses are calculated at LO, NLO and NNLO and numerically tested to demonstrate the convergence between the matrix elements and the antenna subtraction terms in the various unresolved limits. As an example of the phenomenological impact of this work, numerical results for the total and differential Higgs plus one jet cross sections are presented for the purely gluonic subprocesses.

Abstract:

Internationally, health systems have been undergoing an extended period of endemic change, where one effort at health system reform inevitably seems to lead to further attempts to make adjustments, re-direct the focus of the reform effort, or bring about further, sometimes very different changes. This phenomenon is described as churning in this thesis. Churning is a result of continual efforts to adjust and �improve� health systems to address intractable �wicked� problems, often through applying solutions based on neo-liberal reform agendas that have influenced public sector reform in developed countries since the early 1980s. Consistent with this, the South Australian health system has been caught up in a cycle of change and restructuring for almost thirty years. This qualitative study explores a case study of unsuccessful organisational change initiated by a group of health care agencies in the southern metropolitan area of Adelaide, South Australia, which took place between 1996 and 2001. The agencies sought to develop and establish a regional health service through a process they called �Designing Better Health Care in the South� which aimed to improve the way that services were provided in the area, and to enable the agencies to manage the increasing budgetary and workload pressures that they were all experiencing. A significant policy shift at the state government level meant that this initiative was no longer supported by the central bureaucracy and could not proceed. The agencies reverted from a focus on regional planning and service delivery to an institutional focus.The changes that are described within the scope of the case study are universally recognisable, including centralisation, decentralisation, managerialism and integration. The experience of Designing Better Health Care in the South as an unsuccessful attempt to implement change that was overtaken by other changes is also a universal phenomenon within health systems. This study locates the case study within its historical and policy contexts. It then analyses the key themes that emerge from consideration of the case study in order to understand the reasons for constant change, and the structural and systemic impediments to successful reform within the South Australian health system as an example of health systems in developed countries. As a case study of organisational change, Designing Better Health Care in the South was a story of frustration and disappointment, rather than of successful change. The case study of Designing Better Health Care in the South demonstrates the tensions between the differing priorities of central bureaucracy and health care agencies, and the pendulum swing between the aims of centralisation and regionalisation. The study uses the theory of negotiated order to understand the roles of the key themes of trust, partnership and collaboration, and power and control within the health system, and to consider how these themes affect the potential for the successful implementation of health care reform. Through analysis of the case study, this thesis contributes to an understanding of the difficulties of achieving effective reform within health systems in advanced economies, such as the South Australian health system, because of the complex power and trust relations that contribute to the functioning of the health system as a negotiated order. The study is multidisciplinary and qualitative, incorporating a number of social science disciplines including sociology, political science, historical analysis and organisational theory. Data collection methods for the study included interviews, focus groups, document analysis and a survey.

Abstract:

This thesis draws on a detailed analysis of court documents in the state of New South Wales (NSW), Australia, relating to 24 intimate partner femicides between 2010 and 2016, where women were killed in the context of intimate partner violence and where the killer had been subject to a current or historical apprehended domestic violence order. The analysis of the documents was undertaken using Carol Bacchi’s What’s the problem represented to be? (WPR) approach, a form of poststructural policy analysis (Bacchi & Goodwin, 2016). This approach has been used by other researchers to explore how policies constitute the “problem” of violence against women and is used here to scrutinise the taken-for-granted representations of intimate partner homicide that appear in the court documents. The thesis demonstrates that deeply held assumptions and presuppositions about what intimate partner violence is; what intimate relationships are; and who is responsible for perpetrating and preventing intimate partner homicide can be found within the texts of the court documents. The analysis also demonstrates that there are alternative ways of thinking about violence, intimate relationships, prevention and protection.

Abstract:

In this thesis the second-order QCD corrections to electroweak production of a Higgs boson in association with two jets through vector boson fusion are considered. This calculation is fully differential in the kinematics of the Higgs boson and of the final state jets. Infrared divergences are regulated using the antenna subtraction method. We detail the implementation of the process in the parton-level Monte Carlo integrator NNLOJET and present inclusive calculations as well as differential distributions for a wide range of observables at different center-of-mass energies.

Abstract:

A series of studies was undertaken to survey the prevalence of Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV) infection in domestic cats in Western Australia and to establish the relationship between infection and states of clinical and morphological disease. The studies established that there was a high prevalence of FIV infection in sick cats in Western Australia. The historical data, clinical and clinicopathological changes affecting these animals were compared with those from sick cats unaffected by FIV. This revealed the typical disease picture seen with FIV infection in cats from Western Australia. Anaemia, lymphopaenia, azotaemia, and hyperglobulinaemia were associated with FIV infection. Similarly male cats and cats over 4 years of age were more likely to be affected by FIV infection. Clinical signs were limited to systemic signs of anorexia, weight loss, collapse, and hypothermia. Previously reported clinical signs were not confirmed when the prevalence of these signs were examined in conjunction with the prevalence in the FIV negative sick cats. The impact of FIV infection on anaemia in cats was further investigated. This incorporated examination for other reported causal agents and mechanisms that induce anaemia. Feline Leukaemia Virus (FeLV) infection was found to be the most significant infectious agent in anaemic cats. An aetiology or mechanism was identified in more than 85% of cats. Similarly, the significance of FIV infection in feline renal disease in cats was determined. The histological patterns and frequency of renal disease in cats in Western Australia was established using archival material. Prospective analysis of azotaemic cats established the clinicopathologic and clinical changes seen in each pattern of renal disease. FIV showed a trend toward association with the combined patterns of reflux nephropathy and pyelonephritis. Previously unrecognised patterns of renal disease were described.

Abstract:

The Mining and Resource Contractors Safety Training Association (MARCSTA) developed a generic occupational health and safety (OHS) induction program that was first used by the metalliferous mining industry in Western Australia (WA) in 1996. Subsequently the mining industry in Tasmania has adopted the course and it has been on offer in that state since 2000. More than 150 000 trainees have attended the MARCSTA course to date (Gilroy, 2006). An empirical research study analysing data collected from a randomly selected group of 1 600 trainees who attended the course was conducted over a twelve month period. Furthermore historical OHS accident and injury data were analysed for the period prior to and after the introduction of the MARCSTA program.

Abstract:

The research examined whether the transition of students into junior high school from primary could school be managed with less alienation for the students by using a school restructure that intentionally attempted to increase psychological sense of community. The objectives of the research were therefore to (a) describe and understand students' perspectives of their community life world, (b) contribute to the knowledge of community-based practice in education, and (c) to add to the scope of understanding of the psychological sense of community.

Abstract:

Organizations are experiencing problems with the controlof information in computer-based information systems.Records management is a system that consists of a numberof elements to control recorded information over its lifecycle.Previous studies have ranked various records managementactivities. However, these studies were not conducted inAustralia, were not specifically related to computerbasedinformation systems, and were based on thefrequency with which records management tasks, or dutiesand responsibilities were being performed by recordsmanagement personnel rather than the perceived importanceof records management elements for overcoming problems.This study is conducted in Australia on the role ofrecords management within the context of computer-basedinformation systems. It has two purposes: to determinewhether there is an appreciable difference in theperceived importance of the various records managementelements for overcoming excessive quantity, poor qualityand storage media problems in computer-based informationsystems by RMAA individual members; and to determinewhether regardless of professional involvement and levelof education of RMAA individual members, there is nostatistically significant difference in the perceivedimportance of the various records management elements incomputer-based information systems for overcoming thesethree problems.To carry out the research a questionnaire was devised anddistributed to individual members of the RecordsManagement Association of Australia. The survey obtaineda usable response rate of 53.1 percent from a populationof 399 individual members of the Association.The study indicated that there is a difference in theperceived importance of the various records managementelements for overcoming excessive quantity, poor qualityand storage media problems in computer-based informationsystems. There was evidence to suggest that respondentsfrequently involved in professional activities are morelikely to consider certain records management elementsmore important than respondents not frequently involvedin these activities. The study also found that level ofeducation is associated with the selection of certainrecords management elements. In particular, thoserespondents with no tertiary qualifications are morelikely to consider the records management elements mailmanagement and a records retention and dispositionschedule important than respondents with tertiaryqualifications.

Abstract:

Detta examensarbete avser att beskriva hur kvinnliga lärare ser på deras arbetsvillkor och hur maktstrukturer påverkar deras arbete. Två kvinnor och en manlig lärare har blivit intervjuade i New South Wales, Australien och två kvinnor och en man har blivit intervjuade i södra Sverige. Jag har använt mig av genusteorier för att analysera mina informanter svar. Resultatet i denna uppsats visar på att genusordningen påverkar lärarens roll, arbetsvillkor och status negativt. Detta eftersom de regler som finns för både profession och status är uppbyggda efter manliga normer och läraryrket består främst av kvinnor. Min uppsats visar dessutom på hur de egenskaper som tillskrivs kvinnliga lärare inte anses vara lika betydelsefulla som de egenskaper som tillskrivs manliga lärare.
This study aims to describe female teachers’ view of their working conditions and how power structures impact upon their work. Two female and one male teacher have been interviewed in New South Wales, Australia and two females and one male teacher have been interviewed in the south of Sweden. Gender theories have been used to analyze the interviewees’ answers. The findings in this assignment show how the gender order impact negatively on the teachers role, status and working conditions. This is because the system of both professions and status are built after male norms and the teacher profession mainly consists of women. Furthermore, my essay shows that characteristics attributed to female teachers are not as valuable as those characteristics that are attributed to male teachers.

Abstract:

INTRODUCTION: Growing evidence supports the use of therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) to guide anti-tumour necrosis factor (TNF) drug treatment among patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Currently, TDM for anti-TNF drugs is variably practiced by gastroenterologists in Australia. Our aim was to develop consensus statements for TDM of anti-TNF drugs in IBD that will be endorsed by the Australian IBD Association (AIBDA) of the Gastroenterological Society of Australia (GESA). METHODS: A consensus committee of 25 Australian and international experts was assembled. A systematic literature search aided the steering committee in developing the initial draft statements. A modified Delphi technique was used with three iterations, with modification of statements based on feedback and anonymous voting. Statements with 80% agreement without reservation or only minor reservation in the third voting round were accepted as consensus. RESULTS: 22/24 statements met criteria for consensus. The committee agreed that TDM for anti-TNF agents should be performed upon treatment failure, following successful induction, when contemplating a drug-holiday and periodically in clinical remission only when results would change management. To achieve clinical remission in luminal IBD, infliximab and adalimumab trough concentrations in the range of 3-8 μg/mL and 5-12 μg/mL, respectively, were determined as appropriate. The therapeutic range may need to be altered for different disease phenotypes or treatment endpoints. In treatment failure, TDM may identify mechanisms to guide subsequent decisionmaking. Among patients in remission, TDM-guided anti-TNF drug dose optimisation may reduce treatment cost and avoid future relapse. Data indicates drug-tolerant antidrug antibody assays do not offer an advantage over drug-sensitive assays in 7 predicting outcomes. Further data are required prior to recommending TDM for nonanti- TNF biologics. CONCLUSION: These consensus statements are expected to aid use of TDM by gastroenterologists in Australia and abroad to guide anti-TNF drug treatment in IBD patients.

Abstract:

Integration has been the policy of the New South Wales Department of Education andTraining since 1981. Regular classroom teachers are responsible for implementing this policyat the classroom level. In order to achieve this, teachers need to make informed decisionsabout aspects of the class program and practice that may need to be adapted or modified toprovide opportunities for integrated students to participate meaningfully in regular classroomenvironments.The purpose of this study is twofold: to extend research into adaptations made by New SouthWales teachers under a policy of integration by surveying teachers' perceptions on variousadaptations/modifications and to explore factors related to teachers? implementation of theseadaptations/modifications to programs and practices for students with mild disabilities and/orlearning difficulties. Researchers have studied integration (variously named and interpreted)since the eighties and the current research is based on a body of research conducted over thelast twenty-five years. The current research identified the frequency of different types ofadaptations/modifications used by regular classroom teachers. An attempt is made to identifyvarious barriers and isolate particular factors that may influence the use of theseadaptations/modifications in regular classrooms.Results indicated that teachers reported using different adaptations and modifications tovarying degrees. Teachers indicated that they held a preference for adaptations andmodifications that could easily be implemented for all students in the class. Teachers reportedthat barriers such as: 'Lack of preparation and planning time'; 'Demands on instruction time';and 'Inadequate staff ratios' have the greatest affect on their implementation of adaptationsand modifications. The level of qualifications held by the teachers was the only factor thathad a significant correspondence to the frequency of adaptations and modificationsimplemented for students with mild disabilities and learning difficulties. Further research isrecommended to investigate across a larger area of population, the type and level ofdisabilities experienced by the students and the influence of teachers? choice on frequency ofadaptations and modifications.

Abstract:

Warehouse automation is a measure E-commerce companies can take to get a more streamlined flow through their warehouse. Order picking is the most labor intensive task in a warehouse. By automating the order picking process companies can lower their costs and improve their response times. This thesis studies the A-frame, an automated order picking system, at a large online pharmacy, Apotea AB. An A-frame has dispensing channels on its side and a conveyor belt that runs through the entire machine. Products for an order are ejected from the channels onto the conveyor belt and at the end of the machine they are dropped into a box. The box is then sealed, labeled and sent to the customer. For the automatic flow to function correctly, all orders picked by the A-frame need to be complete orders. Complete orders are orders where there are no products missing. To maximize the throughput of the A-frame, an appropriate product allocation will be required. Due to the vast number of combinations, it is extremely difficult to identify an optimal product allocation. This study has examined three different approaches to the product allocation problem for an A-frame. The first two methods are based on ranking the products depending on their quantities sold. The last method uses association rule learning, which is a machine learning technique for finding interesting patterns in a data set. Association rule learning was used to find which products were associated to each other. These associations were then placed in a graph structure and solved using a heuristic. To evaluate the different allocation methods, a simulation model was created. The A-frame was simulated using a discrete event simulation, which meant all methods could be tested on the same data to correctly compare the performance of each allocation. The study showed that the heuristic using association rules gave the highest number of picks for the tested period. However, it was only marginally better than the method that first removed orders that could not be picked from the A-frame and then ranked all products by their quantities sold. The study's conclusion is that while association rule learning resulted in the highest number of picked orders, the gain of using it does not motivate its complexity. Instead a more simple approach by ranking products by their quantities sold should be used. Warehousing in the era of E-commerce has to be fast, correct and cheap.

Abstract:

This study aims to examine the nature of existing culture care for Arabic speaking Muslim clients with type 2 diabetes receiving care in Australia. This study has adopted and adaptation of Leininger’s ethnonursing research method to examine the extent to which existing models of culture care are put into practice by diabetes educators and the clients response to this care in the context of diabetic clinics/ centres in South Western Sydney. Data was collected over a seven months period where the researcher was embedded in a number of Diabetic Clinics around South Western Sydney. Data was gathered from field notes taken after participant observations, and interviews with both the clients and the educators. Twenty one informants (13 diabetes educators and 8 Arab Muslim clients) participated in the study. The study sites were five diabetes centres from two area health services in Sydney NSW. The research describes the activities of the educators within their culture care practice. The research reports life experiences of clients which may act as barriers to successful care. The data reveals that occasions of mutual reflection between the client and the educator have a profound effect on the nature of client-educator relationship and health care outcomes.

Abstract:

This thesis examines the career of Arthur Baldwinson (1908-1969), a Sydney-based modernist architect. It argues that Baldwinson was a central figure in the development of a modernist domestic architecture in Australia from the late 1930s until the late 1950s through his practice as well as his activist role in the development of the Australian design reform and arts organisations: the Modern Architecture Research Group (MARS); the Designers for Industry Association of Australia (DIAA); and the Contemporary Art Society (CAS). It is further argued that Baldwinson designed and built two of Sydney's first authentically modernist houses before the 1939-45 War and that his subsequent development and refinement of a regional methodology for modernism in Sydney's domestic architecture is at the centre of the later regionalist styles of the late 1950s and early 1960s currently described as the

Abstract:

This thesis examines the political representation of Australian farmers. The NFF family of interest groups is charged with the political representation of farmers in Australia.Given that their state affiliates are the only organisations that farmers can directly join, this study takes the case of the New South Wales Farmers' Association (NSWFA) as its major reference point. A paradox is immediately confronted. On one hand, both the state and commentators refer to the NFF family as an exemplar of a successful modern interest group. However, on the other, the NFF family is being confronted with escalating levels of disillusionment and criticism from its own constituency.Two points of interest are highlighted. Firstly, it is suggested that theoretical frameworks, which assist commentators and researchers to come to the conclusion that the NFF family is 'successful', are not constructed in such a fashion as to throw sufficient light on the paradoxical nature of an existing situation. Secondly, this paradox suggests that the NFF itself must be able to disassociate the contingent relationship between its internal levels of support and external levels of access and influence. These two focal points are explored in this thesis, and the framework used by researchers to understand the actions of Australian farm interest groups are scrutinised. Discussing 'authentic' political representation assists considering the major theme of the 'representative paradox'. It is argued that this paradox is best understood by locating it within a search by farmers for authentic political representation - both through the NFF family and apart from it.

Abstract:

This practice-led PhD project consists of two parts. The first is an exegesis documenting how a fiction writer can enter a dialogue with the oral history project in Australia. I identify two philosophical mandates of the oral history project in Australia that have shaped my creative practice: an emphasis on the analysis of the interviewee’s subjective experience as a means of understanding the past, and the desire to engage a wide audience in order to promote empathy towards the subject. The discussion around fiction in the oral history project is in its infancy. In order to deepen the debate, I draw on the more mature discussion in ethnographic fiction. I rely on literary theorists Steven Greenblatt, Dorrit Cohn and Gerard Genette to develop a clear understanding of the distinct narrative qualities of fiction, in order to explore how fiction can re-present and explore an interviewee’s subjective experience, and engage a wide readership. I document my own methodology for producing a work of fiction that is enriched by oral history methodology and theory, and responds to the mandates of the project. I demonstrate the means by which fiction and the oral history project can enter a dialogue in the truest sense of the word: a two-way conversation that enriches and augments practice in both fields.The second part of the PhD is a novel, set in Brisbane and based on oral history interviews and archival material I gathered over the course of the project. The novel centres on Brisbane artist Evelyn, who has been given an impossible task: a derelict old house is about to be demolished, and she must capture its history in a sculpture that will be built on the site. Evelyn struggles to come up with ideas and create the sculpture, realising that she has no way to discover who inhabited the house. What follows is a series of stories, each set in a different era in Brisbane’s history, which take the reader backwards through the house’s history. Hidden Objects is a novel about the impossibility of grasping the past and the powerful pull of storytelling.The novel is an experiment in a hybrid form and is accompanied by an appendix that identifies the historically accurate sources informing the fiction. The decisions about the aesthetics of the novel were a direct result of my engagement with the mandates of the oral history project in Australia. The novel was shortlisted in the 2012 Queensland Literary Awards, unpublished manuscript category.

Abstract:

It is generally assumed that increased map precision (ie map unit hom*ogeneity) and mappurity (map unit accuracy) should result from increasing the scale of mapping of the soilresource, since it should enable a more intricate breakdown of the landscape intolandform facet based units. This study compared the predictive success of a 1:1 OK scalesoil association map with the 1:25K and 1:1OOK scale soil landscape maps within theBirrigai area of the Paddy's river catchment, south west of Canberra, A.C.T. The 1:25Kand the 1:100K scale soil landscape maps were also evaluated in a second largerevaluation area in the Paddy's river catchment which allowed more of the larger soillandscape map units to be evaluated. The 1:25K scale soil map was produced byanother author for the A.C.T Government, and was surveyed at a substantially lowersurvey intensity than that for the 1:100K and 1:10K scale soil maps (ie only 0.05observation sites / cm2 of published map). These maps were evaluated using a set ofrandomly located independent evaluation sites in each evaluation area, and from thesecalculating and comparing standard Marsman & de Gruijter(1986) measures of MapPurity.The strength of soil-landscape relationships within this catchment were determined froma Fixed One Way Analysis of Variance, and from more simplistic graphicalcomparisons of the means and standard deviations of the discrete soil data within theselandform based map units. Soil-landscape relationships for the Nominal scale soil data(ie class type data) were evaluated by comparing the Marsman & de Gruijter(1986)hom*ogeneity index ratings among the soil map units. Intensive survey traverses werealso carried out in selected soil landscapes to further evaluate the strength of soillandscapes present.The results revealed obvious improvements in map quality associated with increasingmap scale from 1:100,000 to 1:10,000, and these included increases in the predictivesuccess (Map Purity), reductions in the extent of map unit impurities, and planningadvantages associated with having individual land facets delineated on the 1:10,000scale map. The respectable purity ratings achieved by the 1:100,000 scale soillandscape map (ie average purity rating of 63%) was largely attributed to the flexibilityof the "soil material" approach to soil landscape mapping. The relatively poorperformance of the 1:25K consultancy soil landscape map demonstrated the fact that;any benefit gained from the improved intricacy in the representation of map unitdelineation's with increased mapping scale, will be drastically reduced if it is notmatched by an associated increase in the intensity of field investigations.Evaluations of the soil-landscape relationships found that the land facets of the Paddy'sriver catchment generally failed to delineate areas that were both uniform and unique inrespect of their soil properties. Soil-landscape relationships were instead found to bequite complex, applying to only certain land facets, and in regards to only certain soilproperties. Soil maps with units based on landsurface features were recommended onthe basis of the importance of other landscape factors other than soils to land capabilityratings, as well as on the useability of such maps. This study recommended theadoption of a " >2 detailed soil profile observations / land facet in each map unit "mapping standard to ensure a reasonable estimate of the variability and modal soilconditions present, as well as a reliable confirmation of the perceived soil-landscaperelationships. The error usually associated with small scale mapping was effectivelyreduced by rapid ground truthing, involving driving along the major roads dissecting themap area and making brief observations of soil exposures on road batters, despite thebias of the road network making such mapping improvements uneven across the map.The major point to come from this study was the re-emphasising of the point that soilspatial variability has to be accepted as a "real landscape attribute" which needs to beaccurately described and communicated to land users, and must not be considered assome sort of soil mapping failure. The fact that individual facets of the landscaperarely coincide with unique pockets of uniform and unique soils and soil properties mustbe considered simply an on the ground reality of nature, and not some mapping failure.It was thought that since other landscape factors (eg hillslope gradient) most oftendominate the determination of land use suitability and capability, it is better toeffectively describe the range and modal state of the soil conditions within such facets,then to attempt to extrapolate possible soil boundaries using geostatistical techniqueswhich cut across such land facets, and may or may not correlate with real groupings ofsoil properties, depending on the spatial resolution of the soil variability distribution inthe landscape. Even so the results of this investigation do put the validity of thephysiographic terrain class mapping model as a predictor of soil traits under question, atleast for the more complex landscape settings.

Abstract:

This thesis examines the history of Commonwealth Government higher education policy in Australia between 1958 and 1997 and its impact on the development of two groups of academic librarians: the Association of Librarians in Colleges in Advanced Education (ALCAE) and the Committee of Australian University Librarians (CAUL). Although university librarians had met occasionally since the late 1920s, it was only in 1965 that a more formal organisation, known as CAUL, was established to facilitate the exchange of ideas and information. ALCAE was set up in 1969 and played an important role helping develop a special concept of library service peculiar to the newly formed College of Advanced Education (CAE) sector. As well as examining the impact of Commonwealth Government higher education policy on ALCAE and CAUL, the thesis also explores the influence of other factors on these two groups, including the range of personalities that comprised them, and their relationship with their parent institutions and with other professional groups and organisations. The study focuses on how higher education policy and these other external and internal factors shaped the functions, aspirations, and internal dynamics of these two groups and how this resulted in each group evolving differently. The author argues that, because of the greater attention given to the special educational role of libraries in the CAE curriculum, the group of college librarians had the opportunity to participate in, and have some influence on, Commonwealth Government statutory bodies responsible for the coordination of policy and the distribution of funding for the CAE sector. The link between ALCAE and formal policy-making processes resulted in a more dynamic group than CAUL, with the university librarians being discouraged by their Vice-Chancellors from having contact with university funding bodies because of the desire of the universities to maintain a greater level of control over their affairs and resist interference from government. The circ*mstances of each group underwent a reversal over time as ALCAE's effectiveness began to diminish as a result of changes to the CAE sector and as member interest was transferred to other groups and organisations. Conversely, CAUL gradually became a more active group during the 1980s and early 1990s as a result of changes to higher education, the efforts of some university librarians, and changes in membership. This study is based principally on primary source material, with the story of ALCAE and CAUL being told through the use of a combination of original documentation (including minutes of meetings and correspondence) and interviews with members of each group and other key figures.