Digital Commons Network^™

Paying Attention To Water Relations: Poetic Inquiry And Pedagogical Documentation As Curious Practices, Claire O’Callaghan

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This project explores climate pedagogies with particular interest in Western Australia’s current water crisis. Human and more-than-human relations are explored with young children and educators from an early learning centre in Perth, Western Australia, with a view to reimagining education in the context of rapid environmental change. The project is grounded in feminist new materialist knowledge and is framed by an attentive focus to amplify the non-binary nature of both human and more-than-human counterparts. The research focuses on challenging colonial ways of knowing water, by decentring the child, unsettling norms, and reinstating reciprocity between human and more-than-human others (Nxumalo & …

Imputation, Modelling And Optimal Sampling Design For Digital Camera Data In Recreational Fisheries Monitoring, Ebenezer Afrifa-Yamoah

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Digital camera monitoring has evolved as an active application-oriented scheme to help address questions in areas such as fisheries, ecology, computer vision, artificial intelligence, and criminology. In recreational fisheries research, digital camera monitoring has become a viable option for probability-based survey methods, and is also used for corroborative and validation purposes. In comparison to onsite surveys (e.g. boat ramp surveys), digital cameras provide a cost-effective method of monitoring boating activity and fishing effort, including night-time fishing activities. However, there are challenges in the use of digital camera monitoring that need to be resolved. Notably, missing data problems and the cost …

Flow And Heat Transfer Characteristics Of Turbulent Swirling Impinging Jets [Thesis], Muhammad Ikhlaq

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Numerous industrial applications rely on impinging jets to impart convective heat and mass transfer in processes ranging from the cooling of electronic devices and gas turbine blades to drying of paper and food products. Conventionally, non-swirling impinging jets have been employed, but some studies have shown that inducing swirl allows better control of uniformity and improved convective fluxes. A better understanding of the underlying physical mechanisms that lead to such behaviour warrants deeper insights into the flow and heat transfer characteristics of impinging jets, both swirling and non-swirling. Whilst important to achieve, the flow field of an impinging jet is …

Cost-Effectiveness Of Exercise Medicine For Prostate Cancer, Kim Edmunds

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Background

Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) is associated with numerous adverse effects that impact on quality of life and contribute further to the cost burden of prostate cancer (PCa) via treatment and supportive care. Exercise medicine is effective in slowing PCa progression, reversing treatment adverse effects and improving quality of life and survival of patients, however, no economic analyses have been conducted to determine whether exercise is cost-effective in this population.

Objectives

Firstly, to examine the adverse effects of ADT for PCa and the evidence supporting the use of exercise medicine in their management. Secondly, to conduct the first economic evaluations …

The Characteristics And Effectiveness Of Treatment For Young Sex Offenders In Australia And New Zealand: A Systematic Review, James Finney

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Sexual offending by young people presents a serious and devastating issue effecting victims, families, and wider society. This has led investigative efforts to understand the efficacy of treatment programs to cease or at minimum reduce sexual recidivism. Evaluations examining treatment efficacy have predominately been conducted in the United States and Canada, with limited research focused exclusively on young sex offenders in Australia and New Zealand. To address the paucity of information, a systematic review of young sex offender treatment research in Australia and New Zealand was conducted. The systematic review employed a comprehensive search strategy and rigorous vetting procedure, which …

Applications Of Béla Bartók's Techniques Of Pitch Organisation To Jazz Improvisation, Niran Jay Dasika

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The music of Hungarian composer Béla Bartók (1881-1945) reconciles hauntingly lyrical beauty with harsh, atonal dissonance, appealing to music fans, musicians, and theorists alike for over a century and suggesting a rich resource of inspiration for improvising musicians. The composer Pierre Boulez commented that “Whether it is in a brutal violence animating a sound material in fusion, or in a tranquil gentleness glowing in a halo of grating sounds and colours… Bartók is incomparable and remains unique”. Informed by Bartók theorists Elliott Antokoletz, János Kárpáti, Erno Lendvai, and by Bartók’s own writings, this research identifies four melodic techniques: ‘mistuning’, ‘chromatic …

Energy And Throughput Efficient Strategies For Heterogeneous Future Communication Networks, Haitham El-Mohamdy Khaled

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

As a result of the proliferation of wireless-enabled user equipment and data-hungry applications, mobile data traffic has exponentially increased in recent years.This in-crease has not only forced mobile networks to compete on the scarce wireless spectrum but also to intensify their power consumption to serve an ever-increasing number of user devices. The Heterogeneous Network (HetNet) concept, where mixed types of low-power base stations coexist with large macro base stations, has emerged as a potential solution to address power consumption and spectrum scarcity challenges. However, as a consequence of their inflexible, constrained, and hardware-based configurations, HetNets have major limitations in adapting …

Digital Enhancement Of Senior Secondary Dance Assessment, Maria Gamble

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This research examined the use and effects of digital technology in supporting and enhancing practical high stakes assessments in a senior secondary dance course in Western Australia (WA). The participants comprised twenty students from one school who were enrolled in ATAR Dance for 2016/17 and ten WA secondary dance education experts. A mixed method embedded design allowed for the analysis of both qualitative and quantitative results to gain perspective and understanding of using digital technology to facilitate the current Western Australia Certificate of Education (WACE)/Australia Tertiary Admissions Rank (ATAR) dance examination as well as the preparation for it and marking …

Power Network And Smart Grids Analysis From A Graph Theoretic Perspective, Hossein Parast Vand

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The growing size and complexity of power systems has given raise to the use of complex network theory in their modelling, analysis, and synthesis. Though most of the previous studies in this area have focused on distributed control through well established protocols like synchronization and consensus, recently, a few fundamental concepts from graph theory have also been applied, for example in symmetry-based cluster synchronization. Among the existing notions of graph theory, graph symmetry is the focus of this proposal. However, there are other development around some concepts from complex network theory such as graph clustering in the study.

In spite …

The Adherence To Group B Streptococcus Screening Guidelines Amongst Pregnant Women In Western Australia – A Quantitative Descriptive Analysis, Sabine Pangerl

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Colonisation with Group B Streptococci (GBS) is a major risk factor for neonatal infection acquired via vertical transmission during pregnancy, labour, or birth, potentially resulting in significant morbidity and mortality. Universal screening at 35 – 37 weeks gestation for maternal GBS colonisation and the use of intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis has resulted in substantial reductions in the burden of neonatal Early-Onset GBS Disease (EOGBSD). Women in Western Australia (WA) are offered GBS screening in pregnancy and intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis. Anecdotal evidence suggests variations in viewpoints and thus low adherence to relevant clinical guidelines amongst midwives and pregnant women in the midwifery …

Identity: A Crisis Of Confidence? Or Is It Resemblance? An Exploration Of The Different Approaches By Which Eyewitness Evidence Can Be Obtained From Lineups, Dominic T. Jordan

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Research has shown that eyewitness identification decisions are fallible and often mistaken. Although considerable attention has been afforded to identification decision accuracy and its improvement, mistaken identification decisions continue to contribute to costly errors at the evidentiary stage of the criminal justice system process (i.e., wrongful convictions). Several prominent researchers have suggested, by way of explanation, that the existing framework for obtaining eyewitness evidence from lineups, namely, identification, is inadequate. Indeed, the assumption that witnesses when presented with a lineup, can make reliable identification decisions (i.e., can reliably determine that a lineup member is the same unfamiliar person seen previously …

Creative Constraints: Developing A Method For Restrictive Jazz Composition, Harry Mitchell

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This research aimed to develop a method of jazz composition that utilises data-based restrictions to facilitate the composition process. An analysis rating tool (ART) was developed based on methodologies created by Aaron Stroessner and Jan LaRue to extract elements of melody, harmony, rhythm and form from compositions on Seamus Blake’s album Bellwether and Will Vinson’s album Stockholm Syndrome. The ART then facilitated a practice-led composition process in which the data from the analysis were used as the primary source of creativity to generate and record a set of 10 compositions. Through an iterative process of composing with and refining the …

Does Accurate Data, Identifying Obese Patients Impact Nurse Safety And Hospital Finances?, Kim Mcclean

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Healthcare staff who manage obese patients are at increased risk of sustaining patient handling injuries, and this risk is anticipated to intensify as projected Australian obesity rates increase to 42% by the year 2035 and obese patients admitted to hospitals also increase. High cost burdens to healthcare organisations will result due to increased funding requirements for bariatric risk management solutions and growing costs of workers’ compensation claims of injured staff. Five (5) studies explored if identification of obese patients impacts the safety of nurses and other healthcare staff who manage obese patients and investigated the accuracy of obesity data recorded …

Down The Rabbit Hole: An Exhibition – And – Alice In Wonderland Engaging With The Reflexive Project Of The Self: An Exegesis, Shana James

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a culturally significant text that is widely known across many cultures. In this Victorian story, a little girl follows the talking White Rabbit down a rabbit hole to uncover a fantastical parallel world. Alice in Wonderland has remained in print for over 150 years, highlighting its continued relevance to generations of readers. This exegesis investigates the making of visual artwork that responds to this significant story, exploring the symbology and metaphorical nature of the text and seeing the story as a “reflexive project of the self” (Giddens, 1991, p. 5).

I began this research having …

Investigation Of A Communication Enhanced Environment Model After Stroke: A Mixed Methods Before-And-After Pilot Study, Sarah D’Souza

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Background: Aphasia is an acquired communication disorder that affects approximately 30% of first ever stroke survivors and persists one-year post-stroke in up to 61% of survivors. Aphasia impacts on all communication modalities with significant negative consequences for social participation, interpersonal relationships, autonomy, capacity to work and quality of life. It is recognised that the environment can influence neural remapping during early stroke recovery. However, patients with aphasia (PWA) following stroke have been observed to spend less than 30% of their day communicating and 44% of their day alone during their first weeks of in-patient rehabilitation. Inadequate opportunities for communication places …

A Defensive Strategy For Detecting Targeted Adversarial Poisoning Attacks In Machine Learning Trained Malware Detection Models, Adrian Michael Wood

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Machine learning is a subset of Artificial Intelligence which is utilised in a variety of different fields to increase productivity, reduce overheads, and simplify the work process through training machines to automatically perform a task. Machine learning has been implemented in many different fields such as medical science, information technology, finance, and cyber security. Machine learning algorithms build models which identify patterns within data, which when applied to new data, can map the input to an output with a high degree of accuracy. To build the machine learning model, a dataset comprised of appropriate examples is divided into training and …

Headteachers In Difficult Circumstances: A Study Of School Leaders In Post-Conflict, Post-Disaster Nepal, Rupak Dahal

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

School leadership in developing countries, with a particular focus on post-conflict and post-disaster, is an area of increasing importance to education researchers. However, this research has often been limited to the areas of educational achievement and outcomes, government policies and their impact on school systems, and comparing schools irrespective of their vastly different contexts.

This thesis reports on research into school leadership within Nepali government secondary schools, typically referred to as community schools. As a developing country, The Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal (Nepal), faces crucial educational challenges due to its cultural, ethnic, linguistic, and religious diversity, and associated socio-economic …

An Exploration Of The Relationship Between Aphasia Therapy, Depression And Quality Of Life In Post-Stroke Patients After Rehabilitation At 12 And 26 Weeks After Stroke: A Verse Sub-Study, Alia Rashid Khan

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Background: Depression is a common consequence of stroke, and people with aphasia (PWA) post-stroke have a higher risk of developing depression compared to stroke survivors without aphasia. However, current stroke interventions featuring aphasia therapy tend to neglect the effect of the treatment on mood. There is also a lack of evidence on the impact of stroke education and counselling on PWA in early stroke recovery. Additionally, the research on post-stroke depression often excludes or insufficiently describes PWA in study populations. The influence of direct aphasia therapy on depression in PWA is undetermined. This sub-study investigated: i) the effect of …

The Coaches’ Eye: Exploring Coach Decision-Making During Talent Identification, Alexandra Hannah Roberts

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

For decades, researchers and practitioners interested in talent identification have discussed the coaches’ eye: the elusive ability that allows some coaches to ‘see’ qualities in an athlete that point to their talent or future potential. While there is significant anecdotal evidence of coaches who possess this ability, there is little empirical research supporting the validity or reliability of the coaches’ eye. Guided by ecological dynamics, this thesis employs mixed methodologies to explore the decision-making that underpins how high-level coaches identify talent in Olympic combat sports. These four studies captured the processes of thirty- four coaches during the talent identification process, …

Tasteful Piano Performance In Classic-Era Britain, James Huntingford

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

In recent decades, British solo piano repertoire of the Classic era has attracted increasing interest from researchers. A number of scholars have sought to identify the compositional elements that comprise late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century British piano music. Despite this interest, there has been little research into the conventions of performance with which this repertoire is inextricably associated. Moreover, scant attention has been given to the notions of taste that are so often encountered in contemporaneous music treatises and philosophical writings. This thesis addresses these gaps in the existing literature by examining tasteful piano performance in late eighteenth- and early …

Simultaneous Machining Of Aerospace Structural Materials Using Poly-Drills, Muhammad Aamir

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Despite the growth of composites and other lightweight materials, aluminium alloys remain an attractive choice for the aerospace industry due to their distinct manufacturing processes, good resistance to fatigue crack growth and superior damage tolerance. In the aerospace industry, the drilling process is widely used among all the machining processes as millions of holes are required to produce riveted and bolted joints in the assembly operation of the aircraft's structures. The major challenges which arise from the drilling of these alloys are characterized by the low hole quality, which might initiate cracks within the airframe structure and reducing their reliability. …

Delegation Practices Between The Registered Nurse And The Assistant In Nursing In The Acute Care Setting In Western Australia, Carol Crevacore

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Background:

Delegation is an essential skill that allows the Registered Nurse (RN) to allocate aspects of patient care to other team members including the unregulated Assistant in Nursing (AIN). Concerns have been raised about the activities delegated to AINs in the acute care environment.

Aim:

The aim of this research was to explore the practice of delegation between the RN and the AIN in the acute care environment. This delegation practice was examined through the lens of both the RN and the AIN.

Methodology:

This study used a mixed method explanatory sequential design. The participants were RNs and AINs working …

Navigating The Wreck: Writing Women’S Experience Of The Japanese Occupation Of Singapore. Salvaged From The Wreck: A Novel -And- Diving Into The Wreck: A Critical Essay, Dawn Nora Crabb

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This thesis is in two parts. The first and major part consists of a historical novel followed, in part two, by an essay. The title of this thesis, “Navigating the Wreck”, refers metaphorically to the Fall of Singapore in 1942, the ensuing human tragedy unleashed on the people of Singapore and Malaya, and the literary and historical processes of exploring, interpreting and depicting the past. The Japanese occupation of Singapore has, to date, been described mostly by Western historians and former prisoners of war who have forged a predominant patriarchal narrative. In that narrative—despite the all-encompassing nature of the occupation …

Application Of The Vortex Fluid Device (Vfd) In Polysulfone Synthesis And Ultra-Filtration Membrane Fabrication For Water Treatment Purposes, Aghil Igder

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Extensive studies have been performed to improve key properties of filtration membranes via controlling the fabrication process conditions as well as physical and/or chemical modification of the polymers used in membrane fabrication. The Vortex Fluid Device (VFD) is a newly invented platform which has found many applications in materials science and clean technology. The unique features of the VFD originate from a combination of different effects (e.g., micro-mixing, viscous drag, microfluidic flow, enhanced mass transfer) all resulting in faster, greener, and more efficient and better controlled chemical reactions. The main aims of this project are: (i) to investigate the utility …

Investigating Self-Efficacy: Early Childhood Teachers’ Understanding Of Self-Efficacy, Dimity Franks

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Students are experiencing an increased pressure to perform academically at a younger age with reports of the narrowing of curriculum and student disengagement. Current research literature suggests curricula should reflect the increased pressures students are facing. A focus on the social and emotional skills to support student learning is recommended to increase student engagement and enrichment and prepare students for their future. Self-efficacy is one element of social and emotional learning that demands attention. Self-efficacy is considered important for teachers to understand as it can predict how students approach their tasks as well as influence their levels of motivation and …

Factors Associated With Intimate Partner Homicide In A West Australian Context, William Anthony Thompson

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Domestic Violence (DV) is prevalent within Australian society with one in four women experiencing some form ofDV (ABS 2017) in their life. The Australian homicide rate is about 250 deaths per year, of which 52% are domestic related (Virueda & Payne 2010). Domestic homicides include Intimate Partner Homicide (IPH), where the victim and offender shared, or formerly shared an intimate relationship (for example married, defacto and ex partners; Bryant & Cussen 2015). This study analysed the factors of West Australian (WA) IPHs from 2012-2017 inclusive. The aim was to identify aetiologies of IPH offending across ethnicity and gender to understand …

Experimental And Cfd–Pbm Investigation Of An Agitated Bioreactor Using A Dual Helical Ribbon Impeller, Maryamsadat Amiraftabi

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Throughout past decades, the management of solid waste by producing methane gas, as a renewable source of energy, has featured as an important research objective. Anaerobic digesters are widely used in countries with environmental initiatives and green approaches, where biogas produced from a bioreactor is a carbon neutral source of energy. Biogas contains 70% methane, 30% CO2 and some other gases. The by-product of an anaerobic digester is solid sludge that can be used as either fertilizer or compost.

Anaerobic digestion biogas plants can benefit industries by adding value to solid organic waste, reducing fossil fuel usage, eliminating solid waste …

Bully Me: A Graphic Novel; The Return: A Graphic Novel; Comakademix: A Comics Anthology; Leadbetter: A Comic; Laundry: A Minicomic -And- The Erotics Of Comics: An Exegesis, Bruce Roberts Mutard

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Beholding a comic is ideally, a pleasure. The work informs, entertains and stimulates the mind in some way. There is no gainsaying which works will affect which beholders howsoever it does, yet the expecta­tion of pleasure from a work of comics makes behold­ers seek it. Making the comic is also a pleasure, even if the process can be long-winded, winding and dif­ficult. The maker wants to give others the same plea­sure they drew from beholding comics, but in their way, making their vision of Batman, Lieutenant Blue­berry or, their own story worlds. What this research seeks to explain are many …

Digital Representation For Assessment Of Spoken Efl At University Level: A Case Study In Vietnam, Thi Bich Hiep Vu

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Assessing the speaking performance of students who are studying English as a Foreign Language (EFL) has mainly been conducted with face-to-face speaking tests. While such tests are undoubtedly interactive and authentic, they have been criticised for subjective scoring, as well as lacking an effective test delivery method and recordings for later review.

Technology has increasingly been integrated into speaking tests over the last decade and become known as computer-assisted or computer-based assessment of speaking. Although this method is widely acknowledged to measure certain aspects of language speaking effectively, such as pronunciation and grammar, it has not yet proved to be …

Towards An Evidence-Informed Differentiated Learning Consolidation Process To Support Classroom Instruction, Nicola Carr-White

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Despite many years of teaching experience, the differentiation and consolidation of classroom learning presented challenges for the researcher. In response, a Differentiated Learning Consolidation Process (DLCP) was developed through informal classroom-based action research over several years. Using low cost and accessible resources, it developed into a manageable supplementary intervention to support individual student needs and the retention of classroom instruction. Increasing interest from colleagues led the researcher to provide professional development on the instructional design and implementation of the DLCP. Through this experience, it became apparent that the DLCP theoretical assumptions were largely unknown. The current study was pursued to …