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A Total Approach: The Malaysian Security Model And Political Development, Andrew Humphreys

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016

In this thesis I argue that a security-based approach to an analysis of Malaysia offers a new perspective on that country’s politics and political system. Since colonialism, Malaysia has been a state obsessed by its own security, particularly the internal dimension of its security. I focus on the impact of security issues and, particularly, security policy on Malaysia’s political development. In terms of policy, Malaysia has developed what I call the Malaysian Security Model. The Model represents a ‘total approach’ to security that attempts to eliminate threats both physically and ideologically. The Model thus has two main functional tools, one …

Lean Production Practices In Bangladesh: An Investigation Into The Extent Of Practices And The Existence Of Enabling Environments For Lean Implementation, Farhana Ferdousi

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016

Lean Production has overcome the perception of being another management fad. An increasing number of organizations in developing countries are implementing lean production in order to generate improvements in performance and remain competitive. A sample of nine garment companies (seven companies from the Export Processing Zone (EPZ) and two companies from outside of the EPZ) of Bangladesh was chosen to conduct the study. A field survey with a semi-structured questionnaire, interviews and site visits was conducted to gather necessary information from the companies. These companies were selected purposively to ensure the best possible scenario of lean practices in Bangladesh.

The …

The Impact Of Claim Diagnosticity On Consumer Scepticism To Corporate Social Responsibility Advertising Claims, Alan Pomering

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016

A considerable body of literature on consumers’ responses to information about firms’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives has been published over the past decade. To date, however, little if any of this research has looked at consumer reaction to such information communicated via the medium of advertising, despite the increasing use of such corporate societal advertising appeals. While scepticism is a common cognitive response toward advertising, how scepticism toward non-economic corporate image claims might be promoted or inhibited through message elements has not been the focus of research attention. This thesis seeks to address this knowledge gap by investigating the …

Measurements And Modelling Of Emissions From Biomass Burning In Australia, Clare Paton-Walsh

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016

This thesis describes work aimed at improving our knowledge of emissions to the atmosphere from Australian vegetation fires. The thesis contains three main parts. First there is a study to characterise the emissions from forest fires in southeast Australia. This uses ground-based Fourier transform infrared solar absorption spectroscopy, coupled with ultra-violet/visible spectroscopy, to explore the properties of smoke plumes from Australian forest fires that passed over the observation site at Wollongong, in New South Wales, Australia (34.4°S, 150.9°E). The particulate loading in the smoke plumes is characterised by the aerosol optical depth, measured at visible wavelengths. Vertically integrated amounts of …

Matrix Converter Technology In Doubly-Fed Induction Generators For Wind Generators, Benjamin J. Harris

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016

Wind generator technologies have been widely researched and documented. Modern wind generator systems are now being implemented with an output power of up to 5 MVA. They adopt power electronic control systems which allow the system to operate with a wide range of turbine shaft speeds, as well as with Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) algorithms to maximise the energy delivery to the power system.

Despite the extensive development, maximum power transfer from the total available power in the wind gusts to the grid is limited by the mechanical and electrical losses in the generation process. A Doubly-Fed Induction Generator …

On The Reception Of Aboriginal Art In German Art Space, F. Krishnabhakdi-Vasilakis

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016

German art history and ethnology have led to a binary reading of art that has inhibited the exhibition of Aboriginal art as contemporary art in the twentieth and early twenty-first century. This thesis addresses the question of how Australian Aboriginal art is displayed in the institutional spaces of art galleries and museums in Germany. I argue that there is an underlying current in Germany that divides the representation of art into European and “other”, particularly Aboriginal art. Within German culture, ethnological museums are ranked differently from art institutional spaces. The art museum or gallery is at the top of the …

Encounters In Vanuatu: Process And Interactions In Visual Arts, Catherine Kay

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016

The Master of Creative Arts Research investigates cross-cultural interactions with Vanuatu between 2003 and 2008. Several fieldtrips to the island of Efate the main island, site of the capital Port Vila enabled meetings with the visual art milieu of craftspeople, artists, the Vanuatu Cultural Centre and Museum, the two Art Foundations Michoutouchkine and Susanne Bastien, as well as commercial outlets. It confirmed my interest in setting up conversations between my own art practice in Australia with individual artists in Vanuatu through two conferences, firstly the Pacific Arts Association IXth International Symposium Musée du quay Branly in 2007 in Paris and …

The Study Of Fossil Faunas In The Walanae Basin, Indonesia, Suyono

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016

The main purpose of my research was to reconstruct the morphology and phylogenetic history of Celebochoerus heekereni, an endemic pig species known from Pliocene fossil deposits in the Walanae Basin of Southwest Sulawesi, Indonesia. An important part of this research was to refine the age range of C. heekereni and to reconstruct its paleogeographic context on the basis of Southeast Asian plate tectonics and eustatic sea-level changes. This study has implications for the history of other animal species on Sulawesi, and for Southeast Asian biogeography generally. Associated fieldwork in the Walanae Basin included the description of fossil sites, the recording …

Studies Of Structures, Transport And Magnetic Properties Of Doped Novel Three-Dimensional Perovskite Compounds, Mohammad Mehdi Farhoudi

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016

Perovskite oxide compounds have generated a great amount of interest over the past twenty years, as they exhibit exotic magnetic, electric, and magnetoelectric properties, which, apart from their intrinsic interest, would have a wide range of applications in industry, with special utilization in the engineering of data storage devices.

Starting with a general definition of the perovskite structure of ABO3 materials, the magnetic and transport properties of cobalt and manganese based compounds are reviewed. The objective of this thesis is focused on the investigation of the structures, and the magnetic and transport properties of some typical cobalt or manganese based …

Characterisation Of Antibiotic Resistance Gene Clusters And Their Mobility Within A Collection Of Multi-Drug Resistant Salmonella Spp, Xiulan Liu

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016

One hundred and thirty-six Salmonella enterica strains, isolated from humans, animals, environmental and plant sources in Australia from 23 serovars, were examined for the streptomycin resistance gene strA and strB, the sulfonamide resistance gene sul2, and the tetracycline resistance gene tetA(A) and tetA(B). Thirteen strains were identified as containing the strA-strB genes located on the transposon Tn5393. S. enterica serovar Hadar accounted for 11 of these strains, 6 of which were isolated from humans and 5 were from ducks. This investigation is therefore the first report of the Tn5393 transposon being detected in bacterial strains from a human source in …

Natural Resource Management Policy Implementation At The Local Level: Tensions And Contradictions In And Around A Thai National Park, Aree Suwanmanee

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016

This thesis traces the influential global conservation concepts playing various roles in the Thai natural resource conservation system. The overall purpose of this study is to investigate the intersection of conservation policies and cultures in and around national park management in Thailand. The objectives of this study are to look at approaches, concepts, and models of natural resource conservation in practices and discourses of the central agencies, local park officials, other official agencies, NGOs and indigenous people. The thesis highlights tensions and contradictions at the local level as national policies are implemented. The thesis results inform proposed strategies for future …

Water And Wastewater Systems Sustainability In Remote Australia, Melanie Werner

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016

This research examines the sustainability of small water and wastewater systems for remote settlements in Central Australia, and develops a multi-criteria assessment framework to compare the performance of technologies for use in such systems. The sustainability of water and wastewater systems has been the subject of considerable research, for both centralised and decentralised systems in developed and developing countries. The use of Multi Criteria Assessment (MCA) to solve sustainability-oriented water and wastewater problems has also been the subject of prior research in a variety of settings. Both these fields have emphasised the need for locally determined definitions of sustainability and …

Shadows Of Another Dimension: A Bridge Between Mathematician And Artist, Janelle Robyn Humphreys

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016

The fundamental idea that provides a pathway through this exegesis is the Möbius strip. It is examined in relation to the mathematical influences on my art practice and consequently identified in the work of the Australian Modernists.

The other key link is the “bridge.” The aim is to “bridge the gap” between my roles as artist and mathematician through an analysis of the making process of my painting and sculptures. Further, I establish a visual link between the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Möbius strip and Australian modernist paintings.

The Möbius strip is introduced as a model for the paintings of …

Making Links Between Theory And Practice : An Investigation Into Pre-Service Teacher Learning Experiences With An Online Simulation, Lisa A. Carrington

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016

Current research in teacher education identifies a gap between what teachers are taught during their pre-service teacher education and what they are expected to do at the ‘chalk-face’ in their professional career (Cole & Knowles, 2000; Ramsey, 2000; Sorin, 2004). In response to the perception that theory is often irrelevant to practice, various studies assert that there is a need to integrate the various components of pre-service teacher education (for relevant studies see Brady, Seagal, Bamford & Deer, 1998; Lanier & Little, 1986). An integrated approach is advocated to enable pre-service teachers to gain a better understanding of the theory/practice …

Antibiotic Resistance Genes Located In Integrons Isolated From Escherichia Coli Recovered From Humans And Animals, Fay Ellen Dawes

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016

Multi-drug resistant pathogens are the principal cause of failure in the treatment of bacterial infectious diseases. Accurate surveillance of antibiotic resistance genes in the community is essential to developing strategies for resistance control and prevention. In this study, a collection of 514 Escherichia coli strains from animal and human sources was examined for the presence of class 1, 2 and 3 integrons using a PCR-based screening method. A multiplex PCR was developed to simultaneously screen for intI1, intI2 and intI3 genes. This study characterised all gene cassettes including those that could not be PCR amplified using standard screening methods.

The …

Trace Metal Contamination Of Soils And Sediments In The Port Kembla Area, New South Wales, Australia, Yasaman Jafari

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016

Anthropogenic emissions of metals from industrial activities such as smelters are an international problem, but there is limited published information on emissions from Australian smelters. The objective of this study was to investigate the regional distribution of trace metals in soils and sediments in the vicinity of the industrial complex of Port Kembla, New South Wales, Australia, which comprises a former copper smelter, an integrated steelworks and associated industries.

Thus, 95 soil samples from the Port Kembla area and 3 vibracores from Griffins Bay in the adjacent Lake Illawarra were collected. X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometry (XRF) was used to determine 37 …

Application Of Constriction Size Based Filtration Criteria For Railway Subballast Under Cyclic Conditions, Laricar D. Trani

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016

In rail track environments, the loading system is cyclic unlike the steady seepage force that usually occurs in embankment dams. The mechanisms of filtration, interface behaviour, and time dependent changes of the drainage and filtration properties occurring within the filter medium require further research to improve the design guidelines. A novel cyclic process simulation filtration apparatus was designed and commissioned at the University of Wollongong, and a standard test procedure was established. The test apparatus was designed to simulate heavy haul train operations. The key parameters that influence the change in porosity and pore water pressure within the subballast layer …

Distant Voices, John E. Tranter

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016

‘Distant Voices’ consists of two parts: a collection of poems and a thirty-thousand word exegesis.

The poems are presented in three groups.

In Vocoder four long poems explore, in different ways, the idea of displacing the authorial ego with a kind of writing at one or two removes, through the process of translation, ventriloquy, mask or disguise. Speaking French presents 101 deliberate mistranslations of some of Rimbaud’s ‘Illuminations’ and poems by Baudelaire, Mallarmé and Verlaine. At the Movies is a group of narrative, discursive and reflective poems that speak about various movies and their cultural settings.

The exegesis is also …

Improving The Dynamic Behaviour Of Adjacent Buildings By Connecting Them With Fluid Viscous Dampers, Mehmet Uz

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016

Building structures are often built close to each other because of lack of available land in metropolitan cities. To reduce the response of a structure to earthquake excitation, various types of control system devices have been proposed for adjacent buildings. One of the methods to mitigate structural seismic response is installing supplemental damping devices between adjacent buildings. This study proposes to develop a method for analyzing the random seismic response of a structural system consisting of two adjacent buildings interconnected by fluid viscous damping devices. The reduction of displacement, acceleration and shear force responses of adjacent buildings are proposed in …

The Impact Of Loan Characteristics On Credit Risk Of Chinese Listed Firms Under The New Banking Regulatory System, Miao Jianchun

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016

This thesis examines the relationship between a firm’s credit risk and its loan characteristics in the context of Chinese listed firms. In particular, it focuses on the effect of China's new banking regulatory system on this relationship. It seeks to answer the following questions: Does a collateralized loan imply higher default risk? Is the credit risk markedly higher for borrowers with short-term loans than for borrowers with long-term loans? Is the credit risk more closely related to loan term and collateral after the implementation of the new banking regulatory system? To answer the above questions, quantitative methods will be adopted. …

Designing Online Learning Environments For Local Contexts, As Exemplified In The Sultanate Of Oman, Andrea Hall

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016

Online learning has a significant role in teaching and learning as it can be used to address the issues of quality and access to learning in higher education. However, for online learning to provide an effective solution, it needs to be designed to meet the learning needs of the students. This includes the consideration of their cultural preferences, as it is generally presumed that these significantly affect how people learn, and consequently affect learning success if courses are not designed appropriately.

This is particularly important for the Sultanate of Oman, the focus of this study. Since Oman's renaissance in 1970, …

Contributions To Mobility, Anonymity And Location Privacy In Ip-Based Networks, Rungrat Wiangsripanawan

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016

The Internet has become an indispensable tool in our life, rather than merely used as a means of communication channel. Accessing the Internet services such as web pages and emails nowadays is as easy as dialling a telephone number. With the advent of the wireless network, a growth of telecommunication technology, and a massive reduction of the computer’s size, a need to access the Internet service anytime, anywhere without interruption, is prominent. Nonetheless, allowing the device to move anytime and anywhere means that the location of the device must be reachable by the network all the time. Hence, the location …

Investigations Of A Novel Small Animal Pet Scanner With Depth Of Interaction Using Gate And A Newly Developed Data Rebinning Application, Lakshal Perera

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016

Current Positron Emission Tomography (PET) detectors suffer degradation in the spatial resolution at the edges of the field of view. This occurs as a result of the lack of depth of interaction (DOI) information which causes uncertainty in deducing the Lines of Response (LOR) between coincident events. The Centre for Medical Radiation Physics at the University of Wollongong has developed a novel detector module for use in small animal PET which will provide depth of interaction information while retaining the sensitivity of current scanners. This will result in superior imaging together with the ability to locate smaller lesions. This work …

Contribution To Securing Wireless Mesh Networks, Shams Ud Din Qazi

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016

A wireless mesh network (WMN) comprises of mesh access points (MAPs)/mesh routers and mesh clients (MCs), where MAPs are normally static and they form the backbone of WMNs. MCs are wireless devices and dynamic in nature, communicating among themselves over possibly multi-hop paths, with or without the help of MAPs. Security has been a primary concern in order to provide protected communication in WMNs due to the open peer-to-peer network topology, shared wireless medium, stringent resource constraints and highly dynamic environment. These challenges clearly make a case for building multi-layer security solution that achieves both wide-range protection and desirable network …

An Empirical Research Into The Metacapitalism Efficiency In The Australian Telecommunications Industry, Geyi Xu

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016

MetaCapitalism is publicly introduced by the consulting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in 2000 as a methodology that assists firms in becoming more efficient by means of decapitalisation, downsizing and innovation in value-added communities. However, can MetaCapitalism contribute to our understanding of market performance, especially in view of the current credit crisis? Hence, the Australian telecommunications sector is chosen for a primary test regarding the effects of MetaCapitalism on company’s market performance. The relevant data is collected from 1989 to 2007. MetaCapitalism strategy is measured by six indices as the change of total assets (TA), property, plant and equipment (PP&E), net working …

Illumination Invariant Face Detection, Alister Cordiner

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016

The purpose of face detection is to process input images in order to determine the locations of any faces in the image. Faces are complex objects and detecting them remains a challenging task for computer vision systems, despite the relative ease with which humans are able to do so. One of the major difficulties faced by face detection systems is challenging illumination conditions, such as low level lighting and cast shadows. This thesis reviews the state of the art face detection methods (with particular emphasis on the method of Viola and Jones) and explores methods of overcoming adverse illumination conditions. …

A Theological Critique Of The Hipc Debt Initiative: Redefining The Sovereign Debtor And Creditor Relationship, Lee Moerman

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016

This thesis uses a theological perspective to extend the literature on accounting and accountability as applied to a secular context and provides insights into the role of supranational institutions and poor, indebted countries. In particular, this thesis focuses on the joint International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank (WB) framework for debt relief specifically designed for a group of countries with unpayable external debt and extreme poverty, referred to as the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Debt Initiative. Despite continued intervention, the HIPC Debt Initiative has failed to deliver debt relief and achieve poverty alleviation. This thesis provides analyses of …

The Attitudes Of Students Towards People With Disabilities In Integrated Environments In Singapore, Guat Lan Abi Tan

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016

This thesis examined the attitudes of regular students in Singapore towards peers with physical and sensory disabilities who were integrated into the mainstream classroom. The concept of integration impacting on the attitudinal development in this study is based on the socio-cultural perspectives of child development (Bronfenbrenner, 1989; Vygotsky, 1993) and the discourse of contact experience (Allport, 1954; Zajonc, 2001). Child development theorists advocate that children’s learning requires support structures such as informed adults to guide learning and that development is intricately intertwined with the socio-cultural contexts. Alternatively, contact theory suggests that the contact experience has an inherent positive impact on …

Effective Control Of Cell Behavior On Conducting Polymers, Xiao Liu

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016

This study explored the potential biomedical applications of polypyrrole (PPy). Electrical and topographic cues have been delivered to cells via composites of these conducting polymers, resulting in the successful control of cell behaviour. It was found that a clinically-relevant electrical stimulation protocol (250 Hz biphasic pulsed-current) delivered directly via PPy/poly(2-methoxy-5-aniline sulfonic acid) (PMAS) films can significantly promote PC12 nerve cell differentiation in the presence of nerve growth factor (NGF), and can initiate reversible neurite sprouting from PC12 cell in the absence of NGF. The ability to promote neural outgrowth on PPy/PMAS has important implications for improving the neural/electrode interface, and …

A Modelling Of Microstructure Evolution And Crack Opening In Fcc Materials Under Tension, Nam N. Huynh

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 1954-2016

The field of fracture mechanics can generally be divided into two groups: (i) the study of material behaviour prior to crack and (ii) the developing of crack opening criteria. Even though various studies have been done in both subjects there are still gaps that need to be bridged. This thesis aims at combining both groups of the modelling of dynamic fracture in crystalline materials at a reasonable cost of computational time. A model of crystal plasticity finite element method has been formulated to account for the effects of lattice structure in the crystalline materials. The model has been applied to …