Digital Commons Network^™

Evaluation Of Renewable Energy Generation And Storage For Industrial Buildings, Craig Pickup

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 2017+

This research focuses on the financial aspects of the underutilised industrial renewable energy generation and storage market in Australia, where the developed methodology is applied to two distribution warehouses and a large energy consuming manufacturer. Throughout Australia the residential and utility scale renewable energy market is booming, however the industrial market has been lagging behind at a fraction of the residential generation capacity in 2020. This lack of uptake in the industrial market is attributed to perceived costs and lack of industry knowledge. This research simplifies the results of solar PV and energy storage design into key financial metrics that …

Integrating Materials Supply In Strategic Mine Planning Of Underground Coal Mines, David Kevin Conrick Walker

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 2017+

In July 2005 the Australian Coal Industry’s Research Program (ACARP) commissioned Gary Gibson to identify constraints that would prevent development production rates from achieving full capacity. A “TOP 5” constraint was “The logistics of supply transport distribution and handling of roof support consumables is an issue at older extensive mines immediately while the achievement of higher development rates will compound this issue at most mines.” Then in 2020, Walker, Harvey, Baafi, Kiridena, and Porter were commissioned by ACARP to investigate Australian best practice and progress made since Gibson’s 2005 report. This report was titled: - “Benchmarking study in underground coal …

Knowledge Distillation And Continual Learning For Optimized Deep Neural Networks, Vu Minh Hieu Phan

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 2017+

Over the past few years, deep learning (DL) has been achieving state-of-theart performance on various human tasks such as speech generation, language translation, image segmentation, and object detection. While traditional machine learning models require hand-crafted features, deep learning algorithms can automatically extract discriminative features and learn complex knowledge from large datasets. This powerful learning ability makes deep learning models attractive to both academia and big corporations.

Despite their popularity, deep learning methods still have two main limitations: large memory consumption and catastrophic knowledge forgetting. First, DL algorithms use very deep neural networks (DNNs) with many billion parameters, which have a …

Investigating The Relationship Between Post-Injury Occupational Change And Persistent Occupational Identity: A Mixed Methodological Study Combining Quantitative Analysis Of A Survey Of Adult Australians With Qualitative Analysis Of Interviews With Truck Drivers Who Have Experienced Occupational Change, Ross Girdler

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 2017+

The literature regarding occupational change indicates that identification with one occupation can present a barrier to making the change to another. Rehabilitation Counsellors are often given the responsibility of assisting individuals to make that change, usually through vocational counselling. The principles which underpin the conduct of vocational counselling commonly do not include consideration of the effect of persistent occupational identity on occupational change. While the concept of occupational identity has been the topic of extensive research for several decades there is no consensus regarding its definition, or how it is different from related concepts and very limited research into how …

Data Collection In Two-Tier Iot Networks With Radio Frequency (Rf) Energy Harvesting Devices And Tags, Muchen Jiang

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 2017+

The Internet of things (IoT) is expected to connect physical objects and end-users using technologies such as wireless sensor networks and radio frequency identification (RFID). In addition, it will employ a wireless multi-hop backhaul to transfer data collected by a myriad of devices to users or applications such as digital twins operating in a Metaverse. A critical issue is that the number of packets collected and transferred to the Internet is bounded by limited network resources such as bandwidth and energy. In this respect, IoT networks have adopted technologies such as time division multiple access (TDMA), signal interference cancellation (SIC) …

The Development Of Microdosimetric Instrumentation For Quality Assurance In Heavy Ion Therapy, Boron Neutron Capture Therapy And Fast Neutron Therapy, James Vohradsky

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 2017+

This thesis presents research for the development of new microdosimetric instrumentation for use with solid-state microdosimeters in order to improve their portability for radioprotection purposes and for QA in various hadron therapy modalities. Monte Carlo simulation applications are developed and benchmarked, pertaining to the context of the relevant therapies considered. The simulation and experimental findings provide optimisation recommendations relating to microdosimeter performance and possible radioprotection risks by activated materials.

The first part of this thesis is continuing research into the development of novel Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) microdosimeters in the application of hadron therapy QA. This relates specifically to the optimisation of …

Investigation On Design And Development Methods For Internet Of Things, Yazeed Al Zahrani

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 2017+

The thesis work majorly focuses on the development methodologies of the Internet of Things (IoT). A detailed literature survey is presented for the discussion of various challenges in the development of software and design and deployment of hardware. The thesis work deals with the efficient development methodologies for the deployment of IoT system. Efficient hardware and software development reduces the risk of the system bugs and faults. The optimal placement of the IoT devices is the major challenge for the monitoring application. A Qualitative Spatial Reasoning (QSR) and Qualitative Temporal Reasoning (QTR) methodologies are proposed to build software systems. The …

A Study Of Discrete And Integral Transforms With Logarithmic Separable Kernels, Thomas Futcher

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 2017+

In this thesis, we will be examining different classes of discrete and integral transforms. We start with a general class of integral transforms which include those logarithmic separable kernels. Transforms with logarithmic separable kernels include the Fourier transform, the Laplace transform and the Mellin transform. The shifting and convolution properties for this class of transforms are examined, and sufficient conditions which guarantee the existence of the convolution formula will be given. It will be shown that a subclass of these integral operators are injective and an inversion formula will be presented on some class of continuously differentiable functions. We will …

Solidification Behavior Of High Nitrogen Stainless Steels And Establishment Of A One-Dimensional Heat Transfer Framework, Tong Wang

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 2017+

Duplex stainless steel (DSS) has excellent corrosion resistance and mechanical properties due to its dual-phase structure. The solidification process is the key to determining the structure of materials, and an in-depth investigation of solidification can help us better understand the properties of materials. The melting and solidification processes of S32101 DSS were investigated using high temperature confocal microscopy (HTCM).

The Exhibition Of Indigenous Art As Contemporary Art, 1989-2015, Iris Bendor

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 2017+

Indigenous art first received widespread attention in the contemporary art world in the 1980s, when major institutions expanded their collections of it, and Indigenous curators were appointed at state museums and galleries. Ever since, Australian Indigenous art has been gradually accepted as a cultural practice in the public and institutionalised sphere. This shift bridged contemporary Indigenous and Western cultural domains, nonetheless, Indigenous art was a type of art that the West has been largely resistant to admitting as contemporary art. This thesis explores the relationship between the contemporary art world and Indigenous art from remote Australia. It argues that the …

Modelling The Self-Heating Of Steel Stockpiles, Matthew Berry

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 2017+

Understanding the uncertainty of model parameters is crucial for building predictive models. Within the field of spontaneous ignition a slight variation in the model parameters can cause a significant variation in our ability to determine if ignition occurs. We consider this problem through an application to the steel industry. A byproduct of the steelmaking process is stockpiled where oxidation can induce ignition. The resulting ignition process sinters the filter improving the durability. Understanding this process requires careful modelling and consideration of the uncertainty in the reaction kinetics. We examine some experimental data on the filter cake to determine these reaction …

The Structure And Properties Of Additively Manufactured Metastable-Β Ti-15mo, Edohamen Awannegbe

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 2017+

A bidirectional powder deposition strategy was employed to additively manufacture Ti-15Mo wt% using laser metal deposition. Phase identification, elemental analysis and microstructural characterisation were conducted in the As-Built condition and also after uniaxial tensile testing using X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy along the different processing directions. In addition, electron backscattering diffraction and transmission electron microscopy were used to analyse deformation mechanisms. It was found that three distinct zones, namely the fusion, remelted and heat affected zones, evolved in all 25 deposited layers which predominantly comprised coarse columnar grains. These columnar grains were coarser up the build height due to …

The Transformation Of Televised Judicial Authority In The Past Twenty Years: A Lithuanian Experience, Aiste Janusiene

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 2017+

This research examines the transformation of judicial authority in Lithuania over the past twenty years. While mainstream interest in the role of the judiciary in changing conditions is growing, only a few studies are challenging the prevalent ignorance about the law’s reactions and responses to the challenges in transitioning democracies. This study fills a gap in knowledge about the role of culture in legal transformations in transitioning democracies by answering the question of whether the newly developing concept of judicial authority in Lithuania is influenced or affected by media and television judging programmes.

In response to the call to explore …

Development, Implementation And Evaluation Of The Acceptability And Feasibility Of A Shared Cancer Follow-Up Model Of Care, Tiffany Sandell

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 2017+

Background The increasing incidence of cancer, coupled with improved survivorship, has increased the demand for cancer follow-up care and the need to find alternative models of care. International and national guidelines advocate for including general practitioners (GP) in cancer follow-up care. Barriers to implementing shared care into practice include having clinical assessment protocols for GPs, and suitable health technology to allow two-way communication to enable oncologists to continue overseeing care. To address these barriers, this thesis aimed to develop and implement a novel shared cancer follow-up model of care, and evaluate the model's acceptability and feasibility to patients, GPs and …

Cooperative Strategies For Management Of Power Quality Problems In Voltage-Source Converter-Based Microgrids, Edward J. Smith

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 2017+

The development of cooperative control strategies for microgrids has become an area of increasing research interest in recent years, often a result of advances in other areas of control theory such as multi-agent systems and enabled by emerging wireless communications technology, machine learning techniques, and power electronics. While some possible applications of the cooperative control theory to microgrids have been described in the research literature, a comprehensive survey of this approach with respect to its limitations and wide-ranging potential applications has not yet been provided. In this regard, an important area of research into microgrids is developing intelligent cooperative operating …

A Neo-Classical Realism Analysis Of Indonesia's Global Maritime Fulcrum Between 2014-2019, Hakam Nurramadhani Azza Junus

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 2017+

Indonesia is an archipelagic country that geographically located in Indo-Pacific region where a regional flashpoint in the South China Sea is located right at its’ northern border. The flashpoint is due to China’s claim of the so-called Nine-Dash Line area that claims an enormous portion of the South China Sea. In Indonesia’s perspective, the area is violating Indonesia’s Exclusive Economic Zone of the North Natuna Sea. Indonesia is placed in an uneasy situation because China is also offering economic assistance for this country through Belt-Road Initiative as well as being the most important trading partner for years. Furthermore, the United …

Efficient Deep Neural Networks For 3-D Scene Understanding Of Unstructured Environments, Joshua Luke Thompson

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 2017+

In the past decade, deep learning (DL) has taken the world by storm. It has produced significant results in a wide variety of applications ranging from self driving cars to natural language processing (NLP). Modern deep learning is built from a number of different algorithms including artificial neural networks (ANN), optimisation algorithms, back-propagation (BP), and varying levels of supervision. Recent advances in GPU hardware, improved availability of large, high quality datasets, and the development of modern training algorithms have all played a pivotal role in the emergence of modern deep learning. These advances have made it easier to train and …

New Directions In The Petasis-Borono-Mannich Reaction: Application Of Organocatalysis And Allyl- And Crotylboronates For The Enantio- And Diastereoselective Synthesis Of 1,2-Fluoroamines And 1,2-Amino Alcohols, Philip James Chevis

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 2017+

The Petasis-borono-Mannich (PBM) reaction has been shown to be effective for the synthesis of chiral small molecules as well as polyhydroxylated alkaloids and heterocycles. However, there is very limited literature surrounding the use of allylboronates in the PBM reaction. In addition, most PBM reactions use chiral pool materials as a source of α-heteroatom aldehydes, rather than a more general method. Development of both these areas in the PBM reaction would enable a more versatile synthesis of alkaloid-like skeletons than is described in current literature. In this Thesis, organocatalysis was used to synthesise chiral α-heteroatom aldehydes according to literature procedures, which …

Automatic Detection, Delineation And Quantification Of Bone Metastases In Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Using Fdg-Pet/Ct Imaging, Rashmi Nigam

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 2017+

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients in stage IV of the disease are commonly diagnosed with bone metastases, which is the leading cause of death in NSCLC patients. Once the cancer cells have metastasised, the disease is considered incurable and palliative treatment such as radiotherapy given as 8 Gy in a single fraction or 25 Gy in 5 fractions is one of the most common treatment options to provide relief from pain. Recent, clinical trials have shown that if a limited number of metastatic bone lesions, in their early stage of metastases (called, oligometastasis) treated with very high, stereotactic doses …

Quantification And Stability Of Colistin And Carbapenems In Wastewater, Elipsha Sharma

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 2017+

Colistin and carbapenems are two categories of antibiotics utilized as a last-resort treatment for infections caused by multi-drug resistant (MDR) and extensively drug resistant (XDR) bacteria. Resistance to these last lines of defence can eventuate total antibiotic resistance. At present, there is scarcity of research present to estimate the current load and impact of the residual concentrations of colistin and carbapenems on environmental microbiome. However, there have been several reports demonstrating resistance development to colistin and carbapenems in a range of environmental compartments in the past few years. Most of their dosage is discharged as waste in its original form, …

Characteristics Of N-Alkanes In Tropical Sediment – Implications For Palaeoenvironmental Research, Fabian Boesl

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 2017+

There are still significant knowledge gaps in our understanding of the Quaternary palaeo-history of tropical Australasia. Sedimentary archives, such as lake or cave sediments, and their associated proxies, have properties which can illuminate past climate and ecology, and provide insight into how people have interacted with their environment.

Biomarkers such as n-alkanes are increasingly being used to study past vegetation assemblages as they have the potential to preserve well when compared to other widely used proxies such as pollen. In addition, as compound-specific isotopes can be measured on n-alkanes, there is great potential for investigating vegetation sources more directly than …

Preliminary Characterisation Of An Active Cmos Pad Detector For Dosimetry In Hdr Brachytherapy, Thi Ngoc Hang Bui

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 2017+

This thesis aims to characterise the accuracy of a new active CMOS pad detector for dosimetry in HDR Brachytherapy. A 1x1x1 mm³ detector is doped with high resistivity n-type silicon, thickness of 100 μm (Wafer10) and 48 μm (Wafer20) epitaxial substrate and built in standard CMOS along with a transimpedance amplifier. This work investigates and examine this detector’s sensitivity and signal to noise ratio in air for use in High Dose Rate Brachytherapy (HDR BT) dosimetry.

To understand operational characteristics of the detector, a current-voltage (I-V) characteristic curve was created, and the depletion voltage of the junction observed by …

A Full Sharding Scheme For Consortium Blockchain In A Zero-Trust, Shared Resource Setting, Quang Long Le

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 2017+

Blockchain technology has emerged as a response to the growing demand for trust, transparency, and security in the realm of digital financial transactions, in which Bitcoin serves as an initial prime example. It offers an immutable, decentralised ledger system to verify and record transactions without a central authority, indicating a paradigm shift in traditional financial systems. Blockchain is a pioneering topic including a set of technologies that have the potential to revolutionise, improve, or even substitute existing technologies, particularly focusing on its implications and applications in the financial transaction sector.

The inherent properties of Blockchain, such as decentralisation, immutability, and …

Development Of A Reusable Low-Enriched Uranium Target For Sustainable Fission-Produced 99mo, Robert Raposio

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 2017+

⁹⁹Mo is an essential medical radioisotope that comprises of at least 70% of procedures globally. Currently an essential component of ⁹⁹Mo manufacturing is the enriched uranium target from which ⁹⁹Mo is produced by fission. As the world moves towards low enriched uranium (LEU) targets due to non-proliferation concerns it is becoming of interest to find methods to increase the efficiency of the LEU targets to reduce the ever-increasing nuclear waste levels of which a long-term solution for disposal or treatment has yet to be satisfactorily found. In this thesis I examine advantages and disadvantages of various target …

Do As/Nzs Respiratory Protection Standards For Filter Penetration Ensure That Worker Health Is Protected Against Nanoparticle Sized Diesel Particulate Matter?, Kerrie Anne Burton

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 2017+

Australian workers are exposed to emissions from diesel engines in a variety of workplaces. Diesel particulate matter (DPM) has the potential to cause serious health impacts for exposed workers, including lung cancer, irritation, and adverse cardiovascular effects. Personal respiratory protective devices (RPD) are a common control measure to mitigate worker exposure from the damaging health impacts of DPM, and to protect against these adverse impacts they need to act as effective filters.

The filtering efficiency (FE) of RPD in current standards is determined by challenging the filter media with specified test aerosols, to calculate the penetration at designated flow rates. …

Agent-Based Online Scheduling For Multi-Task Resource Allocation In Complex Environments, Yikun Yang

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 2017+

Agent-based scheduling refers to applying Multi-Agent System (MAS) to model the scheduling environment, where intelligent agents cooperate to determine the task scheduling, so as to achieve scheduling objectives autonomously. To date, agent-based scheduling approaches have been developed for multiple domains, such as cloud computing, manufacturing systems, and smart grids. However, with the applications of the Internet of Things (IoT) and advanced communication technologies, real-world scheduling approaches are challenging to achieve satisfactory performances due to four challenges, which are (1) the expansion of the scheduling scale, (2) the involvement of uncertainties during the scheduling, (3) multiple real-world constraints, and (4) system …

Vascular Artefacts In Fmri Of Early Visual Cortex: The Effects Of Resolution And Field Strength, Wei Shi Eleanor Koo

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 2017+

Large draining veins residing on the cortical surface are recognised as a major problem in fMRI measurements, leading to the displacement, distortion, and reduction in spatial localisation of signals. This is detrimental to the application of fMRI in advanced human brain imaging, such as in retinotopic mapping, where the BOLD signal becomes obscured by the artefacts from nearby draining veins (venous artefacts). There is consensus that at an increased magnetic field strength, the sensitivity to the contributions from these draining veins reduces, which promises the ability to capture measurements at greater sensitivity and specificity. With the advent of fMRI hardware …

Resolving Stalled Replication Forks In Escherichia Coli, Kelsey Sarah Whinn

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 2017+

DNA replication is essential to successful cell proliferation. Inheritance of traits during cell propagation relies on the accurate duplication of the parental double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) to form two identical daughter copies. This process is carried out by a multi-protein complex referred to as the replisome. Decades of investigations using the model Escherichia coli (E. coli) replisome have provided an overall picture of the process of DNA replication initiation, elongation and termination. However, DNA replication in cells occurs on template DNA coated in DNA-binding proteins that can act as roadblocks and stall the replisome, often resulting in drastic effects on the …

Scanner Specific Uncertainty Of Quantitative Mri: Assessing Consistency For Clinical Implementation, Madeline E. Carr

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 2017+

In the past, many of the steps involved in the radiotherapy workflow have been heavily reliant on X-ray based anatomical imaging. Incorporating additional imaging modalities in this workflow has been shown to be promising. This includes aiding in generating and modifying a patient’s treatment regimen and also helping determine a patient’s response to treatment. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is one of these modalities which can provide both enhanced soft-tissue anatomical images and supplementary information relating to changes in tissue physiology (which occurs at a faster rate than anatomical changes). Quantitative imaging biomarkers (QIBs), derived from quantitative MRI (qMRI) techniques, are …

The Black Summer Bushfires In The Eurobodalla Shire; The Role Of The Local Newspaper In Framing The Event And Experience, Katarina Culic

University of Wollongong Thesis Collection 2017+

This thesis focuses on the Black Summer bushfires that occurred in the Eurobodalla Shire, which is located on the South Coast of New South Wales, Australia (NSW). The bushfires experienced in the Eurobodalla were a significant part of the devastating nation-wide bushfire season experienced across Australia, which has since become colloquially named as ‘Black Summer’. The Black Summer bushfires are the most recent of many other severe, ‘black’ bushfire events in Australia’s recorded history.1 Although Australia is familiar with severe bushfires due to its history, climate and ecology, the Black Summer bushfires have been labelled by mainstream media, politicians, and …