Digital Commons Network^™

Producing Panic : An Analysis Of Conspiracy Theory Rhetoric During The Coronavirus Pandemic Of 2020, Aaron Andrews

Theses

In 1938, Orson Welles and his theatre group broadcasted an adaptation of War of the Worlds in the style of a breaking newsflash. The result produced a panic across America as millions believed they were under attack by an alien army. In 2020 during a global pandemic, millions of Americans turned to social media for news and updates, only to be the victims of conspiratorial posts that suggest the virus is part of a nefarious plot for world domination or to steal the Presidential election. In this thesis I will argue that the COVID-19 conspiracy theories share aspects of imagination, …

Laser-Scribed Graphene Electrodes As Inflammatory Biosensors (Laserflame), Pei Shee Tan

Theses

Laser-scribed graphene electrodes (LSGE) are a low cost, portable, flexible and ideal electrochemical platform approach as point of care biosensors. It is anticipated that integrating the detection of immune cell inflammatory cytokines with LSGEs may present a useful diagnostic platform for managing the risk of inflammatory diseases as early detection of inflammatory molecules could significantly improve the treatment and outcome of diseases induced by protracted inflammation, such as cancer, asthma and rheumatoid arthritis. This study proposed LSGE first time novel use in the detection of an inflammatory cytokine released by immune cells (monocyte THP-1 cell line), with high sensitivity and …

Comparison Of The Effects Of Land Use / Land Cover On Water Quality And The Intertidal Marine Macroalgae Communities At The Fluvial Outflows Of The Dingle Peninsula, Cassandra Lew

Theses

The Milltown, Feohanagh, and Owenmore river basins located on the Dingle Peninsula in Ireland were studied to see how variation in land use and land cover (LU/LC) affected water quality and the macroalgal communities at each river’s respective fluvial outflow. Abundance and composition of macroalgae in river and coastal water bodies have been designated as an indicator of water quality according to the Water Framework Directive 2000. The results of this study found that the Feohanagh’s macroalgal community had the highest species richness for most months while the Milltown had the highest Shannon Diversity Index. The Owenmore’s community was consistently …

Predicting Carcass Cut Yields In Cattle From Digitalimages Using Artificial Intelligence, Darragh Matthews

Theses

Beef carcass classification in Europe is predicated on the EUROP grid for both fatness and conformation. Although this system performs well for grouping visually similar carcasses, it cannot be used to accurately predict meat yields from these groups, especially when considered on an individual cut level. Deep Learning (DL) has proven to be a successful tool for many image classification problems but has yet to be fully proven in a regression scenario using carcass images. Here we have trained DL models to predict carcass cut yields and compared predictions to more standard machine learning (ML) methods. Three approaches were undertaken …

Investigating The Antioxidant, Immunomodulatory And Anti-Obesogenic Propertiesof Novel Bsg-Derived Extracts And Their Potential As Ingredients In Functional Foods For Older Adults, Suzanne O Brien

Theses

Brewer’s Spent Grain (BSG) represents a substantial waste product of the brewing industry, with 39 million tonnes generated globally every year. To date the primary use of BSG is as animal feed but there is significant interest in identifying alternative uses for this agro-industry by-product. BSG is rich in protein and fibre and is known to contain health-promoting bioactive compounds, thus one application would be in the area of functional foods. People are living longer and as the older adult population continues to increase globally so too is the prevalence of age-related chronic conditions. Diet plays an essential role in …

Optimisation Of Grass Measurement Technologies Through Field Experimentation And Numerical Simulation Methods, Darren Joseph Murphy

Theses

Maximising pasture utilisation through optimal grassland management is vital in terms of ensuring the economic sustainability and mitigating the environmental impact of both Irish and global pasture-based livestock production. Frequent and accurate measurement of grass quantity and quality is one of the main methods of maximising grass production and utilisation on pasture-based farms. The most prominent grass measurement tool used on Irish pasture is the rising plate meter (RPM), however, there are a range of issues with this method including operator bias, precision and difficulties in accounting for spatial variation. Currently, there is no definitive protocol for grass measurement which …

Cancer Education Framework For Australian Medical Schools, Darren Starmer

Theses

The incidence, mortality, survival, and impact of cancer on the Australian health system and community highlight the need for Australian medical schools to adequately prepare medical student to care for patients with cancer. Several studies have shown that Australian medical students are ill-prepared to care for cancer patients upon graduation. At a national level, oncology and palliative care curricula have been developed. However, it is unclear as to the level of uptake of either curricula within Australian medical schools. There remains a lack of consensus on what content to include in a cancer curriculum and how best to deliver such …

Implementation Of Patient Involvement In The Development Of A Health-Related Quality Of Life Patient-Reported Outcome Measure For Ovarian Cancer, Sharolin Boban

Theses

Ovarian cancer is the second most common gynaecological cancer and the eighth-most common cause of death in Australian women with a five-year relative survival of 46%. Using a ‘ground-up approach’ and patient involvement, this research project implemented a sequential mixed methods approach to develop a health-related quality of life outcome measure across the disease trajectory.

The six key themes identified from initial qualitative data highlighted treatment-related and psychosocial challenges alongside financial issues, relationships with health professionals, and patient coping strategies. This informed the generation of items necessary to develop a draft health-related quality of life tool. A cognitive interviewing technique …

How The Catholic Church’S Trinitarian-Christocentric Theology Of Communion Might Inform The Way In Which Spouses Are Formed For The Apostolate Of Family Life, Joshua Bitting

Theses

This project explores the nature and mission of the Christian family viewed theologically as a domestic Church. Drawing upon the Catholic Church’s robust Trinitarian and Christocentric communio theology, it is the aim of this endeavour to demonstrate how a robust Trinitarian anthropology, complemented by a culture-first approach, may pave the way for an ongoing marriage catechumenate that will equip spouses to embrace and put into effect the universal call to holiness and mission expressly called for by the Second Vatican Council and contemporary popes.

The first part of the project will articulate the biblical, historical, and theological foundations upon which …

Prisoners, Power And Panopticon: Investigating Fremantle Gaol, 1831-1841, Emily Lanman

Theses

The history of crime and punishment is intertwined with Australia’s colonisation, including the foundation of the Swan River Colony in 1829. It can be demonstrated that Jeremy Bentham’s writings on criminal reform, specifically through his work on the panopticon model prison, influenced the development of punishment and prisons in the colony. This is evident in the construction of Fremantle Gaol (1831), which was built on the principles set forth by the panopticon and provides an interesting insight into what was deemed important in the penal system the colony continued to establish between 1831 and 1841. While Fremantle Gaol conformed to …

Procedural Fairness Requirements In Decision-Making: Legal Issues And Challenges For Government Secondary School Principals In New South Wales, Tryon Francis

Theses

The application of the rules of procedural fairness, which is an element of administrative law, is an area of law that has not been previously examined in the context of government (public) secondary school principals in New South Wales (‘NSW’). Using a basic qualitative case study design, this study sought to discover the processes that these principals undertook in applying the rules of procedural fairness when managing student discipline, special education and industrial relations. The study examined to what extent New South Wales government (public) secondary school principals were equipped to make decisions that are consistent with the administrative law …

Australian Literary Fascists, 1905-1945 : A Comparative Case Study Into The Development Of Fascist Ideology In Australia, Adrian Keri

Theses

Historians of fascism and the far-right in Australia have generally focused on the role of material factors to the neglect of the role of ideas. Certainly, the history of ideas can never be divorced from the ‘concrete’ factors of politics and economics. But in the case of William Baylebridge (1883-1942), William Hardy Wilson (1881-1955), and Randolph William Hughes (1889-1955), ideas played a definite and decisive role in their embrace of fascism as the solution to society’s ills. They were artists and intellectuals in the so-called ‘vitalist’ tradition, drawing on the ideas of such thinkers as Hegel, Bergson, and Nietzsche, among …

Proactive Management Of Acute Oedema Following Hand And Minor Burn Injury, Dale O. Edwick

Theses

Burn injury is a unique trauma. The inflammatory process initiated with burn injury adversely influences all of the Starling equation variables, resulting in increased transvascular fluid filtration, so that oedema as a product of burn injury is more readily formed than in other forms of trauma. Localised wound oedema forms due to minor burn injury, with increasing systemic oedema associated with increased size of burn. It is now recognised that a marked inflammatory and immune response is created with non-severe burn injury, indicating a systemic component with all burns. The effect of oedema formation on the course of the burn …

Together | Apart: Printmaking And The Space Between, Monique Bosshard Curby

Theses

In this practice-led creative research, being both artist and identical twin, I examine sameness and difference in the relationships between two people and between multiple objects/creative works. Through the inherent ability of printmaking processes to produce multiples and the attendant installation opportunities created by punctuated space, I unfold and re-tell a doubled and ambiguous understanding of being in the world. Martin Heidegger’s notion of Being-in-the-world (Dasein) underpins and situates my understanding of being in the world, thrown into a world as an individual, and my existence as a double: being in the world with others. I relate his thinking through …

Nurse Escorts’ Perceptions Of Their Ability To Manage Patient Clinical Deterioration During Nurse-Led Inter-Hospital Ambulance Transfer In The Wheatbelt Region Of Western Australia: A Mixed Methods Study, Sinqobizitha Mndebele

Theses

The Western Australia (WA) Country Health Service (WACHS) requires a ward or emergency department registered nurse (RN) to assume the responsibility of conducting inter-hospital nurse-led patient ambulance transfers. In WACHS, these nurses are usually generalist nurses with no specialised training. WACHS has various escalation policies, guidelines and support systems for nurses when they are located within the hospital and wards. However, despite these escalation protocols being clear in this setting, their relevance and practicality during patient transport is uncertain. This research explores how well equipped WACHS RNs in the Wheatbelt region of WA are in managing clinical deterioration of patients …

Journeying Through Uncharted Territory: The Role Of Humour In Adaption Of Undergraduate Nursing Students In Their First Year Of Study, Marie-Josée Boulianne

Theses

Newly graduated nurses adapting to their professional role have been studied, mainly in their first year of practice. The development of coping strategies, acculturation and other adaptations to the nursing world begin at the onset of the educational journey. Understanding how these manifest early in the formative years can enable educators to tailor nursing programs to assist the future nurse to develop positive coping mechanisms and help pave the way to a successful transition into practice. This research aimed to identify elements conducive to positive adaptation and wellbeing of nursing students during their first year of nursing studies, including the …

Capital Structure Choices In Australian Indigenous Corporations: An Investigation Into The Health And Community Service Industry, João Manuel Da Costa Canoquena

Theses

The growing significance of incorporated legal structures of exclusive use for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people has been sustained by both an increase in the registration of Indigenous corporations (ICs) and their recent low rate of deregistration. This progress can be undermined by ineffective debt management, which has, thus far, been handled by the regulator mostly through the tightening of the legal framework under which ICs operate.

Despite its importance in protecting members’ accumulated funds and keeping ICs solvent, debt management by ICs has not benefited from the literature on capital structure choices (the choices between financing through debt …

Does Acupuncture Have A Role As An Analgesic In The Emergency Setting?, Andrew Jan

Theses

Background: Pain is a feature of most emergency department (ED) presentations. Exacerbation of chronic pain comprises 40% of pain presentations, with the remainder being a mix of recurrent or one-off painful conditions. Opioids are the mainstay treatment for moderate to severe pain but have both short- and long-term adverse effects, including recurrent use, abuse and death. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are also a concern, especially in older patients with comorbidities. Thus, emergency physicians are highly motivated to seek alternatives for pain management. Acupuncture is frequently used in outpatient settings that offer nonpharmacological treatments and has gained acceptance in postoperative analgesia; …

Computed Tomography Coronary Angiography (Ctca) For The Risk Assessment Of Acute Coronary Syndrome Patients, Steele Butcher

Theses

Coronary heart disease is the single most frequent cause of mortality in Western countries. Up to 30% of patients surviving an acute coronary syndrome (ACS) will experience a recurrent event within 5 years. Yet precisely defining which of these patients will go on to experience a recurrent event remains difficult despite the use of contemporary risk scores, such as the SYNTAX (Synergy between Percutaneous Coronary Intervention with TAXUS and Cardiac Surgery) and GRACE (Global Registry of Acute Coronary Events) scores. Given the important role of computed tomography coronary angiography (CTCA) in defining risk in the low to intermediate risk coronary …

A Cross-Sectional Comparison Study Of The Frequency Of Terminal Care Medication Prescriptions During The Final 48 Hours Of Life In Inpatients Of A Tertiary Acute Hospital With An End Of Life Care Pathway Compared To A Tertiary Acute Hospital Without An End Of Life Care Pathway And A Hospice, Shawna Koh

Theses

The care towards the end of life is an important aspect of patient management. There is a recognised need to support healthcare providers in caring for dying patients in the acute hospital.(1-5) The Liverpool Care Pathway was originally designed to provide guidance in the delivery of comprehensive palliative care in the last days of life. However, there are no robust clinical data supporting the use of the Liverpool Care Pathway despite its widespread implementation worldwide.(6, 7)

This study investigated whether implementation of an end of life care pathway, adapted from the Liverpool Care Pathway, increases the frequency of prescriptions of …

The Art Of Fiction: Fact, Myth And New Knowledge On The North Australian Expedition, 1855 - 1857, Stevie Cole

Theses

This thesis determines the degree to which the North Australian Expedition, 1855–1857, contested established European fiction of the Australian frontier by systematically collecting new knowledge. It analyses the outcomes of one of the most forgotten expeditions in Australian history by interrogating the journals, charts and artworks of the explorers. In 1855, the Royal Geographical Society and the British Colonial Office sent an expedition into northern Australia under the command of Augustus Gregory. It was a region that Britain hoped would hold lucrative resources to support further economic and population development. The artist-explorer, Thomas Baines, was made second-in-command of the expedition. …

On 'Synderesis' And Moral Imagination: An Inquiry Into The Beneficence Of ‘Imaginative Prudence’ In Moral Development Via The First Principles Of Natural Law Of Saint Thomas Aquinas And The Imagination Ethic Theory Of Darcia Narvaez, Pierangelo Dela Cruz Repuyan

Theses

he Thomistic habit of synderesis innately inclines moral agents to the first principles of natural law which state that good is to be done and pursued and evil to be avoided. Serving as an ethical foundation in moral development, these primary moral principles direct practical reason to those acts that actualise the essence of human nature. Since the act of synderesis involves pre-cognitive (intuitive) and cognitive (apprehensive) processes, moral formation is necessary for the formal knowledge of the primary moral principles to inchoately foment through virtue habituation. According to St. Thomas Aquinas, virtues are habitual acts that form moral agents …

Challenges On The Mission Field: A Phenomenological Exploration Of The Experience And Impact Of Traumatic Events On Christian Missionaries, Julie Nixon

Theses

There is a long and rich, albeit at times complex, history of Australian Christian mission work abroad. Missionaries have been motivated to enter the field by a desire to support the local church and other indigenous communities to attain a range of social, economic, and socio-developmental improvements for individuals and groups alike. However, this work is not without risk for the missionaries, especially when exposed to traumatic events and experiences that may adversely affect their physical, psychological, and or spiritual health and well-being. Understanding the impact of such experiences from the missionaries' perspective is important, particularly in the context of …

The Experiences That Form And Sustain Generation Y Religious Education Coordinators In Catholic Secondary Schools, Dirk Gleghorn

Theses

Students in Western Australian Catholic schools learn about Catholic beliefs and practices in the Religious Education Learning Area. In Catholic secondary schools, Religious Education Coordinators (RECs) are delegated responsibility from principals, to coordinate the teaching of this learning area’s content. RECs are required to be committed Catholics who are active members of the Catholic Church. It is probable that RECs will increasingly be recruited from amongst Generation Y Catholics. For Catholic secondary school principals, recruiting religiously committed Generation Y Catholics into the position of REC will be challenging.

The primary aim of the research is to identify and describe the …

How Changes In Group Size Impact Teachers’ Perceptions Of Their Practice In Australian Centre-Based Early Childhood Education And Care Services, Michelle Hilton-Moon

Theses

This qualitative study explores four early childhood teachers’ perceptions of group size in an Australian early childhood long day care education and care setting. This study draws on the theory of change to establish its aim, which is to identify the impact a change in group size had on these teachers’ perceptions. Issues pertaining to the teachers’ perception of the child and their perception of their roles as teachers are explored through a phenomenological case study approach. The contemporary theoretical perspectives of Erica Burman, Lillian Katz, Nel Noddings and Max van Manen provide theoretical propositions (predetermined themes) to examine the …

Is There A Catholic Theology Of Masculinity?, Peter Holmes

Theses

In recent times Catholic theologians have begun to speak of a ‘feminine genius’. Yet relatively little attention given to the unique and positive contribution of masculinity and manhood to relationships, the Church and society. This thesis aims to answer the question, “Is there a corresponding ‘masculine genius?” It attempts to synthesise a specifically Catholic understanding of masculinity from the magisterial teaching of the Catholic Church, to determine a basis for development of the Catholic understanding of masculinity and to propose some lines of development for Catholic theology in this area.

Chapter One will establish the need for and purpose of …

Self-Defence In New South Wales In Its Historical Context: A Simpler Test?, Mamdouh Elmaraazey

Theses

The right to use force in self-defence is recognised by law. The idea of self-defence in criminal law history can be traced back to medieval England’s daily life and ‘the peace’ that the king was trying to establish as his contribution to the good of English society as a whole. The Crown enacted several statutes during the medieval period to ensure that those responsible for homicides were convicted, but would occasionally pardon offenders when the jury qualified their guilty decisions with self-defence explanations. But because the king did not always grant a pardon, juries developed a reputation for handing down …

Understanding The Relationship Between Income And Voting: Are One Nation Voters Influenced By Economic Factors?, Glenda Bourne

Theses

While economic voting has been analysed in detail in international studies, the phenomenon has been under-studied in the Australian context. This dissertation investigates the link between economic voting and the minor party vote in Australia by analysing the vote share for One Nation in Queensland at the 2016 Senate election and 2017 state election. Using linear regression, the relationship between income, unemployment and the One Nation vote proves to be statistically significant, but the relationship does not apply to areas with large populations of Indigenous people or voters from non-English speaking backgrounds. This study offers broad insights into the link …

Osseointegration For Amputees: Past, Present And Future: Basic Science, Innovations In Surgical Technique, Implant Design And Rehabilitation Strategies, Munjed Al Muderis

Theses

Loss of a leg or arm is a tremendous disability. Immediate and obvious impairments are decreased mobility or diminished functional capacity. Not quite as obvious are the difficulties associated with activities of daily living, quality of life impairments, sometimes loss of independence or employment, and the mental health issues which often accompany limb loss. The interface between native tissue and the prosthetic limb presents the greatest challenge to amputee rehabilitation. Computer-controlled robotic limbs have been widely available since the 1990s. However, the weight of prosthetic limbs, coupled with the difficulty of where to locate the components, requires substantial loads to …

The Mentoring Experiences Of Early Career Teachers In Australia, Nancy Bonfiglio-Pavisich

Theses

Mentoring matters for Early Career Teachers (ECTs). As a practice in contemporary Australian schools, mentoring is used to support graduate teachers to assist them in their transition from university to the classroom. Teaching is one of the few professions where graduates move into positions of full accountability. Full accountability means that ECTs are not only responsible for curriculum delivery but also for the legal, social and emotional care of the students in their classrooms. ECTs also have the added responsibility of dealing with parent challenges. Added to the difficulties experienced by ECTs are their transition and socialisation into their respective …