Digital Commons Network^™

Strategic Use Of Once-A-Day Milking For Pasture-Based Dairy Cows In Ireland, John Paul Murphy

Theses

The current perception of dairy farming in Ireland is one of long hours, physically demanding work and poor remuneration, especially when compared to that of a modern, high-tech industry with career opportunities and advancement possibilities at many levels (Teagasc, 2018). One of the biggest factors in attracting and retaining people to work on Irish dairy farms is that they must be desirable places to work (Teagasc, 2018). Milking is the most labour demanding task on Irish dairy farms (Deming et al., 2018) and one, which necessitates farmers being present on the farm twice daily if milking twice-a-day (TAD). Altering milking …

Reclaiming Fantasy: The Female Protagonist In Works Of Visual Art, Literature And Film, Siobhán O'Connor

Theses

‘Reclaiming Fantasy: The Female Protagonist in Works of Visual Art, Literature and Film’ charts representations of the female protagonist through the media in which the archetype is most prominent. From fairy tales to the slasher film, the female protagonist’s representation has been consistent with narratives that pertain to patriarchal constructions of gender. This is particularly true of genres that work on a level of ‘suspension of disbelief’, such as fantasy. This thesis presents findings on the reclamation of the female protagonist by female voices using a multidisciplinary approach, combining feminist theory, literary criticism, and visual art studies. From the 17th …

Deep Learning Approach For Robust Structural Health Monitoring Using Guided Lamb Wave Responses, Sameer Gopali

Theses

Guided Lamb waves offer a promising solution for the early detection of internal damages in structures due to their high sensitivity to small damages. However, noise can adversely impact the development of data-driven models for damage detection, leading to inaccurate monitoring systems. This thesis explores deep learning techniques to robustly predict the location and severity of damage in cantilevered beams using noisy guided wave responses. Initially, Multi-Layer Perceptron (MLP) is trained with frequency domain features to achieve robust performance against noisy data. Further performance improvement is achieved using end-to-end learning models, which include autoencoder and one-dimensional Convolutional Neural Network (CNN). …

The Effectiveness Of Online Video-Based Training Methods, Chloe L. Wood

Theses

Employee training is considered critical for organization success legitimacy. The present study investigated the effects of four different online training methods on post- test recall. Student participants from UAH viewed one of four types of videos covering diversity, equity, and inclusion concepts--generative scenarios in which participants generated a label for what the scenarios covered, descriptive scenarios that included a label, a control with scenarios, and a control with no scenarios. Scenarios involved school-based and work-based examples to assess how the relevance of context for student non-workers versus student-workers impacted recall. A repeated measures ANOVA revealed that across all four conditions …

Spectral Deconvolution Using Machine Learning For Determining Material Compositions In Mixed Samples, Prakash Chaudhary

Theses

Hyperspectral unmixing is essential in determining material compositions in mixed samples with a larger number of endmembers, but achieving precise decom- position remains challenging due to the limited work done, the presence of spectral variability, and endmember complexities. This study proposes many machine learning methods and techniques to identify the material composition in mixed samples (composites). Other methods to solve this problem mainly focus on a very small number of endmembers; our approach works with many end members, improving the model’s robustness. The proposed methods effectively tackle spectral variability, high dimensionality, and the presence of similar endmembers by integrating a …

Clearscan : A Machine Learning System For Customized, Site-Specific Radar Image Filters, Erick Jones

Theses

In the field of radar meteorology, a perpetual problem is removal of so-called anomalous propagation (AP), i.e. non-precipitation echoes, from the produced images. Much work has been done in this area already, including conventional heuristic algorithms as well as machine-learning systems such as neural networks. Often the focus is on certain familiar radar architectures such as WSR-88D, also known as NEXRAD. However, a large number of radars exist which are not identical to NEXRAD; and there are also environmental differences such as RF interference which can affect the success rate of existing AP removal strategies. The focus of this paper …

Potential Mechanisms Maintaining A Conspicuous Polymorphism In Eastern Mosquitofish (Gambusia Holbrooki), Katelyn Giltner

Theses

Genetic variation often precedes adaptation, so the mechanisms that maintain this variation are a central topic in evolutionary biology. Gambusia holbrooki, or eastern mosquitofish, possesses a rare polymorphism for melanistic coloration. Melanics and typical silver males were examined for differences in behavioral and physiological traits that may impact the persistence of the melanism trait. No differences in standard metabolic rate were found via closed-chamber respirometry, but a detour task indicated that melanic males possess greater cognitive flexibility. Effects of the social environment on stress and reproductive traits were also evaluated by pairing males and comparing cortisol levels and sperm quality …

The Effects Of Reducing Carbon Content In The Processing Of Superalloy Inconel 718, Glenn "Joey" Scott

Theses

The properties of Inconel 718 (IN718) are dependent on the elemental composition and microstructure. Applications using IN718 include rocket and jet engine parts. These parts are often complex and difficult to machine, making IN718 ideal for additive manufacturing processes such as laser-powder bed fusion (L-PBF). The various phases that form in IN718 rely on the niobium (Nb) content including the carbides. The precipitates also include Nb in the strengthening phases of gamma prime and gamma double prime. Overaging of gamma double prime transforms the metastable phase into the stable delta phase, which also controls grain size. This study evaluates the …

Constructing Other Worlds: An Intertextual Analysis Of Cow Eye Press, Adrian Jones Pearson And The Works Of A.J. Perry, James A. Galliher

Theses

Cow Eye Press, A.J. Perry, and the pseudonymous Adrian Jones Pearson have largely been ignored by academics. Between 2001 and 2021, Perry composed a collection of texts which this study calls the Cow Eye Project. The project received brief attention when critics and journalists began comparing Pearson to Thomas Pynchon. However, the online spectacle overshadowed engagement with the texts themselves. This thesis exists to document the project and foreground Perry’s works on their own merits to examine their value and position within contemporary American literature. Previous scholars have treated the texts individually. This thesis argues that the central texts of …

Characterization Of Thin-Walled W-24re Structures Fabricated Using Laser-Powder Bed Fusion, Madelyne Rushing

Theses

W-24Re is a refractory alloy used in high temperature applications due to its high melting point, recrystallization temperature, and tensile strength. Due to the high melting point, fabrication is more commonly achieved through powder metallurgy processing, which relies on diffusion. As the material is available as a powder, it is a good candidate for laser-powder bed fusion (L-PBF) processing. This study focuses on characterization of L-PBF of W-24Re thin-walled structures to determine the feasibility and primary failure mechanisms under tension compared to that of bulk W-24Re. A laser parameter set was developed, and samples were provided by Quadrus Corporation for …

Deconstruction Of Body Representation Of The Back In Healthy Back Pain-Free Individuals And People With Chronic Low Back Pain, Simon Pratt

Theses

Changes in various body representations have been increasingly investigated and subsequently posited to be potentially important factors in the development and maintenance of chronic low back pain. Three main domains of body representation are considered here: body model, body schema (comprising superficial and postural schema), and body image. Most studies informing our contemporary understanding of these body representations have been undertaken in areas such as the hand and forearm, with a comparative dearth of studies performed on the low back. Consequently, this thesis consists of a comprehensive investigation of body representation initially in healthy back pain-free individuals and then in …

Traumatic Heterotopic Ossification: Pathophysiological Mechanisms, Epidemiological Characteristics, And Risk Factors, Nicola Kate Foster

Theses

Traumatic heterotopic ossification (tHO) refers to the complication of pathological formation of ectopic bone in soft tissues, which follows tissue insult secondary to burn, neurological and orthopaedic injury [2]. Common to these diagnoses is the involvement of central and or peripheral nervous system trauma. Although known risk factors are associated with developing tHO, the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms are not fully understood. Research to date, primarily in single injury cohorts, has provided minimal translatable results [2]. Thus, clinical guidelines for early screening and prophylactic drug therapy are lacking, and treatment options are limited. To move the body of knowledge …

Young Children's 21st Century Mathematical Skills And The Role Of The Early Childhood Environment In Developing These Skills, Mistelle Moore

Theses

This research examined the preparation of young children in an Early Years school environment in the development of 21st Century mathematical skills including critical thinking, problem-solving, innovation, collaboration, creativity, and communication. The research used a field-based case study using qualitative data collection methods, and the data were reviewed using thematic analysis. The research explores the pedagogical strategies employed by an Early Years teacher and the interplay of various stakeholders in nurturing 21st Century mathematics competencies among young learners. Key findings of the research indicated that there were eight elements that Early Years teachers should apply in their mathematics lessons as …

The Perception Of Year 11 Students In Catholic Secondary Schools Towards Christian Service-Learning, Salvatore Pietro De Luca

Theses

The purpose of this research was to firstly, explore the perceptions of Year 11 students in four Catholic secondary schools in Western Australia towards Christian Service-Learning (CSL), and secondly to assist improvement in the delivery of CSL programs through an understanding of the students’ perceptions. The study explored Year 11 student perceptions regarding their understandings of CSL, as well what they perceived to be the benefits, challenges, and impacts of participating in a CSL program. A key informant (KI) from each school provided contextual understanding about the CSL program within their school and how the program is delivered within the …

Relational Apophaticism And A Contemporary, Ecumenical Practice Of Christian Spiriutal Direction In The Western Church, Ian Raymond Wilson

Theses

Defining and nurturing Christian spiritual growth and maturity is challenging. This is especially so in a contemporary environment that might be considered individualistic and self-preoccupied and where the meaning of the term ‘spiritual’ has become increasingly vague. This thesis explores the concept of ‘relational apophaticism’ proposing it as a pathway of spiritual growth and the essence of spiritual maturity. A contemporary, ecumenical ministry of Christian spiritual direction in the Western Church, and perspectives on spiritual growth and maturity evident in St. Gregory of Nyssa’s mystical writings The Life of Moses and Homilies on the Song of Songs are drawn on …

Cancer Induced Bone Pain: Pain Classification And Management, Merlina Sulistio

Theses

Pain is a multidimensional personal experience influenced by biological, psychological, social and cultural factors. In the context of cancer pain, particularly cancer-induced bone pain (CIBP), it is essential that clinicians assess the multidimensional nature of pain to fully understand the patient’s pain experience, which often involves an evoked sense of both vulnerability and mortality.

Bone metastases are highly prevalent in advanced cancer, resulting in CIBP being one of the most common cancer pain syndromes. CIBP affects a patient’s physical and social functioning, reduces quality of life, increases psychological distress and often results in hospice or hospital admission. Yet, there is …

'Reading The Room': A Mixed Methods Study Of Midwifery Students' Perceptions Of Emotional Intelligence And Its Relationship To Midwifery, Kirstie Jayne Balding

Theses

Midwifery is emotionally challenging work; midwives provide care to women and families at one of the most significant points of their lives and this work is not without impact upon the midwives themselves. Midwifery students require more than just the cognitive ability to learn the requisite midwifery knowledge and competence at performing practical midwifery skills, the knowledge and skills that midwives require intersect with and are influenced by a wide range of emotions and emotional experiences. Emotional intelligence (EI) is the ability to identify and manage one’s own emotions, as well as the emotions of others and within other healthcare …

An Entangled But Separate System: Examining The Experiences Of Colonial Offenders In Western Australia, 1829-1868, Emily Lanman

Theses

Crime and punishment are omnipresent features of Western Australia’s colonial history. The establishment of a colony on invaded Noongar boodja in 1829 is indicative of the first criminal act. Within six months, a system of incarceration had been established for British offenders. Despite this, the importation of male imperial convicts from Britain and Ireland between 1850 and 1868 has become synonymous with the colony’s penal history. The historiographical preoccupation with imperial convicts ignores the people convicted within the colony, and subsequently, their lived experiences have been overlooked. This is to the detriment of understanding offenders, their motivations, and their interactions …

The Light Of Hope: Representations Of Salvation In The Great North Window Of St Mary’S Cathedral, Sydney, Carolyn Amy Lewis Flynn

Theses

St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney is considered to be the Mother Church of Australia. Yet, the rich architectural and artistic heritage contained therein has been little studied. This is an interdisciplinary study of John Hardman Powell’s Great North Window in that cathedral. It draws on theological and art historical research methods to interrogate the window’s underlying meanings, and the aims of its patrons. An examination of the doctrinal, devotional, and theological writings of the nineteenth century shows that this stained-glass window reflects the period’s understanding of salvation history. The window, firstly, tells the story of salvation through the stories about …

An Investigation Into The Nature Of The Knee Pain Experience In People With Knee Osteoarthritis, Gemma Mary Orange

Theses

Knee osteoarthritis poses a substantial and escalating socioeconomic burden globally, exacerbated by demographic trends towards an aging population, sedentary lifestyles and increasing obesity rates. Defined by knee pain and functional limitations (Wood et al., 2023; Zhang, Doherty, et al., 2010), traditional approaches have viewed knee OA related pain and disability primarily through a biomedical lens, linking symptoms directly to structural damage and advocating surgical interventions such as total knee arthroplasty to address presumed causative pathology (Bunzli et al., 2019; Darlow et al., 2018). Despite the capacity of surgery to ameliorate structural pathology, patient centred outcomes vary considerably. Up to 30% …

Ernst Jünger’S Epistemology And Metaphysics, Angus Baird

Theses

Jünger is typically interpreted in the philosophical literature according to a Heideggerian reading to be a metaphysical Nietzschean who took the will to power to be the essence of reality. This is especially so for Jünger's “Gestalt of the worker.” Yet Jünger likened his Gestalt to Goethe’s “Urpflanze,” a phenomenological, not metaphysical, conception. And Jünger's uses of "will to power" and "eternal return" are inconsistent with cosmological readings of Nietzsche.

This thesis will argue that the core of Jünger’s epistemology is an account of “intuitive perceptions.” Through these intuitive perceptions Jünger thought he grasped metaphysical reality. Through this grasping Jünger …

Access, Security, And Trust: Balancing Agencies' Need-To-Access Encrypted Data With Digital Security And Public Trust In Australian Government's Policy Approaches To Law Enforcement And National Security, Stephen Anthony Haydon

Theses

In the 21st Century, governments around the world are confronted by the challenges of policing against serious crime, terrorism, and other malicious-actor threats in an increasingly complex and convoluted digital landscape. Accelerating social changes and advances in secure and anonymising technologies (including end-to-end encryption) are providing regular frustrations to law enforcement and intelligence organisations. These agencies must detect, deter, and disrupt the threats to lives, public safety, and national security posed by malicious foreign and domestic actors who are utilising such technologies to communicate securely and ‘go dark’ online. Accessing encrypted data to identify and investigate these threats frequently requires …

The Efficacy Of A Junior Doctor Led Near-Peer Surgical Teaching Program For Medical Students: A Prospective Study, Wendy Liu

Theses

Background Near-peer teaching (NPT) involves teaching by peers who are at a close, but not the same, level of training. This study investigated whether a novel surgical NPT workshop, designed and delivered by junior doctors using simulation models for acute otorhinolaryngology conditions, improved the knowledge and confidence level of senior medical students.

Methods A one-day NPT workshop was held for medical students in their third year of a four-year postgraduate medical degree at the University of Notre Dame, Sydney, Australia. Four acute otorhinolaryngology/head and neck surgery problems that might be encountered by junior doctors and require prompt management were chosen. …

Teachers’ Perspectives And Practices For Ameliorating Dysregulation In School-Aged Children Through Trauma-Informed Education Practice, Linda Lane

Theses

The research investigates Western Australian (WA) teachers’ understanding of the impact of trauma-informed education practice. The main research question, which forms the basis of the study, is How do the trauma-informed education practices, currently being used in Western Australian public schools, impact the capacity of children to self-regulate their behaviour? The literature examines the impact of unresolved trauma on the developing child and reviews the trauma-informed education practices that are designed to ameliorate the negative effects of trauma. The research also investigates the trauma-informed practices that are currently being used in WA public school classrooms, as described by teachers, and …

Assessing Neurobehavioral Deficits And Neuroinflammation Following Rllb In A Transgenic Mouse Model, Aakaash Gosain

Theses

As global conflicts are escalating, military personnel have long faced the constant threat of explosions, heightening the risk of blast-induced traumatic brain injury (bTBI). The recent increase in war conflicts and combat zones worldwide not only puts the military, service members, and police forces at risk but also innocent civilians who are caught in the crossfire. While moderate to severe bTBIs have been extensively studied, the pathology of repeated low-level blasts (rLLB) remains less understood. This research addresses the gap in knowledge regarding the long-term consequences of rLLB injuries in the neural anatomy. A transgenic mouse model was subjected to …

Gen-Acceleration: Pioneering Work For Hardware Accelerator Generation Using Large Language Models, Durga Lakshmi Venkata Deepak Vungarala

Theses

Optimizing computational power is critical in the age of data-intensive applications and Artificial Intelligence (AI)/Machine Learning (ML). While facing challenging bottlenecks, conventional Von-Neumann architecture with implementing such huge tasks looks seemingly impossible. Hardware Accelerators are critical in efficiently deploying these technologies and have been vastly explored in edge devices. This study explores a state-of-the-art hardware accelerator; Gemmini is studied; we leveraged the open-sourced tool. Furthermore, we developed a Hardware Accelerator in the study we compared with the Non-Von-Neumann architecture. Gemmini is renowned for efficient matrix multiplication, but configuring it for specific tasks requires manual effort and expertise. We propose implementing …

The Effects Of Blue Light From Digital Displays On Visual Fatigue, Victor Taboadela

Theses

With the ever-increasing viewing time of digital displays, the potential effects of blue light emitted from these displays on eye health and eye fatigue are a real concern. This study presents a literature review of six laboratory studies conducted between 2014 and 2022 on the effect of using filters to attenuate the harmful effects of blue light. The review delves into smartphone and computer screen effects, recent literature reviews on blue light, and potential hazards associated with short-wavelength light. Although the majority of the studies recommended blue light filters, only three of the six laboratory studies (Shi et al. 2021, …

Visualizing Visual Neural Pathways In Virtual Reality A Neuroanatomy Tool, Mary Nguyen

Theses

Visualizing the human brain and its structures in three dimensions is a complex and overwhelming task. Sensory pathways such as visual neural pathways, are important but difficult to visualize. With the rising popularity of extended reality (XR) in modern education, a Neuroanatomy tool in virtual reality (VR) was developed to allow students and other learners to explore the human brain and learn about its functions in an engaging way. Virtual reality enables a user to have the ability to visualize complex structures in the brain in a way that is otherwise impossible to see in a cadaver lab or web-based …

Thermodynamics Of Ice Arena Geometry, Low- Emissivity Of Building Materials, And Natural Ventilation: An Energy Efficiency Study Of An Ice Arena In Rochester, Ny, Jonathan Sutton

Theses

This thesis explores the thermodynamic relationship between an ice arena’s ice sheet and building form. This exploration was conducted through an experiment focusing on the effects of architectural geometry, building material, and natural ventilation on ice heat gain. Ice arenas are giant refrigeration systems meant to sustain a sheet of ice in any climate, which is energy-intensive. There are many mechanical solutions to improving energy efficiency within ice arenas, leaving a gap for architectural solutions. Thermodynamics is how heat transfers or moves between space or objects. Heat or temperature wants to reach equilibrium, which means cold surfaces, objects, or air …

Convicting The Innocent: The Impact Of Wrongful Conviction In The U.S. Criminal Legal System, Aubrie Entwood

Theses

Wrongful conviction is a justice system error with far-reaching consequences. This capstone project looks at four different issues within wrongful conviction and exoneration in the U.S. criminal legal system. Chapter 1 focuses on the impacts of wrongful conviction for female exonerees, highlighting the way they are different from male exonerees, the factors that contribute to wrongful conviction that are more salient to females, and the specific ways the police and courts contribute to the wrongful conviction of females. Special attention is paid to the “crimes” of female exonerees and the additional psychological consequences that many female exonerees suffer. Ways in …