Digital Commons Network^™

Origin And Fate Of Organic Matter In South-West Australian Wetlands, Darren Stuart Ryder

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The development and local distribution of organic soils in Australia have been poorly documented. Within Western Australia, conditions conducive to the accumulation of organic matter are geographically restricted and generally occur in coastal and/or forested landscapes. An extensive system of wetlands with peal soils occurs in the Muir-Unicup region in the far south west of Western Australia. Bokarup Swamp, Kodjinup Swamp and Noobijup Lake are representative of the wetlands occurring in this region. They arc shallow (

Key Decision-Making Phases And Tasks For Outsourcing Information Technology, Ashraf Shoeib

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Outsourcing has become an attractive option for today's organisation. Since outsourcing Information Technology (IT) is a relatively new phenomenon in Australia, little research has been conducted as to IT management strategies needed when considering outsourcing. To guide management in the decision whether or not to outsource IT, the study developed and tested a decision-making model comprising the phases of intelligence, analysis and planning, strategy selection, action, and evaluation and monitoring. The significance of decision phases and tasks contained in the model was established through a survey of major Australian organisations. The sample included Australia's top 390 companies. Such organisations would …

A Linkage Study Of Autism Using Multipoint Sib-Pair Analysis, Tamara Rogers

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Autism is a severe developmental disorder that was first described by Kanner in 1943. It is characterised by four major criteria: marked social deficits, delay in language development, a restricted range of stereotyped repetitive behaviours and onset of the disease within the first three years of life. The last decade of research has provided support for a strong genetic basis in the aetiology of autism. Firstly, a number of genetic conditions, such as fragile X syndrome, chromosome 15 anomalies and tuberous sclerosis, have been associated with autism. Secondly, family studies have demonstrated that the recurrence risk for autism among siblings …

Development Of Self-Adaptive Back Propagation And Derivative Free Training Algorithms In Artificial Neural Networks, Shamsuddin Ahmed

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Three new iterative, dynamically self-adaptive, derivative-free and training parameter free artificial neural network (ANN) training algorithms are developed. They are defined as self-adaptive back propagation, multi-directional and restart ANN training algorithms. The descent direction in self-adaptive back propagation training is determined implicitly by a central difference approximation scheme, which chooses its step size according to the convergence behavior of the error function. This approach trains an ANN when the gradient information of the corresponding error function is not readily available. The self- adaptive variable learning rates per epoch are determined dynamically using a constrained interpolation search. As a result, appropriate …

Bandwidth Management And Quality Of Service, Adalbert Engel

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

With the advent of bandwidth-hungry video and audio applications, demand for bandwidth is expected to exceed supply. Users will require more bandwidth and, as always, there are likely to be more users. As the Internet user base becomes more diverse, there is an increasing perception that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) should be able to differentiate between users, so that the specific needs of different types of users can be met. Differentiated services is seen as a possible solution to the bandwidth problem. Currently, however, the technology used on the Internet differentiates neither between users, nor between applications. The thesis focuses …

Aboriginal Students Perceptions Of The Effect Of Vocational Education And Training On Post School Experiences, Steven J. Florisson

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Over the past decade there have been dramatic and unprecedented changes in post compulsory education, with an increase of over 40% for year 12 retention rates to 76.6% in 1992 and huge expansion of year 11 and 12 vocational education and training programs. However, for Aboriginal past compulsory age students, the picture is very different. In 1993 the year 12 Aboriginal retention rate was only 24.48% or 982 students (Australia wide), and by 1996 only 10% of the indigenous 15 and older population had any post school qualification, compared to 35% of the total population. Only 34% of West Australian …

Landscape Differences In The Ecology Of The Rufous Treecreeper Climacteris Rufa, Gary W. Luck

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Anthropogenic habitat modification is a significant threat to the conservation or global biodiversity. The fragmentation and alteration of woodland habitat has resulted in the substantial decline of many woodland bird species in the agricultural regions of southern Australia. The Rufous Treecreeper Climacteris rufaa, a once common woodland resident, has declined in abundance in the wheatbelt of Western Australia and appears to be sensitive to habitat fragmentation. The reasons for this are unclear because our knowledge of the species and the threats posed by fragmentation arc limited. In this study, I compared the social organisation, habitat selection, reproductive success, dispersal and …

The Effects Of Suicide Intent And History Of Self-Harm On Emotional Reactions And Willingness To Help, Paul A. Buttigieg

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The present study was a preliminary investigation of factors that affect potential helpers' emotional responses, perceptions and willingness to help when confronted with information about a hypothetical friend who overdoses. One hundred and forty-two undergraduate students attending Edith Cowan University (Joondalup Campus) were randomly assigned to one of six conditions and read two vignettes. In the first vignette, information was provided of a hypothetical female friend's overdose. The second vignette included information about the overdose that either supported or contradicted information in the first vignette regarding the woman's history of self-harm. Participants then completed a questionnaire designed to measure their …

Phantom Classmates : A Case Study Of Talented Mathematics Students Learning Via Telematics, Leanne S. Clarke

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The main advantages and disadvantages of the Telematics environment for talented mathematics students were investigated through a case study. The case study considered the interaction of, and opinions of 11 Year 9 students and the teacher/researcher. Participants were from nine schools in regional Western Australia, and were withdrawn from face-to-face classes to attend mathematics transmissions. Qualitative data were collected through student interviews, an anonymous questionnaire, tape recording of lessons, and teacher field notes. Students all agreed the main disadvantage occurred if timetabling for Telematics transmissions did not align with their local school class times for the same subject. The teacher …

Attitude And Behaviour Dichotomy In Sme Strategic Alliance: A South West Of Western Australian Study, Dianne Wingham

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Strategic alliances are generally perceived as cooperative relationships constrained within the parameters of bounded rationality, seeking to maximise their levels of control in a turbulent economic environment. They are also commonly conceptualised as a means of creating competitive advantage in business. In regional areas of Western Australia they are favoured by government instrumentalities as a means of making small to medium enterprises (SMEs) more competitive. With the dominant global emphasis in the literature on big business, relatively little is known still about strategic alliances in small to medium enterprises. Moreover, the research on strategic alliances within Australia s also limited, …

An Analysis Of Quality Practices And Business Outcomes In Western Australian Hospitals, Janis Mussett

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study aimed at identifying aspects of health care organisational management and activities that produced the highest level of quality care. A Literature review was conducted to determine the most successful quality activities currently used in a wide variety of industries. Using the findings of this review a questionnaire and interview questions were designed to identify factors associated with successful quality activities I health care organisations. Four Western Australian hospitals that were believed to have effective quality activities were randomly selected as a hospital from each of the following categories. A private hospital accredited by the Australian Council on Health …

Developing A Parametric Cost Model For Operating Costs Of Army Ground Combat Weapon Systems, James O. Winbush Jr.

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to develop a parametric cost model for predicting operating costs of Army ground combat weapon systems. The model is intended to be used during the first two phases of the Army's acquisition process. The research necessary to develop the model was guided by two questions: what weapon system characteristics (such as weight, horsepower, fuel consumption, primary mission, NBC protection, fire control and night fighting capability) impact directly on operating ground combat systems; and what is the form of the parametric model for operating costs for ground combat systems? The study extends the bounds of …

Portuguese-Americans And Mental Health Treatment Client-Therapist Ethnic Match, Ethnic Identity, And Satisfaction With Treatment, Katherine B. Gamble

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Multicultural issues in psychotherapy have increasingly been recognized as important in the provision of mental health services to our diverse population. Issues such as beliefs about mental health, attitudes toward authority, and even world view affect how clients access and make use of psychotherapy. Cultural views are essential to how one sees the world, and consequently there is much debate about whether clients would benefit from having therapists from the same cultural background. Ethnic identity, or the degree to which a person holds to the beliefs of their culture of origin, consequently plays an important role in psychotherapy. The Portuguese …

Human Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone (Hgnrh) Gene Expression And Hormone Regulation In Human Placental Jeg-3 Cells, Heming Zheng

Theses and Dissertations in Biomedical Sciences

Using the human placental choriocarcinoma JEG-3 cell line as an in vitro human placental model, I studied the mechanisms of the tissue-specific expression and steroid hormone regulation of the hGnRH gene in the human placenta. The results showed that all of the previously identified four elements are required for the full activity of the hGnRH upstream promoter in JEG-3 cells, while the element 4 (FP4, −987/−968) is the most important. Studies performed with 5′ end deletion of this region confirmed these observations. Further, supershift assay using Oct-1 antibody demonstrated the involvement of Oct-1 in the FP4 DNA-protein interaction in JEG-3 …

An Architectural Framework For Performance Analysis: Supporting The Design, Configuration, And Control Of Dis /Hla Simulations, David B. Cavitt

Computer Science Theses & Dissertations

Technology advances are providing greater capabilities for most distributed computing environments. However, the advances in capabilities are paralleled by progressively increasing amounts of system complexity. In many instances, this complexity can lead to a lack of understanding regarding bottlenecks in run-time performance of distributed applications. This is especially true in the domain of distributed simulations where a myriad of enabling technologies are used as building blocks to provide large-scale, geographically disperse, dynamic virtual worlds. Persons responsible for the design, configuration, and control of distributed simulations need to understand the impact of decisions made regarding the allocation and use of the …

Toward A Model Of Team Situation Awareness, Alexis Anne Fink

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Situation Awareness (SA) is a construct that is considered important to safety in dynamic, risky, time-constrained and complex environments, such as military aviation, nuclear reactors and emergency management. Research consideration of SA is complicated by the fact that there is no clearly superior methodology for SA measurement. Typically, SA is considered at the individual level; however, the nature of the SA context often requires more than one individual for safe and effective operations. Team SA is a qualitatively different phenomenon than individual SA. Few models of team SA have been proposed. The primary purpose of this paper was to develop …

Supervised Adaptive Resonance Theory And Rules, Ah-Hwee Tan

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Supervised Adaptive Resonance Theory is a family of neural networks that performs incremental supervised learning of recognition categories (pattern classes) and multidimensional maps of both binary and analog patterns. This chapter highlights that the supervised ART architecture is compatible with IF-THEN rule-based symbolic representation. Specifi­cally, the knowledge learned by a supervised ART system can be readily translated into rules for interpretation. Similarly, a priori domain knowl­edge in the form of IF-THEN rules can be converted into a supervised ART architecture. Not only does initializing networks with prior knowl­edge improve predictive accuracy and learning efficiency, the inserted symbolic knowledge can also …

Effects Of The Entomopathogenic Fungus Metarhizium Anisopliae On Glossina Fuscipes Fuscipes In Lake Victoria Island, Marco Brese

All Master’s Theses

Glossina spp. Commonly known as tsetse flies are vectors of trypanosomes which can cause african human and animal trypanosomiases. The control of those diseases and their vector has shown some limitations. The 'dissemination technique' was considered to become a suitable method for tsetse control. It involves the contamination of flies with a lethal or sterilising agent and is based on the spread of the agent through natural contact events between tsetse flies. In the first part of the study, fluorescent pigment powder was used to detect whether there are regular contact events between specimens of g. Fuscipes fuscipes in the …

Quartering Species: The Living Constitution, The Third Amendment, And The Endangered Species Act, Andrew P. Morriss, Richard L. Stroup

Faculty Scholarship

The authors argue that the fundamental flaw in the Endangered Species Act (ESA) is that it fails to force government decision makers to consider the opportunity cost of their actions, resulting in flawed decision making that imposes heavy costs on landowners without actually protecting endangered species. The authors develop this analysis through an examination of the ESA in light of the modern "living Constitution" theory of interpretation. They conclude that under this theory the ESA's "quartering of species" on private land violates the Third Amendment's ban on quartering soldiers.

Insurance Issues Related To Lateral Hire Musical Chairs, Susan Saab Fortney

Faculty Scholarship

This article addresses the various insurance issues relating to lawyer mobility. Part I of this article introduces the topic by noting the heightened rate of lawyers making lateral moves and how insurance coverage has responded to an increasingly mobile legal labor force. Part II provides a brief historical perspective on insurer reaction to lateral hire claims. Part III analyzes specific policy provisions related to lateral hires for both the prior firm and the new firm. Part IV discusses how a firm and a lateral lawyer should study and address risks before consummating the move. Part V examines the problems related …

Information Technology In The Health Care Industry: A Primer, P. Southard, S. J. Hong, Keng Siau

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

The paper discusses current and future applications of information technology within the healthcareindustry. It presents some broad strategies for approaching information technology investments and various tools available.

E-Commerce Systems Development Methodologies, M. Rossi, Keng Siau, S. Purao

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Methodologies. This is the first time we organize this new minitrack on electronic commerce systems development. The flexibility, scalability, user-friendliness, privacy, security, intuitiveness, and other important characteristics of electronic commerce systems make the systems development process of such systems very multifaceted and complex. Today, most electronic commerce systems are built based on intuition and rule of thumbs.Many practitioners have the misconception that there is no need for a systematic modeling and design technique for these systems. The lack of appropriate methods and methodologies to support electronic commerce systems development is another stumbling block. Most of the widely used methods are …

Executives And Hedging: The Fragile Legal Foundation Of Incentive Compatibility, David M. Schizer

Faculty Scholarship

Options are granted to executives to inspire better performance by tying pay to the employer's stock price. Yet this incentive rationale no longer holds if executives can use the derivatives market to simulate a sale of their options, a practice known as hedging. This Article evaluates the effectiveness of existing legal constraints on hedging by executives, including limits derived from contract, securities and tax law. Although investment bankers have been searching for ways around these constraints, the bottom line is that, at least for now, executives are unable to hedge option grants: While contractual limits are rare, the securities law …

Liberality, Philip A. Hamburger

Faculty Scholarship

Did late eighteenth-century Americans ever consider themselves liberal? To many historians, this will seem a strange question. The concept of liberalism is widely held to be a nineteenth-century innovation, and therefore to inquire whether Americans in the previous century thought of themselves as liberal seems anachronistic.

Yet precisely because so many scholars take for granted the late evolution of liberal ideas, it may be all the more valuable to reexamine this assumption. Is there really no evidence that eighteenth-century Americans considered themselves liberal? Although they may not have embraced later concepts of liberalism, is it not at least possible that …

Europe's Evolving Regulatory Strategy For Gmos – The Issue Of Consistency With Wto Law: Of Kine And Brine, Robert Howse, Petros C. Mavroidis

Faculty Scholarship

This Essay deals with one question: If challenged, how would regulatory restrictions on genetically modified organisms ("GMOs") be judged by a World Trade Organization ("WTO") adjudicating body. Many of the controversies about the effect of WTO law on domestic regulation have been influenced by the view that the law as it stands may well impede the ability of governments to regulate new and uncertain risks to health and the environment. The result in the Beef Hormones case ("Hormones case") is often cited for this proposition. In this Essay we aim to show that, contrary to an increasingly widespread popular …

1984-2000 Personnel Policies, Morehead State University. Office Of The Provost.

Faculty Senate Records

Personnel policies of Morehead State University from 1984 to 2000. Includes PAc, PAd, PSE and PSNE policies for faculty and staff.

Leisure Patterns, Constraints And Socio-Demographic Characteristics Of Korean Immigrants In Western Australia, Sooyoung S. Tcha

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study investigated the patterns of and constraints to leisure participation of Korean immigrants in Western Australia. The socioeconomic and demographic attributes of Korean immigrants were examined using descriptive statistical methods and their effects on leisure participation were rigorously analysed using quantitative techniques, based on data that were collected from Korean immigrants in Western Australia. The study showed that Korean immigrants participated in more passive leisure activities such as home-based ones. Participation in more active or western style leisure activities especially sports was found to be considerably low. The study also looked at which variables could explain the change in …

Analogue-To-Digital Conversion And Image Enhancement Using Neuron-Mos Technology, Joseph W. Austin-Crowe

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This thesis describes the development of two novel circuits that use a newly developed technology, that of neuron-MOS, for the purposes of analogue-to-digital conversion and image enhancement. Neuron-MOS has the potential to reduce both the complexity and number of transistors required for analogue and digital circuits. A reduced area, low transistor-count- analogue-to-digital converter that is suitable for inclusion in a massively parallel array of identical image processing elements is developed. Supporting the function of the array some fundamental image enhancement operations, such as edge enhancement, are examined exploiting the unique features of neuron-MOS technology.

Reducing The Redundancy Of Financial Ratios And Assessing The Stability Of Financial Patterns, Teck K. Hii

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The purpose of this study was to examine the financial patterns of Australian industrial firms along the lines of Pinches et al.’s (1973; 1975) study. The financial ratios used in prior Australian corporate failure studies were used to derive a reduced set of factors that was predictive of corporate failure (e.g., Castagna & Matolesy, 1981: Booth, 1983). These factors were examined for the short – and long-term stability of these factors. The set of firms used was selected from FINSELECT database, which covered the period from 1989 to 1997. A random list of 199 Australian industrial firms that survived between …

Analysis Of The Population Genetics Of The Han And Hui Of Liaoning Province, Peoples Republic Of China, Michael L. Black

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Throughout recorded Chinese history, regions of the country populated by persons of non-Han ancestry often fluctuated significantly in population numbers and in their political and commercial influence. However, at all times they were considered as important contributors to the nation. Many of these peoples had moved from their homelands, settled in China and had intermarried with Han Chinese. Over the generations they became accepted as fully-fledged Chinese citizens although, in many instances, they retained their traditional customs and religious practices, and frequently their own language. The Hui Muslims are a good example of this process of integration, and today they …