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An Effective Leader : A Reflective Essay, Darin Jones

Graduate Research Papers

Leadership can be accomplished in multiple ways: vocally, by example, or by a combination of the two. Any choice is.acceptable, but in order to be an effective leader you need to choose a method and believe in it. Personally, I lead by example. I work to be a vocal leader by praising in public. It is important to let students see it is all right to tell someone they did a very good job.

Setting good examples for students is key to leadership. Many times this is done by responses to situations. Reaction is quite often done without thought and …

Final Report For The Development Of The Nasa Technical Report Server (Ntrs), Michael L. Nelson

Computer Science Faculty Publications

The author performed a variety of research, development and consulting tasks for NASA Langley Research Center in the area of digital libraries (DLs) and supporting technologies, such as the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH). In particular, the development focused on the NASA Technical Report Server (NTRS) and its transition from a distributed searching model to one that uses the OAI-PMH. The Open Archives Initiative (OAI) is an international consortium focused on furthering the interoperability of DLs through the use of "metadata harvesting". The OAI-PMH version of NTRS went into public production on April 28, 2003. Since that …

A Study Of The Abundance, Distribution And Daily Activities Of The Australian Raven (Corvus Coronoides) In Urban Wetland Parks, Desiree L. Moon

Theses : Honours

Habitat destruction as a result of urbanisation has resulted in the population decline of some bird species. However, the Australian Raven (Corvus coronoides), has adapted well to the urban environment and is thriving. Although naturally occurring seasonal food sources are at times restricted in an urban setting, this adaptive species finds alternative food sources. As carrion-eaters this includes roadkill, as well as refuse discarded on the ground and into bins. Coupled with few natural predators, the species enjoys optimal conditions for breeding and survival. This biogeographical study investigated whether seasonal-influxes of populations of ravens cause problems at three urban wetland …

Nurses' Perceptions Of The Pharmacological Management Of Acute Pain Experienced By Patients Hospitalised In The General Ward Setting, Susan Slatyer

Theses : Honours

This study explored and described the experiences and perceptions of nurses managing acute pain in a Western Australian public hospital. The focus was nurses practising in the general ward setting and using current prescribing guidelines. The aim of this research was to explore nurses' attitudes, beliefs and knowledge about pain and pain pharmacology and how this practice setting influences efficient pain management. Qualitative methodology was selected for its ability to explore complex issues in order to build nursing knowledge and guide nursing practice. This study used a descriptive, exploratory design based on a phenomenological approach. The sample comprised ten Registered …

An Examination Of The Transitional Support Needs For Young People Leaving Detention, Kirsten Janke

Theses : Honours

A successful transition from detention to living in the community is a critical step in preventing young people from recidivism and entrenchment in criminal activity (Utting & Vennard, 2000). According to Outcare, an organisation that provides support services to offenders, ex-offenders and their families, there seems to be difficulty accommodating newly released young people in existing accommodation services: additionally, many of these young people are not able to access existing support services which contributes significantly to recidivist behaviour. The purpose of undertaking this qualitative study was to examine the transitional support needs for young people leaving detention. The investigation adopted …

Issues Faced In The Post-Tsunami Recovery Of Small And Medium Tourism Enterprises In Galle District, Sri Lanka : An Exploratory Study, Acushla M. Felix

Theses : Honours

This study identifies the issues faced in the post-tsunami recovery of the tourism industry by Small and Medium Tourism Enterprises in the Galle District of Sri Lanka. Similar to many other countries, Small and Medium Tourism Enterprises form a significant proportion of the Sri Lanka Tourism Industry. However, the significance of this sector of the industry was apparent only subsequent to the tsunami. While Small and Medium Tourism Enterprises account for a diverse range of businesses providing products or services for tourist consumption, this study includes only three such categories, namely; hospitality enterprises; souvenir providers and nature-based enterprises. Further, this …

The Inevitable Ageing Of The Population And The Implications Of Prolonging Employment For Older Adults, Monica Rose Cooper

Theses : Honours

One of the proposed solutions to Australia's ageing population (12% aged over 65 years in 1997 to 22% by 2031; Australian Bureau of Statistics, ABS, 2000) and the perceived burden on the economy, is for older adults to remain in paid employment longer. The present study explored the perspectives of older adults concerning employment and working beyond the age of 65 years. A qualitative methodology was employed and data was collected through the use of in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 11 participants aged between 60-75 years of age. Thematic content analysis was performed in order to identify core issues and themes. …

Literature Review: Diagnostic Utility Of The Million Clinical Multiaxial Inventories In Various Settings : The Detection And Effect Of Faking Good ; Research Project : The Impact Of Faking-Good On The Mcmi-Iii : Implications For Child Custody Evaluations, Paul Lenny

Theses : Honours

Research surrounding the ability of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI; Millon, 1977, 198 7, 1994) to detect faking good was reviewed; along with the effect faking has on diagnostic accuracy. Limited research indicates moderate success of the MCMI validity indices (VI) at detecting faking good. Suggested improvements include developing a fake-good profile combining the personality scales and VI and developing new base rate adjustments with populations likely to fake good. Faking good reduces the overall diagnostic accuracy of the test but determining local base rates of faking to produce optimal cut-offs for the VI would improve diagnostic utility. Future …

Artificial Neural Networks : A Comparative Study Of Implementations For Human Chromosome Classification, Nancy Akl

Theses : Honours

Artificial neural networks are a popular field of artificial intelligence and have commonly been applied to solve many prediction, classification and diagnostic tasks. One such task is the analysis of human chromosomes. This thesis investigates the use of artificial neural networks (ANNs) as automated chromosome classifiers. The investigation involves the thorough analysis of seven different implementation techniques. These include three techniques using artificial neural networks, two techniques using ANN s supported by another method and two techniques not using ANNs. These seven implementations are evaluated according to the classification accuracy achieved and according to their support of important system measures, …

The Effect Of Antioxidant Supplementation On Human Sperm Cryopreservation, Katrina E. Taylor

Theses : Honours

Semen cryopreservation has an important role in assisted reproductive technology however, the cooling, freezing and thawing processes often result in a significant loss of sperm motility, viability and nuclear integrity. The destructive effects of cryopreservation are significantly exacerbated in samples exhibiting low sperm number and poor morphological characteristics. Recent research into infertility has focused on the correlation between excessive oxidation and subfertility, in particular radical induced lipid peroxidation within the phospholipid bilayer of the spermatozoon plasma membrane and the promotion of cellular damage as a result of antioxidant insufficiency. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of …

Between The Red Tent And The Red Haze : Representations Of Perimenopause, Sheena Maureen Mcchlery

Theses : Honours

Perimenopause is a relatively new word in our language. It is found in a variety of texts, from medical literature to popular literature and the Internet. In this thesis, I explore some current representations of perimenopause. To do so, I utilise feminist analyses of representations of premenstrual syndrome and menopause. A feminist theoretical framework guides my methodology and organisation and interpretation of data. My methodology includes an extensive literature review of feminist theorising around premenstrual syndrome and menopause, as well as discourse analysis of textual representations of perimenopause and the use of a reflexive journal as a 'perimenopausal' woman. My …

Lost Wisdom: An Exploration Of The Experiences Of Women Who Chose To Birth At Home, Lee-Anne Raeside

Theses : Honours

Childbirth literature was explored firstly to gain a historical understanding of childbirth practices over the last century and secondly to explore the influences that determine a woman's birth choice. A shift from midwife-based care to medical-based care has resulted in the majority of births occurring in hospital. This shift has promoted the perspective that childbirth is a risky pathological event to be feared. However, professional perspectives of childbirth vary from birth being seen as a natural and challenging process to birth as a risky event that requires medical intervention. Women's perspectives are shaped by both professional perspectives and a natural …

End User Preference Of Customisable Features Within A Course Management System, Diana Taylor

Theses : Honours

Customisation is the means by which people alter and change various elements of their environment with the purpose of making it more suited to their immediate needs. This aids in creating a more personalised experience. People are extremely diverse in terms of age, gender, nationality, and with the dominant presence of technology people also have various levels of computer skills and experience. In the context of computer environments, customisation provides the ability to cater for a diverse user group, providing tools and options that assist with specific tasks, improve accessibility and achieve greater user satisfaction. Carter, MacLean, Lovstard & Moran …

Healthcare Practitioners' Perspectives On The Use Of E-Health Applications To Support Overweight And Obese Adolescents, Rachel J. Mahncke

Theses : Honours

The aim of this research was to investigate, from an Australian healthcare practitioners' perspective, whether online and e-health applications could provide support for and be beneficial to overweight and obese adolescents. This research has investigated whether diet and exercise related environmental causes of obesity could be positively affected by using e-health applications to re-educate adolescents about healthy eating and exercise behaviours the research identified what online and electronic resources healthcare practitioners' recommended to their patients, in order to understand how information systems· solutions could better assist these patients in achieving healthier lifestyle outcomes. Additionally, the research investigated what content, features …

The Role Of Strategy Choice And Working Memory Capacity In Arithmetic Acquisition In Third Grade Primary School Children, Dijana Mirkovic

Theses : Honours

This review examines the question of what determines arithmetic ability in primary school children. It has been suggested that arithmetic ability is mediated by many factors such as developmental factors, exposure to arithmetic facts, selection and utilisation of various strategies when solving arithmetic problems, and individual differences in working memory capacity. Some theories suggest that factors such as the complexity of a problem affect the selection of strategies when solving simple arithmetic problems such as addition, whereas other theories propose that individual differences in working memory capacity play a prominent role in arithmetic ability. Research is discussed that provides support …

Towards Persistent Resource Identification With The Uniform Resource Name, Luke Brown

Theses : Honours

The exponential growth of the Internet, and the subsequent reliance on the resources it connects, has exposed a clear need for an Internet identifier which remains accessible over time. Such identifiers have been dubbed persistent identifiers owing to the promise of reliability they imply. Persistent naming systems exist at present, however it is the resolution of these systems into what Kunze, (2003) calls "persistent actionable identifiers" which is the focus of this work. Actionable identifiers can be thought of as identifiers which are accessible in a simple fashion such as through a web browser or through a specific application. This …

An Investigation Of Network Security Management Methods, Shamila Anuranga Ratnayake

Theses : Honours

Network Management (NM) is concerned with reducing complexity and managing cost. The traditional NM tools and techniques are based on the Open System Interconnection (OSI) NM model. However, several drawbacks have been identified when managing a network using traditional NM tools (Sarkar & Verma, 2001). Network security is a major issue when managing a network. Even though the technology assists to reduce security risks, unless properly managed, the security measures may not do the job as expected. The State Model (SM) diagram is a new method, which may assists in managing the network. This new method may provide functionality not …

Skill Acquisition And Transfer To Contextually Different Tasks: Complete, Partial Or Zero Transfer?, Lois E. Johnson

Theses : Honours

There are differing opinions as to whether skills learned in one situation can be transferred and used in new situations. Anderson's (1982, 1993) Adaptive Control of Thought theory states that complete transfer of skills from one situation to another will occur when the processes used in training are the same as those required in transfer. Logan's (1988) Instance theory posits that complete transfer will occur only if the problems used in training are identical to those used in transfer, and that partial transfer should not occur in any transfer situation. However research by Speelman and Kirsner (2001), and Speelman, Forbes …

2d-Barcode For Mobile Devices, Hiroko Kato

Theses : Honours

2D-barcodes were designed to carry significantly more data than its 1D counterpart. These codes are often used in industrial information tagging applications where high data capacity, mobility, and data robustness are required. Wireless mobile devices such as camera phones and Portable Digital Assistants (PDAs) have evolved from just a mobile voice communication device to what is now a mobile multimedia computing platform. Recent integration of these two mobile technologies has sparked some interesting applications where 2D-barcodes work as visual tags and/or information source and camera phones performs image processing tasks on the device itself. One of such applications is hyperlink …

View Space Linking, Solid Node Compression And Binary Space Partitioning For Visibility Determination In 3d Walk-Throughs, Joel Anderson

Theses : Honours

Today's 3D games consumers are expecting more and more quality in their games. To enable high quality graphics at interactive rates, games programmers employ a technique known as hidden surface removal (HSR) or polygon culling. HSR is not just applicable to games; it may also be applied to any application that requires quality and interactive rates, including medical, military and building applications. One such commonly used technique for HSR is the binary space partition (BSP) tree, which is used for 3D ‘walk-throughs’, otherwise known as 3D static environments or first person shooters. Recent developments in 3D accelerated hardware technology do …

Predicting The Spatial Distribution Of Organic Rich Sediments On The Swan Coastal Plain, Western Australia, David Blake

Theses : Honours

The Organic Rich Sediments (ORS) of the Swan Coastal Plain (SCP) are an important component of the ecosystem, an important source of habitat and refuge for many species of fauna and act as natural fire control mechanisms through edaphic measures within the landscape. There have been numerous impacts on ORS, with fire now rated as one of the imminent threats to the continued existence and functioning of these entities. Conversely fire is an important tool for land mangers in their efforts to promote biodiversity and manage fuel loads to prevent wildfires, at present many of these ORS are becoming victim …

Robust Temporal Constraint Networks, Hoong Chuin Lau, Thomas Ou, Melvyn Sim

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

In this paper, we propose the Robust Temporal Constraint Network (RTCN) model for simple temporal constraint networks where activity durations are bounded by random variables. The problem is to determine whether such temporal network can be executed with failure probability less than a given 0 ≤ E ≤ 1 for each possible instantiation of the random variables, and if so. how one might find a feasible schedule with each given instantiation. The advantage of our model is that one can vary the value of ∊ to control the level of conservativeness of the solution. We present a computationally tractable and …

Contract Formation And Mistake In Cyberspace – The Singapore Experience, Andrew B.L. Phang

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The present article analyses the many important issues that are raised by what is probably the first case on Internet mistake – the Singapore High Court decision of Chwee Kin Keong v Digilandmall.com Pte Ltd [2004] 2 SLR 594. In addition to the law of (especially, unilateral) mistake, issues relating to the formation of a contract will be considered (including the law relating to offer and acceptance with regard to both website advertisements as well as electronic mail transactions, and the weakness of (and, hence, need to reform) the doctrine of consideration).

Linear Correlation Discovery In Databases: A Data Mining Approach, Cecil Chua, Roger Hsiang-Li Chiang, Ee Peng Lim

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Very little research in knowledge discovery has studied how to incorporate statistical methods to automate linear correlation discovery (LCD). We present an automatic LCD methodology that adopts statistical measurement functions to discover correlations from databases’ attributes. Our methodology automatically pairs attribute groups having potential linear correlations, measures the linear correlation of each pair of attribute groups, and confirms the discovered correlation. The methodology is evaluated in two sets of experiments. The results demonstrate the methodology’s ability to facilitate linear correlation discovery for databases with a large amount of data.

The Effects Of Shilling On Final Bid Prices In Online Auctions, Robert J. Kauffman, Charles A. Wood

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

An increasing number of reports of online auction fraud are of growing concern to auction operators and participants. In this research, we discuss reserve price shilling, where a bidder shills in order to avoid paying auction house fees, rather than to drive up the price of the final bid. We examine the effect that premium bids have upon the final selling price, since they are linked with reserve price shill bids. We use 10,260 eBay auctions during April 2001, and identify 919 auctions involving 322 sellers and 1583 bidders involved in concurrent auctions for the exact same item. We find …

An Exploration Of Student Performance, Utilization, And Attitude To The Use Of A Controlled Content Sequencing Web Based Learning Environment, Justin A. Brown

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Universities, traditionally places of teaching and research, have seen and are continuing to see radical changes occur in the area of teaching and the methods of teaching delivery. The World Wide Web, or ‘Web’ has begun to subsume the classroom as the preferred means by which students access their tertiary learning materials, and ultimately, how academic staff deliver those materials. The delivery of learning via the Web takes many forms and is generically, and usually inaccurately, referred to by such names as e-learning, online learning, web-based training and web based education, using such technologies as virtual learning environments, learning management …

Development Of A Generic Critical Appraisal Tool By Consensus: Presentation Of First Round Delphi Survey Results, Jeannie Burnett, Karen Grimmer, Saravana Kumar

Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice

The growing importance of evidence based practice is necessitating academics and clinicians to be able to make judgments about the quality of the body of research evidence pertaining to clinical questions. There are numerous critical appraisal tools to assist this process. These are mostly designed for specific research designs, and tend not to reflect the particular concerns of allied health professionals, such as accuracy of diagnosis, adequate description of intervention, and sensitivity and utility of outcome measures. This paper reports the findings of a study which sought expert opinion on the essential criteria for critical appraisal, and whether a generic …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Membrane Anchored Peptides, Eugenia Christine Tsamis

Honors Program Theses

ln KW ALP23 peptides containing Lysine and Trp, as the Trps were moved further in towards the center of the bilayer, Lys became the dominant anchoring residue (1). The goal of this project was to determine whether Arg exhibits snorkeling behavior similar to Lys, and is able to anchor the peptide in the membrane despite the repositioning of Trp in the RWALP peptides. Several candidate R W ALP23 peptides containing Tryptophan and Arginine with an alternating LeucineAlanine backbone were synthesized successfully. They were then studied by HPLC, CD, and MALDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry to investigate the anchoring roles of Arg and …

Using Space To Describe Space: American Sign Language And The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis, Cindee Calton

Presidential Scholars Theses (1990 – 2006)

My study sought to combine two topics that have recently generated much interest among anthropologists. One of these topics is American Sign Language, the other is linguistic relativity. Although both topics have been a part of the literature for some time, neither has been studied extensively until the recent past. Both present exciting new horizons for understanding culture, particularly language and culture.

The first of these two topics is the study of American Sign Language. The reason for its previous absence from the literature has to do with unfortunate prejudice which, for a long time, kept ASL from being recognized …

An Examination Of Tag-Questions And Ellipsis In English And Spanish, Tiffany Judy

Presidential Scholars Theses (1990 – 2006)

In this paper, I will examine how tag-questions function in English and test if they function in the same way in Spanish. Then, I will compare the differences between the two languages and propose a structure and method for forming tag-questions in each language. Also, I will examine how ellipsis functions in each language and how it supports the analysis of the tag-questions. Finally, I will show that a few of the apparent differences between the two languages are incorrect and I will give my proposed solution.