Digital Commons Network^™

The Effectiveness Of A Home-Based, Patient-Specific, Functional Exercise Program On Patients With Inclusion Body Myositis (Ibm), Liam Johnson

Theses : Honours

Previous research has shown exercise to be beneficial in the treatment of myositis-affected patients. However, the potential of functional exercises to improve muscle strength and function in the absence of disease progression markers in patient's with Inclusion Body Myositis (IBM) is not well understood. It is believed that the initial exercise dose and patient specificity is of paramount importance in the successful use of this modality in the routine management and long term treatment of such patients. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of a home-based, patient-specific functional exercise programme, including aerobic exercise and resistance training, …

Pollen Characteristics Of Grevillea Species Determined By In Vitro Germination, Rebecca Parsons

Theses : Honours

Germination of pollen in vitro is a common technique used to assess the ability of pollen to germinate under a variety of conditions. The ability to determine the viability of a pollen grain, and optimal conditions for maximum germination and storage are important for hybridisation. A means of storing pollen, while maintaining viability, enables inter-species hybridisation between species that are spatially and temporally (flowering time) separated. The ultimate aim of hybridisation is seed set and in order to increase this in a genus renowned for a very low fruit to flower ratio, maximum pollen germination must be obtained. Therefore, by …

The Role Of Implicit Memory In Visual Word Recognition: Principles And Processes Of Long- And Short-Term Repetition Priming, Matthew Robert Merema

Theses : Honours

This review examines the role of long- and short-term repetition priming research in the theoretical debate between episodic and abstractionist accounts of implicit memory. The empirical research and theoretical accounts of priming reviewed indicate that neither episodic or abstractionist theories alone can successfully account for the processes of long- and short-term repetition priming. The major variations between studies in experimental methods used to measure repetition priming are also examined, providing a possible explanation for contrasting results obtained within repetition priming research and a reason for why the episodic versus abstractionist debate persists. Finally, research examining the underlying mechanisms responsible for …

The Experience Of The Transition To An Aged-Care Facility: A Qualitative Exploration, Jenny M. Smith

Theses : Honours

The transition from one's place of residence to an aged-care facility may be a daunting prospect, with many factors relevant to the degree of ease in which this change occurs. Whilst this is a significant life event, qualified information about older adults' experience of it is limited, with little found about Australia. Much of what is available focuses on the caregivers' and relatives' viewpoints or their interactions with staff and do not pertain to the transition period itself, but to aged care in general. The main findings from the available literature suggest that the way a new resident perceives their …

Evaluating The Impact Of Peer Review And Participation Awareness In An Online Collaborative Document Authoring Environment, Greg Baatard

Theses : Honours

Online Learning Environments (OLEs) have been widely adopted by higher education facilities, offering distance education with the potential to support the social and collaborative aspects deemed crucial to modern constructivist pedagogy. Groupware, a form of software which aims to facilitate group work, has been the subject of much research, from both educational and enterprise perspectives. This research introduced Reportal, an online groupware system designed to facilitate the collaborative authoring of a document. Reportal's peer review and participation awareness features were the focus of this research, and their impact was measured against the elements of online collaboration, a typology established by …

Electoral Professionalism And The 2004 Australian Federal Election Campaign, Ryan Boyd

Theses : Honours

Electoral professionalism, a. term first coined by Panebianco (1988), explains the changing organisational structure of modern political parties and changes to the way parties engage with the electorate. This thesis demonstrates the extent to which electoral professionalism was prevalent during the 2004 Australian federal election campaign. Australian democracy has undergone a process of professionalisation in recent decades. The Liberal Party and the Labor Party's ability to adapt to these changes has enabled Australia's two major parties to remain relevant and come to dominate Australia's political system. Campaign professionals skilled in areas such as polling, marketing, media management, computer technologies, direct …

Discovering The Self: An Enquiry Into Spiritual Seekers Journeys Towards Self-Realisation, Marianne Batenburg

Theses : Honours

This thesis explores the notion that a spiritual search for meaning can lead to the discovery of one's true nature, known in the Eastern tradition as Realisation of the Self. The necessity of a teacher to assist the seeker on this spiritual journey is also investigated. Three questions in particular are raised that will facilitate the analysis of this journey of discovery: 1) Is the longing for a sense of completeness, Beingness, awakened by a particular experience or is it in fact inherent in each human being? 2) Do spiritual seekers need to go out into the world to find …

The White Death: Representations Of Salt Affected Landscapes In The Wheatbelt, Grant Currall

Theses : Honours

This exegesis examines the significance of salt-affected landscapes in Western Australia's Wheatbelt, particularly sites affected due to pastoral settlement. It explores ways in which landscape imagery has been constructed and controlled by cultures to represent a particular relationship between settlement and the land. A focus on both American and Australian photographic practitioners and their understanding of landscape aesthetics will be incorporated to reveal how unconventional subject matter like dryland salinity can be re-presented to provide an alternative perspective of cultures relationship with nature in the Wheatbelt. Finally, an enquiry into the impact of national identity on landscape will also explore …

The Influence Of Genetics And The Environment On Human Personalities, Relationships And Experiences, Patrice Smith

Theses : Honours

It's no mystery that our genetic make-up plays an integral part in the outcome of our lives, but to what extent exactly are our personalities, relationships and experiences pre-determined by this genetic code? There are two forces that contribute to the outcome of these aspects of our lives. Genetics and Environment. The significance of the environment, i.e., our upbringing, lifestyle and the world around us is often emphasized by psychologists as the more dominant force, however our genes are just as, if not more, influential on our lives. My choreographic process is directly in relation to the group of artists …

The Filmmaker, The Subject And The Audience : A Dialectical Exploration Of Documentary Performance, Ben Stewart

Theses : Honours

Documentary filmmakers 11 engage directly in the study of the phenomena of life that surrounds us. We hold the ability to show and elucidate life as it is, considerably higher than the occasionally diverting droll games that people call theatre, cinema etc." (Vertov, 1984, p. 47). The ability to 'show and elucidate life as it is' is a controversial claim that the majority of academic documentary discussion is concerned with. I intend to add to this discussion through an exploration of performance and its pertinence to the ability of documentary to represent reality truthfully. The reception of documentary is significantly …

The Camfields : "The Comforts Of Civilisation" In Early Colonial Western Australia, Joan Groves

Theses : Honours

This thesis explores and examines in some detail the lives of a little known Anglican missionary couple in early colonial Western Australia. Henry Camfield and Anne Breeze came to the Swan River colony separately: Henry as farmer-settler and Anne Breeze as governess. They married, moved in the higher echelons of Perth society and later went to Albany where Henry took up the position of Government Resident. Subsequently they both became involved in raising and "Christianising" Aboriginal children in an institution known as Annesfield. While some prominence has been given to a well-known pupil of that institution, Bessie Flower (later Cameron), …

The Classical Guitar In Paris: Composers And Performers C.1920-1960, Duncan Robert Gardiner

Theses : Honours

The rise in status and popularity, and even the acceptance of the classical guitar, is a twentieth-century phenomenon which owes much to the labour of the famed Spanish guitarist Andres Segovia. It is because of the talents of Segovia and his contemporaries that the classical guitar has a wealth of first-class repertoire to call its own. Since the conception of the first twentieth-century work composed specifically for the classical guitar by Manuel de Falla, and because of the efforts of Segovia, a great interest in the instrument-and a large body of guitar music has come out of France. This dissertation …

Tacticians, Talent, Transmitters And Targets : The Power Of Pictures In The Howard Prime Ministership, Richard Goodwin

Theses : Honours

After a decade as Prime Minister of Australia, John Howard has attained a substantial place in the nation's political history. His success can be measured in numerous ways: four successive victories for his Liberal National Party Coalition in general elections since 1996, five opponents in turn at the head of the rival Australian Labor Party and consistently high approval ratings in opinion polls for his performance as prime minister. He has also dominated the political discourse of Australia. His views and policy positions have become progressively entrenched. This is especially true in the areas of international affairs, military engagement and …

Death Lilly : Performing The 'Flower Girl' Role In The Age Of Consumption, Catherine Gomersall

Theses : Honours

This self-reflexive photomedia project interrogates the 'flower girl' role as a cultural fetishism of 'innocent' white-girl femininity, which I claim is perpetuated in the bridal fantasy. In my photomedia work the theme of 'death' and the uncanny is explored as well as the themes of 'wildness' and 'violence' in order to subvert the dominant discourse of ideal white femininity which is defined in popular culture by a sanitised bourgeois aesthetic. I attack the bourgeois surface of the bridal magazine in my artwork as I perform the 'flower girl' role in the context of popular culture and capitalism. The flower girl …

An Attitude And Perception Study Of Wireless Network Usage In Home Environments, Patryk Szewczyk

Theses : Honours

Research on the use of 802.11 wireless networking and wireless security has in the past focused predominantly on corporations who generally have access to resources specifically allocated to computer and network security. Research has also focused on identifying the flaws in wireless network security, and developing stronger and safer methods which may be incorporated. To date there has been a lack of research into determining what the individual at home perceives towards wireless security. As broadband Internet connections are now predominantly chosen, the amount of available bandwidth open to exploitation is significantly higher than the now becoming obsolete dialup connection. …

Papua New Guinea: Weak, Failing, Failed? : An Examination Of Failed State Theory And The Usefulness Of The Failed States Index, Maria Sussanna Tulkiewicz

Theses : Honours

This thesis examines the problem of failed and failing states set against the 'theory' that has accompanied this discourse. It uses a case study of Papua New Guinea (PNG) to examine both the theory and its related application in the Failed States Index (FSI) developed by the Fund for Peace and the Foreign Policy magazine. Critically examining the methodology used in the FSI, the thesis analysis a wide range of information about the social, economic and political problems facing PNG to highlight shortcomings in the current construction of the Index. These shortcomings are then used to highlight conceptual problems in …

"Advertopia" : The Ethical Ramifications Of Advertising To Children, Matthew Jackson

Theses : Honours

In this thesis I explore the ethical ramifications inherent in advertising to children. In particular the affect of commercial information on the psychological development of contemporary Western youth and I explore these issues in relation to my painting practice.

Misconceptions: Loss And Melancholia In Poetry Of Miscarriage, Stillbirth And Abortion, Donna Yannakis

Theses : Honours

This thesis argues that cultural and discursive attitudes towards miscarriage, stillbirth and abortion attribute maternal blame to these losses and silence the expression of grief over them. It further argues that, following pregnancy loss, this silence and blame, coupled with the veneration and discursive production of motherhood as a woman's biological and psychical destiny, produce 'symptoms' that, according to Freud, are a sign of a pathological melancholia. I suggest, however, that these symptoms - self-reproach and impoverishment of the ego as responses to pregnancy loss, do not necessarily indicate a woman's pathological failure to resolve loss but reflect the social …

That's Freakin' Sweet: The Collecting Of Family Guy, Matthew Knight

Theses : Honours

The animated series Family Guy (1999-2006) has been cancelled twice and resurrected twice mainly because of the efforts of viewers. It is worth asking, however; why has Family Guy attained a level of fanaticism that repeatedly rescues it from permanent cancellation? Arguably, the Family Guy audience is made up predominantly of members of generation y and as such, the way they view the program and their relationship to it will differ to that of previous generations. In short, Family Guy was cancelled due to poor ratings, however, these ratings were a result of erratic scheduling that was not conducive to …

Financial Philanthropy Towards Australian Public Art Galleries By Individual Benefactors: Some Empirical Evidence From The National Gallery Of Victoria, Elisha London

Theses : Honours

The purpose of this study is to examine why individuals philanthropically contribute finances to public art galleries in Australia. As· government funding decreases philanthropy is becoming an increasingly attractive option for public art galleries as alternative sources of revenue need to be sought. A thorough understanding of the factors that influence giving is imperative for any organisation that engages in philanthropy as a revenue stream. This study examines these factors using a fundraising campaign conducted by the National Gallety of Victoria as a case in point. The motivations and characteristics of donors who gave to this campaign are examined using …

The Dancing Mind, Rebecca Mccormac

Theses : Honours

How is it that we go from the unknown to the known? Is there a parallel relationship between mind and body? How does the brain inform the body? An active approach to cognition conceives of the mind as one with the body. The human brain controls feeling, cognition, perception, action, learning and other basic functions, and therefore it is vital to consider the influence of neuroscience on the development of cognitive psychology and vice versa, when looking at a dancing body/mind.

Transforming Messiaen : The Application Of Elements Of The Musical Language Of Olivier Messiaen To The Contemporary Jazz Orchestra, Johannes Luebbers

Theses : Honours

The music of Olivier Messiaen is a unique and interesting contribution to the canon of 20^th Century art music, but one that has received little attention from the jazz world. Through a detailed study of his music, this dissertation aims to gain a deeper understanding of Messiaen's musical language and investigate the possibilities of applying that language within the jazz idiom. In addition to a discussion of Messiaen and his music, a detailed analysis of the author's own composition for pipe organ and jazz orchestra, Auguries of Innocence, will explore the results of this application. The complete scores and …

Tan Dun's Eight Memories In Watercolor: Insights Into Performance, Zhen Zeng

Theses : Honours

"Shostakovich, as· a composer also living under a dictatorship, taught me to express deep humanity. From Takemitsu, I learned that Western and Eastern instruments can be part of the same color palette. John Cage led me to discover structures and sounds as yet unknown, by always keeping an open mind. I owe deepest thanks to these three composers, whose contributions to music have also helped me develop myself---as a composer from a·. traditional culture, growing up in a high-pressure society, living in a now international world." (Tan Dun) The global reach of Tan Dun's music reached its zenith recently at …

Use Of A Weighted Matching Algorithm To Sequence Clusters In Spatial Join Processing, Husen Husen

Theses : Honours

One of the most expensive operations in a spatial database is spatial join processing. This study focuses on how to improve the performance of such processing. The main objective is to reduce the Input/Output (I/O) cost of the spatial join process by using a technique called cluster-scheduling. Generally, the spatial join is processed in two steps, namely filtering and refinement. The cluster-scheduling technique is performed after the filtering step and before the refinement step and is part of the housekeeping phase. The key point of this technique is to realise order wherein two consecutive clusters in the sequence have maximal …

An Exploratory Study Of Executive Hubris And Its Effect On How Chief Executive Officers In Small To Medium Enterprises Make Strategic Management Decisions, A. S. Parker

Theses : Honours

This exploratory study examined the nature of the recently conceptualised notion of executive hubris; and in particular the effect it may have on how chief executive officers in small to medium sized enterprises make their strategic management decisions. It was designed to explore executive hubris and strategic decision making in a limited sample of executives. On this basis the results are limited to this study and are not generalisable. A core aim of the study however; was to test qualitatively and quantitatively in a fundamental, exploratory way; Hambrick and Hiller's (2005) propositions that executive hubris has an effect on how …

Time In Kyrgyzstan, Robert Mcpherson

Theses : Honours

The topic of the exegesis is travel documentary photography. The exegesis is based on previous written academic work on travel documentary photography and it is related to my own experience when photographing the people and the landscapes of Kyrgyzstan. In the exegesis I argue that travel documentary photography is highly subjective and ambiguous. There is no such thing as a purely objective representation of the 'Other'. Rather it is and illusion of objectivity that emerges through the eye of the photographer. In travel documentary photography I argue that we make the 'Others' seem less like us than they are because …

Bob Brookmeyer: Composer, Performer, Pedagogue, Mace Francis

Theses : Honours

Before my California stay (1968-1978) I considered myself a player first and a writer second, although I did a lot of writing, from Ray Charles to Thad [Jones] and Mel [Lewis].1 Since 1979 I have come to view myself as a composer who also plays trombone; add conducting and teaching and that gives me 4 hats to wear. I do not have a swollen head, so they all fit nicely. (Brookmeyer, 1997, n.p.)

Although acknowledged as one of the pivotal figures in twentieth-century jazz, the career and the music of Bob Brookmeyer has received scant attention in secondary literature. This …

Impressions Of Standard Japanese And Osaka Dialect, Stephen Bumstead

Theses : Honours

In various countries there has been much research involving attitudes to standard and non-standard language (for example Giles, Baker and Fielding 1975, Strongman and Woosley 1967, Cheyne 1970), much of which has found a tendency to ascribe speakers of a standard dialect or accent with higher values in status traits such as intelligence, but lower values in solidarity traits such as sincerity, than speakers of a non-standard dialect or accent. The current research investigated and compared the attitudes towards standard Japanese and the Osaka dialect. The participants were 5 males and females born and raised in Tokyo and 5 males …

Developing A School Based Science Curriculum: Teachers' Work As Language Work, Jennifer Ann Barnett

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

While it is widely recognised that language is consequential in teachers' work within the classroom, this thesis argues that it is also consequential in their curriculum development work outside the classroom. The study takes a phenomenological approach based in a single school, and the key data sources are transcripts of teachers' meetings held to develop a new curriculum framework for their junior secondary science classes. The broad aims of the study are to better understand the ways in which language is consequential in that work, to consider the implications these have for understanding school based curriculum development, and to identify …

Reintroduction Ecology Of Mala (Lagorchestes Hirsutus) And Merrnine (Lagostrophus Fasciatus) At Shark Bay, Western Australia, Blair Hardman

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The transfer of threatened animals from one location to another in order to benefit the species is a technique frequently used by animal conservation managers. However, very few of these relocations have experimentally assessed the relative merits and disadvantages of commonly used release techniques. Two species of hare-wallaby, mala (Lagorchestes hirsutus) and merrnine (Lagostrophus fasciatus), were reintroduced in August 2001 onto Peron Peninsula in Western Australia. These threatened species were reintroduced using two release strategies (soft versus hard release), and their subsequent movements and body condition were monitored using radio-telemetry and trapping.