Digital Commons Network^™

Impact Of Extra-Curricular Activities On Adolescents' Connectedness And Cigarette Smoking: Final Report, Margaret Hall, Greg Hamilton, Therese Shaw, Donna Cross, Tommy Cordin, Leanne Lester, Stacey Waters

Research outputs pre 2011

In Australia, cigarette smoking is still the leading cause of preventable death and yet in the past 10 years, despite efforts that have been made in the classroom and through the media, there have been limited reductions in adolescent smoking. The Extra-curricular Project builds on the work of two other projects conducted by researchers from the Child Health Promotion Research Centre (CHPRC). The Smoking Cessation for Youth Project (SCYP), conducted by the Western Australian Centre for Health Promotion Research, led to the identification of connectedness as a key mediator of cigarette smoking. The role of extra-curricular activities in mediating school …

Some Problems In Network And Data Centre Management, David Veal, Gurpreet Kohli

Research outputs pre 2011

Computer networks are vital to the running of modern organisations. Network managers are often concerned with the running of data centres. This paper provides an overview of some of the more important issues in managing modern computer networks and data centres and the problems faced in undertaking this task. It would be impossible to provide a complete list which, due to the fluid nature of this industry, would become outdated very quickly. It is important that network managers have an awareness of modern Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) requirements, training and skills. There is also a need for network managers …

Experimental Demonstration Of A Tunable Laser Using An Soa And An Opto-Vlsi Processor, Muhsen Aljada, Rong Zheng, Kamal Alameh, Yong Lee

Research outputs pre 2011

In this paper we propose and experimentally demonstrate a tunable laser structure cascading a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) that generates broadband amplified spontaneous emission and a reflective Opto-VLSI processor that dynamically reflects arbitrarily wavelengths and injects them back into the SOA, thus synthesizing an output signal of variable wavelength. The wavelength tunablility is performed using digital phase holograms uploaded on the Opto-VLSI processor. Experimental results demonstrate a tuning range from 1524nm to 1534nm, and show that the proposed tunable laser structure has a stable performance.

Use Of The Wfg Toolkit And Pisa For Comparison Of Moeas, Lucas Bradstreet, Luigi Barone, Lyndon While, Simon Huband, Philip Hingston

Research outputs pre 2011

Understanding the behaviour of different optimisation algorithms is important in order to apply the best algorithm to a particular problem. The WFG toolkit was designed to aid this task for multi-objective evolutionary algorithms (MOEAs), offering an easily modifiable framework that allows practitioners the ability to test different features by "plugging" in different forms of transformations. In doing so, the WFG toolkit provides a set of problems that exhibit a variety of different characteristics. This paper presents a comparison between two state of the art MOEAs (NSGA-II and SPEA2) that exemplifies the unique capabilities of the WFG toolkit. By altering the …

Review Of Diabetes Among Indigenous Peoples, Australian Indigenous Healthinfonet

Research outputs pre 2011

This review provides detailed information on the extent of diabetes, and its complications and comorbidities among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, including: incidence and prevalence data; hospitalisations; mortality and burden of disease. This review discusses the issues of prevention and management of diabetes, and provides information on relevant programs, services, policies and strategies that address the health issue of diabetes among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

This review concludes by discussing possible future directions for combatting the growing epidemic of diabetes in Australia.

The review focuses primarily on type 2 diabetes among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people …

Hiv/Aids And Development In The Pacific, Trevor Cullen

Research outputs pre 2011

No abstract provided.

Delivering The Business Value Of Information Technology: Evaluation Practices Of Construction Sme's, P Love, Craig Standing

Research outputs pre 2011

With cal/sfrom the govemmentfor the construction industry to improve its peiformance and openly embrace information technology (IT), this research sought to examine the practices that organisations use to evaluate and justify their investments in IT. It was considered that this would enable those areas for improving the evaluation process to be identified and the business value of IT was maximised. A questionnaire survey was used to obtain information about the evaluation practices of 126 construction organisations. The analysis of their responses identified three key findings. First, different organisation types significantly differ in the amount they investment in IT and firm …

Recruiting And Retaining Gps And Patients In Intervention Studies: The Deps-Gp Project As A Case Study, M Williamson, J Pirkis, J Pfaff, O Tyson, Moira Sim, N Kerse, N Lautenschlager, N Stocks, O Almeida

Research outputs pre 2011

Background: Recruiting and retaining GPs for research can prove difficult, and may result in sub-optimal patient participation where GPs are required to recruit patients. Low participation rates may affect the validity of research. This paper describes a multi-faceted approach to maximise participation of GPs and their patients in intervention studies, using an Australian randomised controlled trial of a depression/suicidality management intervention as a case study. The paper aims to outline experiences that may be of interest to others considering engaging GPs and/or their patients in primary care studies. Methods: A case study approach is used to describe strategies for: (a) …

Success? The Impact Of Involving Customers In E-Commerce Development, Julian Terry, Craig Standing

Research outputs pre 2011

In e-commerce, customers have become Information System users. In this environment of non-mandatory usage, remote, untrained users need to quickly feel comfortable and satisfied with a site encounter. Throughout the literature for four decades, a commonly cited factor pertaining to system success has been user participation in the systems development process. Among other things this is likely to lead to increased user satisfaction and the perceived usefulness of the application. This study uses findings from thirty cases of recently completed e-commerce sites in which project leaders accounts of customer participation in e-commerce development activities are analysed, along with their perceptions …

It Devices And Energy Consumption, David Veal

Research outputs pre 2011

The need for energy conservation has been topical for many years and has gained importance with global warming scenarios and the increasing cost of energy. This paper examines energy consumption of common home IT devices such as routers, voice boxes, PCs and printers with respect to minimising standby power. Another problem of concern in energy usage as related to IT activity is the increasing electrical power consumption levels of data centres, along with data centre cooling problems and the attempts to enhance their energy efficiency. These scenarios illustrate small amounts of energy consumption used by vast numbers of device compared …

Effects Of Experimental Reduction Of Light Availability On The Seagrass Amphibolis Griffithii, P Mackey, Cj Collier, Paul Lavery

Research outputs pre 2011

The response of the meadow-forming seagrass Amphibolis griffithii (Black) den Hartog to light reduction was examined over a 3 mo period and a subsequent 1 mo recovery period. Morphological and physiological variables were measured in meadows subjected to an average reduction in photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) of 88% relative to unshaded controls. Leaf biomass, leaf cluster density and the number of leaves per cluster all declined in shaded plots, and after 3 mo were about 30, 50 and 60% of the controls, respectively. Leaf extension was one-third that of the control plots. Epiphyte biomass in shaded plots was 44% …

Evolving Players For An Ancient Game: Hnefatafl, Philip Hingston

Research outputs pre 2011

Hnefatafl is an ancient Norse game - an ancestor of chess. In this paper, we report on the development of computer players for this game. In the spirit of Blondie24, we evolve neural networks as board evaluation functions for different versions of the game. An unusual aspect of this game is that there is no general agreement on the rules: it is no longer much played, and game historians attempt to infer the rules from scraps of historical texts, with ambiguities often resolved on gut feeling as to what the rules must have been in order to achieve a balanced …

Perceptions And Needs Of Rural Young People In The South-West Of Western Australia : Implications For Pedagogy, Rhonda Oliver, Lynelle Watts, Joan Strikwerda-Brown, David Hodgson, Marilyn Palmer

Research outputs pre 2011

The original purpose of this study was to investigate youth needs, specifically in the south western region (the 'South West') of Western Australia, and then to explore how these needs might be addressed in terms of current curriculum and teaching practices. The following research questions guided our investigation:

- What are the educational and occupational aspirations of young people from the South West of Western Australia?

- What do young people identify as influences on their educational and occupational aspirations and attainment?

As the data collection progressed, it was evident to all those involved that, whilst there were expressed needs, …

Sampled Fiber Gratings For High-Resolution And High-Speed Photonic Signal Processing, Mingya Shen, Kamal Alameh

Research outputs pre 2011

A novel sampled grating for high-resolution, highspeed signal processing is presented. Simulation based on Sinc2 sampled and rational sampled fiber grating modeling show that a large number of sub-ps time delay steps are attainable, corresponding to a sampling frequency in excess of 1THz. Design method is described for deriving sampling functions that meet specific true-time-delay profile requirements.

Integrated Broadband Microphotonics Beamformer For Adaptive Nulling In Smart Antennas, Budi Juswardy, Kamal Alameh, Yong Lee

Research outputs pre 2011

This paper presents an integrated MicroPhotonic beamformer that processes RF-modulated optical signals to adaptively synthesise multiple broadband nulls in smart phased-array antennas, The beam former is designed to operate at centre frequency of 5.6 GHz with I GHz bandwidth. Designs of the different photonic and RF components are presented. Simulation results show that a 4-element MicroPhotonic broadband smart antenna beamformer operating in the 5.1-6,1- GHz range can generate three broadband nulls, with less than 1.121 0 beam squint.

Wavelength-Encoded Ocdma System Using Opto-Vlsi Processors, Muhsen Aljada, Kamal Alameh

Research outputs pre 2011

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a 2.5 Gbits/sper user wavelength-encoded optical code-division multiple-access encoder-decoder structure based on opto-VLSI processing. Each encoder and decoder is constructed using a single 1D opto-very-large-scale-integrated (VLSI) processor in conjunction with a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) array of different Bragg wavelengths. The FBG array spectrally and temporally slices the broadband input pulse into several components and the opto-VLSI processor generates codewords using digital phase holograms. System performance is measured in terms of the autocorrelation and cross-correlation functions as well as the eye diagram.

Optimization Of Liquid-Crystal Spatial Light Modulator For Precise Phase Generation, Seow-Hwang Eng, Dong Mei Cai, Zhenglin Wang, Kamal Alameh, Wenhan Jiang

Research outputs pre 2011

Spatial light modulators (SLMs) are recently emerging as wavefront generation or reconstruction devices. In this paper, we use a liquid-crystal SLM (LC-SLM) as a wavefront generation device through the modulation of the spatial phase distribution of an incident light beam. We characterize the phase modulation performance of the LC-SLM, and identified a polarization-configuration to minimize its amplitude modulation effects in order to maximize the contrast of reconstructed phase holograms. We also investigated the feasibility of determining the optical surface uniformity of the LC-SLM through computations of the interference fringes, and identified the disadvantages of this method. This new approach may …

A Self-Assessment Tool To Help Learners Develop Teamwork Skills, Mark Mcmahon, Joseph Luca, Christina John

Research outputs pre 2011

Teamwork skills and the ability to effectively collaborate with peers continue to be hailed as essential skills by employers and higher education funding authorities, and many employers require new graduates to demonstrate these skills as part of the selection criteria. How then can we prepare graduates for this employment market that actively assesses teamwork and other generic skills such as communication, problem solving and leadership skills? This paper outlines the self-assessment component of an on-line learning tool designed to help students develop understandings of themselves and their skill levels. These results are used to help select team roles and provide …

Final Report : Bellevue Sustainable Industry Project, Beth Walker, Janice Redmond, Ute Goeft

Research outputs pre 2011

This report is the result of a grant from the W A Waste Management Board's Waste Management and Recycling Fund to investigate the attitudes and practices of Bellevue business owner-managers to environmental issues and waste management since 2005. In 2005 data was collected to provide baseline information of the level of business interest in the environment and waste management practices in the Bellevue industrial area. After. the analysis of that data was reported, an intervention program was implemented by the Swan Catchment Council. The intervention program included the following...

Primary Connections: Reforming Science Teaching In Australian Primary Schools, Mark Hackling, Shelley Peers, Vaughan Prain

Research outputs pre 2011

Concerns about the status and quality of science teaching in Australian primary schools led the Australian Academy of Science to develop Primary Connections over 2004-8 with funding from DEST and the support of states and territories. Primary Connections is a teacher professional learning program supported with curriculum resources that aims to enhance learning outcomes in science and the literacies of science by supporting both inservice and preservice primary teachers to teach science effectively. Primary Connections is a systematic, widespread and innovative reform that complements programs within states and territories. The program is based on an innovative teaching and learning approach …

State Model Diagrams As A Pedagogical Tool - An International Evaluation, Stanislaw Maj, David Veal

Research outputs pre 2011

State model diagrams (SMDs) have been successfully used as the pedagogical foundation of network technology curriculum. SMDs selectively integrate relevant output from network devices by means of tables. SMDs are modular and hierarchical, thereby providing top-down decomposition by means of levelling, allowing a complex network to be partitioned or structured into independent units of an amenable size so that the entire system can be more easily understood. An overview of the entire network or increasing levels of detail may be obtained while maintaining links and interfaces between the different levels. Furthermore, SMDs allow technical detail to be introduced in an …

Cylindrical Quasi-Cavity Waveguide For Static Wide Angle Pattern Projection, Kaveh Sahba, Kamal Alameh, Clifton Smith, Arie Paap

Research outputs pre 2011

Beam deflection methods such as rotary mirrors and motorized turning optical heads suffer from a variety of electro-mechanical related problems which affect laser scanning performance. These include wobble, jitter, wear, windage and synchronization issues. A novel optical structure consisting of two concentric and cylindrical interfaces with unique optical coating properties for the static projection of a laser spot array over a wide angle is demonstrated. The resulting ray trajectory through the waveguide is modeled using linear equations. Spot size growth is modeled using previously defined ray transfer matrices for tilted optical elements. The model is validated by comparison with experimental …

Always The Optimist?, Eric Kordt, Craig Standing

Research outputs pre 2011

The purpose of this research is to determine the attributional style (optimistic or pessimistic) of Information Technology support workers and executive managers using attribution theory, This research suggests that support workers are likely to exhibit an optimistic attributional style whilst executive managers are likely to exhibit a pessimistic attributional style, The differences in attributional style reflected in aspects such as the strength to participate (support workers) or avoid (executive managers) projects destined for failure, The research suggests that managers can positively influence the causal dimensions of attributional style by increasing support worker involvement, supporting executive managers, empowering employees and supporting …

Importance Of Verification And Validation Of Data Sources In Attaining Information Superiority, Gautham Kasinath, Leisa J. Armstrong

Research outputs pre 2011

Information superiority has been defined as a state that is achieved when a competitive advantage is derived from the ability to exploit a superior information position. To achieve such a superior information position enterprises and nations, alike, must not only collect and record correct, accurate, timely and useful information but also ensure that information recorded is not lost to competitors due to lack of comprehensive security and leaks. Further, enterprises that aim to attain information superiority must also ensure mechanisms of validating and verifying information to reduce the chances of mis-information. Although, research has been carried out into ways to …

Waiting In Line: African Refugee Students In Western Australian Schools, Yvonne Haig, Rhonda Oliver

Research outputs pre 2011

This study has been commissioned by the Westralian Association of Teachers English to Speakers of Other Languages (WATESOL) to determine the perceptions and expectations of those stakeholders involved in the education of African refugee children.

To do this study first a literature review was undertaken in order for the researchers to determine how much information was available and to improve their understanding of the subject matter. It appears that there is a growing body of research in Australia investigating the social, psychological and educational needs of African refugees, particularly those who have faced trauma (Earnest, IIousen, & Gillieatt, 2007; 2004). …

Using Technology Supported Inquiry Learning To Engage First Year Students In Large Classes, Ron Oliver

Research outputs pre 2011

This paper describes a study that explored the promotion of learner engagement among first year students through a technology facilitated inquiry learning approach. Students were given a series of authentic inquiry tasks supported by a raft of learning scaffolds. The technology-facilitated system supported timely feedback and support and administrative efficiencies for the tutors and teacher. This paper describes the web based system and reports aspects of an inquiry exploring the factors seen to influence students' levels of engagement and achievement. Recommendations are drawn from the study for further instantiations of the approach with appropriate revisions and changes.

Design-Based Research And Doctoral Students: Guidelines For Preparing A Dissertation Proposal, J Herrington, S Mckenney, T Reeves, Ron Oliver

Research outputs pre 2011

At first glance, design-based research may appear to be such a long-term and intensive approach to educational inquiry that doctoral students, most of whom expect to complete their Ph.D. degree in 4-5 years, should not attempt to adopt this approach for their doctoral dissertations. In this paper, we argue that design-based research is feasible for doctoral students, and that candidates should be encouraged to engage in it. More specifically, we describe the components of a dissertation proposal or prospectus that utilizes design-based research methods in the context of educational technology research.

Triangulation Based Static Wide Angle Laser Scanning For Obstacle Detection, Kaveh Sahba, Kamal Alameh, Clifton Smith

Research outputs pre 2011

This paper demonstrates discrete laser spot projection over a wide angle using a novel cylindrical quasi-cavity waveguide, with no moving parts. Furthermore, the distance to each spot is calculated using active laser triangulation. The triangulation arrangement and the trajectory of principal rays are modelled using a system of linear equations based on optical geometry. Linear algebra is used to derive the unique baseline and outgoing angle of every projected beam. The system is calibrated by finding optimal values for uncertain instrumental parameters using constrained non-linear optimization. Distances calculated indoors result in accuracies of over 93%

Rerouting Technique For Faster Restoration Of Preempted Calls, Iftekhar Ahmad, Joarder Kamruzzaman, Daryoush Habibi

Research outputs pre 2011

In a communication network where resources are shared between instantaneous request (IR) and book-ahead (BA) connections, activation of future BA connections causes preemption of many on-going IR connections upon resource scarcity. A solution to this problem is to reroute the preempted calls via alternative feasible paths, which often does not ensure acceptably low disruption of service. In this paper, a new rerouting strategy is proposed that uses the destination node to initiate the rerouting and thereby reduces the rerouting time, which ultimately improves the service disruption time. Simulations on a widely used network topology suggest that the proposed rerouting scheme …

Use Of Online Tools To Aid Group Work, Martin Masek

Research outputs pre 2011

In this paper we examine the use of online tools – namely wikis and blogs in aiding group work for a large and diverse student-based team. The results suggest that while students see the generic skill of being able to work in a team as important for their future career, using blogs and wikis is not seen to be as important. It was also found that the flexibility of these tools provides more motivation for students than having assessment based on their use.