Digital Commons Network^™

Self-Restraint Admission Control For Ad-Hoc Wlans, Hushairi Zen, Daryoush Habibi, Iftekhar Ahmad

Research outputs pre 2011

Admission control is an important mechanism for sustaining throughput and supporting quality of service (QoS) for real-time traffic in a wireless local area network (WLAN). In an adhoc WLAN scenario where no access point (AP) is available, admission control has to be self-managed by each node. We propose a self-restraining admission control mechanism that works by monitoring the congestion level of the network in the adhoc WLAN. Wireless nodes can listen to all nodes within their range and be aware of the collision rates. A node wishing to join the network measures the current collision rate, and predicts the post-admission …

The Potential Role Of Life-Writing Therapy In Facilitating 'Recovery' For Those With Mental Illness, Philip Max Neilsen, Ffion Murphy

Research outputs pre 2011

This article addresses the experience of designing and conducting life-writing workshops for a group of clients with severe mental illness; the aim of this pilot study was to begin to determine whether such writing about the self can aid in individual ‘recovery’, as that term is understood by contemporary health professionals. A considerable amount has been written about the potential of creative writing in mental health therapy; the authors of this article provide a brief summary of that literature, then of the concept of ‘recovery’ in a psychology and arts therapy context. There follows a first-hand account by one of …

Converging Voice, Video And Data In Wlan With Qos Support, Hushairi Zen, Daryoush Habibi, Justin Wyatt, Iftekhar Ahmad

Research outputs pre 2011

Providing quality of service (QoS) for converging traffic in wireless local area network (WLAN) is still a major issue for the researchers and industries. Due to the limited bandwidth and exposure to unpredictable interferences in a wireless environment, efficient management and optimization of the access protocols are essential to provide acceptable QoS for real-time traffic and fairness to best-effort traffic. In this paper, we investigate the throughput and delay performance of the legacy IEEE 802.11 and the 802.11e when carrying converging data in WLAN. We evaluate our recently proposed protocol known as wireless token network protocol (WTN) and show that …

Node Admission Control For Multimedia Traffic In Ad-Hoc Wlans, Hushairi Zen, Daryoush Habibi, Iftekhar Ahmad, Alexander Rassau

Research outputs pre 2011

In this paper, we design an admission control scheme for ad hoc WLAN based on self-restraint mechanism. The self-restraint admission control mechanism is implemented in each of the wireless nodes instead of the access point (AP). It has two important admission control abilities: first, it can restrain itself from joining the network if the network channel is congested; second, a joining node can drop itself from the network if the channel becomes congested as a result of its admission. We simulate an ad hoc WLAN and show that the self-restraining mechanism works effectively in sustaining traffic in ad hoc WLAN …

Using Design-Based Research For The Evolutionary Development Of An Online Metacognitive Tool, Joseph Luca, Mark Mcmahon

Research outputs pre 2011

No abstract provided.

Creating A Web-Based Knowledge-Building Team: Design Of Tasks, Scaffolds And Social Affordances, Catherine Mcloughlin, Joseph Luca

Research outputs pre 2011

In a blended learning environment, where students undertake professional skills development in the workplace, a flexible environment is designed in order to support problem solving in project management. The design of the environment, informed by socio-cultural theory, was intended to support knowledge building among students, and in particular to support exchange of ideas, peer review and commentary on solutions presented to problems, and a reflective space for exchange of ideas. The online environment incorporates a number of functional affordances that scaffold knowledge exchange, collaborative tasks and peer commentary. The design features of the online site are described and a proposed …

Photography After The Incidents: We're Not Afraid, Panizza Allmark

Research outputs pre 2011

This article will look at the use of personal photographs that attempt to convey a sense of social activism as a reaction against global terrorism. Moreover, I argue that the photographs uploaded to the site “We’re Not Afraid”, which began after the London bombings in 2005, presents a forum to promote the pleasures of western cultural values as a defence against the anxiety of terror. What is compelling are the ways in which the Website promotes, seemingly, everyday modalities through what may be deemed as the domestic snapshot. Nevertheless, the aura from the context of these images operates to arouse …

Novel Broadband Reconfigurable Optical Add-Drop Multiplexer Employing Custom Fiber Arrays And Opto-Vlsi Processors, Feng Xiao, Budi Juswardy, Kamal Alameh, Yong Tak Lee

Research outputs pre 2011

A reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexer (ROADM) structure based on using a custom-made fiber array and an Opto-VLSI processor is proposed and demonstrated. The fiber array consists of N pairs of angled fibers corresponding to N channels, each of which can independently perform add, drop, and thru functions through a reconfigurable Opto-VLSI beam steerer. Experimental results show that the ROADM structure can attain an average add, drop/thru insertion loss of 5.5 dB and a uniformity of 0.3 dB over a wide bandwidth from 1524 nm to 1576 nm, and a drop/thru crosstalk level as small as -40 dB.

Domestic Space: Virtually Underestimated?, Julie Dare

Research outputs pre 2011

This paper discusses the concept of domestic space as a transformative communications environment; a space in which relationships among individuals, families and ultimately the community are sustained, and in some cases transformed. Drawing on a research project currently being conducted in Western Australia, this paper explores communication within domestic space from an historical (Fischer, 1992; Moyal, 1992) and empirical perspective (Frissen, 1995; Holloway & Green, 2004), and contends that the seemingly mundane quality of the domestic sphere has resulted in it being underestimated as an avenue for research. Moreover, a research focus on young people’s uptake of information and communications …

Information Systems Teaching And Research In West Australian Universities, Janice Burn, Craig Standing, Chad Lin

Research outputs pre 2011

The authors of this chapter examine the current state of the development of information systems (IS) teaching and research within Western Australia (WA). A brief overview of the WA environment is followed by an exploration of teaching and research in the four main universities. This is examined against the framework for the study and, in particular, the impact of social processes (Ariav et al. 1987; Klein et al. 1991) and local contingencies (Culnan et al. 1993; Checkland and Holwell 1998), which are found to be of relevance to historical developments.

Integrated True-Time Delay Unit For Broadband Inteference Nulling In Phased-Array Antenna, Budi Juswardy, Kamal Alameh

Research outputs pre 2011

This paper discusses an integrated true-time delay generation unit based on microminiaturisation of photonic and electronic components. The design, simulation, and performance of important building blocks for implementing a true-time delay-based phased-array antenna are presented.

Tunable Photonic Rf Signal Processor Using Opto-Vlsi, Budi Juswardy, Feng Xiao, Kamal Alameh

Research outputs pre 2011

A tunable photonic RF signal processor is proposed and demonstrated. The filter structure comprises a reconfigurable Opto-VLSI processor for tunability, arrayed waveguide gratings for wavelength slicing and multiplexing, a custom-made fiber array for wavelength routing and dropping, and high-dispersion fibres for true-time delay generation. The processor structure enables positive and negative weights to be synthesised thus realising arbitrary responses. The proof-of-concept of the tunable photonic RF signal processor is experimentally demonstrated.

Systemic Problems In Information Technology Adoption And Use: A Systems Thinking Perspective, Syed Arshad Raza, Craig Standing

Research outputs pre 2011

Understanding and creating the conditions under which information systems will be embraced by human organizations (thinking systems) remain a high-priority research issue. Despite numerous benefits associated with Information Technology (IT), there exist some intervening factors (systemic problems or issues) that impede technology’s widespread adoption and use in organisations. Established information technology adoption models like TAM, TRA etc. view technology adoption from the users’ perspective without taking a strategic perspective into account. As an alternative focus we suggest that addressing systemic problems can be a method of reducing fundamental barriers to organizational progress. This paper presents some real life examples of …

Association Of Alleles Carried At Tnfa -850 And Bat1 -22 With Alzheimer's Disease, Anastazija Gnjec, Katarzyna D'Costa, Simon Laws, Ross Hedley, Kelvin Balakrishnan, Kevin Taddei, Georgia Martins, Athena Paton, Giuseppe Verdile, Samuel Gandy, Anthony Broe, William Brooks, Hayley Bennett, Olivier Piguet, Patricia Price, Judith Miklossy, Joachim Hallmayer, Patrick Mcgeer, Ralph Martins

Research outputs pre 2011

Background: Inflammatory changes are a prominent feature of brains affected by Alzheimer's disease (AD). Activated glial cells release inflammatory cytokines which modulate the neurodegenerative process. These cytokines are encoded by genes representing several interleukins and TNFA, which are associated with AD. The gene coding for HLA-B associated transcript 1 (BAT1) lies adjacent to TNFA in the central major histocompatibility complex (MHC). BAT1, a member of the DEAD-box family of RNA helicases, appears to regulate the production of inflammatory cytokines associated with AD pathology. In the current study TNFA and BAT1 promoter polymorphisms were analysed in AD and control cases and …

Potential Of Sequential Cropping In The Management Of Root-Knot Nematodes In Okra, A. N. Mweke, J. W. Kimenju, A. A. Seif, E. W. Mutitu, G. K. Mutua

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

The response of different crops to a mixed population of root-knot nematodes, Meloidogyne javanica and M. incognita and their potential as suppressants in sequential cropping systems was evaluated in greenhouse and field experiments. Crops rated as resistant were five maize cultivars, four sorghum cultivars, two millet varieties, guwar and two pigeonpea cultivars which had galling indices ranging between 1.4-3.6. cowpea cv. K80 was rated as moderately resistant with a galling index of 4 while greengram and cowpea cv. KKI were rated as susceptible with galling indices ranging from 5.6 to 7.4. Four crops namely sweetcorn, babycorn, maize cv. Pioneer (Ph3253) …

On The Impact Of Winter Conditions On The Dynamics Of An Isolated Population, Lev V. Nedorezov, E. V. Volkova, Alexandr M. Sadykov

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

This chapter is devoted to the analysis of single-species population dynamics models with overlapping and non-overlapping generations. Within the framework of all models it is assumed that there are no activities of individuals during the wintertime (as, for example, is the case for forest insect populations in the boreal zone), and changes in population size at these moments are described with a broken trajectory (“jump down”). Also, it is assumed that the fecundity of individuals is constant and that the quota of individuals surviving winter depends on the within-year population dynamics. The dynamics of the models, which are determined by …

Life History Of The Predatory Mite Phytoseiulus Fragariae On Tetranychus Evansi And Tetranychus Urticae (Acari: Phytoseiidae, Tetranychidae) At Five Temperatures, Geraldo José Nascimento De Vasconcelos, Gilberto José De Moraes, Ítalo Delalibera Júnior, Markus Knapp

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Tetranychus evansi Baker and Pritchard and Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae) are important pests of Solanaceae in many countries. Several studies have demonstrated that T. urticae is an acceptable prey to many predatory mites, although the suitability of this prey depends on the host plant. T. evansi, has been shown to be an unfavorable prey to most predatory mites that have been tested against it. The predator Phytoseiulus fragariae Denmark and Schicha (Acari: Phytoseiidae) has been found in association with the two species in Brazil. The objective of this work was to compare biological parameters of P. fragariae on T. …

Seasonal Variation In The Physical Characteristics Of The Copepod Calanus Finmarchicus (Gunnerus) Along The North Atlantic, A. A. Yusuf, L. Webster

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Physical oceanographic changes such as the North Atlantic Oscillation, which manifested in the 1990s, are said to affect the seasonal/stage dependent, vertical migrations and life cycle of Calanus finmarchicus. C4-C6 stages of C. finmarchicus collected during spring and summer in 2002 from the Irminger Sea, Greenland Sea, Iceland shelf and the Raykjanes Ridge were analysed microscopically for their prosome and total body lengths and gravimetrically for dry weights. Dry weight ranged from 60 μg individual-1 in C4 to 326.6 μg individual-1 in C6 stages. Total body lengths showed an increase with sample stage and season (2.10 mm in spring C4 …

Concentration-Dependent Parsimonious Releaser Roles Of Gregarious Male Pheromone Of The Desert Locust, Schistocerca Gregaria, Edwin Rono, Peter G.N. Njagi, Magzoub O. Bashir, Ahmed Hassanali

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

The responses of (i) groups of crowd-reared mature males of desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria to a choice of two columns of air, one permeated with different concentrations of phenylacetonitrile (PAN), the major component of gregarious-phase male-produced pheromone, and the other untreated, and (ii) individual crowd-reared mature males of the insect to varying concentration gradients of PAN, were studied in two different types of arena. In the choice assay, locusts preferred to be within PAN-permeated air column at low relative doses of the pheromone, but away from PAN at high relative doses. In the second assay, individual locusts were arrested close …

Is It Meaningless To Talk About 'The Internet'?, Lelia Rosalind Green

Research outputs pre 2011

This paper suggests that there is no longer any fixed meaning to the term 'Internet'. Instead, the Internet is created anew in the hands of each individual user and reflects their prioritie!i and interests. At the same time, the dynamism of Internet innovation and development is such that a burgeoning range of options has become available, allowing Internet users to customise and create their online environment to approxima.te a personal manifestation of what we might call, in a generic sense, 'their Internet'. In part, this shift has been reflected in something as mundane as the everyday usage of the word. …

Physiological Characteristics Of The Seagrass Posidonia Sinuosa Along A Depth-Related Gradient Of Light Availability, Catherine Collier, Paul Lavery, Peter Ralph, Ray Masini

Research outputs pre 2011

Physiological plasticity has the capacity to prolong seagrass survival under reduced light conditions. However, when light is attenuated across a depth gradient, the relative importance of this over other mechanisms for tolerating long-term light reduction (such as morphological adjustments and shoot loss) has been questioned. This study aimed to describe a number of the physiological characteristics of Posidonia sinuosa Cambridge et Kuo along a depth-related gradient of light availability (1.6 to 9.0 m depth) and infer how these characteristics are important for the long-term maintenance of the meadow. Rapid light curve-derived parameters, light harvesting pigments, photoprotective pigments and nutrient and …

A Study Into The Forensic Recoverability Of Data From 2nd Hand Blackberry Devices: World-Class Security, Foiled By Humans, Craig Valli, Andrew Jones

Research outputs pre 2011

Blackberry RIM devices are arguably one of the more secure platforms for email, calendaring and voice. It is one of the few devices in this arena that has approval for carrying restricted security classifications. Blackberry devices do suffer from the same basic fundamental flaw in that they have a human operator. This research was about the blind purchase of Blackberry devices from auctions. Of the 15 Blackberry examined in this study 3 were able to be fully recovered. They all revealed personal and corporate details about the users of the devices.

The 2007 Analysis Of Information Remaining On Disks Offered For Sale On The Second Hand Market, Andrew Jones, Craig Valli, Glenn Dardick, Iain Sutherland

Research outputs pre 2011

All organisations, whether in the public or private sector, increasingly use computers and other devices that contain computer hard disks for the storage and processing of information relating to their business, their employees or their customers. Individual home users also increasingly use computers and other devices containing computer hard disks for the storage and processing of information relating to their private, personal affairs. It continues to be clear that the majority of organisations and individual home users still remain ignorant or misinformed of the volume and type of information that is stored on the hard disks that these devices contain …

The Relationship Between Isometric And Dynamic Strength In College Football Players, Michael R. Mcguigan, Jason Winchester

Research outputs pre 2011

Previous research has demonstrated the importance of both dynamic and isometric maximal strength and rate of force development (RFD) in athletic populations. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between measures of isometric force (PF), RFD, jump performance and strength in collegiate football athletes. The subjects in this study were twenty-two men [(mean ± SD):age 18.4 ± 0.7 years; height 1.88 ± 0.07 m; mass 107.6 ± 22.9 kg] who were Division I college football players. They were tested for PF using the isometric mid thigh pull exercise. Explosive strength was measured as RFD from the isometric …

Falls, Depression And Antidepressants In Later Life: A Large Primary Care Appraisal, Ngaire Kerse, Leon Flicker, Jon J. Pfaff, Brian Draper, Nicola T. Lautenschlager, Moira Sim, John Snowdon, Osvaldo P Almeida

Research outputs pre 2011

Background: Depression and falls are common and co-exist for older people. Safe management of each of these conditions is important to quality of life.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was used to examine medication use associated with injurious and non-injurious falls in 21,900 community-dwelling adults, aged 60 years or over from 383 Australian general practices recruited for the DEPS-GP Project. Falls and injury from falls, medication use, depressive symptoms (Primary Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9)), clinical morbidity, suicidal ideation and intent, health status (SF-12 Health Survey), demographic and lifestyle information was reported in a standardised survey.

Findings: Respondents were 71.8 years (sd 7.7) …

Less Than Equal: Secularism, Religious Pluralism And Privilege, Anne Aly, Lelia Rosalind Green

Research outputs pre 2011

In its preamble, The Western Australian Charter of Multiculturalism (WA) commits the state to becoming: “A society in which respect for mutual difference is accompanied by equality of opportunity within a framework of democratic citizenship”. One of the principles of multiculturalism, as enunciated in the Charter, is “equality of opportunity for all members of society to achieve their full potential in a free and democratic society where every individual is equal before and under the law”. An important element of this principle is the “equality of opportunity ... to achieve ... full potential”. The implication here is that those who …

Carbohydrate Gel Ingestion And Immunoendocrine Responses To Cycling In Temperate And Hot Conditions, Jonathan Peake, Jeremiah J. Peiffer, Christopher R. Abbiss, Kazunori Nosaka, Paul B. Laursen, Katsuhiko Suzuki

Research outputs pre 2011

No abstract provided.

13c And 15n Translocation Within And Among Shoots In Two Posidonia Species From Western Australia, Patricia Prado, Catherine Jane Collier, Paul Lavery

Research outputs pre 2011

Translocation of 13C and 15N was investigated at the spatial scales of within-shoot (i.e. the seagrass clonal unit including leaves and associated vertical rhizome) and among-shoots in a mixed meadow of Posidonia sinuosa and P. australis. Incubation with 13C and 15N was conducted in either the oldest leaf of a shoot (i.e. within-shoot scale) or in the first shoot on the 4th or 5th branch of the main axis (i.e. among-shoots scale) and collected several times within a 1 mo period. We tested the following hypotheses: (1) developmental features in P. australis such as thicker and more open vascular system, …

Mad About The Boy, Debra Mayrhofer

Research outputs pre 2011

The media coverage of an out-of-control teenage party in the Melbourne suburb of Narre Warren on 12 January 2008, and its construction of the protagonist who threw the party, has highlighted once again the inequitable treatment of youth, particularly adolescent males, in the Australian media. This paper examines the coverage in terms of the discursive strategies used by the mainstream Australian media to legitimise and naturalise the denigration and humiliation of the boy involved. It will discuss the ongoing demonisation of young males in general, and the concomitant ‘panics’ about their degeneration into moral lassitude, as well as the particular …

We've Thrown Away The Pens, But Are They Learning? Using Blogs In Higher Education, Katrina Strampel, Ron Oliver

Research outputs pre 2011

In today’s university classrooms, “the time of restricting students products and learning opportunities to ink on paper are past” (Siegle, 2007). Blogs are only one of many computer-mediated technologies starting to dominate blended and wholly online courses. Most people assume that using these technologies, because it is what the students want, will translate into increased learning opportunities. As the literature continuously asserts, however, learning, and especially reflection, does not just happen (Boud, Keogh, & Walker, 1985). It seems imperative, therefore, that extra measures are taken when any technology is being implemented in a university classroom to ensure high levels of …