Digital Commons Network^™

Scale And Justice In Water Allocation, Marian J. Patrick

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Water allocation is a fundamental part of water resources management. Water allocation is often a contested process because it involves multiple uses and users of water. Issues of justice arise when resources are, or are perceived to be, in short supply. When water is allocated the rules for the distribution of the resource may result in just outcomes for some stakeholders but may create injustices for other stakeholders. Issues of scale thus form an important component of water allocation. This thesis draws from an amalgam of ideas on justice, scale and water management and aims to present a conceptual framework …

A Method For Securing Online Community Service: A Study Of Selected Western Australian Councils, Sunsern Limwiriyakul

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Since the Internet was made publicly accessible, it has become increasingly popular and its deployment has been broad and global thereby facilitating a range of available online services such as Electronic Mail (email), news or bulletins, Internet Relay Chat (IRC) and World Wide Web (WWW). Progressively, other online services such as telephony, video conference, video on demand, Interactive Television (ITV) and Geographic Information System (GIS) have been integrated with the Internet and become publicly available. Presently, Internet broadband communication services incorporating both wired and wireless network technologies has seen the emergence of the concept of a digital community which has …

The Experiences Of Cancer Survivors As They Transition From Chemotherapy Treatment To Life After Cancer, Violet Platt

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study explored and described the experience of people with a diagnosis of cancer, as they transitioned from life as a chemotherapy patient to life after treatment as a cancer survivor. The purpose of this study was to ultimately improve the care of people as they transitioned into life after completion of chemotherapy treatment. There is minimal information related to this phase of the cancer trajectory, therefore this study was intentionally exploratory and descriptive. To achieve the proposed outcome a two-phased approach was undertaken. In Phase One a qualitative approach was followed using Grounded Theory to the descriptive level of …

A Struggle For Recognition: The War Widows' Guild In Western Australia 1946-1975 ; And, Exegesis: Researching And Writing An Organisational History, Melinda Tognini

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This thesis comprises an organisational history of the War Widow' Guild Australia WA Inc., and an essay about the research and writing process I undertook to construct such a history. The history outlines the development, struggles and achievements of the War Widows’ Guild in Western Australia from 1946 to 1975. While many were celebrating the end of the war in 1945, thousands of war widows faced an uncertain future without their husbands. Although Prime Minister John Curtin addressed the issue of war widows' pensions as part of his Post War Reconstruction initiatives, the pension was well below the basic wage. …

Implementation Of Initiatives To Reform The Quality Of Education In Rural Ghanaian Junior High Schools, Agatha Inkoom

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Despite Ghana's record investment in education, in 2008, only 40% of students passed the Basic Education Certificate Examinations (BECE) at the end of junior high school and gained admission into senior high school. Urban schools continue to outperform rural schools and the gap between Ghana‟s best and worst performing schools continues to widen. This study investigated the effectiveness of education policy implementation and how this has impacted on education reform in one rural district of Ghana‟s Upper West Region. The research investigated the status of education in Junior High Schools, the impact of Reform 2007 and the factors that influenced …

Multi-Wavelength, Multi-Beam, Photonic Based Sensor For Object Discrimination And Positioning, Kavitha Venkataraayan

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Over the last decade, substantial research efforts have been dedicated towards the development of advanced laser scanning systems for discrimination in perimeter security, defence, agriculture, transportation, surveying and geosciences. Military forces, in particular, have already started employing laser scanning technologies for projectile guidance, surveillance, satellite and missile tracking; and target discrimination and recognition. However, laser scanning is relatively a new security technology. It has previously been utilized for a wide variety of civil and military applications. Terrestrial laser scanning has found new use as an active optical sensor for indoors and outdoors perimeter security. A laser scanning technique with moving …

Alignment Of Intended Learning Outcomes, Curriculum And Assessment In A Middle School Science Program, Reid J. Smith

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study focused on the intended learning outcomes, curriculum and assessment in the science curriculum offered at a regional independent Middle School in the state of Victoria, Australia. In-school assessment has indicated that the current science curriculum of this Middle School may not develop students' skills in scientific literacy as effectively as intended. One hypothesis to explain this deficit is that there is a misalignment of intended outcomes, curriculum materials and assessment. This study aimed to determine the extent to which the intended curriculum and assessment in this Victorian middle years' science program is aligned to its stated goals and …

Causes And Effects Of Physical Injuries To Prison Officers Employed In A High Risk And High Need Offender Management Environment In Western Australia, Bigboy Ngwenya

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Prison Officers (POs) involved in high need offender management frequently face risks that could affect their health, safety and wellbeing. Several studies have shown that direct client centred violence, inadequate management systems and the general nature of prison environments are major factors impacting on the well being of POs (Fisher & Gunnison, 2001; Kiekbusch, Price, & Theis, 2003; Mitchell, Mackenzie, Styve, & Gover, 2000).There is limited literature on causes and effects of physical injuries on this group of law enforcements officers. This is the first study conducted in Western Australia (WA) that investigated the causes and effects of physical injuries …

Prisoner Reentry And Reintegration : Perspectives Of The Women Involved In Outcare's St John Of God Women's Program, Melissa Lackner

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Promoting and supporting the successful transition of prisoners into the wider community following release is a challenge that has received increasing attention on the part of both researchers and policymakers alike, especially considering the great costs to the community of crime and incarceration. Consequently, literature in this area has grown considerably, spurred by criminal justice interests in reducing recidivism and social justice interests in improving the opportunities and life circumstances of returning prisoners. This literature has however, traditionally been comprised of international studies based exclusively on male populations or with disregard for the differentiation between males and females. Although there …

Microstructure And Mechanical Properties Of Cold Drawn Steel Wires, Ning Liu

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Cold drawn eutectoid steel wires have been widely used for a variety of applications, such as suspension bridges, steel cords for automobile tires, and springs. Much research has been done to increase their mechanical strength. With advances in modern production technology, both the drawing speed and the quality of drawn steels have been enhanced. After a careful literature survey, it is obvious that some issues are still controversial. As Y.S. Yang, J.G. Bae and C.G. Park mentioned, the lamellar spacing, thickness and volume fraction of cementites have all reached the nanometer regime, and the conventional theory is not enough to …

Reducing Risk And Injury To Transit Officers, Christine Teague

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This thesis examines whether an understanding of the communication and safety culture of transit officers, who form part of a security section of a large state Rail Transport Organisation (RTO), can lead to strategies to reduce their risk of injury. The core functions of the transit officer position are passenger safety and customer service. This puts the officers in the front line of defence against the antisocial behaviour from some patrons that occurs regularly on the railway system. Like urban railways the world over, this anti-social behaviour can range from bad language to severe violence. Whilst these officers are not …

The Simulation Of Material Types In A Western Australian Iron Deposit, Jacqueline Ferreira

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Geostatistical methods are currently used by mining companies to determine a resource model of the tonnage and head grade that may be obtained from a potential orebody, making it one of the first and most vital operational stages in any mining project. Currently long term mine planning is based on the estimated head grades model, which provides vital information on the quality of the ore. The risks associated with mining a particular ore may be reduced if geometallurgical information, such as material types, is incorporated into the operational flow model. Material type proportions are obtained from evaluated reverse circulation (RC) …

Geostatistical Methods For Estimating Iron, Silica And Alumina Grades Within The Hardcap Of The Section Seven Iron Deposit, Tom Price, Philip John Savory

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Many iron ore deposits have a weathered zone (Hardcap) near the surface which is highly variable in grades. Estimating the amount of ore grade material (HG) in this zone is difficult as a result of this variability. The Section Seven Deposit at Tom Price is largely mined out and has production data available in the form of grade blocks that were marked out during mining as HG and non- HG. Hardcap domains and a block model representing them were created and estimates were made from original exploration data using Ordinary Kriging, Global Change of Support, Indicator Kriging and Median Indicator …

Online Consumer Complaint Behaviors: The Dynamics Of Service Failures, Consumers' Word Of Mouth, And Organization-Consumer Relationships, Seung B. Bach, Soojin Kim

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This study aims to provide an understanding of the relationships between consumer's negative word of mouth (WOM) and organizations' rectification behaviors. We see consumers' negative WOM as a process of problem solving when consumers encounter an organization's service failure that dissatisfies them. This study suggests a strategic management of public relations as a principle for consumer complaint management. Based on case studies, this study finds that negative WOM is formed by the dynamics of experience sharing, advice giving, agreement, and disagreement. In particular, we discovered that information sharing is predominant among negative WOM behaviors. Finally, the case study reveals that …

Shear & Torsion Behaviour Of Hollow-Core Pre-Stressed Concrete Slabs, Cian Twomey

Theses

Research Aim The aim of this study is to carry out research on shear and torsion behaviour of hollow-core slabs.

Research Objectives The objectives of the research are: • carry out a review of research literature published to date • carry out physical laboratory testing • generate and calibrate Unite element models • expand finite element models to model shear and torsion behaviour of hollow- core slabs • carry out a comparison and discussion of the findings

Development Of A Low Cost Instrument For Tidal Flow Measurement, Thomas Daly

Theses

This project examines current technology for the production of energy from wave and tidal sources and the pros and cons of the different types of technology available. It also looks at the possibility of producing energy from tidal streams on a micro scale for local use. It identifies some of the barriers to this and attempts to solve one of those barriers by developing a low cost instrument which would be capable of assisting in the surveying of possible sites for micro tidal energy production in a cost effective way.

As part of this process an off the shelf marine …

Consumer Values And Value Change As Influencing Factors Of Future Purchase Decisions In The Automotive Industry, Marc Uhl

Theses

The intense competition in the automotive industry and thus the pressure to correctly evaluate future consumer demands for successful product development provides the context for this thesis. Previous studies have drawn attention towards a potential change of automobile related personal values among younger consumers, yet failed to present a clear picture of this subject. Building on this background, this thesis investigates the automobile related personal value system of a younger and an older respondent group in order to determine the progression of values between both groups. For the first time, a qualitative approach was applied in this context in order …

Wireless Sensor Networks: Empowering Reliable, Realtime & Resource Efficient Communication For Cyber-Physical Applications, Jasvinder Singh

Theses

Since their inception, Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) have been successfully employed as low-rate data gathering networks in numerous monitoring applications. Recently, a new domain of WSNs applications, known as Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) has started attracting significant attention world-wide. In these applications, monitoring only the state of the physical system (process or environment) is not sufficient, the system must respond to the sensed events/data within certain time constraints by performing actions upon the physical entity. It is expected that in approaching years, WSNs will be integrated in a myriad of CPS applications, for example high confidence medical systems, assisted living, traffic …

Bridgeless High Power Factor Buck-Converter Operating In Discontinuous Capacitor Voltage Mode, Nasrullah Mohammad Awni Khraim

Theses

High power factor AC-DC rectifiers have gained a lot of attention due to demanding international regulations. The international harmonics’ standards, i.e. IEC 61000-3-2 and EN 61000-3-2 require low harmonic content of the main line current, or in other words, high power factor. Also, new market initiatives such as the 80 PLUS initiative, require high efficiency of the power supply. These standards specify the AC line current harmonics’ limits depending on load and application.

In this research, a new converter, with high power factor and high efficiency, operating in discontinuous capacitor voltage mode (DCVM) – is investigated targeting personal computers (PC) …

The Intellectual Life Of Shah Ismail 1 And His Care, Love, Respect Towards His Mother Tongue (Turkish), Mohammad Karim Yousefjamali,, Azar Gholizadeh Sarabi,

Khazar Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

Turkmens and the back-bone of the king’s power and army, showed a great respect and concerns towards the Turkish language and Its related literature. Along with the progress of Turkificalion of the Safavid court and army in the beginning, the Turkish language, because of the strength behind it gained prestige and influence ewer the Persian language. Besides, at the same period the acute influence of Turkish language on Persian society reached such a level that countless Persian literary men left the country and for the better life went to India and the Ottoman Empire. For this reasons and so on …

Transition To Democracy In Post-Soviet States: Success Or Failure. Case Study Analysis, Ceyhun Valiyev

Khazar Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

The democratization of Post-Soviet states in past two decades is the subject of this academic study. The main question of this research is that why most of the PostSoviet states haven’t gone through successful transition to democracy. Five countries; Azerbaijan, Belorussia, Georgia, Lithuania and Uzbekistan are the cases of this study to analyze and evaluate as empirical part of this work. I haven’t chosen the countries that have standard and equal level of success or failure. For instance, Lithuania is among those countries that have gone through quite successful process of democratization, whereas others have similar or different problems hindering …

Repairing Trust With Individuals Vs. Groups, Peter H. Kim, Cecily D. Cooper, Kurt T. Dirks, Donald L. Ferrin

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This study incorporates insights from research on group decision-making and trust repair to investigate the differences that arise when alleged transgressors attempt to regain the trust of groups as compared to individuals. Results indicate that repairing trust is generally more difficult with groups than individuals, and both groups and individuals were less trusting when trustees denied culpability (rather than apologized) for a competence-based violation or apologized (rather than denied culpability) for an integrity-based violation. However, the interaction of violation-type and violation-response also ultimately affected the relative difficulty of repairing trust with groups vs. individuals, with the greater harshness of groups …

Design Of A Distributed Hadoop Solution For The Multiple Sequence Alignment Algorithm: Clustal Omega, Jurate Daugelaite

Theses

Multiple Sequence Alignment (MSA) of DNA and protein sequences is one of the most essential techniques in the fields of molecular biology, computational biology and bioinformatics. It aids the identification and prediction of three dimensional structures, primary functions and evolutionary relatedness amongst groups of species, organisms, and genes. Since as the completion of the Human Genome Project and with the advent of sequencing initiatives such as the Genome 10K project, the rate of genome sequencing has increased exponentially, producing vast amounts of DNA and protein sequences. MSA algorithms, when applied to such sequence data, can identify common homology, structure and …

An Investigation Of Discontinuous Specular Surfaces Using Non-Contact Techniques In Line Monitoring., Kiryl Kekukh

Theses

Surface metrology by structured light projection has been a standard technique in industry for many years. However, when the surface under test is reflective or specular it is impossible to use this particular method. In this instance a modified procedure called "Fringe Reflection” is used. In this technique patterns similar to structured light are projected onto a screen, located remotely from the surface, and fringe patterns, reflected via the surface, are recorded using a CCD-camera. To recover the range data of such a surface from a set of images taken, a phase unwrapping algorithm is used. For the purpose and …

The Use Of Public Relations Tactics In Two Nationwide Fundraising Campaigns In Nonprofit Organisations In Ireland. A Case Study Analysis, Arlene Hogan

Theses

This study aims to analysis the use of public relations in two of Ireland’s nonprofit organisations and their national fundraising campaigns. The two charities chosen were The Mater Foundation and its national fundraising campaign called The Heart Appeal and the second charity is The Irish Heart Foundation and its national campaign called Happy Heart Weekend. The questions that the author will be looking to find are the importance of having PR as part of a nonprofit nationwide fundraising campaign, what PR tactics do these charities use to publicise their national fundraising campaigns in question and does communication play a strategic …

Visualising Urban Flooding Scenarios Using Video Game Technology, William Elliott Lynn

Theses

This thesis investigates the application of computer graphics to the visualisation of urban flooding scenarios. The demand for urban flooding visualisations is presented in the context of an EU wide climate change response strategy. An analysis of the requirements from various stakeholders is presented and a strategy that addresses these requirements is synthesised. A study on the appropriate computer graphics methods and technologies is outlined and limitations of current technologies are assessed. Systems that solve these limitations are described and the result of usability and user acceptance testing are offered as evidence.

Dynamic Herbal Monographs For A Digital World, Niamh O'Brien

Theses

Post analysis of a worldwide survey of Medical Herbalists, 93% of respondents were in favour of an online system which could update monographs dynamically. 63% of respondents suggested that some current monographs are out of date and lack certain practicalities in areas such as : Interactions, Dosage and Safety. Research into gaining optimal responses from surveys led to a 78% response rate. Survey analysis resulted in a modem up-to-date monograph template being created and each of the aforementioned information systems tested against same. Testing involved the generation of XML, HTML, PHP and OWL languages for encoding documents to allow for …

The Identification And Reduction Of Energy Streams Within The Pharmaceutical Sector Using Software Algorithms, Raymond Corbett

Theses

Pharmaceutical companies are under increasing financial pressure to optimise production costs, due to a growing number of products coming off patent, research and development costs increasing exponentially and the difficulty of bringing genuinely innovative products to market. Generic drug manufacturers are not exempt from these pressures; costs must be driven down by all drug manufacturers due to the increasingly competitive healthcare market.

The operating costs of a modern Pharmaceutical Plant run to several Million Euros per annum. Complex process’s involving the consumption of large amounts of energy, and hence costs, are a necessity. Any increase in the efficiency of a …

Voltage Rise Mitigation In A Weak Distribution Network Due To The Impact Of Distributed Generation, Donal Caples

Theses

There are numerous aspects of a distribution network that must be studied in order to determine the maximum size of distributed generation that can be accommodated on the distribution network before supply standards are breached. Voltage rise is one of the main aspects of concern when connecting a distributed generator to a distribution network and this thesis develops the understanding of this phenomenon and concludes with a real life study.

Mathematical and computer simulation software examples within this thesis demonstrate how voltage rise can be reduced to the maximum allowable limit, a major concern if the capacity of a distributed …

Optimisation Of Cold-Formed Steel Purlin Cross-Sections, Matt Clifford

Theses

The subject of buckling of steel members is introduced and the critical nature of local buckling in slender members is highlighted.

The main thrust of work this semester is an investigation into the following buckling modes:

Flexural buckling;

Lateral torsional buckling;

Torsional buckling;

Shear buckling;

Web buckling;

Distortional buckling;

Local buckling.

This investigation has three main components:

1. Review of theory, books and appropriate published work;

2. Investigation into the relevant parts of Eurocode 3;

3. Finite element analysis using the LUSAS FE program to illustrate the various buckling modes.

Finally, the areas to be covered in the Realisation Stage …