Digital Commons Network^™

Sustainable Production Framework For Cement Manufacturing Firms: A Behavioural Perspective, Sj Childe

Plymouth Business School

Understanding sustainable production is becoming increasingly important for production and operations managers, mainly due to a shortage in natural resources. Sustainability requires many changes in behaviour at all levels. Few studies within the sustainable production literature have empirically disentangled the underlying behavioural concepts of sustainable production. To address this gap, this study utilizes the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) to develop a theoretical framework to explain sustainable production behaviour. Survey data gathered from 128 Indian cement manufacturing units suggest that attitude, subjective norms or social pressures and perceived behavioural control are predictors of the intention for sustainable production which then …

Women’S Experiences Of Personalised Support For Asthma Care During Pregnancy: A Systematic Review Of The Literature, Graham R. Williamson, A O’Connor, Elmslie Jones Kayleigh

School of Nursing and Midwifery

No abstract provided.

Family-Centred Care In Intensive Care: Moving The Evidence Forward—A Call For Papers, Jos M. Latour, Maureen Coombs

School of Nursing and Midwifery

No abstract provided.

Understanding Processes Of Risk And Protection That Shape The Sexual And Reproductive Health Of Young Women Affected By Conflict: The Price Of Protection, A Hutchinson, P Waterhouse, J March-Mcdonald, S Neal, R Ingham

School of Nursing and Midwifery

No abstract provided.

Secondary Employment By Western Australia Police Officers: Factors Influencing Multiple Jobholding And The Relationship To Organisational Commitment, Hamish Mckenzie

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a significant relationship between secondary employment by Western Australia police officers and organisational commitment. The study also examined whether there was a relationship between secondary employment of Western Australia police officers and, gender, work location, employment hours, rank and tenure. Finally, the study sought to understand why Western Australia police officers undertook secondary employment. A mixed methods approach to research was undertaken with 5756 Western Australia police officers sent a survey adapted from Meyer and Allen’s Three-Component Model (TCM) Employee Commitment Survey (2004). This survey tool is based on …

The Performance Analysis Of Power Output In Professional Male Road Cyclists, Alan J. Metcalfe

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Athletes regularly monitor exercise workload in an attempt to improve and maintain exercise performance. Within road cycling, workload is commonly measured using power output. Yet, it is plausible that power output during road cycling is influenced by several factors such as topography, road gradient or rider specialities. If these factors do influence power output they may influence quantification of workload demands. As such, the purpose of this thesis was to improve our understanding of external workload in professional road cycling and describe the factors which influence power output during performance analysis. Specifically, this thesis examined the power output within single …

Food Insecurity And Fruit And Vegetable Consumption Among Regional And Remote Western Australian Children: Determinants, Prevalence And Predictors, Stephanie Louise Godrich

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Living in a community with adequate availability of nutritious food, and the capacity to access and utilise it, are key food security determinants (FSD). However, inequities relating to these determinants exist between regional and remote Western Australian (WA) communities, particularly regarding fruit and vegetables (F&V). This negatively impacts vulnerable populations, especially children. In order to understand determinants, prevalence and predictors of F&V and food security (FS), three concepts were explored in this PhD; (1) F&V consumption among regional and remote WA children (including determinants of F&V consumption, quantities, types, varieties of F&V consumed); (2) FS among regional and remote WA …

Smart Home Energy Management: An Analysis Of A Novel Dynamic Pricing And Demand Response Aware Control Algorithm For Households With Distributed Renewable Energy Generation And Storage, Jamal Abushnaf

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Home energy management systems (HEMS) technology can provide a smart and efficient way of optimising energy usage in residential buildings. One of the main goals of the Smart Grid is to achieve Demand Response (DR) by increasing end users’ participation in decision making and increasing the level of awareness that will lead them to manage their energy consumption in an efficient way. This research presents an intelligent HEMS algorithm that manages and controls a range of household appliances with different demand response (DR) limits in an automated way without requiring consumer intervention. In addition, a novel Multiple Users and Load …

The Reinvention Of Tradition: Transformation Of Chinese Water Sleeve Dance And Tai Ji In Contemporary Performer Training And Performance Making, Min Zhu

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The aim of this practice-led research was to investigate the nature and characteristics of the notion of reinvented tradition in China through the examination of dance practices. First, this research focused on the continuity of tradition demonstrated in the development of Chinese classical dance. Second, it concentrated on the malleability and applicability of two representative Chinese cultural dance practices, water sleeve dance and Tai Ji, in contemporary performance and performer training.

The central concept behind this research was the commonly held perception in China that “tradition is a river” (P. Huang, 1990) in the context of the Chinese dance …

A Nested Environmental Approach To Typhoid Epidemiology In Central Division, Fiji, Aaron Jenkins

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Many current disease threats involve interactions within and between nested subsystems of biological organisation. Typhoid fever is a serious disease threat in the South Pacific region, with Fiji reporting the highest annual number of cases, yet risk factors in this setting have been poorly studied. While localised behaviours have dominated perspectives on typhoid transmission, interactions between distal ecological conditions, conditions of the residential environment and localised behaviour deserve greater attention for their potential to influence transmission. This thesis demonstrates a nested approach to typhoid epidemiology using a fivefold methodology to explore how regional, river basin, residential, socio-cultural and behavioural subsystems …

Effect Of A Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation Muscle Strength Training Intervention On Muscle Force And Mass, Physical Health And Quality Of Life In People With Spinal Cord Injury, Vanesa Bochkezanian

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Spinal cord injury (SCI) leads to significant deficits in muscle strength and mass, impacting negatively on physical health and quality of life (QoL). Physical rehabilitation techniques for people with SCI rely on constant updates and the accumulation of evidence regarding the efficacy of available and/or new physical interventions. Neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) is already commonly used to activate skeletal muscles and subsequently reverse muscle atrophy, however NMES as a high-intensity “strength training” intervention appears to be a particularly promising technique for increasing muscle strength and mass and to subsequently improve physical health and quality of life (QoL) in people with …

Residence Time In Coastal Canopies, Maryam Abdolahpour

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Aquatic canopies provide important ecosystem services such as improved water quality, oxygen flux, sediment stabilisation and trapping and recycling of nutrients. The ecological health of coastal canopies and the significant ecosystem services they provide depends largely on the continuous exchange of dissolved and particulate materials across the canopy boundaries. In coastal environments, where flow is typically wavedominated, vertical mixing is believed to be the dominant process controlling residence time and, therefore, exchange. However, experiments have shown that wave-driven flows over rough boundaries, such as canopies, generate strong onshore mean currents (75% of the orbital velocity far above the canopy) near …

Belonging: A Place For, And In, Children’S Poetry A Hybrid Thesis Including Creative Works, Articles And Exegetical Discussion, Sally Murphy

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This hybrid thesis is comprised of three creative works – two collections of poetry for children and a verse novel – as well as three journal articles examining aspects of children’s poetry, and exegetical discussion of the creative works and of key concepts influencing both the creative and discursive elements of the thesis.

The first creative work, All About Me, is a collection of poetry for early childhood readers and their carers. It consists of 20 poems, and as a finished manuscript mirrors the length of a picture book format collection. The poems explore and highlight aspects of the …

Voice In Screenwriting: Discovering/Recovering An Australian Voice, Rosemary Kaye Ferrell

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This creative practice research explores the concept of an identifiable screenwriter’s voice from the perspective of screenwriting as craft, proposing that voice can be understood and described based on its particular characteristics. Voice is understood to be the authorial presence of the screenwriter, whose mind shapes every aspect of the text. This presence is inscribed in the text through the many choices the screenwriter makes. More than this, the research argues that the choices made inflect the text with a cultural-national worldview. This occurs because of the close association between voice and personal (including cultural/national) identity, and because of the …

Bridging The Great Divide: An Exploration Of Postmodernism In The Guitar Music Of Nigel Westlake, Melissa Claire Fitzgerald

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This research explores the tension between ‘elite’ and ‘popular’ musical styles in eight significant works of guitar music by Australian composer Nigel Westlake; namely Antarctica, Songs from the Forest, The Hinchinbrook Riffs, Six Fish, Shadow Dances, Shards of Jaisalmer, Jovian Moons, and Mosstrooper Peak. Through detailed analysis and recorded musical performances, consideration is given to the extent that these works bridge the aesthetic divide identified by Adorno, Jameson, Huyssen, and others; exploring their potential conformity to notions of postmodernity in music. The argument is advanced that Westlake has created a musical language …

Ecology Of Savanna Ecosystems In Indonesia, Sutomo

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Tropical savannas in South East Asia are important yet understudied ecosystems. In fact, the description of savanna is limited in the Indonesian Archipelago, a region which, based on climate alone, would be expected to have mostly forest. In this thesis, I compared and contrasted the vegetation characteristics of four savannas in the wetter part of the Indonesian archipelago (Java – Bali – Lombok) to understand how fire and grazing influence their dynamics, and searched for evidence of savanna origins, maintenance, invasion by exotic/woody species and possible ecosystem transitions. Vegetation surveys, remote sensing techniques and statistical models were used to spatially …

The Impact Of Communication Satisfaction On Paediatric Nurses’ Job Satisfaction And Intention To Stay, Gemma Doleman

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Effective communication is the most central process within an organisation and is essential to organisational values, norms and expectations. There is a documented connection between job satisfaction, work commitment and organisational communication. However, nurses’ and nursing middle managers’ satisfaction with organisational communication has not been extensively studied in recent years and not at all among paediatric nurses. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to develop and test a theoretical model that examined paediatric nurses’ and middle managers’ satisfaction with organisational communication and the effect this has on paediatric nurses’ job satisfaction and intention to stay in their job.

Employing …

A Non-Device Specific Framework For The Development Of Forensic Locational Data Analysis Procedure For Consumer Grade Small And Embedded Devices, Peter Hannay

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Portable and wearable computing devices such as smart watches, navigation units, mobile phones, and tablet computers commonly ship with Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) supported locational awareness. Locational functionality is no longer limited to navigation specific devices such as satellite navigation devices and location tracking systems. Instead the use of these technologies has extended to become secondary functionality on many devices, including mobile phones, cameras, portable computers, and video game consoles. The increase in use of location aware technology is of use to forensic investigators as it has the potential to provide historic locational information. The evidentiary value of these …

Creative River Journeys: Using Reflective Practice To Investigate Creative Practice-Led Research, Kylie J. Stevenson

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This ‘Creative River Journey’ doctoral study explored the processes of art practice and knowledge-making by six artist–researchers engaged in creative higher degrees by research (HDR) at Edith Cowan University (ECU) in three arts disciplines—performing arts, visual arts, and creative writing. The study applied the Creative River Journey (CRJ) reflective practice strategy, originally applied as the River Journey tool in music education (Burnard, 2000; Kerchner, 2006), but further developed by the researcher into a three-phase reflective practice strategy for its application in complex practice-led research projects over the extended period of the participants’ HDR studies. Six rich cases studies of HDR …

Feasibility Analysis Of Using Special Purpose Machines For Drilling-Related Operations, Ana Vafadarshamasbi

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This work focuses on special purpose machine tools (SPMs), providing a modular platform for performing drilling-related operations. One of the main challenges in using SPMs is selecting the most appropriate machine tool among many alternatives. This thesis introduces a feasibility analysis procedure developed to support decision-making through the assessment of the strengths and limitations of SPMs. To achieve this, technical and economic feasibility analyses, a sensitivity analysis, and an optimisation model were developed and a case study was provided for each analysis. The results indicated that although technical feasibility analysis leads decision-makers to select a feasible machine tool, complementary analyses …

The Relationship Between Physical Exercise And Cognition In Children With Typical Development And Neurodevelopmental Disorders, Beron Wei Zhong Tan

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This research project sought to investigate the relationship between physical exercise and cognition in children with and without a neurodevelopmental condition. To achieve this aim, three approaches were undertaken to explore the exercise and cognition relationship. The first approach sought to understand the efficacy of exercise interventions on cognition in individuals with a neurodevelopmental disorder. The second approach was to understand the effectiveness of an exercise activity when compared to a cognitively-engaging tablet game activity on measures of implicit learning and attention in children with and without a neurodevelopmental condition. The third approach was to investigate if psychophysiological measures could …

Activity Behavior And Physiological Profile Of Advanced-Stage Ovarian Cancer Survivors, Christelle Schofield

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Background: Advanced-stage ovarian cancer survivors (OCS) often experience a multitude of disease symptoms and treatment-related side-effects. Additionally, most OCS are older, have comorbidities, are overweight or obese, and report being insufficiently physically active. Ovarian cancer survivors may benefit from exercise oncology interventions to reduce symptom-burden, manage comorbidities, minimize functional decline and maximize health-related quality of life (HRQoL). However, current knowledge gaps regarding the physiological characteristics of OCS throughout the entire survivorship spectrum challenge the development of tailored exercise interventions.

Purpose: The overall purpose of this thesis was to provide a more comprehensive physiological and activity behavior profile of post-treatment advanced-stage …

Processing, Microstructure And Mechanical Properties Of Beta-Type Titanium Porous Structures Made By Additive Manufacturing, Yujing Liu

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Tissue engineering through the application of a low modulus, high strength format as a potential approach for increasing the durability of bone implants has been attracting significant attention. Titanium alloys are widely used for biomedical applications because of their low modulus, high biocompatibility, specific strength and corrosion resistance. These reasons affirm why titanium alloy is selected as the specific material to research. The development of low modulus biomaterials is considered to be an effective method to remove the mismatch between biomaterial implants and surrounding bone tissue, thereby reducing the risk of bone resorption. So far, Ti–24Nb–4Zr–8Sn alloy (abbreviated hereafter as …

The Role Of The Seagrass Leaf Microbiome In Assisting Nitrogen Uptake By The Western Australian Seagrass, Posidonia Sinuosa, Flavia Tarquinio

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Microorganisms play a key role in facilitating the cycling of several elements in coastal environments, including nitrogen (N). N is a key component for maintaining high seagrass productivity and is often the limiting nutrient in marine environments. Seagrasses harbour an abundant and diverse microbial community (the ‘microbiome’), however their ecological and functional roles related to the seagrass host are still poorly understood, in particular regarding N cycling. Microorganisms capable of mineralising dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) may play a pivotal role in enhancing N availability in coastal environments such as seagrass meadows. Thus, the overall aim of my thesis was to …

Does Volatility Scaling Improve The Performance Of Momentum Strategies In The Pakistan Stock Exchange?, Mohsin Sadaqat, Hilal Anwar Butt

Business Review

Momentum profits are low among stocks listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange. We explore whether this can be improved by exploiting the predicted negative relationship between returns and volatility of momentum strategies. This relationship suggests that momentum returns increase/decrease with decrease/increase in the volatility/variance of momentum returns during the previous six months. We find that scaled momentum strategies outperform the traditional strategy in terms of higher raw returns, risk-adjusted returns and Sharpe ratios. To show the superiority of scaled momentum strategies, we bootstrap the sample 100,000 times and generate the lognormal distribution of holding-period returns for all momentum strategies. We …

Capital Structure And Profitability Of Firms In The Corporate Sector Of Pakistan, Sana Tauseef, Heman Das Lohano

Business Review

We examine the impact of debt ratios on returns on equity based on panel data for 179 companies from the non-financial corporate sector of Pakistan for the years 2000 to 2015. The least squares fixed effects estimator reveals that the debt ratio has a significant positive effect on return on equity up to an optimal debt level of 40 percent beyond which it has a significant negative effect.

Assessing The Relative Importance Of Employer Branding Dimensions On Retention Of Employees: A Case Of Private Schools Of Karachi, Faiza Sharif, Saqib Sharif

Business Review

This study explores several dimensions of employer branding namely work environment, social aspect, compensation structure, development value and knowledge sharing in terms of their impact on the retention of employees with varying job tenures within the private schools of Karachi. The results of descriptive analysis, Pearson correlation, t-tests of independent populations and regression analysis reveal that Social Aspect and Development Values are the two most preferred dimensions of the employer brand, followed by Work Environment. The results of this research can be used by the education industry in developing human resource policies and practices that cultivate a learning and growth …

Synthesis Of New Pyridothienopyrimidinone And Pyridothieno -Triazolopyrimidine Derivatives As Pim-1 Inhibitors, Bassem Naguib, Hala B. El-Nassan, Engy A. Beshay

Pharmacy

No abstract provided.

Analisis Ekspor Kakao Olahan Indonesia Ke Sembilan Negara Tujuan Tahun 2000–2014, Arif Maulana, Fitri Kartiasih

Jurnal Ekonomi dan Pembangunan Indonesia

The objectives of this article is to analyze the competitiveness of Indonesias processed cocoa export to nine destination countries and to investigate the determinants of export volumes of Indonesias cocoa. Two analysis is conducted using revealed comparative advantage (RCA) and panel data regression. The result indicates that Indonesian processed cocoa has a high comparative advantage in Spain, while in Singapore has a comparative advantage at worst. The panel data regression estimates showed that GDP, population, RCA, and tax policy was statistically significant and had positive effect to cocoa export volumes but the price of processed cocoa had negative effect.

Structural Breaks Dan Ketidakstabilan Permintaan Uang Di Indonesia, Deviyantini Deviyantini, Iman Sugema, Tony Irawan

Jurnal Ekonomi dan Pembangunan Indonesia

This research aims to identify the sources of instability of the money demand function (M1 and M2) due to structural changes that occur as a result of economic shocks. These shocks, are technically shown by the presence of structural breaks in the data and can lead the parameters non-constancy. The instability of the money demand function was analyzed using the Gregory and Hansen test. The source of instability of the money demand was identified using time varying parameter model. This research used quarterly time series data from 1993Q1 to 2013Q4. The result of Gregory and Hansen test indicates there is …