Digital Commons Network^™

Mobility Management In 5g Heterogeneous Networks, Mohammad Arifin Rahman Khan

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

In recent years, mobile data traffic has increased exponentially as a result of widespread popularity and uptake of portable devices, such as smartphones, tablets and laptops. This growth has placed enormous stress on network service providers who are committed to offering the best quality of service to consumer groups. Consequently, telecommunication engineers are investigating innovative solutions to accommodate the additional load offered by growing numbers of mobile users.

The fifth generation (5G) of wireless communication standard is expected to provide numerous innovative solutions to meet the growing demand of consumer groups. Accordingly the ultimate goal is to achieve several key …

An Investigation Of Ict Policy Implementation In An Efl Teacher Education Program In Vietnam, Phan Thu Ngan Vo

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Due to the increasing pace of advances in technology and attempts to integrate Information and Communications Technology (ICT) into education in Vietnam, teachers are now expected to make routine use of ICT in their teaching. The Vietnamese government has promulgated ambitious policies aimed at engaging in an increasingly globalised world and promoting the country’s economic development. These policies focus on education, and in particular, the development of ICT and English as a Foreign Language (EFL) competencies, seen as key requirements for greater international participation. The competencies of teachers are a major factor in the successful implementation of these educational changes. …

Factors Enabling A Successful Transition To Boarding School For Australian Aboriginal Students, Peter Barrett

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Boarding school has been and continues to be an important stage in the educational experiences of many Aboriginal people living in remote communities in Northern Territory, Australia. The experience of moving away from family, land and community presents many challenges for students moving to boarding school and managing the dramatic transition between two vastly different cultures. This study focused on identifying the factors that help students successfully transition from a remote community to boarding school.

The study used an explanatory sequential mixed methods approach to investigate and analyse the experiences of Aboriginal students at a regional boarding school in the …

Pre-Primary Teachers’ Enacted Understandings Of Explicit Instruction Of Phonics And Phonological Awareness As Evidenced In Practice, Helen Faith Jensen

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Whether or not teachers use the research-based practices of Explicit Instruction (EI) in lessons matters, since the salient features of EI design and delivery, backed by empirical research (Hattie, 2009), enable the transfer of new and difficult information from short- to long-term memory (Kirschner et al., 2006). How teachers interpret EI is important, because effective early instruction in “systematic, direct and explicit” phonics and phonological awareness (PA) can reduce the incidence of reading difficulties (Moats, 2010).

The aim of this thesis was to investigate, describe and analyse teachers’ enacted understanding of Explicit Instruction in phonics and phonological awareness, and identify …

The Use Of Ict By Science Teachers In Middle Secondary Science Education In The Himalayan Kingdom Of Bhutan, Sampa Tshewang

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This research investigated Bhutanese middle secondary science teachers’ ICT knowledge, skills, perceptions and attitudes, patterns of ICT use, and associated factors linked to effective ICT implementation in their classrooms. The study was based on the hypothesis that the use of ICT in secondary science education in Bhutan was affected by the teachers’ attitudes and perceptions towards the use of ICT; their knowledge and skills related to ICT; their TPACK and the barriers associated with effective implementation of ICT.

The research was primarily an exploratory study accommodating a post-positivist approach employing mixed design of both quantitative and qualitative approaches. A questionnaire …

Treatment Fidelity In The Very Early Rehabilitation In Speech (Verse) Randomised Controlled Trial: An Exploration Of Treatment For Aphasia, Emily Louise Brogan

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Background

Aphasia is a neurological condition that affects the expression and/or comprehension of language and can have considerable impact on a person’s quality of life. Treatment for aphasia from speech language pathologists is effective. However, more information is needed on the nature of effective intervention including consideration for what therapy is provided, when it is commenced and how it is delivered. Treatment fidelity is concerned with ensuring research treatment protocols are implemented as they were intended, which assists in uncovering the specifics of how and why treatments work. When treatment fidelity is investigated thoroughly, researchers and research consumers can be …

The Placenta And Cardiovascular Disease: A Meta-Analysis, Ruben Phillips

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The uterine environment in which a fetus grows and develops is now recognised as a risk factor for the development of adult diseases such as cardiovascular disease (CVD). A fetus relies on the nutrients and conditions delivered via the placenta, and as such the placenta plays a vital role in the establishment and maintenance of appropriate uterine conditions. Unfavourable uterine conditions such as an inadequate resource flow from the placenta can lead to diminished growth of the fetus and may ultimately result in both short and long-term increases in risk of CVD for the baby. This has been demonstrated in …

The Application Of Maximal Mean And Critical Speed And Metabolic Powers For The Quantification Of External Load In Soccer, Cameron Nicholas Lord

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

In Association football, often referred to as “soccer”, competitive match play is typically known to represent the greatest physical demand that players experience. The demands associated with match running performance may impact training outcomes and injury risk. As a result, practitioners evaluate these demands to ensure that performance is optimised. To assist in this process, global positioning systems (GPS) are typically used to quantify displacement variables and, more recently, the interaction between running speed and acceleration. However, traditional player monitoring methods tend to apply identical and somewhat arbitrary displacement, velocity and acceleration bands to describe movement “intensity”, and thus to …

Performance Practice In Hungarian Folk Music And Its Relationship To The Style Hongrois, Teresa Vinci

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study investigates style and performance practice within the oral traditions of Hungarian folk music, and explores intersections with the nineteenth-century idiom style hongrois. Interviews, lessons, and workshops were undertaken as part of a practice-based immersive research experience, and comparisons with the style hongrois made via analysis of scores and recordings of Jeno Hubay (1858-1937). The research strives towards an ‘Historically Informed Performance’ specific to these styles, and explores how they can inform each other. Findings are presented through a dissertation and a CD recording “Never Far Away…” comprising the researcher’s violin performance as leader of an Hungarian folk …

Teacher Educators’ And Pre-Service Teachers’ Preparedness To Use Ict: A Western Australian Perspective, Huifen Jin

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

With the ongoing development of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT), a wide variety of devices, software and apps are available that could be used in education. As a result, universities and schools are adopting different policies and strategies for integrating these new technologies. As teachers are a key element in the implementation of educational innovation, teacher educators and pre-service teachers need to be confident in using ICT effectively in teaching and learning.

This study proposed to investigate how teacher educators’ and pre-service teachers’ integration of ICT in their teaching and learning. A mixed methods design, that included both quantitative …

Social Impacts Of Climate Change And Occupational Heat Stress And Adaptation Strategies Of Mining Workers In Ghana, Victor Fannam Nunfam

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Excessive heat exposure due to rising temperatures associated with climate change adversely affects workers’ health, safety, productivity, and psychosocial well-being in occupational settings. In the hot and tropical regions of developing countries, long hours of physically demanding work, coupled with inadequate adaptation policies to climate change, increases the occurrence of heat-related illnesses and injuries, and contributes to the loss of productive capacity, poor decision making, and other negative effects on the social well-being of workers.

Based on the theories of social impact assessment, risk assessment, adaptation and resilience planning, this study assesses the social impacts of climate change and occupational …

Learning In A Digitally Connected Classroom: Secondary Science Teachers’ Pedagogical Reasoning And Practices, Julie Boston

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Despite decades of research surrounding Information Communication Technology (ICT) use in schools, the pedagogical reasoning required to provide meaningful ICT enabled learning opportunities is rarely analysed in the literature. The purpose of this research was therefore to investigate teachers’ pedagogically reasoned practice. This study involved three exemplary Australian secondary science teachers, renowned for their expertise in utilising ICT working in classrooms where students had school issued one-to-one computers and reliable network access. The research utilised qualitative methods, including semistructured interviews, video-based observational data, and an array of lesson artefacts. The study followed a naturalistic multiple-case study design to explore the …

Being A Bad Vegan, Lelia Green

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

According to The Betoota Advocate (Parker), a CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) paper has recently established that “it takes roughly seven minutes on average for a vegan to tell you that they’re vegan” (qtd. in Harrington et al. 135). For such a statement to have currency as a joke means that it is grounded in a shared experience of being vegan on the one hand, and of encountering vegans on the other. Why should vegans feel such a need to justify themselves? I recognise the observation as being true of me, and this article is one way to …

Clostridium Difficile Ribotype 017–Characterization, Evolution And Epidemiology Of The Dominant Strain In Asia, Korakrit Imwattana, Daniel R. Knight, Brian Kullin, Deirdre A. Collins, Papanin Putsathit, Pattarachai Kiratisin, Thomas V. Riley

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Clostridium difficile ribotype (RT) 017 is an important toxigenic C. difficile RT which, due to a deletion in the repetitive region of the tcdA gene, only produces functional toxin B. Strains belonging to this RT were initially dismissed as nonpathogenic and circulated largely undetected for almost two decades until they rose to prominence following a series of outbreaks in the early 2000s. Despite lacking a functional toxin A, C. difficile RT 017 strains have been shown subsequently to be capable of causing disease as severe as that caused by strains producing both toxins A and B. While C. difficile RT …

Using Local Rural Knowledge To Enhance Stem Learning For Gifted And Talented Students In Australia, Julia Morris, Eileen Slater, Michael T. Fitzgerald, Geoffrey W. Lummis, Eddie Van Etten

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

In order to supply a future Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) workforce, Australia needs to engage its most capable and gifted secondary students in quality STEM learning, either within school or through extra-curricular opportunities, so that they will continue into STEM-based tertiary degrees. High-achieving students in rural communities may face additional barriers to STEM learning that can limit their ability to pursue advanced STEM studies and occupations. This small-scale research project sought to explore a group of gifted lower secondary students’ engagement and experiences in a STEM programme designed around a local rural knowledge model as reported by Avery …

Ever-Widening Circles: Consolidating And Enhancing Wirlomin Noongar Archival Material In The Community, Clint Bracknell, Kim Scott

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Returning archival documentation of endangered Indigenous languages to their community of origin can provide empowering opportunities for Indigenous people to control, consolidate, enhance and share their cultural heritage with ever-widening, concentric circles of people, while also allowing time and space for communities to recover from disempowerment and dislocation. This process aligns with an affirming narrative of Indigenous persistence that, despite the context of colonial dispossession, can lead to a positive, self-determined future. In 2007, senior Noongar of the Wirlomin clan in the south coast region of Western Australia initiated Wirlomin Noongar Language and Stories Inc., an organisation set up to …

Entire Issue Vol. 8 No. 5

internetowy Kwartalnik Antymonopolowy i Regulacyjny (internet Quarterly on Antitrust and Regulation)

Vol. 8(5)

A Note On Science, Legal Research And Artificial Intelligence, Sean Goltz, Giulia Dondoli

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

This paper discusses the principles of scientific research and in turn review legal research that was done using Artificial Intelligence arguing that it is the tools (Artificial Intelligence) that take center stage while the meaning (legal research) is left back stage. In turn, this kind of research does not adhere to the fundamentals of scientific research nor comply with scientific and industry ethical codes.

The Evidence For Services To Avoid Or Delay Residential Aged Care Admission: A Systematic Review, Julie A. Luker, Anthea Worley, Mandy Stanley, Jeric Uy, Amber M. Watt, Susan L. Hillier

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background

Interventions that enable people to remain in their own home as they age are of interest to stakeholders, yet detailed information on effective interventions is scarce. Our objective was to systematically search and synthesise evidence for the effectiveness of community-based, aged care interventions in delaying or avoiding admission to residential aged care.

Method

Nine databases were searched from January 2000 to February 2018 for English publications. Reference lists of relevant publications were searched. The databases yielded 55,221 citations and 50 citations were gleaned from other sources. Where there was sufficient homogeneity of study design, population, intervention and measures, meta-analyses …

Patient-Defined Meaningfulness Within Chronic Pain Rehabilitation: A Concept Analysis, Katrina Liddiard, Annette J. Raynor, Annette M. Rivard, Cary A. Brown

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background: As the problem of chronic pain grows worldwide, rehabilitation is critical to improved patient well-being. There is thus a need for rehabilitation-focused research. It appears that outcomes are improved when patients perceive the rehabilitation process to be meaningful. However, there is no empirical evidence determining how this would be achieved. An important first step is to identify and describe the concept of meaningfulness as it is used in the chronic pain rehabilitation literature. Objective: This paper reports the findings of a structured concept analysis to define meaningfulness from the patient perspective in chronic pain rehabilitation. Methodology: In consultation with …

Design Of A Hybrid Measure For Image Similarity: A Statistical, Algebraic, And Information-Theoretic Approach, Mohammed Abdulameer Aljanabi, Zahir M. Hussain, Noor Abd Alrazak Shnain, Song Feng Lu

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Image similarity or distortion assessment is fundamental to a wide range of applications throughout the field of image processing and computer vision. Many image similarity measures have been proposed to treat specific types of image distortions. Most of these measures are based on statistical approaches, such as the classic SSIM. In this paper, we present a different approach by interpolating the information theory with the statistic, because the information theory has a high capability to predict the relationship among image intensity values. Our unique hybrid approach incorporates information theory (Shannon entropy) with a statistic (SSIM), as well as a distinctive …

Benchmarking Nurse Outcomes In Australian Magnet® Hospitals: Cross-Sectional Survey, L. Stone, M. Arneil, Linda Coventry, V. Casey, S. Moss, A. Cavadino, B. Laing, A. L. Mccarthy

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background: Positive reports of nursing-related outcomes such as quality nursing care, nursing engagement with work and good practice environment are crucial in attaining and maintaining Magnet® designation. The majority of Magnet®-designated organisations (N = 482) are in the USA, with their aggregate nursing outcomes widely published as benchmark data. Australian Magnet® outcomes have not been aggregated or published to date. Methods: The aims are to benchmark educational preparation, occupational burnout, job satisfaction, intention to leave and working environment of nurses in Australian Magnet®-designated facilities and to determine the reliability of the Practice Environment Scale-Australia. The design is a cross-sectional multisite …

Solo Taxonomy As Efl Students’ Disciplinary Literacy Evaluation Tool In Technology-Enhanced Integrated Astronomy Course, Nadezhda Chubko, Julia E. Morris, David H. Mckinnon, Eileen V. Slater, Geoffrey W. Lummis

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Whilst the role of disciplinary literacy in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education is becoming more prominent, there appears to be little adaptation or allowance made for English as a foreign or second language (EFL/ESL) students learning science in English, as well as no clear understanding of what comprises disciplinary literacy in science. In this article, we define the construct of disciplinary literacy in science education and justify the use of the Structure of the Observed Learning Outcome (SOLO) taxonomy (Biggs and Collis, Teaching for quality learning at university 1982) as a tool for measuring EFL students’ disciplinary literacy …

A Numerical Study Of Axisymmetric Wave Propagation In Buried Fluid-Filled Pipes For Optimizing The Vibro-Acoustic Technique When Locating Gas Pipelines, Ying Liu, Daryoush Habibi, Douglas Chai, Xiuming Wang, Hao Chen

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Buried pipeline systems play a vital role in energy storage and transportation, especially for fluid energies like water and gas. The ability to locate buried pipes is of great importance since it is fundamental for leakage detection, pipeline maintenance, and pipeline repair. The vibro-acoustic locating method, as one of the most effective detection technologies, has been studied by many researchers. However, previous studies have mainly focused on vibro-acoustic propagation in buried water pipes. Limited research has been conducted on buried gas pipes. In this paper, the behavior of gas-dominated wave motion will be investigated and compared against water-dominated wave motion …

Guidance For Research On Social Isolation, Loneliness, And Participation Among Older People: Lessons From A Mixed Methods Study, Julie Dare, Celia Wilkinson, Robert Donovan, Johnny Lo, Marie-Louise Mcdermott, Helen O'Sullivan, Ruth Marquis

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

This article provides methodological guidance to researchers wishing to develop collaborative research projects with local governments and other agencies, by describing the process adopted in a mixed methods study conducted in the City of Wanneroo (the City), a local government area in Perth, Western Australia. The study explored factors related to older people’s (60+ years) participation in community-based activities and links between their participation and levels of social isolation, loneliness, and social connectedness. The research incorporated four interrelated stages: (1) an audit of existing programs in the City and program participant characteristics; (2) focus groups with program participants and interviews …

Controlled Ecological Evaluation Of An Implemented Exercise Training Programme To Prevent Lower Limb Injuries In Sport: Differences In Implementation Activity, Alex Donaldson, Belinda J. Gabbe, David G. Lloyd, Jill Cook, Caroline F. Finch

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

OBJECTIVE: The public health benefits of injury prevention programmes are maximised when programmes are widely adopted and adhered to. Therefore, these programmes require appropriate implementation support. This study evaluated implementation activity outcomes associated with the implementation of FootyFirst, an exercise training injury prevention programme for community Australian football, both with (FootyFirst+S) and without (FootyFirst+NS) implementation support. METHOD: An evaluation plan based on the Reach Effectiveness Adoption Implementation Maintenance (RE-AIM) Sports Setting Matrix was applied in a controlled ecological evaluation of the implementation of FootyFirst. RE-AIM dimension-specific (range: 0-2) and total RE-AIM scores (range: 0-10) were derived by triangulating data from …

Is Cannabis Tourism Deviant? A Theoretical Perspective, Tianyu Ying, Jun Wen, Hairong Shan

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

With the growth of cannabis tourism, destinations such as the Netherlands have begun to offer cannabis- related products and services to visitors, including tourists from countries where all drugs are strictly prohibited. Yet limited research has sought to understand cannabis-oriented tourists' efforts to neutralize deviant connotations, namely by justifying or rationalizing misbehavior, when deciding to participate in cannabis tourism. This research note proposes a framework of deviant consumption behavior (DCB) constructed of geographic shifting, self-identity shifting, and moral identity shifting from the perspective of cannabis-oriented tourists to delineate tourists' decision-making process around engaging in deviant behaviors. The proposed framework suggests …

An Elixir For Veteran Teachers: The Power Of Social Connections In Keeping These Teachers Passionate And Enthusiastic In Their Work, Peter F. Prout, Geoffrey M. Lowe, Christina C. Gray, Sarah Jefferson

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

This article is based upon the premise that there are many veteran teachers who maintain positive attitudes towards teaching throughout their careers. According to The Grant Study (Waldinger, 2015), positive attitudes towards life and work stem from close relationships and adaptive behaviours that people engage in throughout adult life. This article describes a study undertaken in Australia which revealed that, in line with Grant Study findings, positive veteran teachers (aged 40-70+ years) build and maintain supportive social connections among colleagues in their school and others outside school, plus spouse (or long-term partner) and close family, that contribute to their sense …

Author Correction: The Future Of Blue Carbon Science, Peter I. Macreadie, Andrea Anton, John A. Raven, Nicola Beaumont, Rod M. Connolly, Daniel A. Friess, Jeffery J. Kelleway, Hilary Kennedy, Tomohiro Kuwae, Paul S. Lavery, Catherine E. Lovelock, Dan A. Smale, Eugenia T. Apostolaki, Trisha B. Atwood, Jeff Baldock, Thomas S. Bianchi, Gail. L. Chmura, Bradley D. Eyre, James W. Fourdurean, Jason M. Hall-Spencer, Mark Huxham, Iris E. Hendriks, Dorte Frause-Jensen, Dan Laffoley, Tiziana Luisetti, Nuria Marba, Pere Masque´, Karen J. Mcglathery, J. Patrick Megonigal, Daniel Murdiyarso, Bayden D. Russell, Rui Santos, Oscar Serrano, Brian R. Silliman, Kenta Watanabe, Carlos M. Duarte

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

The original version of this Article contained an error in the author affiliations. Affiliation 24 incorrectly read ‘School of Applied Sciences, Edinburgh University, Edinburgh EH11 4BN, UK’ This has now been corrected in both the PDF and HTML versions of the Article.

Mouse Models Of Hepatocellular Carcinoma, Rodrigo Carlessi, Julia Köhn-Gaone, John K. Olynyk, Janina E. E. Tirnitz-Parker

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) represents a major and steadily increasing global health challenge as the most common primary liver malignancy and leading cause of death in cirrhotic patients. The only hope for curative treatment or significant increase in life expectancy is early detection. Once patients have progressed towards end-stage HCC, effective treatment options are extremely limited on the background of a very high degree of heterogeneity in clinical presentation and outcome. Experimental chronic liver injury and cancer have been used extensively to mimic the human disease. In particular, mouse studies have advanced the field due to the ability to easily manipulate …