Digital Commons Network^™

Shifting Soil Fungal Communities In Response To Fire And Weed Management In Urban Banksia Woodlands, Aaron Justin Brace

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This research aims to fill the knowledge gap in soil fungi in the Banksia woodland and emphasizes considering holistic ecosystem dynamics in invasive species management strategies. This is accomplished by surveying soil fungi under different fire regime across the Swan Coastal Plain, and within both in and ex situ herbicide application trials. This is the first such study to investigate the fungal component of the Banksia woodland so thoroughly. Chapter 2 quantified and analysed changes in soil fungal community composition and functional groups over a 50-year fire chronosequence in fire-prone Banksia woodland in southwestern Australia. Effects were variable, but fungal …

Coordinating The Telematic Music Performance Experience With Telemidi: Synchronising Nodes, Enhancing Musicality, And Delivering Simultaneity, Matthew Clive Bray

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The practice of Telematic Music Performance (TMP), a subset of Network Music Performance (NMP), enables geographically remote musicians to engage in real-time musical interplay, typically occurring over a Wide Area Network (WAN: the Internet). However, the transmission of data between remote collaborators introduces millisecond latencies that obstruct the nuance of traditional human-to-human musical intercourse, and consequentially, the music generated by TMP often lacks rudimentary degrees of syncopation. Reducing network latency has been a critical focal point for research in this field, wherein effective networks support low-latency, multi-modal data transmission to enhance sensations of immersion and telepresence for participants; the sense …

Searching For Equity In Positivity: A Two-Year Case Study Of The Effectiveness Of The Implementation Of Positive Education In A West Australian Public Secondary School Following A Year 7 Cohort To Year 8, Veronica J. Sutton

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This research evaluated the effectiveness of explicitly teaching Positive Education to early adolescent learners transitioning into a metropolitan, secondary public school in Western Australia and to understand the source of their stress and where they felt supported. Based on teacher feedback, a model for embedding the development of social and emotional competencies (Equity in Positivity) in the Western Australian secondary metropolitan public-school context, in a sustainable and cost-effective way, was developed over a six year period and linked to the Australian Wellbeing Hub (2020).

The researcher adopted a mixed method, instrumental bounded case study methodology, longitudinally applied through the lens …

The Commonwealth Of Amnesia: A Collection Of Erasure And Cut-Up Poems Exploring The Forgotten Histories Of Croatian And Yugoslav Peoples In Australia And An Exegesis Obliteration Creates More: Examining The Wreck Of History Through Whiteout, Blackout And Cut-Up Erasure Poetry, Natalie Damjanovich-Napoleon

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This thesis consists of two parts, a collection of poems, “The Commonwealth of Amnesia”, and an accompanying exegesis. The collection explores the forgotten histories of Croatian and Yugoslav immigrants in Australia from 1901 to 1957 through the medium of erasure and cut-up poetry, re-arranging words found in nonfiction documents to posit that forgetting can be metaphorically and visually represented through erasure while also re-narrativising a text. Erasure poetry takes a textual document and using whiteout or blackout erases portions of a text, transforming that text into a poem; cut-up poetry rearranges the words of a document in a textual version …

Preparing For End Of Life In A New Country: A Grounded Theory Study On African Migrants Living In Australia, Gertrude Gondwe Phiri

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

African migration to Australia has grown in the past 20 to 25 years with many migrants staying permanently. This has led to migrants dying away from their birthplaces where family is responsible for end-of-life care planning for the individual. Although migrating to Australia is considered a great achievement, many migrants also experienced challenges. Previous studies have explored the barriers faced by migrants in relation to end-of-life care but have not addressed the cause of those challenges. This constructivist grounded theory study examines how migrants from three African countries, Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe (MZZ) prepare for end-of-life in Australia. The study …

The Development, Implementation And Evaluation Of A Novel Intervention For Delirium Prevention And Management In An Adult Intensive Care Unit: A Mixed Methods Study, Gideon Ugochukwu Johnson

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Background: Delirium is a prevalent acute brain dysfunction in patients within intensive care units. Delirium is marked by a fluctuating mental state, inattention, and altered consciousness. This condition affects a substantial proportion of patients in intensive care units, and which leads to increased mortality, severe physiological and psychological consequences, and a significant economic burden on healthcare systems. Despite the evidence that supports the use of non-pharmacological interventions to prevent or minimise the impact of delirium such as orientation, sensory stimulation, early mobilisation, and family involvement, their implementation in intensive care units remains inconsistent. The involvement of family members in the …

Data Justice In Education: Toward A Research Agenda, Luci Pangrazio, Glenn Auld, Julianne Lynch, Carly Sawatzki, Gavin Duffy, Shelley Hannigan, Jo O'Mara

Articles

Educational institutions increasingly rely on digital platforms to deliver content and learning, monitor attendance, communicate with stakeholders, and evaluate institutional performance. Despite the efficiency and accessibility gains they offer, digital platforms are powered by personal data which, through a process of datafication, can be used to track, monitor, and profile staff and students. The insights drawn from this data can be used to shape educational and professional futures. This article examines how datafication has become a social justice issue in education, discussing the implications for well-being, decision-making, governance, and power in education. Using Hintz and colleagues framework for data justice, …

Harnessing Curtailed Wind-Generated Electricity Via Electrical Water Heating Aggregation To Alleviate Energy Poverty: A Use Case In Ireland, Ciara Ahern, Ronan Oliver, Brian Norton

Research Outputs: 2025-Present

Ireland experiences high energy poverty rates alongside surplus wind energy resources. With 77% of Irish households equipped with electrical immersion heaters for domestic hot water (DHW) generation, this study proposes an Electrical Water Heating Aggregation (EWHA) scheme. The scheme allocates surplus wind-generated electricity to provide DHW to fuel-poor households, thereby alleviating energy poverty through harnessing curtailed wind energy. Through a developed wind-generated electricity allocation model and half-hourly data analysis for a weather year, this research assesses the feasibility and economic viability of the EWHA scheme, focusing on the householder as the primary benefactor from the scheme (as opposed to ancillary …

Assessing Thermal Performance: Dataset From An Experimental Study On U-Value Variability, H. Alkhatib, B. Norton, D. Gavin, P. Lemarchand

Research Outputs: 2025-Present

In order to achieve energy savings in existing buildings, there is an increasing need for energy audits and performance checks. In this regard, estimating a building's U-value is crucial, and there are a variety of methods available for achieving this. Heat flow meters can be used to measure U-value in situ. This dataset reports on an experimental campaign that evaluated the insulation and performance of the fabric elements of a building located in Dublin, Ireland. The experimental study conducted on the "Block F" building provided insights into the building's thermal performance by measuring the U-value of various windows and walls …

An Exploration Of Fibre Intake And Bowel Function In A Sample Of Adults At An Irish University Campus, Ellen Lynch, Sophie Mulligan, Suzanne L. Doyle

Articles

Background: Bowel dysfunction can significantly impair quality of life. Adequate fibre intake is associated with good bowel health but intakes have been reported to be low in Ireland. Aim: This study aimed to gather data on fibre intake and bowel habits in a cohort of adults at a university campus in Dublin, Ireland. Methods: An online questionnaire was developed by adapting validated tools to assess habitual fibre intake and bowel function. The questionnaire was circulated through mailing lists and advertised via QR codes on campus in February/March 2023. Data was analysed using SPSS, p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: In total, 275 valid responses were received. Low fibre intakes (< 19 g/day) were found in 50.5% of participants. A significantly higher proportion of males had low fibre intake compared to females (62.2% vs 44.8%, p = 0.039). Nearly a third (30.2%) of respondents experienced mild symptoms of bowel dysfunction, and 13.1% experienced moderate to severe symptoms. An inverse relationship was observed between fibre intake (g/day) and bowel dysfunction (p = 0.033). Conclusions: In this cohort, low fibre intakes and some degree of bowel dysfunction were prevalent. Public health campaigns to increase fibre intake could prove to be a cost-effective way to improve bowel function and health amongst adults in Ireland.

The Gamechanger: Dean Santalo, Stefanie Powers, Timea Varga

LYNKD Magazine

No abstract provided.

Researcher Powerhouses!, Stefanie Powers, Timea Varga

LYNKD Magazine

Top Researchers Shine in the Communication Field

The Road To Hell Is Paved With Good Intentions: Deinstitutionalization And Mass Incarceration Nation, Corinna Barrett Lain

Law Faculty Publications

They say that the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and our failed implementation of deinstitutionalization inthe 1970s is a prime example of the point. In this symposium contribution-a response to Jeffrey Bellin's book MassIncarceration Nation-I offer a historical account of deinstitutionalization of state mental hospi­ tals, tracing how severelymentally ill patients were discharged from state hospitals and eventually made their way back to secure beds, but in our nation's jails and prisons instead. Mental health and mass incarceration are not separate crises, I argue, but rather inter­ connected problems with an interconnected past that require an interconnected …

Coffee: Lighting Its Complex Ground Truth And Percolating Its Molecular Brew, Róża Paterek, Sive Geoghegan, Bernadette S. Creaven, Aoife Power

Articles

Coffee is one of the most widely traded commodities worldwide and its popularity is only increasing. The International Coffee Organisation (ICO) reported a 6% increase in global production in 2020 to 10.5 million tonnes. Coffee production is quite involved (from sowing to harvesting, processing, packaging, and storage); consequently, the industry faces major challenges in terms of the assessment of its quality, flavour, and the components which contribute to coffee's characterisation, as well as the sustainability of coffee production and global trade. This has prompted multiple studies on the nature of the aroma and taste of the many varieties of coffee …

Ict-Enabled Change In Healthcare Organisations: Examining Implementation Practice Of Healthcare Documentation Projects, Selma Judia Furtado

Doctoral

No abstract provided.

An Image Processing Approach For Real-Time Safety Assessment Of Autonomous Drone Delivery, Assem A. Abdelhak, Dan Moss, Alan Hicks, Susan Mckeever

Articles

The aim of producing self-driving drones has driven many researchers to automate various drone driving functions, such as take-off, navigation, and landing. However, despite the emergence of delivery as one of the most important uses of autonomous drones, there is still no automatic way to verify the safety of the delivery stage. One of the primary steps in the delivery operation is to ensure that the dropping zone is a safe area on arrival and during the dropping process. This paper proposes an image-processing-based classification approach for the delivery drone dropping process at a predefined destination. It employs live streaming …

A Global Model-Agnostic Rule-Based Xai Method Based On Parameterized Event Primitives For Time Series Classifiers, Ephrem Tibebe Mekonnen, Luca Longo, Pierpaolo Dondio

Articles

Time series classification is a challenging research area where machine learning and deep learning techniques have shown remarkable performance. However, often, these are seen as black boxes due to their minimal interpretability. On the one hand, there is a plethora of eXplainable AI (XAI) methods designed to elucidate the functioning of models trained on image and tabular data. On the other hand, adapting these methods to explain deep learning-based time series classifiers may not be straightforward due to the temporal nature of time series data. This research proposes a novel global post-hoc explainable method for unearthing the key time steps …

Classifying The Content Of Online Notepad Services Using Active Learning, Mhd Wesam Al-Nabki, Eduardo Fidalgo, Enrique Alegre, Sarah Jane Delany, Francisco Jáñez-Martino

Articles

Pastebin is an online notepad service to share text anonymously. However, it could be misused to propagate suspicious or even illegal activities, like leaking sensitive information or sharing hyperlinks to child sexual abuse material. Due to the high rate of daily upload pastes, manual inspection of this material is not feasible. Conversely, an automatic classifier could identify such activities with little or no human intervention. However, a supervised model may require a significant number of training samples and have to handle distinct text typologies presented in Pastebin. This paper presents a classification approach composed of three cascading supervised classifiers that …

The Factorial Structure Of The Toronto Alexithymia Scale (Tas-20) Among A Sample Of Al-Quds Open University Students, Abed Alrhman Al-Tamoni, Mohammed A. Shaheen

Journal of Educational and Psychological Studies

The study aimed to investigate the factor structure of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) among a Palestinian sample of students from Al-Quds Open University, using a descriptive approach. The study also aimed to test the fit of five competing models. To achieve these objectives, the TAS-20 scale, developed by Bagby et al. (1994), was administered to a cluster random sample of 381 university students, consisting of 145 males and 236 females. The (WLSMV) was used to examine the factor structure of the scale, using Mplus 8 software. Results indicated that the one-factor and two-factor models did not fit the data, …

Assessing The Psychological And Social Impacts Of The Refugee Crisis On Members Of The Refugees-Hosting Community: A Survey Study Of The Jordan Community, Mohammad Hammouri, Ahmad M. S. Bani-Khaled, Rami A. Y. Tashtoush

Journal of Educational and Psychological Studies

Abstract: The current research aimed to assess the psychological and social impacts on Jordanian. The Convenience sample consisted of (3152)To achieve the aim of the study, measure were developed to the psychosocial and social impact scale, which consists of (42) items, The results shown that the psychological effects are low, and social effects are moderate. The results also shown a significance difference on psychological effects to gender and age and work, but there were no significance differences on education level. The results also shown a significance difference on social effects to gender and age, but there is no a significance …

Transformational Leadership Of Library Chiefs And Its Mediating Effect On Job Satisfaction And Quality Of Work-Life, Catherine Era, Estela Dequito

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

In this study, chief librarians in the Province of South Cotabato were asked to assess the mediating role that transformational leadership played in the relationship between job satisfaction and quality of work-life. This work used descriptive correlational and mediation techniques in a non-experimental quantitative research design. The researcher questionnaires utilized in the research were adjusted to the goals of the investigation. Through stratified sampling, 83 librarians were chosen to participate in the survey. The statistical techniques used to analyze and interpret the data are mean and Pearson's r. The researcher utilized Google Forms, an online survey tool, to collect the …

Job Satisfaction Of Lis Professionals: Comparative Analysis Of Public/Private Sector’S University Of Karachi Sindh, Pakistan, Abida Hashmani, Naweed Sehar Dr., Areeba Rafiq, Ghulam Fareed

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Abstract

Purpose of the study: the prime purpose of this research study is to investigate the fundamentals requirements for workplace satisfaction among library experts in both public and private sector university libraries of Karachi, Sindh.

Design / methodology/approach: the study explores the factors influencing the job satisfaction of Library professionals. Quantitative research design were used to accomplish the study further we have selected 150 professionals for this project. 95 where responded with complete data. The response ratio was 63% and Structured Questionnaire was used to gather data. The collected data were analyzed using statistical package SPSS- 5.

Findings: …

Institutional Factors As Determinants Of Perceived Quality Service Delivery By Personnel In University Libraries In Benue State, Nigeria, Doocivir Faith Annune, Olalekan Abiola Awujoola Dr.

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The university library is an integral part of the university, as it provides and ensures access to quality information resources and services. The quality of information services provided by university libraries depends on various factors including institutional factors. This study, thus, investigates institutional factors as determinants of perceived quality service delivery by personnel in university libraries in Benue State, Nigeria. The study adopted the descriptive survey research design. The population of the study comprised all 262 library personnel in four university libraries in Benue State, Nigeria. Total enumeration method was adopted and structured questionnaire was used for data collection. Data …

Influence Of User Satisfaction On Library Patronage Among Postgraduate Students In Ladoke Akintola University Of Technology, Ogbomoso, Oyo State, Nigeria, Adeola Adesoji Arinola Ph.D, Olatundun Oluwatoyin Oyewunmi Phd, Adewale Joel Sobalaje, Ezekiel Tubosun Olatunji

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This study investigated the correlation between user satisfaction and library patronage among postgraduate students at Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Oyo State, Nigeria. A questionnaire was developed for data collection and validated, demonstrating a good reliability, with a coefficient of 0.847 (84.7%) for library patronage and 0.823 (82.3%) for user satisfaction. 120 responses were obtained and analyzed based on descriptive statistics (percentage, mean, average mean, and standard deviation) as well as inferential (Pearson Product Moment Correlation) statistics. The findings revealed a significant correlation between library patronage and user satisfaction (r= 0.000c, N = 120, P < 0.05) among postgraduate students of the University. The study concluded that adequate library customer care services and prioritizing meeting the essential needs of postgraduate students would enhance their satisfaction and consequently increase their library patronage. It was recommended that the university administration, in collaboration with the library management, address the issues that hinder effective utilization of the university library.

Use Of Social Media In Academic Library Services: A Case Study Of Dpsru Library, Yogita Ahuja Mrs.

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Social media has ingrained itself into every aspect of our lives, including libraries. Social media is being used by libraries more and more to engage with users, advertise services, and foster a feeling of community. This term paper investigates how social media can be used to enhance library services, highlighting the transformative effects of social platforms on user engagement, the promotion of library resources, and the development of community. This paper will also present the examples of implementation of social media tool by DPSRU Library. Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Research Gate have taken for representing this case study.

Protecting Feminist Culture Through Feminine Register In Speculative Fiction: Linking Curriculum And Reading For Pleasure In Nsw High Schools., Abdul Baseer

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This paper presents a case for speculative fiction’s potential to uphold the feminist cause in our current global scenario of male violence. Young Adult (YA) and children’s speculative fiction around feminist themes should be included in high school libraries for pleasure for reading and forms of support to the current curriculum and to address contemporary social issues including patriarchy and less space for feminist agency. This writing suggests five titles in current speculative fiction built around the feminine register for inclusion in a New South Wales high school’s library collection targeting stages 5 and 6 students and linked to the …

Cep120 Is Essential For Kidney Stromal Progenitor Cell Growth And Differentiation, Ewa Langner, Tao Cheng, Eirini Kefaloyianni, Charles Gluck, Baolin Wang, Moe R Mahjoub

2020-Current year OA Pubs

Mutations in genes that disrupt centrosome structure or function can cause congenital kidney developmental defects and lead to fibrocystic pathologies. Yet, it is unclear how defective centrosome biogenesis impacts renal progenitor cell physiology. Here, we examined the consequences of impaired centrosome duplication on kidney stromal progenitor cell growth, differentiation, and fate. Conditional deletion of the ciliopathy gene Cep120, which is essential for centrosome duplication, in the stromal mesenchyme resulted in reduced abundance of interstitial lineages including pericytes, fibroblasts and mesangial cells. These phenotypes were caused by a combination of delayed mitosis, activation of the mitotic surveillance pathway leading to apoptosis, …

Non-Invasive Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation For Subarachnoid Hemorrhage (Navsah): Protocol For A Prospective, Triple-Blinded, Randomized Controlled Trial, Anna Huguenard, Gansheng Tan, Gabrielle Johnson, Markus Adamek, Andrew Coxon, Terrance Kummer, Joshua Osbun, Ananth Vellimana, David Limbrick, Gregory Zipfel, Peter Brunner, Eric Leuthardt

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Inflammation has been implicated in driving the morbidity associated with subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). Despite understanding the important role of inflammation in morbidity following SAH, there is no current effective way to modulate this deleterious response. There is a critical need for a novel approach to immunomodulation that can be safely, rapidly, and effectively deployed in SAH patients. Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) provides a non-pharmacologic approach to immunomodulation, with prior studies demonstrating VNS can reduce systemic inflammatory markers, and VNS has had early success treating inflammatory conditions such as arthritis, sepsis, and inflammatory bowel diseases. The aim of the Non-invasive …

Disruption Of The Nascent Polypeptide-Associated Complex Leads To Reduced Polyglutamine Aggregation And Toxicity, Leeran B. Dublin-Ryan, Ankan K. Bhadra, Heather L. True

2020-Current year OA Pubs

The nascent polypeptide-associate complex (NAC) is a heterodimeric chaperone complex that binds near the ribosome exit tunnel and is the first point of chaperone contact for newly synthesized proteins. Deletion of the NAC induces embryonic lethality in many multi-cellular organisms. Previous work has shown that the deletion of the NAC rescues cells from prion-induced cytotoxicity. This counterintuitive result led us to hypothesize that NAC disruption would improve viability in cells expressing human misfolding proteins. Here, we show that NAC disruption improves viability in cells expressing expanded polyglutamine and also leads to delayed and reduced aggregation of expanded polyglutamine and changes …

Characterization And Individual-Level Prediction Of Cognitive State In The First Year After 'Mild' Stroke, Juan Pablo Saa, Tamara Tse, Gerald Choon-Huat Koh, Philip Yap, Carolyn M. Baum, David E. Uribe-Rivera, Saras M. Windecker, Henry Ma, Stephen M. Davis, Geoffrey A. Donnan, Leeanne M. Carey

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Mild stroke affects more than half the stroke population, yet there is limited evidence characterizing cognition over time in this population, especially with predictive approaches applicable at the individual-level. We aimed to identify patterns of recovery and the best combination of demographic, clinical, and lifestyle factors predicting individual-level cognitive state at 3- and 12-months after mild stroke.

METHODS: In this prospective cohort study, the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) was administered at 3-7 days, 3- and 12-months post-stroke. Raw changes in MoCA and impairment rates (defined as MoCA<24 points) were compared between assessment time-points. Trajectory clusters were identified using variations of ≥1 point in MoCA scores. To further compare clusters, additional assessments administered at 3- and 12-months were included. Gamma and Quantile mixed-effects regression were used to predict individual MoCA scores over time, using baseline clinical and demographic variables. Model predictions were fitted for each stroke survivor and evaluated using model cross-validation to identify the overall best predictors of cognitive recovery.

RESULTS: Participants' (n = 119) MoCA scores improved from baseline to 3-months …