Digital Commons Network^™

Nutritional And Antioxidant Properties Of Two Species Of Edible Scarab Beetles (Cetonia Aurata And Oryctes Rhinoceros), S. S. Mwanza, C. M. Mudalungu, N. M. Kimani, H. O. Mokaya, B. O. Ochieng, S. Juma, C. M. Tanga

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Edible scarab beetles are important repositories for nutritive and bioactive compounds, but this information remains largely unexplored. This study explored the nutritional and therapeutic properties of two edible scarab beetles from three different locations (Embu, Murangâa and Nairobi Counties) in Kenya. Morphological and molecular characterization of the wild collected larvae revealed two important edible beetle species (Cetonia aurata L. and Oryctes rhinoceros L.). The larvae of both species are excellent source of crude proteins (44% for O. rhinoceros and 63% for C. aurata). The larvae of O. rhinoceros were rich in minerals, particularly calcium (15.75-22.65 mg/g) and potassium (13.62-22.88 mg/g). …

Unraveling The Potential Of Black Soldier Fly Larvae As A Sustainable Protein Source For Nile Tilapia Production In Diverse Aquaculture Systems, Jonathan Munguti, Mavindu Muthoka, Jimmy B. Mboya, Domitila Kyule, Menaga Meenakshisundaram, Chrysantus M. Tanga

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Aquaculture plays a critical role in global food security, with Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) recognized for its adaptability and robust growth. However, traditional feeds, heavily reliant on fishmeal (FM) and soybean meal, face economic and environmental challenges. In response, black soldier fly larvae meal (BSFLM) has emerged as a promising, nutrient-dense alternative. This review synthesizes existing literature on BSFLM’s nutritional profile and its suitability for Nile tilapia diets, while acknowledging that the data come from diverse independent studies conducted under varying environmental conditions and husbandry practices. BSFLM consistently provides high-quality protein (29.9%–48.2%), aligning with tilapia’s requirements, and is rich in …

Aflatoxin Prevalence And Association With Maize Grain Physical And Nutritional Qualities In The Informal Markets In Meru County, Kenya, C. Cherotich, M. W. Okoth, Abong’ Go, S. W. Kariuki, E. R. Omuse

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

In Kenya, aflatoxin contamination in maize remains a persistent issue, with potential negative impacts on both public health and economic growth. Aflatoxins are toxic secondary metabolites produced by certain mold species, primarily Aspergillus flavus. The extent of Aspergillus fungal invasion in maize grains and the resulting increase in aflatoxin levels is heavily influenced by pre-and post-harvest practices. Before harvest, factors such as insect damage and exposure to warm, humid conditions increase the crop's susceptibility to Aspergillus infection and subsequent aflatoxin formation. Post-harvest, additional risks arise when kernels are damaged by pests like rats or when they are stored in unfavorable …

Cochlear Implantation With Sporadic Inner Ear Schwannomas: Outcomes In 106 Patients From An International Multi-Institutional Study, John P. Marinelli, Torsten Rahne, James R. Dornhoffer, Christine M. Lohse, Justin Cottrell, J. Thomas Roland, Nicholas J. Thompson, Kevin D. Brown, Jacob C. Lucas, Seilesh C. Babu, Nathan R. Lindquist, Elizabeth L. Perkins, Donald Tan, John I. Lane, Jacob B. Hunter, Erin Harvey, Nicholas L. Deep, Samantha Y. Cerasiello, Matthew L. Kircher, Mana Espahbodi, Evan L. Tooker, Niels Cramer West, Per Caye-Thomasen, Matthew L. Carlson, Stefan K. Plontke

Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery Faculty Papers

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate cochlear implant speech perception among patients with sporadic inner ear schwannoma who underwent ipsilateral implantation.

STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective multi-institutional cohort study.

SETTING: Eleven tertiary academic medical centers across Germany, Denmark, and the United States.

PATIENTS: One hundred six patients with sporadic inner ear schwannoma who received an ipsilateral cochlear implant from 2011 to 2022.

INTERVENTIONS: Ipsilateral cochlear implantation with observation, stereotactic radiosurgery, or microsurgery for tumor management.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Monosyllabic speech perception testing scores and rates of open-set speech perception.

RESULTS: Among 106 patients studied, 101 (95%) achieved open-set speech perception with a median of 24 …

Improved Survival With Phosphodiesterase-5 Inhibitor Use In Men With Male-Predominant Cancers: Real-World Large Database Study, Daniel Uralov, Sarah R. Harrington, Hani Samarah, Anika S. Walia, Marina Aweeda, Manal U. Mustafa, Parvesh Kumar, Andrew Briskin, Julian Jackson, Eric Mastrolonardo, Adam J. Luginbuhl

Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery Faculty Papers

INTRODUCTION: Phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE5) inhibitors, commonly prescribed for erectile dysfunction, may exhibit immunomodulatory properties by reducing myeloid-derived suppressor cell activity and enhancing T-cell responses. This study evaluated the association between PDE5 inhibitor use and overall survival (OS) in male-predominant solid organ malignancies.

METHODS: Male-predominant solid tumors were identified using male-to-female incidence ratio ≥3:1 in SEER database: prostate, bladder, colon, esophageal, hypopharyngeal, laryngeal, tonsillar, and testicular cancers. Using the TriNetX Research Network, we compared male patients prescribed PDE5 inhibitors within 6 months of cancer diagnosis to those without PDE5 exposure. Propensity score matching (PSM) was performed on demographic, clinical, and oncologic variables. …

Exodus. Teacher's Edition: Adult Sabbath School Bible Study Guide, Jiri Moskala

All Books

No abstract provided.

Challenging Behaviour In The Early Years: Investigating Teacher Perceptions, Gillian Anne Smith

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

An upward national trend in challenging behaviour amongst young children in Australian schools has prompted widespread concern and garnered frequent media scrutiny. Scholars have established that child-teacher relationships are central to understanding and mitigating challenging behaviour; however, exploration of teacher perceptions of children’s challenging behaviour in the early years has been limited. This study aimed to address this gap by investigating how early childhood teachers perceive and respond to young children’s challenging behaviour in Western Australia’s Kindergarten to Year 2 settings. The research was grounded in Attachment Theory and Ecological Systems Theory, highlighting the relational and environmental factors influencing teacher …

Applications Of Reservoir Simulation And Machine Learning In Subsurface Energy Systems For Decarbonization, Seyedmohammadmehdi Nassabeh

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The transition to a low-carbon future necessitates innovative approaches to carbon management and hydrogen storage, particularly in the context of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) from hydrocarbon reservoirs. This study employs advanced analytics and machine learning techniques to optimize carbon management strategies. One key focus of this research is to evaluate the effectiveness of flue gas and CO2 in Water Alternating Gas (WAG) injection within a homogeneous fractured carbonate reservoir characterized by low porosity and permeability. A computational model was developed to depict the flow regime in the reservoir and simulate reservoir fluid behavior using Eclipse (E300) software, various hybrid EOR …

Return Serve: Exploring The Dialogism Of The Australia-China Relationship In Media Coverage Between 2020-2022, Jordan Hogan

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Australia and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) have a dynamic bilateral relationship that is defined by interdependency and mutual political scepticism. This thesis provides an analysis of Australian and Chinese news media perspectives on this relationship. Via an in-depth examination of opinion pieces from national press, I map the significant developments of a period of deteriorating relations between 2020 and 2022. My study captures the more prominent, parochial and vitriolic media coverage of the unravelling relationship, and investigates the motivations, developments, differences, and similarities in the online publications of Australia’s national daily newspaper The Australian, and China’s Global Times. …

Modelling The Impacts Of Recreational Catch-And-Release Variability On Fish Stock Dynamics, Brett Crisafulli

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Recreational fisheries often lack sufficient data for robust stock assessments, and post-release mortality (PRM) of discarded fish, particularly demersal species, poses a significant threat to sustainability. Because demersal fish often experience higher PRM (often due to barotrauma and stress), the substantial global interest in their recreational fisheries (e.g., Australia, Gulf of Mexico, Western Baltic Sea) raises conservation concerns. This study employs three distinct modelling approaches, applied to four reef-dwelling demersal species, to support effective recreational fisheries management by addressing data uncertainty, unintended consequences of management changes, and PRM effects. Specifically, this thesis (1) evaluates variability in average weights of recreationally-caught …

The First International Study Into The Characteristics And Statistical Effectiveness Of Treatment For Indigenous And First Nations People Who Have Sexually Offended: A Meta-Analysis And Survey Of Routine Practice, James Finney

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Psycho-criminological literature has continued to examine post-treatment recidivism outcomes homogeneously for people who have sexually offended. Because results indicate clear differences between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people who have sexually offended, this project set out to understand the characteristics and effectiveness of treatment for Indigenous and First Nations people from four jurisdictions: Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States. A strategic three study strategy was implemented and resulted in a systematic narrative synthesis, meta-analysis and survey of sexual offender treatment organisations in Australia. The systematic review used a comprehensive and scientifically rigorous approach to identify studies (k = 14) that …

Early, Standardised, And Precise Treatment Of Copd Exacerbations And Covid-19, Sanjay Ramakrishnan

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Background: Background Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a common chronic condition causing significant morbidity and mortality. Patients with COPD report sudden episodes of deteriorating respiratory symptoms called exacerbations, often presumed to be precipitated by infections. COPD is in the top 5 causes of death globally. COPD exacerbations drive a large proportion of these deaths. Despite this, there is no standardised model of care for the sickest patients who need hospitalisations for exacerbations. Meanwhile, treatment for COPD exacerbations continues to be guided by symptoms, instead of underlying biology. Most patients are treated with unnecessary and harmful systemic corticosteroids. During the …

Marrying Top-K With Skyline Queries: Operators With Relaxed Preference Input And Controllable Output Size, Kyriakos Mouratidis, Keming Li, Bo Tang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

The two most common paradigms to identify records of preference in a multi-objective setting rely either on dominance (e.g., the skyline operator) or on a utility function defined over the records' attributes (typically, using a top-k query). Despite their proliferation, each of them has its own palpable drawbacks. Motivated by these drawbacks, we identify three hard requirements for practical decision support, namely, personalization, controllable output size, and flexibility in preference specification. With these requirements as a guide, we combine elements from both paradigms and propose two new operators, ORD and ORU. We perform a qualitative study to demonstrate how they …

Bi-Objective Dynamic Tugboat Scheduling With Speed Optimization Under Stochastic And Time-Varying Service Demands, Xiaoyang Wei, Hoong Chuin Lau, Zhe Xiao, Xiuju Fu, Xiaocai Zhang, Zheng Qin

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

With the growing emphasis on green shipping to reduce the environmental impact of maritime transportation, optimizing fuel consumption with maintaining high service quality has become critical in port operations. Ports are essential nodes in global supply chains, where tugboats play a pivotal role in the safe and efficient maneuvering of ships within constrained environments. However, existing literature lacks approaches that address tugboat scheduling under realistic operational conditions. To fill the research gap, this is the first work to propose the bi-objective dynamic tugboat scheduling problem that optimizes speed under stochastic and time-varying demands, aiming to minimize fuel consumption and manage …

Weakly-Supervised Semantic Segmentation With Image-Level Labels: From Traditional Models To Foundation Models, Zhaozheng Chen, Qianru Sun

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

The rapid development of deep learning has driven significant progress in image semantic segmentation—a fundamental task in computer vision. Semantic segmentation algorithms often depend on the availability of pixel-level labels (i.e., masks of objects), which are expensive, time consuming, and labor intensive. Weakly supervised semantic segmentation (WSSS) is an effective solution to avoid such labeling. It utilizes only partial or incomplete annotations and provides a cost-effective alternative to fully supervised semantic segmentation. In this article, our focus is on the WSSS with image-level labels, which is the most challenging form of WSSS. Our work has two parts. First, we conduct …

Transforming Urban Dynamics: Harnessing Large Language Models For Smarter Mobility, Hao Xue, Ming Jin, Shirui Pan, Flora Salim, Guansong Pang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to analyze mobility data and make mobility systems smarter by leveraging diverse data sources such as geospatial data, transportation logs, and real-time sensor data to optimize traffic flow, enhance public transportation systems, and support the development of autonomous vehicles. With the newly emerged generative AI paradigm, exemplified by large language models (LLMs), there is great potential to transform the current AI applications in mobility, transportation, and urban domains. This article provides an overview of recent efforts and aims to shed light on the challenges and future opportunities to facilitate the adaptation of LLMs for …

Constitutional Comparisons And Language, De Maartje Visser

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Language can be seen as an intuitive challenge for those who embark on comparative constitutional research: its intricate entanglement with law is often overlooked and not engaged with explicitly. This chapter argues that this is a missed opportunity at best, and arguably presents a hazard for the collective quality of the scholarly discourse. It discusses four ways in which language matters when engaging in constitutional comparisons: the problem of literal translation; the problem of legal-conceptual translation; a multilingual discourse that is marked by fragmentation; and expectations in communication with a foreign or international readership. The approach taken is constructive, with …

Ai Characterisations And Their Legal Implications, Jerrold Tsin Howe Soh

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This chapter examines the difficult legal characterisation problems that artificially intelligent systems raise and explores how different characterisations of artificial intelligence (AI) shape practical legal outcomes. Three reasons are offered for the legal difficulty with characterising AI. First, answers to characterisation problems are inherently subjective and perspective-driven, particularly when the subject is an intangible technological system. Second, AI technology is especially difficult to define since the field typically proceeds on inexact anthropomorphic metaphors. Third, AI characterisation problems raise difficult sub-problems, particularly in determining how autonomous an AI system is. The chapter thus argues that a range of plausible AI characterisations …

Attribute-Based Encryption With Searchable Encryption, Yang Yang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Attribute-based encryption (ABE) with searchable encryption is a notion that inherits the advantages of both ABE (Goyal et al., 2006) and searchable encryption (SE) (Boneh et al., 2004; Boneh and Waters, 2007) mechanisms to realize secure share and search for the outsourced data. ABE creates fine-grained access control system to prevent sensitive data from being accessed by unauthorized user or external attacker (Bethencourt et al., 2007). SE generates encrypted index for outsourced data such that it can be searched by a keyword trapdoor (or token) (Shi et al., 2007; Naveed et al., 2014), where the outsourced content and search keyword(s) …

Transforming Chiller Plant Efficiency With Sc+Bas: Case Study In A Hong Kong Shopping Mall, Ming Lun, Alan Fong, Baonan Nelson Li

Department of Construction, Environment and Engineering

The imperative for building managers, in the face of high-density urban environments, is to drive existing chiller plants to greater operational efficiency through the application of advanced technological interventions. The case for applying Supervisory Control (SC) and a Building Automation System (SC+BAS) for optimizing chiller plants is the subject of investigation here, through the lens of a typical commercial shopping mall in the highdensity infrastructure of Hong Kong. The application of SC+BAS falls into the realm of advanced Trim/Respond algorithms coupled with sophisticated sequencing algorithms that allow for refined optimization of the chiller operations in response to the dynamic demands …

Review On Building Retro-Commissioning: A Systematic-Cascade Literature Analysis With Expert Validation, Wai Yee, Betty Chiu

Department of Construction, Environment and Engineering

To optimize the energy performance of buildings, governments worldwide have introduced retro-commissioning (RCx), a systematic investigation of opportunities to improve the performance of existing buildings. However, RCx studies and applications are not as prevalent as those in the other building energy related domains. The past and recent states of RCx research have not been thoroughly investigated, and future research directions remain unclear. Therefore, a review is conducted to address these gaps using a systematic-cascade approach that includes: retrieval of RCx publications from the ScienceDirect and Scopus databases; bibliometric analysis of the publications using the VOSviewer software; in-depth qualitative analysis of …

Therapeutic Potential Of Brassica Carinata Microgreens Extract In Alleviating Symptoms Of Type 2 Diabetes In Wistar Rats, Lilian Nakakaawa, Ifeoluwa D. Gbala, Joel L. Bargul, Xavier Cheseto, John M. Wesonga

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Microgreens of Brassica plants have attracted increasing research interest in the management of the prevailing epidemic of Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) because of their high nutritional value. This study evaluated the antidiabetic effects of Brassica carinata Microgreens Ethanolic Extract (BMEE) in type-2 diabetic rats. For the normoglycemic assay, rats were divided into five groups and received a single oral dose of 100, 250, and 500 mg/kg of BMEE while the control groups received distilled water and Glibenclamide. Fasting blood glucose (FBG) levels were determined on a weekly basis for 28 days in diabetic rats after treatment with BMEE at …

Governing Intelligence: Singapore’S Evolving Ai Governance Framework, Jason G. Allen, Jane Loo, Jose Luna

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This paper provides an outline analysis of the evolving governance framework for Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Singapore. Across the Singapore government, AI solutions are being adopted in line with Singapore’s “Smart Nation Initiative” to leverage technology to make impactful changes to the nation and the economy. In tandem, Singaporean authorities have been assiduous to release a growing number of governance documents, which we analyse together to chart the city-state’s approach to AI governance in international comparison. Characteristics of Singapore’s AI governance approach include an emphasis on consensusbuilding between stakeholders (particularly government and industry but also citizens) andvoluntary or “quasi” regulation, …

Andrew Phang (Gen. Ed.), Pioneer, Polymath And Mentor: The Life And Legacy Of Yong Pung How, Kwan Ho Lau, Bryan Leow

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Many know the story of modern Singapore in broad outline. When the country attained independence in 1965, it was not industrialised and fishing villages still dotted the landscape. By 1990, GDP per capita had risen to around US$13,000, far exceeding its neighbours and on par with Hong Kong and New Zealand. A further three decades on, Singapore today boasts gleaming skyscrapers, well-developed infrastructure and a high degree of trust by residents and investors alike in its government.

Human Rights At Sea: Analyzing States' Responses To Cruise Ships During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Lixin Chen

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, the treatment of cruise ships by coastal states was inconsistent, with some ships being allowed to dock while others were not. To that end, this Note focuses on the obligations that a coastal state owes to the individuals onboard the cruise ships in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the rights to life and health. It further considers whether and how such rights are to be balanced with other countervailing considerations of such states, such as the risk of transmission to the local communities. This author concludes with the view that …

Automated Methods For Estimating Blood Alcohol Concentration Level From Facial Cues, Ensiyeh Keshtkaran

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This thesis investigates different approaches for detecting alcohol intoxication in drivers by analysing facial video data. Tackling this issue necessitates the creation of a novel dataset to overcome the limitations of existing datasets. The dataset constructed in this study is the first to include RGB video recordings of individual faces at varying levels of alcohol intoxication during simulated driving, featuring 60 participants with BAC levels ranging from 0 to 0.165 g/100ml. The constructed dataset not only supports this thesis, but also offers the broader scientific community a valuable resource for further study and development.

Building on this, this thesis presents …

A Tale Of Two Publishing Houses, Linda Martin

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This research explores the use of creative nonfiction in writing an account of two publishing houses established decades apart, and demonstrates how a hybrid approach that incorporates multiple voices can contribute to the field of biographies and memoirs on publishing. Using practice-led research as its primary methodology, ‘A tale of two publishing houses’ is a creative nonfiction work that focusses on the publishing experiences of Fremantle Arts Centre Press (now Fremantle Press) in its first decade of publishing from 1975, alongside present publishing experiences of Night Parrot Press in its formative years of publishing from 2019. The accompanying reflexive exegesis …

Toward Embodied Navigation Through Vision And Language, Muraleekrishna Gopinathan

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Embodied AI is a challenging but exciting field in which a robot learns to interact with human-living spaces to perform various tasks. This thesis studies the embodied navigation problem in which a robotic agent navigates in a previously unseen indoor environment based on a challenging task. In particular, the Vision-and-Language Navigation (VLN) task requires a robot to navigate based on a descriptive human-language instruction. This thesis aims to improve VLN agents on four key aspects - their understanding of the environment, training via additional data, correcting navigational errors, and predicting the layout of the environment for better planning.

First, we …

Investigation Of Under-Frequency Load Shedding Prevention Of Isolated Medium-Sized Power Systems Using Energy Storage, Dilan Indoopa Manamperi

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Due to the rapid uptake of distributed photovoltaic generation, the visible load to transmission operators in distribution feeders is reducing. Traditional load-shedding schemes are facing challenges due to this low-load situation. The required amount of load reduction cannot be achieved with the same load-shedding scheme as before. In some situations, with reverse power flows, load shedding can further increase the generation reduction. On the other hand, increased Rate of Change of Frequency (RoCoF) due to low inertia can result in false activation of under-frequency load shedding (UFLS) relays. These challenges can cause a serious problem with the power system security. …

Machine Learning For Computer-Aided Diagnostics From Complex Medical Images, Afsah Saleem

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Machine learning has significantly transformed medical image analysis in the current age of artificial intelligence offering vast potential in improving disease diagnosis and management. Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are among the leading cause of global mortality, emphasizing the need for early detection for effective intervention and prevention. Abdominal Aortic Calcification (AAC) is an early indicator and contributor to Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Diseases (ASCVDs) and is commonly assessed through imaging modalities such as computed tomography (CT), X-rays, and Dual-energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA). Among these, lateral spine DXA scans, commonly used for osteoporosis screening, offer a cost-effective and low-radiation opportunity for opportunistic CVD risk …