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The material foundations of queenship in late-medieval England, 1445-1503
No full textThis thesis examines the material foundations of queenship in late-medieval England, drawing on the cases of three queens consort from the second half of the fifteenth century — Margaret of Anjou, Elizabeth Woodville and Elizabeth of York. It is situated in a field of research that, in recent decades, has seen a proliferation of scholarly studies that have done much to uncover what we know about pre-modern queens in England. However, research into the financial and economic aspects of queenship has tended to lag behind. This study is timely because it draws on the rich scholarship currently available about fifteenth-century English queens and provides something new. It examines in detail and comparatively the economic resources available to and used by the queens; in so doing it seeks greater comprehension of how the queen consort was supported materially, and how these individual queens fit into the economic landscape of the period. Based primarily on empirical archival research, the thesis examines the compositional and utilitarian nature of the queens’ resources. It uses a variety of sources pertaining to these queens and the period they lived in, including a wide range of administrative and estate records, some of which have not previously been studied in detail. Of those sources that have been used previously by other scholars, this study interrogates them again from a different angle, posing new questions, and proposing conclusions specific to the focus of this research. Taking account of the gendered nature of these queens’ circumstances, and the contemporary notions of power within which they performed their duties, the study seeks to widen our understanding and appreciation of the material aspects of this office, thereby enabling us to acquire new insights into both the lives of these individual queens and the broader nature of medieval queenship in England.</p
Towards Sustainable Offsite Construction: Examining Embodied Energy in Shipping Container Buildings
No full textThis research explores the state of the construction industry in terms of its actions towards carbon emission reduction, current trends, and values relating to emissions and embodied energy in shipping containers. Shipping containers represent one type of offsite construction that is widely used for the construction of new buildings using recycled material. Given that shipping containers are considered environmentally friendly due to the use of recycled material, this research aims to investigate their carbon emissions and explore whether they are a sustainable solution. In-depth research into trends involving the conversion of shipping containers to buildings is conducted to see if there are any adverse side effects of the practice. Secondary data on emissions and embodied energy were reviewed to determine how this trend holds up to sustainability, as it is commonly associated with related published research. In comparison, traditional buildings and shipping container buildings had a comparative embodied energy requirement of 74,532.50 megajoules and 99,772.44 megajoules, respectively. The research concludes that well-known offsite construction methods, such as shipping containers, should not be readily assumed to be sustainable alternatives to traditional construction methods. The research suggests the importance of reviewing the embodied energy of buildings that utilise shipping containers, rather than assuming their sustainability, thus highlighting significant practical implications for the construction sector
Novel roles for seminal fluid extracellular vesicles
No full textSeminal fluid extracellular vesicles (SFEVs) are increasingly recognised as key regulators of reproductive success, exerting effects on both sperm function and the female reproductive tract. Derived primarily from the prostate and epididymis, SFEVs carry a complex molecular cargo—including lipids, proteins, and small non-coding RNAs—that are thought to support fertilisation and early reproductive events. Despite growing interest in their potential, inconsistencies in isolation methods and experimental designs have limited our understanding of SFEV function. This thesis aimed to comprehensively characterise the role of human SFEVs at conception using a robust enrichment protocol and multi-faceted experimental approach.The central focus of this research was threefold: (1) to define the influence of human SFEVs on male gamete function; (2) to investigate how SFEVs modulate the female reproductive tract cellular environment and to identify the signalling pathways involved in this interaction; and (3) to profile the protein composition of SFEVs to better understand their functional cargo. Together, these studies provide critical insights into the mechanisms by which SFEVs contribute to reproductive processes and lay the groundwork for future applications of EV-based diagnostics or therapeutics in fertility and reproductive health.</p
Educational data advocates: emerging forms of teacher agency in postdigital classrooms
No full textCommercial platforms are being increasingly used in classrooms as teaching and learning tools. Beyond shifts in practice to accommodate this, the teacher becomes a tool of the platform – generating and collecting data for commercial entities. It is time to move from commercial platforms working through teachers to influence education, towards working with teachers in the ethical use of educational data. The purpose of this paper is twofold. Firstly, we draw on semi-structured interviews to present an exploratory typology of teacher influencer behaviour. Secondly, we argue that there is potential for teacher influencers to act as advocates. We introduce the conceptual notion of an ‘educational data advocate’. We call for Teacher Influencers to be recognised as a source of expertise to understand the implications of the use of data-driven educational technologies. By doing so, a new pedagogical economy that promotes ethics and rights alongside educational and commercial outcomes may be generated
Residual hydrocarbons in long-term contaminated soils: implications to risk-based management
No full textPetroleum hydrocarbon (PHC) contamination is a widespread and severe environmental issue affecting many countries’ resource sectors. PHCs are mixtures of hydrocarbon compounds with varying molar masses that naturally attenuate at different rates. Lighter fractions attenuate first, followed by medium-molar-mass constituents, while larger molecules remain for longer periods. This results in significant regulatory challenges concerning residual hydrocarbons in long-term contaminated soils. This study examined the potential risks associated with residual PHC and its implications for risk-based management of heavily contaminated soils (23,000–26,000 mg PHC/kg). Ecotoxicological properties, such as seedling emergence and growth of two native plant species—small Flinders grass (Iseilema membranaceum) and ruby saltbush (Enchylaena tomentosa)—and earthworm survival tests in PHC-contaminated soils, were assessed. Additionally, the effects of aging on the attenuation of PHC in contaminated soils were evaluated. Toxicity responses of plant growth parameters were determined as no-observed-effect concentrations: 75%–100% for seedling emergence, < 25%–75% for plant shoot height, and 75%–100% for earthworm survival. After 42 weeks of aging, the total PHC levels in weathered soils decreased by 14% to 30% and by 67% in diesel-spiked soil due to natural attenuation. Dehydrogenase enzyme activity in soils increased during the initial aging period. Furthermore, a clear shift of bacterial communities was observed in the soils following aging, including enrichment of PHC-resistant and -utilizing bacteria—for example, Nocardia sp. This study underscores the potential of natural attenuation for eco-friendly and cost-effective soil management, underlining that its success depends on site-specific factors like water content and nutrient availability. Therefore, we recommend detailed soil assessments to evaluate these conditions prior to adopting a risk-based management approach
Optimum Stimulation Level and Shopping Experience: A Case of Australia
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Culture-Centered ICT Guidelines for Southeast Asian Secondary Schools
No full textThe adoption of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Southeast Asian (SEA) secondary schools is slow and is considered incompatible with cultural barriers, affecting students’ learning outcomes, and teaching and learning experiences. To improve ICT adoption and compatibility in SEA schools, we propose culture-centered ICT guidelines and practices to support teachers and developers in designing, planning, and implementing ICT learning activities. The culture-centered ICT guidelines make use of cultural values and cultural motivational elements (CME) to enhance teaching and learning. The beneficiaries are ICT designers, developers, teachers, and students. The guidelines and practices were developed based on the success of innovative use of cultural activity metaphors, cultural theme metaphors, and proposition metaphors in Southeast Asian secondary schools, which improved learning outcomes and teaching and learning experiences. We propose four culture-centered ICT guidelines and practices. A new enhanced Human Computer Interaction (HCI) model is proposed for future ICT designs for Southeast Asian secondary schools
Iris Marion Young, political responsibility and the politics of ethical consumption
No full textThis thesis explores the politics of ethical consumption by developing a unique approach to understanding the ethics of consumption through the lens of political philosopher Iris Marion Young’s work. The aim of the thesis is to develop an approach that treats ethical consumption as a form of political responsibility. It does so by taking the theory of political responsibility developed by Young and, in conjunction with her other work, applies it to a consideration of the multifaceted phenomenon of ethical consumption. Over the past thirty years the phenomenon of ethical consumption has proved challenging insofar as there is little agreement as to its definition or application in practice. In part, this has been because of the tendency for such discussions to remain within particular disciplinary frameworks. One of the key contributions of this thesis is to develop an approach that goes beyond the particularities of these frameworks and looks to combine appropriately relevant insights. In effect, this thesis adopts a multi-disciplinary rather than a mono-disciplinary perspective. The central argument of the thesis is that ethical consumption practices are examples of successfully engaged political responsibility. To explore this, the thesis builds on the strengths of Iris Marion Young’s political philosophy to provide an account of her body of work to develop the theoretical lens of the thesis, which I have called the Irisian method. This method draws together a number of Young’s key ideas such as inclusivity, solidarity and responsibility. This Irisian method enables the research to demonstrate how Young’s theorisations of political responsibility can explain and strengthen claims of ethical consumption to political responsibility. The analysis presented in the thesis thus contributes to addressing the tension between what is perceived to be the insurmountable problem of materialist consumerism on the one hand and sustainability and the politics of ethical consumption on the other. One notable key strength of Young’s theoretical approach was her praxis, the combining of activist and scholarly politics that characterised and informed her work. This thesis argues that uniquely Irisian conceptualisations can be seen within many articulations of ethical consumption, both in academic scholarship and activist politics. On the basis of an Irisian methodology of praxis this thesis explores many unique examples of ethical consumption. In particular, it shows how lessons may be drawn from political activism that can inform our theorising of key concepts like political responsibility and ethical consumption. At the same time, the thesis contributes to the ongoing debates about what counts as ethical consumption. The Irisian analysis offered in this thesis thus provides an original contribution to the study of ethical consumption. Its Irisian approach develops a different perspective on ethical consumption that identifies a politics of responsibility at play. The application of the Irisian method in this thesis also makes an original contribution to understanding and appreciating the political significance of the work of Iris Marion Young.</p
The effectiveness of trauma-based therapies for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children and adolescents in out-of-home care
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Community expectations for the role of local government in regional Australia: Meeting the challenges of ’slow burn’
No full textRegional Australia is confronted by specific demographic, social, economic and infrastructure challenges, which we are denoting as ‘slow-burn’ threats. This article interrogates a recent national survey concerned with the value of local government to Australian communities, focusing upon differences in responses for regional and remote areas compared to those from urban capital cities. Findings indicate that regional and remote residents place more importance on local government delivering services that specifically focus on the long-term development and sustainability of the community than their urban counterparts, particularly economic and community development roles. We argue that this constitutes a demonstration of the different expectations that regional and remote communities have of local government in the face of ‘slow burn’ in regional and remote areas. Further, we suggest that the relationship between local governments in regional Australia and the communities they serve is usefully conceived in terms of what we denote as ‘the close economy’ and ‘the local state’