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Jabiru Lakeside Precinct Plan
No full textBackground: This Creative Work identifies a contribution in urban design for tourism in ecologically & socially sensitive environments in Australia. The Work contributes to areas of research explored by The Why Factory/Winy Maas and Felix Madrazzo/Supersudaca investigating relationships between tourism policy, ownership & urban configuration, with economic contribution of tourism to local communities in Italy & the Caribbean respectively. The project builds on this work via precinct and architectural designs for the specific conditions of an Aboriginal owned and led project within a World Heritage location in Australia. Contribution: This work builds on earlier creative work Jabiru Masterplan published in 2018. In 2021 the researchers we re-engaged by Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corp. (GAC) to prepare developed designs for the Lakeside Precinct, and key civic buildings and landscape environments within the original masterplan. Developing the resolution of the wider masterplan strategy of reorienting the town towards its existing artificial lake, this creative work integrates environmental remediation of the lake itself, introduction of publicly accessible pathways and viewing platforms at key locations and introduction of a world heritage centre at the western end, visitor accommodation precinct to the north and community facilities along the south edge of the lake, As the key Kakadu experience arrival point, the world heritage centre and associated landscape was developed in close collaboration with the traditional owners, referencing landforms and landscape types within the wider National Park, as a platform for visitor engagement with the cultural and environmental heritage of the dual world heritage listed site. Significance: The work was selected as a finalist in the independantly peer reviewed 2024 World Architecture Festival Awards, Future Projects – Masterplanning category. The work was also awarded a Landscape Architecture Award for Tourism and an Award of Excellence (peak award) for Cultural Heritage, in the Australian institute of Landscape Architects (AILA), 2024 National Awards. In addition to receiving an Award of Excellence for Cultural Heritage, Regional Achievement Award, Landscape Architecture Award for Tourism in the 2024 Northern Territory ALIA Awards. The work was also published via ArchitectureAU.com.au ((08/07/24) and LandscapeAustralia.com.au (25/10/24).</p
House for One Hundred Years
No full textBackground: The work contributes to Architectural Design, specifically the identification of typological traits within established built environments, development of design techniques for translation of this information and its implementation utilising digital fabrication. The project adds to areas of research that have been explored by NMBW & Atelier BowWow, in their examination of typological information within existing built environments, C M Lee/Series Architects’ exploration of serial adaptation of typological models and Ronald Snooks exploration of the application of robotics in architectural design.Contribution: Between 2013-18 the researcher designed a single-family residence located in North Melbourne. The project, surrounded by 19th and early 20th century brick warehouses, responds to this character by translating the historic warehouse ‘loft’ plan, providing column free interiors and strategically located services allowing for future adaptation and flexibility. Further, the researcher identified that facades of the historic warehouses around the site display increased surface articulation around windows & doors; subsequently developing a digital script that reinterpreted this trait, producing fields of increased surface articulation in a digital model of the project. This information was then used to fabricate moulds for precast concrete wall panels used as the principal structure of the project. The completed concrete skin references the brutalist tradition of articulated concrete through a contextual response that utilises digital design tools and fabrication.Significance: The project was selected via independent peer review as a finalist in the 2024 World Architecture Festival Awards in the House & Villa (Urban) category. Further evidence of the impact of this work includes selection as the subject of a 45min television episode for Grand Designs Australia broadcast in Australia internationally. The project has also been published in disciplinary and mainstream media, including The Herald Sun newspaper, Habitas Living & Architecture AU.</p
Trends in Market-Based Blue Carbon Projects
No full textThe integration of blue carbon (BC) into the voluntary carbon market promotes BC ecosystem management through financial incentives. We analysed 70 BC projects and present a comprehensive knowledge synthesis on a multifaceted BC sector and its contribution toward sustainable development. Currently, market-based BC projects are located across 29 countries, covering an extent of one million hectares globally. Mangrove projects are dominant (99.98%) with project clusters located in Mexico, Senegal, India and Myanmar. The private sector emerged as key players in project development and investments. Across their crediting periods, the 11 registered projects (with ongoing credit issuances) are estimated to deliver 154 MtCO2 of total carbon abatement, with 5 MtCO2 of BC credits already issued. Not limiting to climate benefits, BC projects address broader goals of sustainable development by aligning with poverty reduction, gender equality, economic development and biodiversity conservation. However, further improvements are needed around transparency, permanence, benefit sharing and reporting frameworks to enhance the integrity in BC projects.</p
Investigating Obstacle Avoidance Approaches for Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
No full textSmall Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (sUAV) are steadily increasing in popularity and applicability. The number of use cases where sUAV operate in cluttered, urban environments increases. Currently, pilots are needed to operate sUAV. However, in the long run, the fully autonomous operation of sUAV is desired.This thesis presents a series of novel path planning strategies to operate sUAV in cluttered, urban environments. The strategies are formulated to be integrated into existing local path planning algorithms. It allows for the general improvement of local path planning algorithms, such that the presented strategies can be implemented in the best-suited local path planner for a certain use case. This work also evaluates the feasibility of the proposed strategies with the 3D Vector Field Histogram (3DVFH*) local path planning algorithm as a testing algorithm.A broad literature review forms the basis of bio-inspired avoidance strategies. Additionally, ethological experiments with bumblebees were designed, conducted and evaluated to address knowledge gaps in developing bio-inspired avoidance strategies for sUAV. These strategies were then evaluated in extensive software-in-the-loop simulations in 2473 different obstacle scenarios. The failure probability of the algorithm is considered the most critical aspect of path planning. Moreover, consideration of flight distance, flight time and estimated energy consumption also supported the evaluation of the algorithms.Path planning problems can be formulated as multi-objective optimisation problems. Here, most algorithms rely on weighted sums to choose the best path from a series of candidate paths. This work shows that functions that predominantly minimise bad performance instead of maximising good performance are beneficial. However, the improvement in failure probability is not sufficient. Therefore, this work additionally investigates various bio-inspired strategies. First, a broad collection of several strategies applied by animals is tested. Then, the 3DVFH*b-b mimics the behaviour of bumblebees to fly around close obstacles and over distant obstacles. This strategy is directly derived from experiments with bumblebees specifically designed to investigate their obstacle avoidance behaviour. Second, a probabilistic model is shown, which supports an informed decision-maker in identifying the ideal avoidance manoeuvre. Third, a Hybrid Artificial Neural Network Avoidance System (HANNAS) is discussed, combining bio-inspired avoidance strategies with machine learning. Several variants of the proposed strategies were successfully tested independently and combined with other strategies. The proposed strategies significantly reduce failure probability if applied to the 3DVFH*, proving their feasibility. The 3DVFH* has a failure probability of around 40% in the chosen test scenarios. Several strategies are presented that reduce the failure probability to less than 2%. The most notable algorithms are:The 3DVFH*b-b. The 3DVFH*b-b combines bio-inspired flight strategies to overfly distant obstacles and fly around close ones with the 3DVFH*.HANNAS V1. HANNAS V1 uses an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) for image segmentation to choose several of the 3DVFH* control parameters based on the segmentation of the UAV surroundings.HANNAS V2. HANNAS V2 combines the flight strategy to fly around close obstacles and over distant obstacles with the ANN for image segmentation. Based on the segmentation map, it defines the 3DVFH* control parameters and an ideal climb angle.</p
What Are The Expectations of Consumers About The Online Information Available on the Process of Requesting Access to Their Personal Health Records?
No full textProviding patients access to their personal health records empowers them to be more in control of their health decisions. This patient-centred approach encourages and enables consumers to be an active partner in their health. As consumers of health, patients are legally entitled to access their personal health records created about them by a health care organisation. There is limited evidence about the request to access process, with most of the literature focused on new technology, such as online patient portals, changing how patients access the information in their health record. However, as patient portals are not used by all health care organisations, patients will continue to make requests for access to their health record information directly with the organisation. Additionally, the literature highlights how the internet is used as a tool by consumers to search for information on health-related issues. There is little evidence of consumers using the internet to search for information on how to access their personal health records held by health organisations. As such, this study evaluated consumer expectations of health care organisation websites and the available online information about how to apply to access their personal health records.This thesis examined the critical issues and expectations relevant to consumers seeking information about how to access their personal health records. The literature review found issues critical to consumer access of personal health records included legislation, which mandates consumer rights to access information and obligations of health care organisations to comply. Secondly, the cost of releasing information for health care organisations included staffing and processing costs, whereas consumers expected costs to be provided upfront. Changes in technology, like online portals for access, was also a critical factor, and is expected to affect how records are accessed going forward. Privacy and security were of great concern to consumers, who want to know their confidential information is safe and secure.To explore consumer expectations, the marketing theory, Expectation Confirmation Theory (ECT), was used to underpin and guide the study. The four constructs of ECT, namely expectations, perceived performance, confirmation, and satisfaction were used to align and subsequently answer the four research sub-questions. Using a mix of positivist and pragmatism as the research lens, the study tested the application of ECT and employed mixed methods to answer the questions both qualitatively and quantitatively. A pilot study, recruited by purposeful sampling, was conducted to test and validate the survey, combined with a focus group and semi-structured interview questions. The online survey built on the secure platform, Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) (Version 8.5), was developed based on the constructs of ECT. Between the 3 April and 5 June 2020, 509 people, recruited by convenience sampling through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, a crowd sourcing platform, completed the survey. The quantitative results were statistically analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (IBM SPSS Version 28.0) and the pilot study interviews and the open-ended questions from the survey were thematically analysed using NVivo (Version 12). The respondents were 12% (62/509) Australians and 88% (447/509) from the USA, with 52% (265/509) male, 47% (238/509) female and 1% (6/509) non-binary. The main findings from an ECT perspective resulted in rich qualitative and quantitative data. Firstly, in exploring the expectations, the first section of the survey, in which 1083 responses were completed, 88% (953/1083) agreed that important information on how to access records should be easy to find and 82% (888/1083) agreed it should be on the main page of the website. Consumers expected information to be easy to understand and written in plain language. Additionally, ease of use was pertinent to website usability and effectiveness, and the breadth of services offered by the health care organisation should include help with the process, including a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page or link. Essential to any website are the principles of privacy and security to assure the consumer that their information and the website is secure and data breaches are minimised.Secondly, perceived performance required respondents to find the relevant information on randomly selected websites representing a General Practitioner (GP), specialist or hospital. Significantly, almost 70% (355/509) of the respondents were university educated yet had difficulty finding the information on the website. There was no statistical significance between the respondents who indicated they had previous experience in finding this type of information, compared to those with no experience, by gender, age or country, and no statistical difference between those doing the exercise the first time compared to the second time. The results are significant for website developers because it demonstrates that a website should be easy to use, with information found the first time, and not assumed after having practiced. Thirdly, the findings relating to confirmation resulted in many negative comments in the open-ended questions stating frustration and difficulty with the task of searching the websites, and 52% (265/509) indicating their expectations were not met. Lastly, 50% (253/509) indicated they were satisfied with the process and their experiences compared to what they expected. A solution, and a significant contribution of this research, is the conceptual model, the Patient Record Access Information Seeking (PRAIS) Framework, developed using the published literature and the findings from the survey of health consumers to answer the research sub-questions. The Framework provides practical solutions for adoption by health care organisations to design websites that are patient-centred to ensure accessibility of personal health records by consumers. The Framework includes organisational strategies and elements, based on the findings, to achieve those strategies, and to meet the expectations and satisfaction of health consumers wishing to access their health records. The impact of these findings advances the body of knowledge from existing research by exploring access to personal health records from the point of view of the consumer. Future research on this topic will benefit from testing the Framework in health care organisations and repeating the survey with the inclusion of digital literacy which is important for future access and changing technologies.</p
Cultural Symbolism in Vietnamese Horror Films
No full textVietnamese horror cinema has carved a niche in the global film industry, distinguished by its use of cultural symbolism to evoke fear. This study scrutinizes the intricate ways in which Vietnamese horror films incorporate indigenous beliefs, customs, and folklore to instill a profound sense of dread among local viewers. It revolves around three pivotal questions: the method by which these films infuse cultural symbols to craft a fear that is both nuanced and culturally relevant; the degree to which these symbols enhance the films' overarching messages or social critiques, possibly reflecting wider societal concerns or historical accounts; and the contrast in the depiction of these symbols in Vietnamese horror films against those from other national cinemas like Thai, Japanese, or American. The research dissects four acclaimed Vietnamese horror movies: "Thất Sơn Tâm Linh" (Kunmanthong), "Quả Tim Máu" (Vengeful Heart), "Bóng Đè" (The Ancestral), and "Lời Nguyền Huyết Ngải" (Blood Curse). By analyzing the employment of cultural symbols in these narratives, the study endeavors to enrich the comprehension of Vietnamese horror cinema's unique faculty for tapping into the specific fears and anxieties of its audience, thereby contributing to the genre's discourse. This exploration into the heart of Vietnamese horror aims to unveil how cultural underpinnings shape the genre's impact and resonance with its audience.</p
Assessing the impact of immobilisation on the bioavailability of PFAS to plants in contaminated Australian soils
No full textPer- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have become a key concern to both environmental and human health due to their extreme persistence in the environment and their ability to bioaccumulate in plants, animals, and humans. In this mesocosm study, Australian PFAS-contaminated soil with a mean total concentration of 8.05 mg/kg and a mean combined PFHxS + PFOS concentration of 7.89 mg/kg was treated with an immobilisation sorbent (RemBind®) at different application rates (0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 3, 4, and 5% w/w). To assess the efficacy of this immobilisation treatment, PFAS leachability, PFAS plant uptake, and ecotoxicity tests were conducted. Leachability testing was performed according to the Australian Standard Leaching Procedure (ASLP) at pH 5 and 7. A grass species (Dactylis glomerata) was used to measure plant uptake of PFAS from untreated and treated contaminated soil. In addition, the Microtox test was used to assess the associated ecotoxicity. The immobilisation treatment resulted in a significant reduction of 88.5–99.8% in the total PFAS leachability and 88.7–99.8% in the combined PFOS and PFHxS leachability at pH 5. Similarly, significant reductions (5–12-fold) were observed in the plant uptake of total PFAS and combined PFOS and PFHxS in all treated soil samples. In addition, although the Microtox test showed relatively low ecotoxicity in all the experimental samples, including the untreated soil, a significant decrease in the ecotoxicity of treated soil samples was observed. The results from this study highlight that this treatment approach has the potential to reduce both PFAS leachability and plant bioavailability with a relatively low associated ecotoxicity. This is likely to reduce the risk of the transfer of PFAS into higher trophic levels. This immobilisation treatment may, therefore, reduce the risk associated with PFAS-contaminated soils and may be an important remediation tool for managing certain PFAS-contaminated soils.</p
Production Employee Competency of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Developing Countries: A Case Study of the Thai Automotive Parts Manufacturing Industry
No full textThis study aims to develop an individual production employee competency model. Production employees in Thai automotive parts SMEs are identified as the primary source of information. The incorporation of the perspectives of production managers/owners allowed the research to encompass key insights regarding production employee competencies.
Identifying individual competencies is crucial for developing effective human resource management strategies and enhancing human performance in the supply chain domain. However, the literature on individual competency research reveals four significant limitations.
Most of the existing competency research focuses on companies or managers, with only a handful of studies addressing employee competencies. Given this circumstance, this study aimed to achieve new knowledge and add to the limited body of knowledge concerning competencies needed for production employees in the automotive parts industry sector in Thailand. Despite the importance of the production sector, there is a noticeable lack of research on enhancing the competencies of production employees. Third, there is a scarcity of studies on individual competencies within small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries, where human resource management for production employees is often inefficient. Finally, there has been limited exploration of the mechanisms or relationships among these individual competency types. Therefore, this study addresses the following research questions: (1) What individual competencies are required for production employees of SMEs in developing countries, using the Thai automotive parts manufacturing industry as a case study? (2) How do the different groups of individual production employee competencies influence one another?
This research is focused on the complexity of theories and concepts pertinent to competency-based human resources. This research aims to address these deficiencies by developing a model for individual production employee competencies, using research participants from SMEs in the Thai automotive parts industry sector. Given the exploratory nature of the research and the absence of a clearly defined problem in existing literature, a qualitative methodology is employed. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to gather data with participants represented by 10 production managers/owners and 20 production employees within manufacturers based within Thai automotive parts SMEs industry subsector. The analysis was undertaken using grounded theory coding techniques.
The study provides detailed insights into the essential competencies of production employees, specifically inquisitiveness, functional skills, emotional intelligence, and integration competencies. Key findings reveal that employees combine these competencies to create synergistic effects. A deeper understanding of the interactions among these individual competencies enhances comprehension of the core mechanisms driving their development.
This study contributes to both knowledge and practice. Firstly, it initiates a comprehensive exploration of the competencies essential for production employees, making it a pioneering effort, especially in Thailand. This is particularly significant within a developing country, where SMEs are prevalent across various organisational scales. Consequently, the approach significantly enriches the knowledge base, providing SMEs with insights into the crucial competencies needed for their production staff. Furthermore, the findings offer valuable guidance to managers and owners of Thai automotive parts SMEs, helping them enhance their HRM practices concerning production employees.
Secondly, this study deepens the understanding of the interrelationships among competence groups. Building on prior research, it introduces a framework that elucidates the relationships between individual competence groups within the supply chain. While previous studies identified key competencies, they often failed to detail the pathways to achieve them. A clearer comprehension of how competencies interrelate has the potential to significantly enhance their value within the context of the supply chain.
This research establishes a theoretical reference point for future studies by identifying required competencies and conceptualising competency mechanisms. The empirical findings offer detailed insights into how production employees operate and how their various competencies influence one another. Future research can build on these insights through the complementary employment of quantitative methods to enhance generalisability.</p
Entrepreneurial intentions among university students: the role of mentoring, self-efficacy and motivation
No full textPurpose: This research examines whether mentoring is a predictor of entrepreneurial intentions. It also explores how intent translates into action through implementation intentions. The study tests if the mentoring-intentions association is mediated by self-efficacy. The potential moderating effect of achievement motivation on the relationship was also investigated. Design/methodology/approach: PLS-SEM was used to test the hypotheses of the 242 valid responses collected from final-year students from Libyan public universities. Findings: Results show that self-efficacy partially mediated the mentoring-intentions association, while motivation negatively moderated the relationship. Entrepreneurial intentions had a significantly strong effect on implementation intentions. Research limitations/implications: The results verify mentoring as a practical socializing instructional approach. Therefore, universities should implement structured mentoring programs, offering emotional guidance, counsel and networking opportunities. Also, mentors should undergo training, and progress tracking is essential for improvement. Originality/value: Examining entrepreneurial self-efficacy as a mediator and achievement motivation as a moderator in the mentoring-intentions association is unprecedented. The findings narrow the search for antecedents to entrepreneurial intentions and pinpoint intervention points.</p
An Investigation of Motor Imagery and Virtual Reality for Post-Stroke Motor Function Recovery
No full textStroke is a life-threatening disease resulting in brain damage that often leads to physical disabilities profoundly disrupting the quality of life. Post-stroke recovery relies on the rewiring of neural networks, a process known as neuroplasticity. In particular, the motor cortex plays a pivotal role in motor-related processes for restoring motor functions. It is generally accepted in scientific discourse that neuroplasticity is most active within the subacute period (<6 months) post-stroke and deteriorates over time. An effective recovery necessitates urgent rehabilitation as soon as patients have survived their stroke with stable vital signs. Nonetheless, severe stroke-induced motor impairment presents a formidable challenge, constraining rehabilitative options because the current standard intervention, such as physiotherapy and occupational therapy, often requires some residual movement from stroke patients in addition to passive movement therapy.
To address the physical limitations in rehabilitation, a novel strategy involving motor imagery (MI), action observation (AO) and virtual reality (VR) technology to enable stroke recovery requiring no patient mobility shows promise, yet there is mixed evidence in the literature. This thesis contributes to the body of evidence supporting the integration of MI, the ability to perform a mental movement, as a standard clinical practice for stroke rehabilitation, with VR for complementary assistance. To ensure the safety of this research, non-invasive neuroimaging techniques are utilised to capture brain signals via portable functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and electroencephalogram (EEG) with sufficiently high spatial and temporal resolutions, respectively. Additionally, EEG is used for its compatibility with VR. This research examines fNIRS and EEG signals through brain activation and connectivity analyses. Efficient algorithms are developed to optimise the workflow of this research. Normalisation complemented by statistical tests is employed to extract quantitative patterns of brain activity during different experimental tasks. These patterns are illustrative of brain activation in the context of motor function rehabilitation.
Regarding the influence of MI on brain activation, this research identifies the motor and frontal cortices as key regions activated by upper and lower limb MI tasks. Such an observation is indicative of the movement-related and organisational mental processes attributed to MI. In particular, MI tasks generally maximise oxygenated haemoglobin concentration changes in response to more intense brain activation around the motor cortices of healthy and stroke-affected individuals compared to relaxation and casual imagination, with statistically significant p-values (p0.85) for analysing the dependence of fNIRS channels of the motor cortex with other brain areas exhibits variations between relaxation and MI tasks, particularly for stroke patients. The significant coherence connectivity (coh>0.35) for the EEG spectral analysis also indicates individual differences in brain connections. These findings emphasise the efficacy of exposure to diverse MI exercises for maximising motor cortex activation by increasing the likelihood of applying an effective type of MI from various MI tasks to accommodate inter-subject variability in MI ability.
These findings demonstrate that MI is viable for enhancing motor function recovery in stroke patients, with its efficacy enhanced by AO and VR. The integration of these techniques leads to intensified brain activation in motor-related regions, which is crucial for motor function recovery. Furthermore, variations in connectivity patterns reinforce the need for VR-customised MI tasks to accommodate individual differences in MI ability. These findings substantiate the adoption of MI, complemented by AO and VR, to enable early motor function recovery regardless of stroke patients’ mobility impairments.</p