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Policy implications for offshore renewable energy in Australia: An MSP approach supporting the energy transition
No full textIn response to the ‘climate crisis’, countries around the world are implementing policy, administrative, and structural changes to transition towards a decarbonised economy. A key aspect of this shift is the development of offshore wind. In many countries, integrated ocean management approaches including Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) have been used to manage offshore wind development. However, in Australia – a country new to offshore wind - a traditional sector-specific approach has been adopted. Given the need for relatively rapid development of Australia’s offshore renewable energy industry, and the urgency of the decarbonisation agenda, implementing a comprehensive MSP approach within the required timeframe would be challenging. This article therefore aims to identify elements of the MSP process that can be rapidly deployed to support offshore wind development. Drawing on lessons learnt internationally, we examine how three key elements of MSP—governance integration, participation, and building the evidence-base —might be employed in advance (or in lieu) of a formal MSP process. We provide recommendations to support the rollout of offshore wind that would provide coordinated pathways for integrated governance, build knowledge and provide greater social and environmental acceptability, which is relevant for other countries developing their offshore energy capacity in the absence of MSP.</p
The Physiological Effects of Respiratory Protection in an Australian Smelter
No full textRespiratory protection is commonly used to mitigate worker exposures to airborne contaminants. Wearing a respirator creates an external thoracic obstruction on wearer, changing how people breathe which in turn modifies the breathing pattern. That is, it attenuates the minute ventilation and increases the time required for inhalation compared to exhalation. The respirator alters the shape of the flow-volume curve, creating a respiratory strain response for the wearer. Respirator use places both physiological and psychophysiological strain on the individual depending on the type of respirator, the work environment, and the individual worker’s work rate.The physiological and psychophysiological effects on respirator wearers have recently been recognised by the International Standards Organisation (ISO) introducing Human Factors into the design and testing of respiratory protection via their 16900 series of standards. Australian and New Zealand Standards Organisations have adopted these ISO standards with a 5-year phase out of their current standards. The ISO standards set respirator selection criteria based on work rate and nominal respiratory rates informed by previous laboratory studies. Due to difficulties with measuring in-respirator respiratory strain responses, no in-workplace studies have been published to underpin, validate, or test these standards.The research reported in this thesis presents three novel stages of enquiry to “identify real- time respiratory rates for respirator wearers in a workplace and determine the physiological and psychophysiological effects of respirator use on the workers who depend on them”. A series of studies were conducted and evaluated using a modified stimulus response model developed to evaluate the physiological and psychophysiological responses to respirator use, determining the suitable instrumentation and validating its use, eventually leading to testing the real time effects of respirator use in a real workplace- a smelter environment in far north Queensland.Once the modified stimulus-response model was developed (Chapter 1), a review of measurement devices suitable for in workplace respiratory measurement was conducted and the application of the novel S.E.A. pressure data logger (PDL) was explored to determine its suitability for in-workplace measurements of respiratory strain responses without altering the mechanism of the respirator (Chapter 2).The precision, accuracy, calibration, and use of the PDL was evaluated and validated against the industry standard Cortex METAMAX® 3B and a calibrated breathing simulator and it was found acceptable for use (Chapter 3). It was then deployed using seasoned industry respirator wearers (smelter workers) (N=18) in a unique random cross over laboratory trial at varying work rates in a laboratory study under controlled conditions with heart rate as an anchor (Chapter 4). The effect of the respirator was isolated from other environmental stressors, and consistent with previous laboratory studies, a significant decrease in minute ventilation (V̇I), peak inspiratory flow (PIF) and breathing frequency (Fb) was observed with respirator use versus no respirator. There was also a significant increase in the time of inhalation (tI) over the time of the respiratory cycle (tI/tTOT) indicating that the shape of the respiratory curve had changed from sinusoidal to elliptical. Although heart rate and ratings of perceived dyspnoea (RPD) increased with respirator use and with work rate; they were not significantly different with the respirator compared to without.Following successful deployment in a controlled laboratory situation, the PDL was then utilised with the same cohort (N=38) in a smelter workplace environment in a first of its kind study designed to examine cardiorespiratory, thermoregulatory, and psychophysiological strain responses to respirator use (Chapter 5). A within participant (work area) and between conditions (work tasks with requiring different work rates) analysis was conducted through exposure to a range of uncontrolled stressors i.e., different work environments and varying work rates. Although condensation in the equipment lines and drift due to the harsh environment led to some loss of data, the novel S.E.A. PDL was successfully deployed for in-respirator and in-workplace measurement of respiratory parameters across a range of activities in a harsh environment. Thus, demonstrating the PDL to be a useful and valid instrument for measurement of in-respirator in-workplace respiratory strain responses.As expected, V̇I, HR, PIF, Fb and RPD increased with higher work rates and all activities were significantly different when compared to resting. There was a reduction in tI leading to higher tI/tTOT and an increase in RPD due to a change in the shape of the breathing curve at higher work rates. The primary aim of this research was achieved with the first in-workplace cardiorespiratory, thermoregulatory, and psychophysiological strain responses to wearing respiratory protection at different work rates in a smelter environment were reported and found physiologically acceptable for this cohort.The Standards Australia/Standards New Zealand adoption of the ISO16900 series of standards on respiratory protection has significant implications for practice regarding the selection of respiratory protection for a work rate class (WRC) based on V̇I. Given the results of the in-workplace evaluation, the challenges for the OHS Practitioner in selection of respiratory protection was then explored (Chapter 6).Comparison of respirator selection approaches using estimated work rate compared to in-respirator respiratory measurements revealed that heart rate (HR) and rate of perceived dyspnoea (RPD) were adequate predictors of V̇I for this cohort and thus could be used in respirator selection. However, direct measurement of V̇I is recommended for each specific situation and individual wherever possible; and the S.E.A. PDL was demonstrated to be a useful and valid instrument for this purpose. Even then, caution must be exercised as it is possible that individuals will experience differences in the work of breathing (WOB) at the equivalent V̇I. Therefore, it is essential that the individual is placed at the centre of any respiratory protection program as differences in cardiorespiratory fitness will determine the physiological strain responses to workplace stressors and the acceptability of specific respiratory protection.The Australian Standards 5-year implementation phase for the 16900 series on respiratory protection will allow industry and OHS Practitioners some time to assimilate the changes and consider how to inform identification of work rate classes for the selection of respiratory protection. Further workplace studies of the novel kind presented in this thesis will build up a database of in-workplace data to inform those decisions, thus providing workers with physiologically acceptable respiratory protection that they can comfortably wear to protect against exposure to hazardous airborne contaminants.</p
How Do Australian Listed Firms Create Value for All Stakeholders?
No full textThe debate over whether a firm should prioritise shareholders or stakeholders is longstanding. Recently, this discussion has been reignited due to the confluence of three factors. First, the pursuit of growth and profit maximisation has resulted in significant stakeholder harm, with investors becoming increasingly concerned about the risks to long-term shareholder returns. Second, the Australian government’s 2016 commitment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals emphasised the role of Australian businesses in achieving these goals. Third, in 2019, the United States CEO Business Roundtable and the Australian Stock Exchange on Corporate Purpose stressed the need for business to benefit all stakeholders.Despite commitments from 138 of Australia’s largest firms to specific Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Australia’s performance has deteriorated against each goal. In 2022 Australia was ranked 13th by Gross Domestic Product but by 2023 was ranked 40th out of 166 countries on performance against the SDGs. This disparity between economic, social, and environmental performance has increased society’s expectation that business play a role in improving social and environmental outcomes.Stakeholders are often cynical of firms' commitment to ambitious social and environmental goals and corporations’ purpose statements based on the evidence of significant harm from firms’ actions. The stakeholder theory literature emphasises that a firm creates the most stakeholder value through its stakeholder orientation and firm-stakeholder partnerships. The literature has contributed to the development of theoretical models but falls short in explaining how, in practice, large firms listed on stock exchanges can morpho-genetically change from shareholder primacy to a stakeholder orientation.This research explores how firms listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) decide to make commitments to specific social and environmental goals and how their governance practices evolve to deliver on publicly declared commitments. Three distinct qualitative studies were developed to understand the influence of the industry sector, firm attributes, stakeholder orientation, and multi-stakeholder partnerships on strategic decision-making and governance practices. The first study incorporated 28 interviews with CEOs and non-executive directors of ASX200 firms and stakeholder organisations. The interview responses were triangulated with data from the ASX200 board charters and annual and sustainability reports.The first study found that the greatest stakeholder value is created when a firm has a strong stakeholder orientation and a societal purpose. The strength of stakeholder orientation was observed to be embodied in five strategy, four governance, and three cultural practices, including effective partnering capability.Study Two used social-network analysis to visualise the firm-stakeholder partnerships that aim to achieve specific SDGs and benefit target groups. Firms with a higher stakeholder orientation successfully partner with multiple stakeholders to achieve mutual goals, validating the importance of reciprocity and collective responsibility.An additional question that emerged from Studies One and Two was whether a firm could change its stakeholder orientation to achieve its stated social and environmental goals. Study Three partnered with a large ASX firm’s board of directors and top management team to understand their decisions over nine years to improve their stakeholder orientation and achieve social and environmental goals.The findings show that while some firms still adhere to shareholder primacy, most ASX200 firms are shifting towards stakeholder orientation. Notably, 67 of 195 firms have transformed their strategic decision and governance practices, embedding a stakeholder orientation. This cultural shift toward incorporating purpose into decision-making and values into governance practices holds the potential to create a more inclusive and sustainable business landscape, fostering optimism for the future. These findings provide new insights into corporate social responsibility and governance practices.</p
Exploring Parent-Child Shared Book Reading in the First Three Years of Life: Characteristics and Language Outcomes
No full textShared Book Reading (SBR) is a widely established home literacy activity that benefits young children’s language and cognitive development (Hoyne & Egan, 2019). Much of the research in this area has focused on interactions between children aged over 2 years and their mothers. When younger ages are considered, reading frequency is often the primary measure of early exposure, overlooking nuances of these early interactions. Relatively little is known about fathers’ involvement in early SBR, or SBR practices outside of Western society. This thesis, comprising five studies, explored the frequency, characteristics, and impact of early SBR on young infants’ and toddlers’ language development within and across families of Western and Asian cultural backgrounds.The first three studies explored early SBR practices within a small cohort of Australian parents and infants. In Study 1, mother-infant dyads were observed reading an unfamiliar book in a laboratory when infants were aged 6 months (n = 17), 9 months (n = 14), or 12 months (n = 17). High frequency maternal behaviours observed from videos were the production of attention attracting behaviours, immediate talk, and verbal encouragement to maintain infant book engagement. Infant communication scores were associated with non-immediate talk (e.g., making connections between the book content and the real world) at 6 months, maternal questions at 9 months, and non-book related talk at 12 months.Study 2 examined the long-term impact of these early maternal SBR behaviours on infants’ language and cognitive development at 18 months. Engaging in non-immediate talk significantly predicted infants’ later communication and vocabulary scores. Nurturing/affectionate behaviours, rather than directives and organisational talk during SBR, also positively contributed to infants’ later vocabulary scores. These findings suggest that the complex language and emotionally-supportive environment of early SBR have lasting benefits for infants’ early language development.Study 3 examined maternal frequency reports of father-child SBR within the first year of life on infant language development at 24 months. Frequent exposure to fathers’ SBR during the early years (both measured in the first year and at 24 months) significantly contributed to infants’ vocabulary at 24 months. These preliminary findings suggest that fathers’ engagement in early SBR has a positive long-term impact on infants’ early vocabulary development and requires further investigation.Given that Study 3 examined fathers’ SBR frequency via maternal reports and did not capture the specific characteristics of these interactions, Study 4 utilised an online survey design to directly ask fathers about their early home literacy involvement with young children. Survey respondents were 151 fathers, predominantly residing in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom, or United States, with a child aged 1 to 36 months. In these families, 95% of children experienced early SBR with one or more adult readers. Reading had begun in most families (77%) before the child was aged 12 months, with 49% of fathers reading with their young child at least five times a week. Fathers reported utilising all SBR behaviours identified from Study 1 to some extent. Beyond reading the written text, most frequently reported behaviours included pointing, immediate talk, nurturing/affectionate behaviours, and responding contingently to infants’ vocalisations. These insights offer a foundation for continued exploration of the unique contribution of these early paternal SBR behaviours on infants’ language and cognitive development.Lastly, Study 5 employed an online survey design to extend knowledge of early SBR practices to families in an Asian country, Singapore. In a sample of 74 parents (55% Chinese, 23% Indian, 14% Malay) with a child aged 5 to 46 months, SBR was a common practice, beginning in most families (74%) during the first year. Frequent SBR activities were positively linked to children’s vocabulary scores, and children tended to be engaged in SBR with multiple adults at home. Where a grandparent was reported as the primary caregiver (16% of families), the frequency of grandparent-child SBR was also positively related to children’s language abilities. These findings highlight the need to consider the contributions of parental and non-parental carers to SBR and the home literacy environment of young children in Asian families, and the impact this has on early language development.Together, this thesis reports on the early onset and frequent SBR practices within a sample of Western and Asian families, and offers insights into the characteristics of early SBR with young children. It underscores the value and impact of both mothers’ and fathers’ early and frequent SBR practices, along with a variety of interactions around a book that serves to promote language and literacy in the early years.</p
Knowledge, practices and perceptions of energy labelling of nut products among Australian consumers and stakeholders: an online survey
No full textBackground: Nut consumption in Australia is low, perhaps due to concerns with weight gain. However, nut consumption is not associated with increased weight, in part because of their lower metabolisable energy. Current energy labelling for nuts use Atwater factors, which over-represent the available energy from nuts. Therefore, this research aimed to examine stakeholders' knowledge, practices and perceptions of displaying true metabolisable energy on nutrition labels and its perceived impact on nut consumption. Methods: An anonymous and voluntary survey was conducted online. Eligible respondents lived in Australia, were aged 18 years or older and had either no formal nutrition education (consumer group) or had formal training and were working as a stakeholder (stakeholder group; working in nutrition/dietetics, public health, food industry, food regulation or nut growing). Convenience sampling and snowballing were used to recruit respondents primarily via online advertisement. Results: Three hundred and forty-eight respondents (63.2% female; 71.0% aged 18–39 years; 69.0% Bachelor's degree or higher) were included in the analyses. A larger proportion of stakeholders agreed that nut consumption assists with weight management (67.9%) compared with consumers (47.6%). Theoretical food packaging showing both Atwater and metabolisable energy in the nutrition information panel was favoured among consumers and stakeholders, though 62.3% of consumers reported that a lower metabolisable energy of nuts would not impact their consumption. Conclusions: This study indicates a need to further investigate the impact of metabolisable energy labelling on nut intake. Further education about the relationship between nuts and body weight is required for consumers and stakeholders.</p
Testing the Cycle of Avoidance Model of Non-Helpseeking: Social Comparison and Help-Negation in Deliberate Self-Injury
No full textSelf-injurious behaviour among young people is pervasive worldwide and associated with a range of deleterious psychological, physical health, vocational and quality of life outcomes. Furthermore, help-seeking rates are consistently low and those evidencing the most need are often the most likely to negate the help of both professionals and informal sources of support. The measurement and operationalisation of these phenomena has been impeded by methodological and definitional issues in the research field and the lack of a unified empirically validated theory of help-seeking. Help-negation effects have been established for components of suicidality including suicidal ideation, but this phenomenon has been relatively understudied in the context of deliberate self-injury (DSI) specifically. This thesis explored variables related to help-seeking for self-injury and developed an experimental behavioural task paradigm to empirically test a threshold theory of help-seeking, the Cycle of Avoidance (COA, Biddle et al., 2007). This theory suggests there is a threshold point for “real” distress that must be crossed prior to help-seeking initiation and a range of strategies are employed to delay this recognition and keep perceptions of distress in the “normal” frame (Biddle et al., 2007). The studies in this thesis endeavoured to apply the COA theory to address the preponderance of atheoretical studies in the help-seeking field and to also use a multi-method approach to assess help-seeking to mitigate prior methodological limitations such as shared method variance. A novel application of a psychophysical method to quantify help-seeking thresholds for DSI was undertaken. This approach, adapted from sensory perception research, offered several advantages over traditional self-report measures, including precise threshold quantification, mitigation of cognitive and response biases, timelimited responding and the experimental manipulation of variables. Study 1 was a proof-ofconcept study in which undergraduate university students (N = 183; the same participant group and dataset as used for Study 2) completed self-report questionnaires assessing help seeking and its correlates and completed a novel psychophysical computer task. The task depicted hypothetical scratches which measured threshold intentions for self and other helpseeking for this behaviour. Results showed 67% demonstrated a threshold, requiring on average 2.4 and 1.77 injuries for self and others respectively before endorsing help-seeking. This offered empirical support for a threshold theory of help-seeking and evidence of differences in thresholds for seeking help for self-versus others. Self-report questionnaires correlated with the threshold data, further validating the paradigm. Consistent with help negation effects, greater frequency of DSI was related to higher thresholds for seeking help, as was seeking help from no-one for suicidal ideation and personal/emotional problems. Individuals with greater social comparison tendencies had larger self-other threshold differences, endorsing help for others' self-injury more readily than for their own. Study 2 utilised the data captured from the same participant sample as Study 1, with both studies drawing from a single data collection time point and presents a different set of analyses conducted on the same data. Study 2 sought to examine whether social comparison processes and other variables contributed to help-negation. Participants completed self-report questionnaires assessing DSI and help-seeking variables. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis was used to identify predictors of help-seeking intentions from mental health professionals for suicidal ideation. A help-negation relationship was observed in that a greater history of self-injury was associated with lowered intentions to seek help. The tendency to rate one’s mental health as comparatively worse than others significantly contributed to the prediction of help-seeking intentions. However, contrary to expectations, participants’ ratings of comparatively worse mental health were associated with lower helpseeking intentions. Lower prior help-seeking, higher frequency of DSI and the worse participants’ saw their mental health in comparison to others were all associated with lower help-seeking intentions for suicidal thoughts. Study 3 was conducted using a university participant pool as in Studies 1 and 2, but these data were collected at a different time point, making it a separate and distinct phase of the research. This study used the same behavioural threshold method as in Study 1 but in addition to identifying correlates of help-seeking thresholds, it tested whether manipulation of normative information in the vignettes describing the self-injury could shift these thresholds in line with the COA theory. Three hundred and forty-six undergraduate university student participants completed self-report questionnaires measuring correlates of help-seeking and were randomized into two vignettebased conditions. One condition characterised DSI (a single scratch injury) as a “normal” response to cope with distress and the second as “abnormal” behaviour. Participants then completed the computer response task viewing images depicting deliberate superficial scratch injuries to capture behaviour-based help-seeking thresholds for self-injury. A help-seeking threshold was found for 47% of the sample. Higher thresholds for help-seeking were associated with lowered self-reported help-seeking intentions. However, no differences were observed in thresholds between the two normative information conditions. Endorsing helpseeking intentions for others was significantly higher than for self, with 35% of the variance in help-seeking intentions explained by whether this was self or other help-seeking. Inverse relationships between distress, self-injury engagement, and help-seeking thresholds indicated the presence of help-negation in this sample. Moderation analyses indicated that perceived mental health comparison weakly moderated links between psychological distress, selfinjury, and help-seeking intentions, yet the direction of these relationships were incongruent with theory-based expectations. The combined results established help-seeking thresholds for self-injury using a psychophysical behavioural task which aligned with a central assumption of the COA theory (Biddle et al., 2007). The establishment of self-other differential helpseeking thresholds provides empirical support for the role of social comparison processes in normalising symptoms and potentially producing delays in help-seeking. Results also suggest that some tenets of the COA require further testing. Specifically, the inability to move thresholds via simple vignette manipulations which framed self-injury as either “normal” or “abnormal” raises questions about the importance of this categorical process in help avoidance. Unique factors related to functionality of self-injury, nuanced stigma and shame and refractory help-negation effects may mean the “real” and “normal” distress categorisations in determining help-seeking decisions in the COA are insufficient to shift thresholds for help-seeking. The research highlights the necessity to adapt existing theories to better represent multidimensional barriers and facilitators specific to sensitive behaviours like self-injury and to consider non-linear pathways to seeking help.</p
A systematic review to identify assessment instruments for social isolation or loneliness in adults with heart failure
No full textNo description supplied</p
Efficient inference for spatial and spatio-temporal statistical models using basis-function and deep-learning methods
No full textInference in spatial and spatio-temporal models can be challenging for a variety of reasons. For example, non-Gaussianity often leads to analytically intractable integrals; we may be in a “big” data setting, whereby the number of observations renders traditional methods too computationally expensive; we may wish to make inferences over spatial supports that are different to those of our measurements; or, we may wish to use a statistical model whose likelihood function is either unavailable or computationally intractable. In this thesis, I develop several techniques that help to alleviate these challenges.First, I develop a unifying framework and accompanying software for modelling spatial and spatio-temporal data with both point- and area-support that are big, irregularly-spaced, and non-Gaussian. This framework facilitates the modelling of large data sets through the use of spatial/spatio-temporal basis functions; it caters for arbitrary observation supports by discretising the domain into basic areal units; and it caters for non-Gaussian data by employing a spatial/spatio-temporal generalised linear mixed model.Second, I contribute to the emerging field of neural Bayes estimation. Neural Bayes estimators are neural networks that map data to point estimates of parameters; they are approximate Bayes estimators, likelihood-free, and amortised, in the sense that, once trained with simulated data, inference from observed data is extremely fast. In this thesis, I formalise the connection between neural Bayes estimators and classical point estimation, and I propose a principled way to construct neural Bayes estimators for replicated data from general statistical models via the use of permutation-invariant neural networks. The resulting estimators may be applied to data sets with an arbitrary number of replicates, and they can be used for highly parameterised spatial dependence models. Further, I tackle the important problem of neural Bayes estimation from data collected over arbitrary spatial locations, by employing graph neural networks: the resulting estimators can be used with data collected over any countable set of spatial locations, thereby amortising the cost of training for a given spatial model. Finally, I propose a novel approach to performing rigorous uncertainty quantification in an amortised manner, by training a neural Bayes estimator to jointly approximate a set of low and high marginal posterior quantiles.To facilitate their adoption by the broader statistical community, all of the methodological contributions are incorporated in user-friendly, comprehensively-documented, open-source software packages in the Julia and R programming languages.</p
Design and operation of an innovative HVAC system for a net-positive energy solar decathlon house
No full textThis paper presents the design and operation of a novel Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning
(HVAC) system for a net-positive energy Solar Decathlon house that Team UOW constructed to
compete within the Solar Decathlon Middle East (SDME) 2018 competition. The HVAC system
primarily consists of an air-to-water heat pump, an Energy Recovery Ventilator, a
dehumidification/humidification heat pump, a water-based Thermal Energy Storage unit using Phase
Change Materials, and radiant panels. The HVAC system was developed to address the challenging
climatic conditions in the remote desert environment of the competition site (and applicable to many
parts of Australia) to provide energy-efficient indoor space cooling and acceptable indoor thermal
comfort, together with the ability to shift HVAC peak energy demand. This new HVAC system was
demonstrated during the competition period and successfully maintained indoor thermal comfort
conditions, which resulted in Team UOW winning first and second places respectively in the thermal
comfort and energy efficiency sub-contests, and second overall in the competition. In this paper, we
introduce this innovative HVAC system, detail the unique design approach to mitigating the challenging
climatic conditions, and discuss its operation during the competition.</p
The feasibility of real-time biologically adaptive trans-rectal ultrasound-based high-dose-rate prostate brachytherapy
No full textHigh dose rate prostate brachytherapy (HDRPBT) is a treatment that is performed by inserting hollow catheters through the perineum and into the prostate, followed by insertion of a radioactive source into the catheters to generate a 3-dimensional radiation dose distribution in the prostate. HDRPBT treatments can be planned using either computed tomography (CT) based planning or real-time transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) based planning. Clinically, HDRPBT has shown improved clinical outcomes when used as a dose boost in conjunction with external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) compared to HDRPBT alone. Regardless of the HDRPBT regimen, the geometric accuracy of treatment delivery is one of the most important parameters for tumour control and acute/late effects. Importantly, the geometric position of the delivered radioactive source needs to align closely with the geometric position in the treatment planning system (TPS), inaccuracy in delivered source position compared to planned source position can lead inadequate biochemical progression free survival and increased dose to organs at risk (OAR) potentially causing acute and/or late effects.Currently, for HDRPBT there is a deficiency of clinically available treatment verification. EBRT has several different treatment verification mechanics such as image guidance and gated breathing techniques that HDR brachytherapy does not have. Therefore, there are two current shortcomings for HDRPBT that many research groups are attempting to solve; the lack of in-vivo source tracking (IVST) and image guidance clinically (analogous to image guided radiation therapy), and lack of solutions for treatment adaptation based on IVST (when to modify and interrupt treatment if detected errors are too large from the expected TPS source positions).The aim of this thesis is to investigate potential approaches to utilising IVST information for a clinical benefit. This will be achieved by optimising, modifying and analysing patient DICOM data using both the TPS and independent software. Additionally, the aim is to further develop the Magic Plate 987 produced by the Centre for Medical Radiation physics to prepare it for robust and accurate IVST.</p