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    Emerging behavioural and psychological profile in young children with Williams Syndrome

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    Ladies first : coerced mating in a fiddler crab

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    In some species males increase their reproductive success by forcing females to copulate with them, usually by grasping the female or pinning her to the ground to prevent her from escaping. Here we report an example of males coercing copulation by trapping a female in a confined space. During mate-searching, female Uca mjoebergi fiddler crabs visit males and choose whether or not to enter their burrow for inspection. Males typically enter the burrow first and we found that 71% of females will follow him down and 54% decide to stay and mate. However, some males use an alternative tactic where he will wait for the female to enter the burrow first, after which he traps her inside. Although a significantly lower percentage of females will enter a burrow following this behaviour (41%), upon entry 79% females that enter will become trapped and almost all of these females (90%) produce a clutch of eggs. Our observations suggest that males are able to gain fertilisations from females that may not have remained in the burrow by trapping them and coercing them to mate.9 page(s

    Mode-locked pumped continuous wave Ce:LiCAF lasers

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    Empirical thesis.Bibliography: pages 187-207.1. Introduction -- 2. Theoretical background -- 3. UV lasers -- 4. Continuous Wave Ce:LiCAF laser -- 5. Analysis 0f mode-locked pumped CW lasers -- 6. Tuning and linewidth narrowing -- 7. Conclusion and future work.At the MQ Photonics Research Centre of Macquarie University the project "Unlocking the Ultraviolet" was launched to establish a new laser platform based on Ce:LiCAF for continuous wave (CW) and ultrafast pulsed operations in the ultraviolet spectral region. The work presented in this PhD thesis was part of this project, with the main aim to develop a deep understanding of the dynamics in Ce:LiCAF lasers that are pumped by a mode-locked source. As a result, a novel mode of operation for CW solid-state lasers was identified and implemented successfully.When setting up a mode-locked pumped laser system in a way that the normalized cavity length (that is the ratio between the length of the pump resonator and length of the laser cavity) is a rational number, ‘rational-harmonic mode-locking’ is obtained and short laser pulses are generated. In contrast, when the cavity length is detuned away from resonances, modulated continuous output is emitted. Such asynchronous pumping has never been substantially investigated before in solid-state lasers and led to the first ever CW Ce:LiCAF laser. The optimal normalized laser cavity length for asynchronously pumped CW Ce:LiCAF lasers was calculated to be 0.3964, which in the present case is a distance of 120 mm detuned from the third harmonic of the 78.75 MHz pump. The generated CW output featured a residual modulation of only 1% for frequencies below 1 GHz and 4% on faster time scales. The slope efficiency was 20% and the laser threshold 1.37W. In the set-up used, the transition between CW behaviour and rational-harmonic mode-locking could be achieved easily by adjusting the length of the laser cavity, and thus in addition to the CW output, mode-locked output with pulse repetition rates up to 1.1 GHz was achieved.Both mode-locked and CW laser output generation have been explored experimentally and theoretically by modelling the laser resonator based on the laser rate equations. Birefringent tuning of the CW Ce:LiCAF laser using single and multiple MgF2 Brewster plates has also been investigated. Depending on the thickness of the MgF2 plates used, continuous tuning over a range of up to 13 nm from 284.5 nm to 297.5 nm with a full width at half maximum linewidth of 50 GHz was achieved. By combining MgF2 plates with etalons, the linewidthof the laser was narrowed down to 2.7 GHz.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (viii, 207 pages) illustrations (some colour

    An error analysis of Japanese scientists' research articles

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    Theoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 99-106.Chapter 1. Introduction -- Chapter 2. Literature review -- Chapter 3. Methodology -- Chapter 4. Findings -- Chapter 5. Conclusion.For scientists in the twenty-first century, a mastery of written English for Research Publication Purposes (ERPP) is fundamental to professional success. For many Japanese scientists, this is a source of frustration given their use of English as a foreign language is subject to idiosyncrasies, which may be perceived by editors, reviewers, and readers as errors detracting from the impact of their research. As a basis for building data-driven needs-specific pedagogical support, this study investigates the major error patterns in Japanese scientists' written English. Participants in the study are 13 Japanese scientists working in the field of materials science. The primary data are the participants' scientific research article manuscripts (i.e., the research articles before publication). An elaborated corpus-assisted Error Analysis (EA) methodology is employed, investigating error patterns through the lens of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL). In short, the EA involves the collection of texts, identification of errors in the texts, and the classification, linguistic description, and quantification of those errors, with these classifications and descriptions elaborated through the SFL theory. For purposes of scope, the investigation focuses on errors in nominal groups—a key feature of scientific English. A total of 654 nominal group errors are identified and analysed according to the elaborated EA methodology. From the analyses, two major error patterns emerge: errors with articles and plural -s, and errors with preposition -of. Results highlight the difficulties Japanese scientists face with both the pre- and post-modification of complex nominal groups. Particularly, the omission of the indefinite article a with singular referents, and the misselection of embedded -of prepositional phrases in post-modification are revealed as dominant errors in this study. Detailed descriptions of the two major errors patterns and their implications along with recommendations for pedagogical intervention are presented.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (viii, 120 pages) table

    The development and assessment of a multilevel model of team climate for incivility

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    Thesis by publication."Macquarie University, Department of Psychology ; submitted March 2016 for the degree of Combined Doctor of Philosophy / Masters of Organisational Psychology" -- title page.Bibliography: pages 241-278.Chapter 1. Introduction and overview of thesis -- Chapter 2. Overview of the workplace incivility literature : individual-level perspective -- Chapter 3. Oveview of the organisational climate literature -- Chapter 4. Developing and validating the multilevel team incivility climate construct and scale -- Chapter 5. Examining the interactive, multilevel relationship between incivility, team climate, size and norms on employee wellbeing -- Chapter 6. Examining multilevel contextual factors related to incivility climate : supervisor incivility and team cohesion -- Chapter 7. Examining multilevel contextual factors related to incivility climate : supervisor incivility and team cohesion -- Chapter 8. Discussion of fndings and conclusion.This thesis extends our understanding of workplace incivility by investigating the multilevel construct of team climate for incivility. Recent research, which has shown that a team’s collective experiences of incivility has detrimental effects over and above employees’ personal experiences of uncivil behaviour, suggests that the full cost of incivility is underestimated and highlights the need for a better understanding of this phenomenon. Reviews of workplace incivility and team climate literature emphasise several critical gaps in our understanding of workplace incivility, particularly when it has permeated the team climate. The objective of this thesis was to address these gaps by proposing and examining a multilevel model of team climate for incivility, to in turn design and examine a team-based intervention aimed at addressing such climates. Team climate for incivility was defined as a distinct team cognition about the practices, procedures and norms that are rewarded or supported concerning workplace incivility.This is a thesis by publication, presenting four studies. The first study applied a multilevel framework to explore the conceptualisation of group level incivility as a facet-specific climate construct and developed a scale to assess this. Utilising three separate samples of Australian workers, the results lend support to the validity of the incivility climate construct across levels of analysis, as well as the utility of the Team Incivility Climate Scale (TICS).The second study demonstrated a detrimental effect of uncivil team climates on employee wellbeing, supporting the notion that the extent to which incivility affects wellbeing is influenced by characteristics of a work team and its climate. It also suggests that employees do not have to be direct targets to experience the negative effects of uncivil behaviour.Understanding those factors that lead to uncivil team climates is critical to designing effective interventions. The third study therefore examined a cross-level model of team incivility climate, which included supervisor incivility and team cohesion. The critical role of supervisor behaviour in fostering positive or negative working environments was demonstrated by the significant direct effect of supervisor incivility on uncivil team climates. The results also confirmed the hypothesis that team cohesiveness influences the extent to which incivility becomes embedded in the team climate, and acts as a moderator of the relationship between employees’ personal experiences of incivility and psychological incivility climate.The fourth and final study examined the effectiveness of a team-based intervention aimed at reducing incivility, designed using the positive findings of the first three studies. Results revealed limited success of the Positive Team Climate (PTC) intervention, with insignificant improvements in experienced incivility, supervisor incivility and team incivility climate, over the six month intervention period. Similarly, there were no significant changes in any of the employee or team outcomes during or following the intervention. The limited success of the PTC intervention reinforces the ongoing challenge for organisations aiming to address incivility and its associated costs.Contributions, implications and limitations are discussed in the final chapter together with an exploration of several directions for future research. Findings of this thesis provide scholars and practitioners with more information about the insidious nature of workplace incivility when it has permeated the team environment, how such negative climates may emerge, and possible interventions to prevent such climates emerging.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (xvi, 305 pages) table

    Tunable light emission by exciplex state formation between hybrid halide perovskite and core/shell quantum dots : implications in advanced LEDs and photovoltaics

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    We report the first observation of exciplex state electroluminescence due to carrier injection between the hybrid lead halide perovskite (MAPbI₃₋ₓClₓ) and quantum dots (core/shell PbS/CdS). Single layers of perovskite (PS) and quantum dots (QDs) have been produced by solution processing methods, and their photoluminescent properties are compared to those of bilayer samples in both PS/QD and QD/PS configurations. Exciplex emission at lower energies than the band gap of both PS and QD has been detected. The exciplex emission wavelength of this mixed system can be simply tuned by controlling the QD size. Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have been fabricated using those configurations, which provide light emission with considerably low turn-on potential. The "color" of the LED can also be tuned by controlling the applied bias. The presence of the exciplex state PS and QDs opens up a broad range of possibilities with important implications not only in tunable LEDs but also in the preparation of intermediate band gap photovoltaic devices with the potentiality of surpassing the Shockley-Queisser limit.7 page(s

    Thermochemical structure of the North China Craton from multi-observable probabilistic inversion : extent and causes of cratonic lithosphere modification

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    We present a 3D thermochemical model of the North China Craton (NCC) from the surface down to 350 km by jointly inverting surface wave phase velocity data, geoid height, surface heat flow and absolute elevation with a multi-observable probabilistic inversion method. Our model reveals a thin (~ 65–100 km) and chemically fertile lithosphere (87 90) lithospheric mantle is imaged beneath the central TNCO and Ordos Block, reaching depths > 260 km. This lithospheric “keel” is surrounded to the east by a high-temperature sublithospheric anomaly that originates at depths > 280 km. The spatial distribution of this anomaly and its correlation with the location of recent volcanism in the region suggest that the anomaly represents a deep mantle upwelling being diverted by the cratonic keel and spreading onto regions of shallow lithosphere. Our results indicate that the present-day thermochemical structure beneath the NCC is the result of a complex interaction between a large-scale return flow associated with the subduction of the Pacific slab and the shallow lithospheric structure.14 page(s

    'Knowing your students' in the culturally and linguistically diverse classroom

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    The population movement of globalization brings greater cultural and linguistic diversity (CALD) to communities and education systems. To address the growing diversity in school classrooms, beginning teachers need an expanded set of skills and attitudes to support effective learning. It is an expectation today that teachers know their students and how the students learn. It follows that lecturers and tutors should also know something of the cultural and linguistic profile of their pre-service teacher education students. This article reports a study in a university which examined its teacher education practice in this light. It assessed the curriculum provision of material related to cultural and linguistic diversity, the profile of the CALD characteristics of the undergraduate cohort, and attitudes and perceptions of the students, to teaching in a CALD classroom. The article considers initiatives that the teacher education program could introduce, to expand pre-service teacher capacities.15 page(s

    N-glycan MALDI imaging mass spectrometry on formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue enables the delineation of ovarian cancer tissues

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    Ovarian cancer is a fatal gynaecological malignancy in adult women with a five-year overall survival rate of only 30%. Glycomic and glycoproteomic profiling studies have reported extensive protein glycosylation pattern alterations in ovarian cancer. Therefore, spatio-temporal investigation of these glycosylation changes may unearth tissue-specific changes that occur in the development and progression of ovarian cancer. A novel method for investigating tissue-specific N-linked glycans is using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) on formalin-fixed paraffinembedded (FFPE) tissue sections that can spatially profile N-glycan compositions released from proteins in tissuespecific regions. In this study, tissue regions of interest (e.g. tumor, stroma, adipose tissue and necrotic areas) were isolated from FFPE tissue sections of advanced serous ovarian cancers (n = 3). PGC-LC-ESI-MS/MS and MALDI-MSI were used as complementary techniques to firstly generate structural information on the tissue-specific glycans in order to then obtain high resolution images of the glycan structure distribution in ovarian cancer tissue. The N-linked glycan repertoires carried by the proteins in these tissue regions were structurally characterized for the first time in FFPE ovarian cancer tissue regions, using enzymatic peptide-N-glycosidase F (PNGase F) release of N-glycans. The released glycans were analyzed by porous graphitized carbon liquid chromatography (PGC-LC) and collision induced electrospray negative mode MS fragmentation analysis. The N-glycan profiles identified by this analysis were then used to determine the location and distribution of each N-glycan on FFPE ovarian cancer sections that were treated with PNGase F using high resolution MALDI-MSI. A tissue-specific distribution of N-glycan structures identified particular regions of the ovarian cancer sections. For example, high mannose glycans were predominantly expressed in the tumor tissue region whereas complex/hybrid N-glycans were significantly abundant in the intervening stroma. Therefore, tumor and non-tumor tissue regions were clearly demarcated solely on their N-glycan structure distributions.14 page(s

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