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Cool brands
No full textThesis by publication.Bibliography: pages 166-186.Chapter 1. Introduction and thesis overview -- Chapter 2. Methodology and research design -- Chapter 3. A conceptual framework of 'cool' -- Chapter 4. Findings from qualitative interview study -- Chapter 5. A scale to measure brand cool -- Chapter 6. Discussions and conclusion -- References -- Appendices.‘Cool’ is a concept that is highly relevant for many marketing researchers and practitioners. This is because cool brands can positively influence consumers’ attitudes and behaviours. While cool is commonly targeted through approaches such as ‘coolhunting’, very little research has been conducted to explicate and develop empirical models of cool in the context of brands. In particular, there is a lack of a unified definition of cool and established scales that operationalise cool in different contexts.This thesis addresses these gaps through a series of three interconnected studies that: (1) develop a conceptual framework to understand cool as a concept; (2) empirically test a model of brand cool; and (3) develop and test an 18-item scale to measure brand cool.The first study consists of a systematic review that identifies seven key dimensions of cool: deviating from norms, subversive, evasive, attractive, self-expressive, pro-social, and indicative of maturity. A holistic framework of cool is then developed that integrates existing knowledge on cool from different contexts. Study 2 involves a qualitative interview study involving consumers and marketing experts. This study generated attributes of cool brands and an initial list of items to measure cool that align with the dimensions identified in study 1. Study 2 also provides new insights on how consumer perceptions of cool evolve from adolescence to adulthood. Study 3 is a scale development study that first refines the list of items identified in study 2 and then through a series of four surveys examines the dimensionality, convergent and concurrent validity, and test-retest reliability of the scale. The results lead to a four-dimension model of brand cool (dynamism, composure, subversion, and confidence) that can be measured through a scale. These results clarify the nature of cool and provide marketers with a robust scale to assess cool in different contexts.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (x, 221 pages) diagrams, table
Parental effects in orb-web spiders of the genus Argiope (Araneae: Araneidae)
No full textThesis by publication.Includes bibliograpical references.Introduction -- Chapter 1. The effect of predatory cues on the foraging behaviour and metabolic rate in an orb-web spider, Argiope keyserlingi (Karsch) -- Chapter 2. Temporal variation in resting metabolic rate and its consequence in progeny performance in an orb-web spider, Argiope radon -- Chapter 3. Age-specific reproductive investment and offspring performance in an orb-web spider, Argiope radon -- Chapter 4. Genetic and non-genetic parental effects in an orb-web spider, Argiope radon -- Conclusions.Non-genetic factors act in parallel to genetic factors to shape offspring phenotype.The magnitude of inherited genetic and non-genetic factors and the interaction between them determines the susceptibility and direction of selection on different life-history traits. In this thesis, I explored the adaptive parental effects mediating reproductive output and offspring quality in the orb-web spider genus, Argiope spp.First, I assessed the effect of predation as an environmental factor on the physiology and foraging behaviour of Argiope spiders. Then I tested the effects of parental physiological traits, i.e. resting metabolic rate (RMR), age and condition on reproductive output and offspring performance. Finally, I addressed the importance of additive genetic effects and heritability of different life-history traits in offspring. The results revealed that exposure to predation risk altered the foraging behaviour and significantly elevated RMR in the spider. RMR was not correlated with reproductive output or offspring quality, however, female spiders reduced their RMR after mating. This can be an adaptive response for female spiders at the onset of the egg producing process to mediate self-maintenance costs and to allow the allocation of more resources to reproduction. Temporal variation of maternal effects showed that egg sacs laid early in life were larger and offspring emerged with larger body size, however these spiderlings were less tolerant to starvation than spiderlings produced later in the season. This is possibly due to increase in egg size with maternal age. Testing the effect of condition revealed that maternal and paternal condition had asymmetrical effects on egg sac mass. There was also a trade-off between offspring body size and their tolerance to starvation. Analysing half-sib spiderlings showed that egg size and web hub size were heritable traits, suggesting these traits are less plastic and subjected more to selection than other traits. These findings provide insight into the adaptive parental effects, which may have long lasting impact on internal state and behaviour of offspring and hence population dynamics.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (vi, 133 pages) graphs, table
Generating Actionable Knowledge from Big Data: Knowledge Extraction and Truth Discovery
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 161-196.1 Introduction -- 2 Background -- 3 Attribute Extraction for Knowledge Base Expansion -- 4 Multi-Valued Truth Discovery via Inter-Source Agreements -- 5 A Full-Fledged Graph-Based Model for Multi-Valued Truth Discovery -- 6 An Ensemble Approach For Better Truth Discovery --7 Performance Evaluationon Truth Discovery Methods -- 8 Conclusion -- References.To revolutionize our modern society by utilizing the wisdom of Big Data, considerable knowledge bases (KBs) have been constructed to feed the massive knowledge-driven applications with Resource Description Framework (RDF) triples. The important challenges for KB construction include extracting information from large-scale, possibly conflicting and different-structured data sources (i.e., the knowledge extraction problem) and reconciling the conflicts that reside in the sources (i.e., the truth discovery problem). Tremendous research efforts have been contributed on both problems respectively. However, the existing KBs are far from being comprehensive and accurate.In this dissertation, we first propose a system for generating actionable knowledge from Big Data, and use this system to construct a comprehensive KB, called GrandBase. Then we solve the raised research issues regarding GranbBase construction by developing a series of methodologies: Firstly, we study predicate extraction and implement ontology augmentation for knowledge base expansion. Secondly, we address truth discovery (on both single-valued and multi-valued objects or predicates) and performance evaluation on truth discovery methods for knowledge base purification. In particular, we first propose a framework for extracting new predicates from four types of data sources, namely Web texts, Document Object Model (DOM) trees, existing KBs, and query stream to augment the ontology of the existing KB (i.e., Freebase). We use query stream and two major KBs, DBpedia and Freebase,to seed the predicate extraction from Web texts and DOM trees. Then, to estimate value veracity for multi-valued objects, we model the endorsement relations amongsourcesbyquantifyingtheirtwo-sidedinter-sourceagreements. Twoaspectsofsource reliabilityarederivedfromthetwographsconstructedbymodelingtheinter-sourcerelations. To more precisely estimate source reliability for effective multi-valued truth discovery, our graph-based model incorporates four important implications, including two types of source relations, object popularity, loose mutual exclusion, and long-tail phenomenon on source coverage. After that, to fully leverage the advantages of the existing truth discovery methods and achieve more robust and better truth discovery, we propose to extract truth from the prediction results of those methods. Our ensemble approach distinguishes between the single-valued and multi-valued truth discovery problems. Finally,for performance evaluation of truth discovery methods, as the ground truth may be very limited or even impossible to obtain, we make the attempt towards conducting evaluation without using ground truth. For each of the models and approaches presented in this dissertation, we have conducted extensive experiments using either real-world or synthetic datasets. Empirical studies show the effectiveness of our approaches. Finally, we also discuss the future research directions regarding GrandBase construction and extension in this dissertation.Available in electronic formxx, 196 pages illustrations 30 c
Children's gradual acquisition of singular and plural
No full textTheoretical thesis..Includes bibliographical references.Chapter 1. Thesis introduction -- Chapter 2. Two-year-olds' sensitivity to inflectional plural morphology : allomorphic effects -- Chapter 3. One koss, two kosses : three-year-olds know when /s/ means plural and when it does not -- Chapter 4. Pre-schoolers' emerging understanding of number and agreement -- Chapter 5. Hearing loss and the acquisition of plural morphology -- Chapter 6. Thesis discussion.By two years of age children are using singular and plural words appropriately in their speech (Brown 1973), yet it is unclear whether their early representations are adult-like. It is not known how and when children develop the understanding that a word such as cats is composed of the lexical root cat and the plural morpheme -s (i.e., cat+s). The aim of this thesis was to therefore to explore some of the factors that potentially affect young children's understanding of the marking of nominal number in English.The studies presented in chapters two and three examined children's early comprehension of singular and plural using a novel-word Intermodal Preferential Looking task (Kouider, Halberda, Wood & Carey, 2006). In chapter two, the results found that 24-month-olds had an understanding of plural morphology that was limited to the voiceless plural allomorph /-s/ (e.g., cat + /s/), which is longer in duration and more perceptually salient than the voiced allomorph /-z/ (e.g., dog + /z/). However, the results presented in chapter three suggested that perceptual salience was not the only factor to play a role in children's acquisition of plural morphology, as 36-months-olds, but not 30-month-olds, were found to understand the most perceptually salient syllabic allomorph /-əz/ (e.g., bus + /əz/).The studies presented in chapters four and five examined pre-schoolers' understanding of singular and plural using a novel-word forced choice task. In chapter four, the study found 3- to 5-year-olds' comprehension of novel plurals, yet not novel singulars, improved with age. The study in chapter five examined children with hearing loss, which is known to affect children's acquisition of English plural and tense inflections, likely due to difficulty perceiving fricatives (Koehlinger, Owen Van Horne, & Moeller, 2013). Overall, the children with hearing loss were no better than chance at identifying novel plurals and singulars. However, comprehension of novel plurals improved with age. The thesis concludes with a discussion of the acquisition of morphological representations more generally.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (179 pages) colour illustration
Sensing the micro-motion of an orthopaedic implant: sensor head and antenna development
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 275-297.Every year millions of people undergo orthopaedic surgeries that help them live a better life. About 10% of them require revision due to implant loosening. In this thesis, a small millimetre sized non-contact electromagnetic sensor is explored that can detect the micro-motion of the implant and therefore predict the impending implant failure. The research focuses on two parts namely, development of an eddy current sensor head implanted inside the bone and the design of a bone implantable antenna to facilitate the data telemetry. This research explores the use of eddy current sensors in the human body through extensive electromagnetic simulations and experiments for monitoring the micro-motion of an orthopaedic (tibial) implant. A statistical curve fitting technique is established to find the sensitivity, range and optimal frequency of operation. The effect of the human body is mitigated by exploiting E-Field confinement due to the dielectric contrast. This helps in increasing the sensitivity and range and robustness of the sensor.The simulations are verified experimentally by using a femur bone from cow. A quantum tunnelling effect based Tunnelling Magneto Resistor is integrated with an eddy current loop for magnetic field detection. A heterodyne detection technique is developed to convert the signal to low frequency. This increases the sensitivity of the displacement sensor by an order of magnitude as compared to the traditional eddy current sensor.The sensor should be immune to the changes in the structure and properties of the human tissue. For this purpose, a detailed analysis of the effect of variation in complex tissue permittivity of bone is carried out and recommendations are made. The effect of positioning error on the sensing characteristics is examined closely and maximum tolerances at different stand-off distances are provided. The optimal geometry of the sensor is also determined for obtaining the high sensitivity and range of operation. A highly miniaturized antenna implanted inside the bone and operating at 2.4 GHz ISM band is developed. Complementary Archimedean spirals printed in two layers and connected with a shorting pin are designed on a high dielectric permittivity substrate to achieve miniaturization. The location of the shorting pin is varied to tune the resonant frequency and impedance matching. A detail parametric analysis with respect to the geometric parameters and the tissue parameters is performed.A new family of fractal geometries, named 'Family of M Segment Quadratic Fractal Curves', is proposed. It offers a design flexibility in terms of miniaturization, form factor and antenna complexity. This new fractal is used to design two miniaturized implantable slot antennas - one narrow band and one wide band. An empirical expression for the design of slot antennas on substrates of varying thickness is also developed. A complete step by step process for designing an implantable CPW fed slot antenna operating at the desired resonant frequency is detailed1 online resource (xxxi, 297 pages : illustrations
Exploiting SCRaMbLE to increase fatty acid synthesis in yeast
No full textEmpirical thesis.Bibliography: pages 50-54.Chapter 1. Introduction -- Chapter 2. Materials and methods -- Chapter 3. Results and discussion -- Chapter 4. Conclusion -- References.Fatty acids (FAs) and lipids produced in yeast could provide an alternative source for consumable oils in the future. In this work, four recombinant yeast strains were developed using The SCRaMbLEing technology (Synthetic Chromosome Recombination and Modification by Lox-P Mediated Evolution) developed in the global Yeast 2.0 project aiming to build a completely synthetic Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The genes: ACC1 (acetyl-CoA carboxylase 1), ACS1 (acetyl-CoA synthetase), FAS1 (fatty acid synthase 1) and FAS2 (fatty acid synthase 2) enclosed by loxP sites were overexpressed in a semi-synthetic yeast strain equipped with a synthetic chromosome 14 containing about 260 Lox-P sites to enable SCRaMbLE. The lipid stain Nile red stain for neutral lipids was successfully used in conjunction with flow cytometry to develop a high through put screening protocol for yeast strains with increased FA content. The FA profiles of the SCRaMbLEd strains Syn-sXIV,Syn-sACC1, and Syns-FAS2 were then analysed by gas chromatography mass spectrometry and an increase in C16:0, C16:1, C18:0 and C18:1 FA content was detected in strains expressing ACC1, and FAS2.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (54 pages) diagrams, graph
Understanding the retinoid-x-receptor biology and manipulating it as a novel strategy to protect the retina
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 174-197.1. Introduction -- 2. Material and methods -- 3. Neuroprotective effects of RXR modulation in SH-SY5Y cells against ER stress -- 4. Retinoid-X-receptor modulation protects against ER stress response and rescues glaucoma phenotypes in adult mice -- 5. Pharmacological targeting of RXR receptors: in silico studies -- 6. Identification of age-related neurodegenerative disease associated pathways identified in retinal and vitreous proteome from human glaucoma eyes -- 7. Conclusion and future directions.Glaucoma is a degenerative optic neuropathy affecting nearly 80 million individuals by 2020 worldwide. Glaucoma is mainly manifested as alterations of the optic disc with progressive degeneration of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) contributing to visual field loss. High intraocular pressure (IOP) is considered as the main risk factor of glaucoma. Unfortunately, a significant number of patients show disease progression despite treating with IOP lowering drugs. So, RGC degeneration cannot be prevented only by reducing eye pressure. There is need for development of more novel strategies targeting retinal neuroprotection. Within this context, this PhD project aimed to assess the potential neuroprotective effect of RXR activation by its agonist bexarotene both in vitro studies as well as in vivo acute and chronic glaucoma models. Retinoid X receptors (RXRs) are ligand-dependent transcription factors that belong to the nuclear receptor (NR) superfamily. RXRs have three different isoforms (α, β, and γ) and can form both homo- and heterodimers with other nuclear receptors. Numerous studies have linked RXR modulation with neuroprotection. This thesis was mainly focused to elucidate the role of bexarotene as RXR modulator in glaucoma pathology. In first part of this study I demonstrated the expression and regulation of RXR receptors in SH-SY5Y cells using different concentrations of bexarotene. I also studied the role of TrkB signalling with RXR pathway in regulating endoplasmic reticulum stress response and apoptotic pathway activation. The results obtained from in vitro studies demonstrated that optimum concentrations of bexarotene upregulated the expression of all the three isoforms of RXRs. Also my studies revealed that higher concentrations of bexarotene upregulates ER stress proteins and BAD which can be prevented by pharmacological targeting of the TrkB receptor. I further extended my studies to assess the neuroprotective effects of RXR activation in mice in preventing loss of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) under experimental glaucoma conditions. Two models i.e increased excitotoxicity mediated glutamate model (acute model) and microbead induced increased intraocular pressure model (chronic 2 months model) of RGC degeneration were used for in vivo studies. Bexarotene treatment showed enhanced expression of RXRs as compared to control and glaucoma mice retinal sections. Furthermore it was seen that bexarotene maintained inner retinal functional and structural integrity confirmed by electroretinography, H and E staining and Bieschowlsky silver staining of optic nerve sections. Moreover, docking studies also validated binding of bexarotene to RXR receptors. This thesis represents an integration of three different methodologies i.e in vitro, in vivo, in silico. The results from this thesis provide evidence to the hypothesis that RXR activation can be neuroprotective to RGCs in preventing apoptosis and cell death. Bexarotene or other RXR agonists may have potential for future therapeutic management of glaucoma.1 online resource (xx, 198 pages : illustrations
Oral vocabulary and reading new words: examining the mispronunciation correction process
No full textTheoretical thesis."Department of Cognitive Science, ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, Faculty of Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia" -- title page.Bibliography: pages 64-71.The irregularity of many words in English (e.g., yacht) can present problems for developing readers as they encounter new printed words. It is thought that when children cannot decode words easily, they use their oral vocabulary to help adjust a mispronounced word and that they may draw on other sources, such as sentence context, to assist. This thesis reviewed the literature on connections between oral vocabulary and word reading and on the process of mispronunciation correction to examine how children adjust partially decoded words. An empirical study then sought evidence for a mispronunciation correction mechanism operating dynamically as children read novel words in text. Year 5 children were orally trained on a set of novel words and then read them silently in sentences. Oral familiarity, regularity, and context were manipulated and children’s eye movements were monitored. The findings revealed that when children see orally known words for the first time in text, irregular words undergo additional processing compared to regular words, and are subsequently read aloud more accurately compared to untrained irregular words. These results are consistent with a mispronunciation correction mechanism being applied as children read novel words.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (vii, 76 pages) diagrams, table
19th century American social milieu and alternate disease theories: origins of chiropractic
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 48-74.Introduction -- Chapter 1. Nineteenth-century American society -- Chapter 2. A review of the literature -- Chapter 3. Daniel David Palmer -- Chapter 4. Methodology and results -- Chapter 5. Discussion -- Chapter 6. Conclusion -- Chapter 7. References -- Appendices.Studies on the origins, development and acceptance of chiropractic in America have typically emphasised the period September 1895 when Daniel David Palmer is reported to have successfully treated Harvey Lillard for a seventeen-year history of deafness with a ‘new’ form of manual treatment called ‘chiropractic’. The aim of this research was to establish if factors present in American society during the latter part of the 19th century created a favourable environment for the development and acceptance of chiropractic. A retrospective constructivist grounded theory methodology was used to conduct an examination of primary and secondary sources related to this period. Four factors were highlighted as contributing to the creation of a favourable environment for the development of alternate theories of disease. These factors were medicine, economics, religion and politics. A clearer understanding of these factors and the role they played in shaping the scope of chiropractic during the early years will help inform the current debate about the use of Palmer’s theories in modern chiropractic.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (ix, 81 pages) illustration
International marriage, migration, and demographic reality in mainland China
No full textTheoretical thesis.Includes bibliographic references.Chapter 1. Introduction -- Chapter 2. One decade of international marriage in China : migration, intimacy, and cultural perspectives, 2000–2010 -- Chapter 3. Gendered patterns and solidarity of the unions : differences between international marriages and domestic marriages in China -- Chapter 4. Social mobility through international marriage and the premium of relative advantages in the marriage market -- Chapter 5. Motivations and choices of international marriages, reflections from case studies -- Chapter 6. Conclusion -- Appendices.With the implementation of economic reforms, opening-up, and family planning policies, China has experienced profound socioeconomic and cultural changes since the 1970s. One of the significant changes is the increase in the number of people migrating within China and to other countries to pursue better opportunities for employment, education, life style, or marriage. With China’s economic success in recent decades, its internal and international migration has continued to increase while the number of international marriages experienced considerable fluctuation, and sometimes decline, over time. Although international marriage as a social phenomenon in China has attracted much attention, due to the lack of available data, knowledge of international marriage has been fragmented in the existing literature. Using a set of consolidated data of international and domestic marriage registration, supplemented by face-to-face interview data, this thesis investigates the nature of international marriage in mainland China by focusing on demographic reality and life experiences of couples in international marriage. The thesis first analyses the macro mechanisms and diverse geospatial patterns of international marriage in China and charts the connections between internal and international marriage and migration. The thesis then examines the demographic similarities and differentials between two types of marriage choices, and their effects on the formation and solidarity of the union for couples in both domestic and international marriages. The thesis also examines the premium of relative advantage between spouses and gendered differences of marriage choices. In addition, the analysis is supplemented by ethnographical data that provide insights into couples’ personal interpretation of their marriage and divorce, as well as their connections to social and institutional environment. The results suggest that marriage, including international marriage, has been affected by a number of institutional, structural, and individual factors, such as socioeconomic conditions, rural-urban disparities, gender norms, marriage behaviour, socioeconomic status, and personal experiences. Different from conventional understanding, the results from this study suggest that transnational couples experienced lower probability of divorce than couples who share more cultural similarities while younger birth cohorts might have weaker solidarity in both types of marriage. The differences in educational attainment between spouses show no significant effect on the solidarity of international marriage, but age gap does make a difference, marrying a younger husband will increase the risk of divorce. While providing a channel for upward mobility for underprivileged individuals, international marriage also polarises the marriage market by further strengthening hypergamous matches of spouses. The results also show that the nature of international marriage in mainland China nowadays is much more diverse and complex than simple status exchange or pursuit for romantic loveMode of access: World wide web1 online resource (x, 243 pages) graph