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Effect of noise and reverberation on speech intelligibility with cochlear implants considering realistic sound environments
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 119-127.Chapter 1: Introduction -- Chapter 2: Effect of noise and reverberation on speech intelligibility for cochlear implant recipients in realistic sound environments -- Chapter 3: Validation of existing room acoustic criteria for predicting speech intelligibility with cochlear implants -- Chapter 4: Effect of test realism on speech-in-noise outcomes in bilateral cochlear implant users -- Chapter 5: Final considerations -- Appendix A: Higher Order Ambisonics -- Appendix B: Ethics -- Bibliography.Understanding speech in background noise and reverberation is a known problem for individuals with cochlear implants (CIs). However, current laboratory-based assessments of speech intelligibility (SI) are usually poor predictors of an individual's listening abilities in the real-world. This mismatch is largely attributed to the use of oversimplified methods whereby neither the speech nor the noise employed in the tests resemble what an individual experiences in their daily life. In order to better understand the challenges faced by individuals listening with CIs, the present study employs materials and methods designed to bridge the gap between laboratory based outcomes and individuals' experience of everyday listening. This work comprises three main studies. The first two studies aim to systematically evaluate and understand the effect of realistic reverberation on SI in CI recipients. Sentence recall performance was measured in 12 unilateral CI recipients in both quiet and noise, considering six realistic rooms at varying target-to-receiver distances. The results suggest that in quiet conditions reverberation has a significant impact on SI mainly at long distances, with the exception of small reflective rooms, where SI is affected even at close, conversational distances. Further analysis of the data in quiet conditions suggests that room acoustic parameters such as the U50 can predict SI in rooms with reasonable accuracy. Analysis in noise revealed that the temporal smearing effect of reverberation on the noise signal is beneficial to SI, an effect that is not accounted for by the U50. Hence, future implementations of the U50 need to consider the noise-inherent modulations. The goal of the third study is twofold. First, to understand the effect of test realism on SI outcomes. Second, to assess SI performance as well as bilateral benefit in CI recipients in more realistic noisy conditions. Sentence recall performance was measured in 15 bilateral CI recipients using sentence materials as well as noises with different level of realism. "Standard" BKB-like sentences were used as well as more realistic sentences that were cut out of natural two-talker conversations elicited at different vocal effort levels. Both sentence materials were presented in different realistic acoustic environments at natural signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) as well as in "standard" babble noise. The results indicate that participants could more easily deal with babble noise than with more realistic noisy situations, and that they could understand more easily the standard sentences than more realistic (conversational) speech. This effect was pronounced at lower SNRs. A small but significant bilateral benefit was observed in most conditions. The present work highlights the importance of using realistic reverberation, presentation levels, speech material, noise material and spatial representation of the sound field when assessing SI performance in CI recipients -- abstract.1 online resource (127 pages
Impressions that stick: a critical examination of the reputation of assisted emigrants to New South Wales, 1832-42
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 331-353.Introduction -- Chapter 1. Collateral damage in a political game -- Chapter 2. The interwoven trio : immigration, representative government, and transportation -- Chapter 3. Land, labour, and the economic development of New South Wales -- Chapter 4. When wealth equals worth -- Chapter 5. Why single female immigration was doomed to disappoint -- Chapter 6. Adversity absent compassion : the migrant experience -- Conclusion -- Appendices -- Bibliography.In the 1830s, the British government began a grand experiment in so-called 'assisted emigration'. In order to relieve pressure on an overstocked labour market at home, it offered free passages to working-class people interested in emigrating to the Australian colony of New South Wales who lacked the financial means to make the journey. Despite the pressing need for labour in the colony, the over fifty thousand workers from the British Isles who arrived in the first decade of the scheme (1832-42) were vociferously criticised in the colonial public sphere, most often on the dimensions of morality and usefulness as labourers.Early Australian migration historiography long parroted these condemnations. The picture of the assisted immigrants changed significantly in the 1990s, however, as new research deemed the criticism of the immigrants to be, on the whole, unfair. Yet, this revisionist work left an important question unanswered: if this negative reputation was largely undeserved, why did it arise in the first place? In order to answer that question, this thesis critically re-examines contemporary rhetoric surrounding immigration in the colonial public sphere and argues that colonial judgments of the arriving immigrants expressed a host of tensions surrounding self-government, the economic development of the colony, cultural constructions of class and gender, and selective dissemination of compassion.The answer to why the assisted immigrants were so maligned lies in this tangle of political, economic, and cultural factors. Political and economic tensions were shaped by cultural constructions designed to protect the elevated status of the colonial elite. Those cultural constructions influenced political manoeuvrings and were, in turn, legitimised by political rhetoric. The political, economic, and cultural overlapped, intertwined, and dialogued with each other. Thus, a comprehensive understanding of the deep resistance to Australia's earliest, (unforced) working-class immigrants - resistance that has shaped the long history of Australian immigration - requires multiple analytical perspectives.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (viii, 353 pages) table
Production of fuels and chemicals from a solar driven pyrolysis of animal and agricultural wastes
No full textThesis by publication.Includes bibliographical references.Chapter 1. Introduction -- Chapter 2. Review of solar energy for biofuel extraction -- Chapter 3. Performance evaluation of absorber reactors for solar fuel production -- Chapter 4. Waste to energy conversion of chicken litter through solar-driven pyrolysis process -- Chapter 5. Production and analysis of fuels and chemicals obtained from rice husk pyrolysis with concentrated solar radiation -- Chapter 6. Solar assisted catalytic pyrolysis of chicken-litter waste with in-situ and ex-situ loading of CaO and char -- Chapter 7. Distribution of solar pyrolysis products and product gas composition produced from agricultural residues at different operating parameters -- Chapter 8. Energy conversion efficiency of pyrolysis of chicken litter and rice husk biomass -- Chapter 9. Conclusions and recommendations -- References -- Appendices.Energy is very important in meeting our basic needs. It is also one of the fundamental requirements in the industrial, transportation and agricultural sectors which determine the overall economic development of nations. In this work pyrolysis of different types of wastes, mainly chicken litter and rice husk, was performed at different heating rates and ranges of temperature obtained from a concentrated solar radiation.Review of solar based technologies and their applications to solar-assisted biomass utilization and conversion technologies were performed to identify the gaps and study the type of bio-fuels that can be produced from solar driven biomass pyrolysis. Prospective solar concentrators were assessed for their efficiency, maximum temperature and applications. Based on the information obtained from the literature and the gaps identified in the review, parabolic dish was selected as a prospective solar concentrator that can achieve higher temperatures at relatively better concentration ratio. Thus a parabolic dish of 1.8 m aperture diameter and a focal length at 0.655 m was designed and manufactured at Macquarie University. The dish was laminated with an 88% reflective aluminium polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and mounted on a rotating structure for adjusting the height and azimuth angles of the sun. Experiments were conducted to measure the maximum achievable temperature and select reactors from different types of materials which should be placed at the focal region. Quartz glass and stainless steel tubes were the best performing reactors, achieving maximum temperature of 1100°C at 900 to 1000 W/m².The feedstock (chicken litter and rice husk) were collected from Carlingford, Sydney then dried and crushed to a sieve size of 280 μm and then packed separately in the quartz glass reactor for the solar pyrolysis experiments which were conducted at different solar temperatures (500 to 900°C).Gases were the main products obtained from the pyrolysis of the chicken-litter waste, generated in the range of 45-59 wt% followed by bio-char (16-40 wt%) and bio-oils (14-36 wt%). The pyrolysis gas was composed of CO2, CO, CH4, H2 and other light weight hydrocarbons, while the bio-oils which contained phenols, acids and N-containing compounds can be applied to produce solvents, cleaning agents, paint removers, detergents as well as in the synthesis of dyes, aspirin and plastics. Bio-oil and bio-char were the dominant yields in solar pyrolysis, reaching up to 44 wt.% and 43 wt.%, respectively. The bio-char had large glass-like cylindrical holes with many porous and loose structures which are the required properties for the bio-char to be a candidate material for contaminant adsorbent in waste water treatment.The quality of the solar pyrolysis products was further upgraded using CaO and char catalysts. The catalysts were separately applied in different proportions in an in-situ and ex-situ modes with the chicken litter, and subjected to the solar pyrolysis at 500 to 800°C. In all cases there was substantial decrease in CO2 accompanied by an increase in the formation of CO from 10 to 63 wt% and H2 from 1 to 15 wt%. Similarly, addition of CaO exhibited considerable deoxygenation performance of the fatty acids up to 3%.Solar pyrolysis experiments performed on the chicken litter and rice husk biomass at higher temperatures (800 to 1600°C) and heating rates (10 to 500°C/min) produced highly combustible gases with higher heating values of 7255 ± 566 kJ/kg.Overall, the obtained results revealed that solar-assisted pyrolysis of biomass could be a promising technology for fuel and chemical production.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (xv, 173 pages) diagrams, graphs, table
The effects of collaboration on spatial reasoning task performance
No full textEmpirical thesis.Bibliography: pages 87-96.Chapter 1. Introduction -- Chapter 2. Theoretical framework and literature review -- Chapter 3. Methodology -- Chapter 4. Results -- Chapter 5. Discussion, implications and conclusions -- References -- Appendices.In the current study, I aimed to investigate the effect of children's collaboration on a spatial reasoning task as part of a larger study on spatial reasoning in the primary school. Existing research on collaboration show both advantages and disadvantages of working with other people. From a cognitive science perspective, research investigating the influence of collaboration on cognitive processing shows potential costs. This research has typically focused on adult populations and using encoding and retrieval paradigms to assess performance. None has focused on children performing other ecologically valid tasks, such as spatial reasoning tasks. Educational research into collaboration is broader in scope and most comes from mathematics education research, showing predominately advantageous outcomes for collaborators across a range of settings, but no research has investigated the effect on spatial reasoning. Spatial reasoning is, among other things, the ability to mentally form and rotate images and objects and it has been positively linked to STEM outcomes.The participants comprised 76 primary school students from Years 1 and 2 (6-8 years). Students were drawn from a metropolitan school and classes were allocated within Year group to one of two conditions: individual or collaborative. Scores on Raven's Progressive Matrices were used to ensure both that the groups were equivalent in spatial reasoning skills, and to pair students of similar ability in the dyads. The researcher observed students solving two spatial reasoning tasks; tower and bridge constructions. Data were collected in the form of measurements and photographs of the constructions and audio recordings of the dyads' conversations. On the first testing occasion, all students in both conditions individually solved the task. During the second testing occasion, half of the students worked individually (individual condition) while the other half worked in their dyads (collaborative condition). In the analysis, the students in the individual condition formed nominal dyads for comparative purposes between the conditions. A mixed method ANOVA (2x2x(2) was conducted indicating overall significant differences in favour of the collaborative group, and in particular for Year 2, as well as a 3-way interaction with Condition by Year by Task. Followup simple effects analysis indicated a positive significant difference for collaborating Year 2 students on the second task but not for Year 1.A secondary analysis of the data was conducted for qualitative differences in the students' levels of spatial structure in their construction process. Photographs were coded for one off our spatial structural levels: pre-structural/emergent, partial structural, structural and advanced structure. The analysis indicated the relative proportion of students at each level; Prestructural/Idiosyncratic, Emergent or Partial Structural, Structural, and Advanced Structural respectively. The findings support the notion that spatial structural development progresses from Years 1 to 2 and that collaboration did not affect the level of structural development i.e., students at each level were represented equally from both groups, dyads and individuals. The findings are discussed in relation to theoretical and pedagogical approaches to developing spatial reasoning and implications for mathematics education and cognitive science research.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (119 pages) colour illustration
Predator-prey dynamics in Sydney Harbour: five millennia of naticid predation
No full textThesis by publication.Bibliography: pages 35-39.Introduction -- Methods -- Results -- Discussion -- References -- Supplement files.Predation shapes communities by altering the relative abundances of species and the flow of energy through the food web. The structure of food webs and predator-prey interactions are vulnerable to anthropogenic disturbances, particularly in high-density urbanised environments such as estuaries. Drill holes in mollusc shells provide evidence of predation by gastropods on their prey. They can therefore be used to measure predation frequency and how predation frequency may have changed over time. This study quantifies the intensity of drilling predation in the three most common bivalve species (Callista disrupta, Chioneryx cardioides, and Fulvia tenuicostata) in Sydney Harbour over the last 5 thousand years in the context of European colonisation. Surficial death assemblage drilling frequencies are also compared to a global compilation of drilling frequency studies, which indicate that the drilling frequencies in Sydney Harbour are similar to other locations in terms of the overall magnitude of predation and the variation amongst taxa at a site. Drilling predation is an important control within the molluscan community of Sydney Harbour, with 30-70% of individuals drilled over the last 5ka. During the time period that includes the European colonisation and subsequent urbanisation Fulvia drilling frequency declines to approximately half the pre-colonial predation rate. However, Callista and Chioneryx record a consistent drilling frequency over the past ~2,000 years. This suggests that the European colonisation of Sydney had species specific impacts on gastropod-bivalve predator-prey interactions.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (v, 40 pages) 1 colour illustration, 1 ma
Leila Alaoui’s Les Marocains (2010-2014) as photographie engagée: exploring the place of the other in the contemporary French cultural imagination
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 84-96.Introduction : framing the work of Leila Alaoui -- Chapter 1. Orientalism and otherness : exploring the place of the other in the contemporary French cultural imagination -- Chapter 2. Leila Alaoui’s Les Marocains (2010-14) as photographie engagée -- Chapter 3. Image, space, context : negotiating Moroccan identity in the French gallery space -- Conclusion : beyond the frame -- Appendices -- References.Drawing on the works of postcolonial theorist Homi K. Bhabha, and Edward Saïd’s critique of Orientalism, this thesis addresses the ideological construction of Otherness in the contemporary French cultural imagination by examining how established modes of representation are challenged within the gallery space. Examined in relation to exhibition spaces, I argue Alaoui’s Les Marocains is a postcolonial work that engages with the deconstruction of pervasive colonial stereotypes, showing photography can be a medium for articulating resistance to dominant narratives of cultural identity.Taking cues from the French style of writing known as écriture engagée, or activist writing, a literary style that works to right the wrongs of Oriental representations (Vogl, 10), I demonstrate how Alaoui’s Les Marocains utililses the photographic image in a style that I call photographie engagée. Photographie engagée is both a method of reading and a professional practice that considers the role of images in the construction and re-vision of cultural identity in terms of the relationship between the photographer and the subject, between ethics and aesthetics, between the photographer and the photograph. I propose Alaoui’s Les Marocains functions as photographie engagée to realise the potential of art as a medium for considering tensions between self and space.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (ix, 96 pages) colour portrait
Crafting soft power in Thailand
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 233-272.Chapter 1. Introduction -- Chapter 2. Cultural and creative industries in Thailand -- Chapter 3. Soft power and Thailand -- Chapter 4. Methodology -- Chapter 5. Weaving Thai silk : crafting Thai soft power -- Chapter 6. Discussion -- Chapter 7. Conclusion -- Bibliography -- Appendices.Despite international scholars’ pervasive research on national soft power, scant attention has been given to Thai soft power. Existing Thai research examines impact of foreign countries' soft power diplomacy toward Thai society when only one thesis in 2015 studies the Thai government’s soft power development role on Thai film industry. The government draws on intangible (processes and values) and tangible (products) cultural heritage outputs of creative industries to enhance national development and national image through its cultural export policies. This study elucidates soft power intentions incorporated in Thai cultural export and reflects on future soft power potential. The research objectives are (1 ) to identify the soft power intentions incorporated in cultural export policy; (2) to identify civic motivations of Thai stakeholders; (3) to examine the soft power dimensions of “Thainess” in cultural products and (4) to find out the future soft power potential of Thai cultural export. The study draws on the literatures of creative industries and International Communication. Thai silk industry was selected as a case study. A mixed-methods approach was adopted with in-depth interviews and Delphi technique with silk industry-related intermediate experts from government, business and civil society sectors. Fifteen intermediate experts from the government, silk-related businesses and think tanks were interviewed on soft power intentions in cultural export policy. Five Jim Thompson employees were interviewed on soft power intentions in creative industries management. Five weavers were interviewed on soft power intentions in the silk industry and products. Five foreign visitors were interviewed on views about Thai silk products. Deductively and inductively derived individual frames were reported. Nine Thai heterogenous experts forecasted cultural export’s future potential in the Delphi technique – round one was inductive. Analysis of the interviews revealed frames of virtuosity of craftsmanship and beautiful culture for national economic and image enhancement when the visitors reflected on soft power dimensions. The stakeholders’ gratefulness of their nation as a value-based civic virtue played roles in cultural export policy and practice. The Delphi technique reaffirmed the emphasis of traditional cultural products as cultural export drivers when the experts concerned its limitations on international stages and recommended that stakeholders draw on the use of pop/contemporary culture. This study is part of growing soft power research in Asia using largely untapped Thai cultural data. It will contribute to creative industries policy making, support Thai soft power operation and act as a bridge to future research on topics of creative industries and soft power for Thai and international scholarship.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (xviii, 319 pages) diagrams, table
Feasibility of a 5-week functional movement course for dressage horse riders
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 49-55.Chapter One. Introduction -- Chapter Two. Literature review -- Chapter Three. Materials and methodology -- Chapter Four. Results -- Chapter Five. Discussion -- References -- Appendices.Research suggests that riders with more control over their body are able to train horses more efficiently and with less stress or injury. There is little research into improving the performance of horse riders using interventions off the horse.The primary objective was to determine the feasibility of running a 5-week functional movement program to improve strength, flexibility and performance of horse riders. The secondary objective was to determine preliminary outcomes in horse rider performance.A functional movement program was designed and included exercises to improve pelvic stability, scapular retraction and hip extension. Feasibility outcomes were assessed qualitatively. Quantitative assessment of muscle strength and flexibility and a Novice level dressage test were performed at baseline and after the program.Eight participants completed the program with high participant satisfaction. There were difficulties around recruitment and attendance of assessments. There were significant improvements in some of the secondary outcomes.This study indicates that this is a promising area for future research. Primary results suggest that it would be feasible to run a large scale RCT to determine effectiveness of the program. Secondary outcomes indicate that horse riders’ performance could be improved secondary to a functional movement program.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (x, 76 pages) diagrams, table
A study of the Memphite Vizierate of Old Kingdom Egypt: The Beginnings I The Age of Ma'at I The Age of Magic
No full textTheoretical thesis.Includes bibliographical references.Chapter 1: 1.1 Introduction, Evidence And Hypothesis -- Chapter 2: 2.1 Literature Review -- 2.1.1 Hans Wolfgang Helck (1954) -- 2.1.2 Klaus Baer (1960) -- 2.1.3 T.G.H. James (1963) -- 2.1.4 Naguib Kanawati (1977) -- 2.1.5 Naguib Kanawati (1980) -- 2.1.6 Nigel Strudwick (1985) -- 2.1.7 Naguib Kanawati (1992) -- 2.1.8 Naguib Kanawati (2003) -- 2.1.9 Gunter Dreyer (2007) -- 2.1.10 Audran Labrousse, (2010) -- 2.1.11 Maarten J. Raven (2010) -- 2.1.12 John Burn (2011) -- 2.1.13 Veronika Dulíková (2011) -- 2.1.14 Miroslav Verner (2014) -- 2.1.15 Veronika Dulíková (2016) -- 2.1.16 Miral Lashien, (2017) -- Chapter 3: 3.1 Methodology - Chapter 4: Analysis - 4.1 Fourth-Dynasty (2543-2436 Bce) - 4.2 The Fifth Dynasty (2435-2306 Bce) -- The Sixth Dynasty (2305-2150 Bce) -- Chapter 5: Conclusions -- Appendices -- Prosprography -- BibliographyPrevious research revealed that the Fifth Dynasty's use of legal titles declined in the Sixth Dynasty, and the reason for that decline was researched in this study. When selected titles of Old Kingdom Viziers were grouped, they identified how the reforms of the kings affected the structure of the Vizierate of the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Dynasties. The interactions between ranks and titles across these dynasties revealed the reforms of the kings in the Vizierate structure. A simple Vizierate structure of the Fourth Dynasty showed three functional groups of royal Viziers, equally ranked and distinguished by zA nswt titles and the phallus symbol. The gradual transition of the Vizierate from royal holders of the office to non-royals, with the non-royals initially identified as the foster child of the king, was discerned in the early Fifth Dynasty. The introduction of legal titles and a standardised ranking system defined the hierarchical structure of the Fifth Dynasty, with the ranking of the overseers of Upper Egypt differing from the other Viziers of that Dynasty. The Sixth Dynasty Vizierate structure and its focus varied vastly from that of the Fifth Dynasty as a result of the introduction of the pyramid texts.1 online resource (viii, 137 pages) illustration
Sedentary behaviour and spinal pain in adolescents
No full textEmpirical thesis.Bibliography: pages 43-49.Chapter One. An introduction to sedentary behaviour and spinal pain in adolescents -- Chapter Two. The relationship between sedentary behaviour and spinal pain in adolescents : a systematic review -- Chapter Three. Association between sedentary behaviours and spinal pain in young adolescents : study methods -- Chapter Four. Association between sedentary behaviours and spinal pain in young adolescents : study results -- Chapter Five. Discussion -- References -- Appendices.Spinal pain in adolescents is a significant public health concern, and adolescent sedentary behaviour is a proposed modifiable risk factor for spinal pain. Whether sedentary behaviour recommendations in international public health guidelines are relevant for adolescent spinal pain is unknown. This thesis reports a systematic review exploring associations between sedentary behaviours and spinal pain in adolescents. It also reports a secondary cross-sectional analysis, of a population-based cohort of young adolescent Danes, to investigate the association between sedentary behaviour (as per public health guidelines) and non-trivial spinal pain. Cross-sectional multinominal logistic regression investigated associations between sedentary behaviour, by duration and type, and spinal pain, by region and triviality, adjusted for age and sex. The systematic review found there was no meaningful association between sedentary behaviour and adolescent spinal pain; however, the evidence base is inconsistent and at high risk of bias. The cross-sectional analysis demonstrated there was no association between exceeding two hours per day of sedentary behaviour and spinal pain. The collective thesis findings suggest that sedentary behaviour is not a meaningful risk factor for adolescent back pain. Therefore, we challenge existing public and clinical beliefs that sedentary behaviour is causally associated with spinal pain in adolescents.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (x, 58 pages) diagrams, table