7440 research outputs found
Sort by
Western-style diet and its impacts on hippocampal-dependent processes
No full textThesis by publication.Bibliography: pages 212-232.Chapter 1. Introduction -- Chapter 2. The effects of a Western-style diet on hippocampal function -- Chapter 3. A high-fat high-sugar diet predicts poorer hippocampal-related memory and a reduced ability to suppress wanting under satiety -- Chapter 4. A systematic review of longer-term dietary interventions on human cognitive function : emerging patterns and future directions -- Chapter 5. Methodological considerations for longitudinal diet interventions -- Chapter 6. A four-day Western-style dietary intervention causes reductions in hippocampal-dependent learning and memory and interoceptive sensitivity -- Chapter 7. Discussion -- Appendix.Chapter 1. Introduction -- Chapter 2. The effects of a Western-style diet on hippocampal function -- Chapter 3. A high-fat high-sugar diet predicts poorer hippocampal-related memory and a reduced ability to suppress wanting under satiety -- Chapter 4. A -- Chapter 5. Discussion -- Chapter 6. Conclusion -- Appendices -- References.Based mainly on animal data it has been argued that a Western-style diet impairs hippocampal functions involved in regulating ingestive behaviour – including hippocampal-dependent learning and memory (HDLM), sensitivity to interoceptive signals of hunger and satiety, and the use of such signals to inhibit eating. This thesis has three specific aims, all of which examine whether dietary-induced impairments in animals are evident in humans: (1) To determine if greater consumption of saturated fats and refined sugars (HFS) prevalent in a Western-style diet is associated with impaired hippocampal inhibitory processes for ingestive behaviour; (2) To review any published causal evidence that manipulating energy intake and macronutrient content impacts cognitive function; and (3) To empirically test if an HFS diet causes impairments in hippocampal functions related to ingestive behaviour. Study 1 used a correlational design revealing that greater intake of an HFS diet was associated with poorer HDLM, poorer ability to inhibit wanting (relative to liking) of palatable foods based on physiological state, with the latter being hippocampally-mediated. Study 2 was a systematic review of human experimental studies, revealing that long-term verbal memory tasks were most impacted by changes in energy and fats. Study 3 used an experimental design to show that lean individuals given an HFS diet-intervention for 4 days revealed poorer HDLM and ingestive interoception, relative to a control group. Additionally, greater HDLM impairment was related to larger changes in blood glucose, suggesting one potential pathway by which diet affects the brain. Overall, these findings are consistent with those from animals, providing novel translational findings and the first causal evidence that an HFS diet impairs HDLMMode of access: World wide web1 online resource (330 pages) diagrams, graphs, table
Crossed modules and internal categories of Lie-Rinehart algebras
No full textEmpirical thesis.Bibliography: pages 49-50.1. Introduction -- 2. Crossed modules in protomodular, Barr-exact categories with finite coproducts -- 3. Crossed modules in the category of Lie-Rinehart algebras -- 4. Conclusion -- References.We give a definition of internal crossed module in a protomodular, Barr-exact category C with finite coproducts, and we show that the category of internal crossed modules in C is equivalent to the category of internal categories in C . A category that is protomodular, Barr-exact, has finite coproducts, and is also pointed is, equivalently, a semi-abelian category. Our definition of internal crossed module is a generalisation of a definition of crossed module in a semi-abelian category due to Janelidze. Similarly, our theorem stating the equivalence of the categories of internal crossed modules and internal categories in C is a generalisation of a corresponding theorem of Janelidze’s. We show that the category LR of Lie-Rinehart algebras is protomodular, Barr-exact, and has finite coproducts,showing that our new definition of internal crossed module applies to the category of Lie-Rinehart algebras, and thus that the categories of internal crossed modules in LR and internal categories in LR are equivalent. We then compare our definition of internal crossed module with the existing definition of a crossed module of Lie-Rinehart algebras.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (iv, 50 pages
Story as niche construction: the cultural evolution of fictional narratives
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliopography: pages 54-64.Introduction --- Chapter 1. The background -- Chapter 2. Fictional competency as adaptation -- Chapter 3. Fictional competency as exaptation -- Chapter 4. The fiction niche -- Conclusion -- References.Some evolutionary psychologists – such as Tooby & Cosmides (2001) – argue that engagement with fictional narratives is adaptive, that humans have evolved genetically to be driven to, and capable of, engaging with stories because they provide a reproductive benefit. I will argue that evidence that purports to show that the human brain is hard-wired for engagement with fictional narratives is weak. In contrast, I outline a more plausible account : that the practice of fictional engagement is better explained as an exaptation. Through a process of scaffolded learning, capacities that have likely been selected for other reasons are co-opted and extended to allow an individual to engage with their culture’s stories. From here I situate fictional narratives within a ‘fiction niche’, a suite of practices and storytelling norms of form and content that are passed down from generation to generation, and which each new member is inducted into. I conclude by briefly discussing some of the functional roles such a niche might serve : in particular providing a shared cultural reference point that facilitates interactions between individuals within a community, and normalising behaviour across the population in ways that foster group identity and social cohesion.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (iii, 64 pages
Design and implementation of smart voltage source inverter (SVSI) with renewable energy source (RES)
No full textEmpirical thesis.Bibliography: pages 184-196.Chapter 1. Introduction -- Chapter 2. Literature review and system modelling -- Chapter 3. Penetration of renewable energy sources into LV network -- Chapter 4. Multifunctional operations with three-phase four-leg PV-SVSI -- Chapter 5. Capacity improvement of four-leg smart inverter -- Chapter 6. Experimental setup and results analysis with SVSI -- Chapter 7. Conclusion and future work -- Appendix -- References.Renewable energy sources (RES), such as photovoltaic (PV) and battery energy storage(BES) systems, are becoming popular due to their ease of installation, reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and economic benefits from electricity bill reduction. However, the increasing amount of RES penetration into the low-voltage (LV) network is making the existing passive distribution network face many challenging issues such as voltage rise at the point of common coupling (PCC), voltage unbalances, power quality degradation etc. Additionally, the unbalanced distribution of linear and nonlinear single-phase loads and RES installations are causing high neutral current generation along with neutral to ground voltage rise at the PCC in three-phase four-wire LV networks. Therefore, in this dissertation, a multifunctional smart voltage source inverter (SVSI) is designed with a PV system to provide optimised and coordinated voltage regulation and improved neutral current compensation performance at customer installation points.The first contribution of this research is the development of a hierarchical control selection method to mitigate the voltage-rise associated with increasing PV penetration in a balanced three-phase three-wire Australian LV network. The proposed method utilises five control modes based on the PV penetration level in the LV network. The voltage regulation method provides a step-by-step requirement of different voltage regulation devices such as a distributed static synchronous compensator (D-STATCOM), D-STATCOM/BES, residential SVSI, BES and power sharing among neighbouring RES units for critically voltage-sensitive areas in the LV network. The developed control selection method provides an optimised and economical way to achieve 100% penetration of RESs into the LV network without any voltage constraints.The second contribution of this research is the design and application of a multi-functional three-phase (3P) four-leg (4L) PV-SVSI with a novel neutral current control which can significantly compensate for the load-generated current at different network locations. The relationship between the load-generated neutral current and the zero sequence R/X ratio(R0/X0) of the transmission-line neutral conductor is developed. The 3P-4L PV-SVSI is designed to operate robustly with variable R0/X0 ratios and system fault conditions. Comparisons of neutral current compensation operation with existing passive and active neutral compensation methods are presented to verify the efficacy and novelty of the proposed system.The third contribution of this dissertation is the development of a novel dynamic capacity distribution (DCD) method to improve the neutral current compensation from the 3P-4L PVSVSI. The DCD method distributes the available capacity after active and reactive power regulation operations from the SVSI to the neutral current controller for higher capacity neutral current compensation. Traditional current limiters with dynamic value assigning function are used to utilise the DCD method in the four-leg inverter to achieve better unbalanced compensation than that provided by existing methods.The final contribution of this research is the construction and application of a 3P-4L SVSI hardware prototype for experimental results verification. The four-leg VSI system is constructed by modifying the Semiteach three-leg teaching module, and the fourth leg is controlled independently in the system. The same inverter system is operated in three- and four-leg inverter configurations with a real-time digital signal processor (DSP) controller module provided by Denkinetic Pty Ltd and using Code Composer Studio (CCS) software.Different case studies are conducted with both inverter configurations in the power system computer aided design/ electromagnetic transient DC (PSCAD/EMTDC) software platform and in an experimental setup to verify the efficacy of the proposed methodologies. Proper electrical connection standards are also ensured in the designed PV-SVSI system, such as total harmonic distortion less than 5%, voltage unbalance factor less than 2%, and neutral to ground voltage less than 1 V. The case studies’ results show that the designed multifunctional PVSVSI can provide stabilised performance with the proposed methods in voltage regulation and neutral current compensation, despite the variations in sun irradiance, customer load profiles,network parameters, and different fault conditions.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (xxv, 196 pages) colour illustration
Signalling methods between social enterprises in Indonesia and global mission-aligned impact investors
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 73-851. Introduction -- 2. A review of the literature -- 3. Methods -- 4. Findings -- 5. Discussion -- 6. Conclusion -- Appendices.This qualitative research study examined signalling methods (primarily via digital communication platforms/websites) between social enterprises in Indonesia, third-party organisations based in Singapore and global mission-aligned impact investors based in Australia. Social enterprises are widely studied in various disciplines, including management, but there is little literature on signalling methods among all actors who are participating in the emerging impact investing milieu. Social enterprises are business-like entities that aim to positively impact communities while simultaneously making a profit. Global mission-aligned impact investors look beyond financial returns and their impact investments allow social enterprises to scale and create a larger impact. In the past, these two actors have experienced communication difficulties when connecting across digital environments. Signals are often miscommunicated and information is not conveyed, which can lead to unsuccessful resource acquisition. This research focused on three countries in the Asia-Pacific region (developed countries Australia, Singapore and developing Indonesia). The countries in the region offer distinct diversity and include leading entrepreneurial economies. In its first stage, the research examined and critiqued existing signalling methods and identified a third actor, the connector organisation that played a critical role in the signalling process. This triangular partnership is more complex than a simple association. Thus, this research study developed dimensions of a preliminary framework to improve signalling processes that contribute to the storytelling of social enterprises and navigate their way to find a suitable global mission-aligned impact investor. In its second stage, this research study developed key characteristics of impact investing which were applied to Australia and Singapore (representing the developed world) and Indonesia (representing the developing world). In addition, this research study also proposed a new definition of impact investing. This research study used theoretical and also purposeful sampling to select organisations. Data were collected from 37 participants in Australia, Singapore and Indonesia. The study found evidence that a triangular partnership and particular signalling approaches facilitate the competitive advantage of social enterprises and the maturation of impact investing.1 online resource (viii, 85 pages
Australia’s quest for the bionic eye: barriers to innovation
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 247-274.Chapter 1: The concept of innovation -- Chapter 2: Innovation in Australia -- Chapter 3: The bionic eye -- Chapter 4: Methodology -- Chapter 5: The revised history -- Chapter 6: Findings: Academic culture -- Chapter 7: Culture clash: the influence of industry and political cultures -- Chapter 8: Structural barriers: politics and funding -- Chapter 9: Structural barriers: geography, people and the Valley of Death -- Chapter 10: Recommendations -- Chapter 11: Conclusion.It is a goal of successive Australian governments to develop an internationally competitive knowledge-based innovation system for the 21st century. Yet despite the fact that Australia produces its share of the world’s scientific articles, in proportion to its population, and the existence of high-profile biomedical success stories such as Resmed’s devices for sleep disorders, Cochlear’s bionic ear and the Gardasil vaccine against human papillomavirus and cervical cancer, the effectiveness of national innovation is low when compared to other developed countries. The principle aim of this research is to derive new insight into the complex, often messy process driving the development of Australian biomedical and scientific technologies. While it takes a system-wide theoretical approach, it focuses on the “middle-ground” between fundamental science and final-stage commercialisation, using the bionic eye initiative as an extended case study. In the first part of the thesis, I review texts and archival documents pertaining to Australia’s innovation system policy, keeping in mind the National Innovation Systems framework. But in order to understand the drivers and dynamics of the system, it is necessary to view innovation from the participants’ perspectives. Following ethics approval, I recruited and interviewed 29 participants in the Australian Research Council’s Research in Bionic Vision Science and Technology initiative, announced in 2009 and funded over 5 years. Using this mixed methodology, the study explores the interpersonal, political, cultural and organisational factors influencing innovation, as well as identifying possible points of intervention for governmental policy makers and leaders managing emerging fields of complex scientific and biomedical research. Key recommendations address identified barriers to innovation.1 online resource (298 pages
Investigating the practical application of the social relational model of disability: examining early childhood educator's inclusive education
No full textEmpirical thesis.Bibliography: pages 73-90.Chapter One. Introduction -- Chapter Two. Literature review -- Chapter Three. Methodology -- Chapter Four -- Chapter Five. Discussion -- Chapter Six. Conclusion -- Chapter 7. Conclusions -- Reference list -- Appendices.The discussion over whether or not inclusion works is defunct, with research providing evidence that children directly benefit when strategic aspects of environments and intentional teaching are in place. Inclusive education is a human right, and there is growing promise of inclusive education, as explained in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD, 2006). However, barriers to the inclusion of children with disability in educational settings remain. Early childhood educators have a social responsibility to advocate for children’s inclusive education, yet many educators report uncertainty about how to include children with diverse abilities. The purpose of this study was to identify links between the theory of the social relational model of disability, and educational practice. Bronfenbrenner’s ecocultural theory was utilised to identify children within their different contexts. Educators and parents’ perspectives of identifying and challenging barriers to doing, and barriers to being, were investigated within three early childhood centres. Eight educators working in early childhood centres in Sydney completed online educator questionnaires, and thirty parents from these centres completed online parent questionnaires. One interview was conducted with a centre director. This sequential design included quantitative and qualitative investigation. Data analysis allowed for identification of barriers within different aspects of early childhood contexts including communication, environments, resources, and attitudes. Through the findings, links were identified between the theory of the social relational model of disability and educational practice, together with gaps in the educators and parent’s understandings of inclusion in these three centres. Findings from this study have implications for early childhood centre contexts, policy development of inclusive education, and for educator’s inclusive practice.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (viii, 135 pages) diagrams, graphs, table
Reading media: a phenomenology of reading in a multimodal context
No full textTheoretical thesis.Includes bibliographic referencesPart One - Artefact : mBook entitled I Know Why You Run -- Part Two - Exegesis :Phenomenology of Reading in a Multimodal Context -- Chapter 1 - Introduction -- Chapter 2 - The mBook -- Chapter 3 - Engaging with long-form fiction: Theoretical understandings -- Chapter 4 - The qualitiative research -- Chapter 5 - The role of author in the new environment -- Chapter 6. Conclusion.This PhD project is an interdisciplinary Creative and Critical investigation into young adult reading behaviours. It is a dialogic artefact and exegesis. The creative component - the artefact is a new form of book-as-object - mBook, which forms 70% of the PhD. The critical component is an exegesis comprising 30% of the PhD. The artefact is a young adult multimodal novel, generically named a mBook, for the 14+ reading demographic. The mBook contributes to current challenges of traditional understandings and definitions of 'book-as-object' by incorporating multimodality into its paper format with the use of Augmented Reality. Multimodal engagement with the mBook involves the use of a readily available smartphone application to project content onto the printed page. The exegesis situates the mBook into the lived experience of young adults reading in a post-convergent multimodal context. Artefact title: I Know Why You Run I Know Why You Run is a young adult psychological thriller. Protagonist, Ben, is a troubled young man who is being terrorised with less than flattering video footage of his interactions with his social group by an unknown stalker via social media. In trying to identify his stalker, Ben is forced to confront issues with alcohol, and process grief of the loss of significant people in his life. Exegesis title: Phenomenology of Reading in a Multimodal Context Reading, writing and understandings of literacy have changed significantly in the past ten years due to constantly evolving technologies. Though young adults are reading more than they have, their textual preferences are increasingly multimodal. This project explores young adult engagement with multimodal text and the consequences of that engagement for authors of young adult fiction.1 online resource (iii, 168, 96 pages) illustration
Thermal maturities and inferred palaeoenvironments of hydrocarbons from the southern Sydney Basin
No full textEmpirical thesis.Bibliography: pages xiii-xvii.1. Introduction -- 2. Methods -- 3. Results -- 4. Discussion -- 5. Conclusions -- 6. References -- 7. Appendices.The Shoalhaven Group in the southern Sydney Basin contains an extensive sedimentary record of the Permian period. Regional thermal maturity and palaeoenvironments have been interpreted using hydrocarbons primarily from drillcore DM Callala DDH1, Jervis Bay. Palaeoenvironmental interpretation is largely inhibited by thermal maturity in the Shoalhaven Group, with calculated vitrinite reectance values associated with the wet gas condensate window. These high thermal maturities are attributed to the large volume of overburden deposited above the Shoalhaven Group during the Mesozoic. Wildfire-associated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons have been used in place of more common biomarkers, and indicate relative changes from cooler climates in the early Permian to warmer, more temperate climates in the mid Permian and probable cool, dry climate in the mid to late Permian. Relative proportions of dibenzothiophene to fluorene are recommended as indicators of source input for high thermal maturity organic matter, as data preferentially clustered by formation and expected source input.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (xiii, 54, xxviii pages) colour map
Multiple ECG Fiducial points based random binary sequence generation for securing wireless body area networks
No full textGenerating random binary sequences is a fundamental requirement in cryptography. A binary sequence (BS) is a sequence of N bits and each bit has a value of 0 or 1. For securing sensors within Wireless Body Area Networks (WBANs), electrocardiogram (ECG) based BS generation methods have been widely investigated in which Inter-pulse Intervals (IPIs) from each heartbeat cycle are processed to produce BSes. Using these IPI-based methods to generate a 128-bit BS in real-time normally takes around half a minute. In order to improve the time efficiency of such methods, this paper presents an ECG Multiple Fiducial-points based Binary Sequence Generation (MFBSG) algorithm. The technique of discrete wavelet transforms is employed to detect arrival time of these fiducial points, such as P, Q, R, S, and T peaks. Time intervals between them, including RR, RQ, RS, RP and RT intervals, are then calculated based on this arrival time, and are used as ECG features to generate random BSes with low latency. According to our analysis on real ECG data, these ECG feature values exhibit the property of randomness, and thus can be utilized to generate random BSes. Compared with the schemes that solely rely on IPIs to generate BSes, this MFBSG algorithm uses five feature values from one heart beat cycle, and can be up to five times faster than the solely IPI-based methods. So, it achieves a design goal of low-latency. According to our analysis, the complexity of the algorithm is comparable to that of fast Fourier transforms. These randomly generated ECG BSes can be used as security keys for encryption or authentication in a WBAN system.9 page(s