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Printable low-cost, sustained and dynamic cell stretching apparatus: thesis report
No full textEmpirical thesis.Bibliography: pages 73-77.Chapter One. Introduction -- Chapter Two. Background information -- Chapter Three. Thesis time line -- Chapter Four. Parts and costing -- Chapter Five. Method -- Chapter Six. Detailed designs -- Chapter Seven. Results -- Chapter Eight. Discussion -- Chapter Nine. Conclusion -- Chapter Ten. Future works -- References -- Appendices.Cell stretching has been used in modern medicine as a way of treating injury and determining cell properties since the late 1980s. It has always been an expensive and specialised process, performed only in specific laboratories. The high initial setup cost prevents many laboratories from engaging in such research.This paper explores the development and manufacturing of a low cost bi-directional static and dynamic cell-stretching device. The device was developed to function as a low cost economical solution for modern laboratory equivalents. The device underwent stress and acceleration tests with consistent results and strain calculations to show the reliability and consistency of the device.The device was constructed out of 3D printed PLA and controlled through two stepper motors with open source Arduino programming. This enabled the devices to be produced for under AU$400, making it both an economical and sustainable way of producing laboratory experiments. Testing the device has shown that it is more than capable of producing the necessary precision and accuracy to be used in live cell experiments.The primary objective of this research is to confirm the work done by Samer Toume, Amit Gefen and Daphne Weihs in the 2016 research article "Printable low-cost, sustained and dynamic cell stretching apparatus". This paper has confirmed the accuracy and legitimacy of their research along with some improvement on the original design to allow it to be adapted to new test conditions.Mode of access: World wide web.1 online resource (vii, 146 pages colour illustrations
SMART control algorithm for the HVAC system: thesis report
No full textEmpirical thesis.Bibliography: pages 68-71.Chapter 1. Introduction -- Chapter 2. Literature review -- Chapter 3. Experimental procedures -- Chapter 4. Results -- Chapter 5. Discussion -- Chapter 6. Conclusions and future work -- Chapter 7. References -- Appendices.In industry, HVAC systems comprise slightly over 40% of the total electric usage of any given building or property type ( Department of Environment and Energy, 2013). With the constant demands we are placing on our environment it is evident we need to research ways to drive down this usage with a view to ultimately becoming a carbon neutral community.This thesis presents a new engineered self-learning control algorithm that can be used for all buildings to improve system performance to reduce overall energy usage, focusing on minimising peak electrical loads during the times that energy providers charge premium tariffs. The ultimate outcome is to minimise costs for the building through the manipulation of the HVAC system.This thesis focuses on practical ways that a portfolio or campus of buildings can use the indoor thermal characteristics of the building to reduce the peak electrical usage throughout the occupied day. Investigations were made around the benefits of integrating forecast weather data, indoor air requirements and electrical tariffs simultaneously within any given building to increase the efficiencies of the building (and thereby reduce the demands which relate to the overall operating costs of the building).Mode of access: World wide web.1 online resource (xvi, 78 pages colour illustrations
Energy harvesting from waste coffee grounds in the form of biofuel
No full textEmpirical thesis.Bibliography: pages 95-100.1. Introduction -- 2. Background and related work -- 3. Prospects in Australia -- 4. Oil conservion technique comparison -- 5. Economic viability analysis (EVA) -- 6. Lifecycle assessment -- 7. Conclusion -- 8. Recommendations for future work -- Appendices.The development of alternative and renewable energy sources is demanded by our community to ensure current and future energy demands of Australia can be met. Biofuel is a viable renewable energy option, which could be produced on a large scale to cope with significant transport and consumer needs. However, cost efficient and effective feedstocks to produce biofuel are limited. Spent coffee grounds (SCG) are a newly investigated feedstock potential for biofuel creation. SCG is highly abundant, has a significant oil yield and can be collected and utilised instead of being placed in landfill. These properties make SCG a favourable feedstock for biofuel and ultimately could be a significant part of the ongoing answer to energy demands. Environmentally, biofuel emits up to 85% less greenhouse gases to the atmosphere than traditional fossil fuels and through the utilisation of SCG as a biofuel feedstock, it will also help to reduce the amount of waste discarded as landfill.Within this report, results show that as a biofuel feedstock, SCG has a 2.5 year pay-back period before becoming highly profitable. When considering global warming potential combined with electricity demand, the evidence reveals SCG has the lowest value compared to other leading biofuel feedstock competitors. thus, through research and data analysis, SCG as a foodstock for biofuel in Australia is found to be feasible and viable.Mode of access: World wide web.1 online resource (100 pages diagrams, graphs, tables
Radiotherapy dose verification of prostate tumours by use of motion controlled 3D radiation dosimeters
No full textEmpirical thesis.Bibliography: pages 57-58.1. Introduction -- 2. Background and related work -- 3. Methods and materials -- 4. Experimental procedures -- 5. Results and evaluation -- 6. Conclusion and future work -- 7. Abbreviations -- Appendices -- References.With the increasing use of radiation treatments for patients with cancer, there has been a growing concern with the quality of the treatments. There may be errors in accuracy and dosage of the treatment that are not detected in the planning and the delivery of the radiation. Until recently in radiotherapy, the radiation beams were delivering radiation to a stationary target. In other words, the radiation target is considered not to move with relation to the radiation beams. However, certain tumours do move during the radiation treatment, especially lung tumours upon inspiration and expiration, and tumours in the abdomen as a result of normal bowel function.With the many challenges that are present in radiotherapy, there is a growing need for the use of 3D radiation dosimeters, which upon being irradiated, change colour. This further extends to motion controlled radiation dosimeters, which are used to mimic the motion of tumours during radiotherapy. This study investigates the dose verification of radiation applied to prostate tumours during standard radiotherapy, and aims to implement a radiation dosimetry technique that is able to measure the dose in three dimensions in a moving prostate dosimeter. The elastomer gel named FlexyDos3D was the substrate used for these experiments. Given the limiting stability of FlexyDos3Dthis study further scrutinised this elastomer gel, through examining the potential evaporation of the imitator, and altering both the chemical composition and the chemical concentrations of FlexyDos3D.Mode of access: World wide web.1 online resource (xix, 58 pages colour illustrations
Modelling radio frequency GaN HEMT using physics-based model in AWR
No full textEmpirical thesis.Bibliography: pages 60-61.1. Introduction -- 2. Literature review -- 3. Physics based GaN RF model -- 4. Modelling and simulations -- 5. Future work on RF and GaN HEMT modelling -- 6. Conclusion -- Appendices -- Bibliography.The modelling of an ASM GaN HEMT in low cost and high durability with lon life periods will definitely attract the industrial development in the semiconductor mass production activities. There are many companies involved in the mass production of GaN transistors ; due to this reason GaN transistors are available in the common market with various brand names. The research on Modelling radio frequency GaN HEMT using physics-based model in AWRto extract the DC parameters and RF parameters are widely analysed in this thesis research paper. The first portion of this research paper is giving background knowledge to the reader regarding the GaN transistor and RF performance. Then the body of this research paper would contain the ASM GaN HEMT model , modelling, application of Verilog-A language which will be incorporated with AWR in this project, simulation and tuned results of the DC parameter and RF parameter extraction with a GaN model and AWR IV characteristics and S-parameters. Then the report will further discuss the results, future work on modelling and conclusion of the GaN HEMT modelling.Mode of access: World wide web.1 online resource (xiii, 63 pages diagrams, graphs, tables
Cigarette butt litter and key policy responses in Australia
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 56-70.Chapter 1: Introduction -- Chapter 2: Literature review -- Chapter 3: Methods -- Chapter 4: Smoking prevalence, tobacco control and butt litter in Australia -- Chapter 5: Non-governmental response to butt litter in Australia, environmental organisations and the tobacco industry -- Chapter 6: Proposals for regulation -- Chapter 7: Conclusion.The health risks of tobacco consumption are well established, but there is markedly less awareness of the environmental impacts of cigarette consumption and cigarette butt disposal. The by-products of the 6.3 trillion cigarettes smoked annually are filters containing benzene, nicotine, cadmium, and dozens of other chemicals, and it is estimated that between one- and two-thirds of all filters are discarded on roadways, pavements, and green spaces. Butt litter as an environmental and public health hazard is a relatively new field of study but recent research, conducted primarily in the United States, into filter composition and toxicology, clean-up costs, regulatory response, and key policy actors has obvious implications for Australia. Cigarette butts are consistently found to be the most littered item by Australian environmental organisations, yet there has been little analysis of their environmental and health impacts. This thesis argues that there is a clear need for such research. It first establishes the scale of the butt litter problem in Australia using existing data, then assesses policy response to date. The thesis then analyses roles played by government, non-governmental organisations, and the tobacco industry in framing related issues, and in constructing policy response. It concludes with recommendations for further research and policy.1 online resource (ix, 89 pages
Quality of life in Primary Progressive Aphasia: characteristics, influences and implications
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 67-78.Introduction -- Participants -- What do people with Primary Progressive Aphasia report about their health-related quality of life using the chosen assessments? -- Which factors mediate the impact of Primary Progressive Aphasia on health-related quality of life? -- General discussion -- Conclusion -- References -- Appendices.Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA) is an emerging area of speech pathology practice. Despite its cross over with stroke-aphasia and dementia presentations, both fields in which quality of life has been investigated, limited research has investigated quality of life in PPA. This study conducted four health-related quality of life assessments with six individuals with PPA. Health-related quality of life was found to be individual and heterogeneous: some individuals maintained good health-related quality of life despite linguistic impairment, whereas three out of six participants screened positively for depression. Factors noted to influence health-related quality of life, or reported as particularly important to participants, included: maintaining enjoyable activities, financial situation, family and speech pathology support, and time since and reaction to PPA diagnosis. Linguistic and cognitive impairment were not related to health-related quality of life in this study, although the small sample size is noted as a limitation. Those individuals without severe semantic impairment were able to more reliably report on their health-related quality of life. Implications for assessment of quality of life in PPA and multidisciplinary care of people with PPA are discussed -- abstract.1 online resource (84 pages
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities from ideological conception to enforcement: a critical appraisal
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 394-431.Chapter I: Introduction -- Chapter II: Disability - From discourse to understanding -- Chapter III: Equality - From political understanding to normative interpretation in the context of disability -- Chapter IV: Discrimination - From philosophical conception to normative understanding in the context of disability -- Chapter V: The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilites -- Chapter VI: The monitoring mechanism under the CRPD -- Chapter VII: The implementation of the CRPD - State reporting procedure -- Chapter VIII: The implementation of the CRPD - Individual complaint procedure -- Chapter IX: Conclusion.The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) has been hailed as a paradigm shift to protect the human rights of persons with disabilities. It has been implemented for 8 years. This thesis investigates whether the CRPD is an advance in the protection of human rights of persons with disabilities. It does so by examining the normative rules under, and the actual implementation of, the CRPD by States Parties, and by examining the work of the CRPD Committee. The thesis yields the theoretical and normative insights that the CRPD possesses inherent merits and values for creating platforms for positive changes for advancing the human rights of persons with disabilities. It does so by selectively adopting the most reasonable aspects of theoretical understandings of disability, equality and discrimination. Normatively, it prioritises transforming the legal concepts and normative rules into concrete results in which persons with disabilities are able to exercise their legal capacity while being protected from institutionalisation and involuntary medical treatment in a barrier-free environment. A related conclusion is that the implementationof the theoretical concepts and selected normative rights depends upon the national legal framework and good intentions of States Parties. It also concluded that the CRPD Committee did not face any difficulty in determining violations and holding States Parties liable for not fulfilling their treaty obligations. This thesis therefore concludes that the CRPD has in practice to some extent protected the human rights of persons with disabilities. The CRPD may not solve all the problems that persons with disabilites are facing, but it can contribute to protecting their human rights if properly implemented and with the participation of all stakeholders including persons with disabilities in the implementation and monitoring process.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (xiv, 431, pages
Exploring cooperative effects with nitrogen-vacancy centres in diamond
No full textEmpirical thesis.Bibliography: pages 63-71.1. Introduction -- 2. Superradiance -- 3. Nitrogen-vacancy centres in diamond -- 4. Details of the simulation -- 5. Results and discussion -- 6. Outlook -- Appendix -- References.We present a theoretical study of superradiance with nitrogen-vacancy centres in nanodiamonds. Superradiance is a radiation phenomenon where identical proximal atoms emit photons collectively. A nitrogen-vacancy centre is an \artificial atom" in which indistinguishability cannot be assumed a priori. Nevertheless, superradiance from nitrogen-vacancy centres in nanodiamond has been observed very recently. While a phenomenological model built on Dicke states and the known properties of nitrogen-vacancy centres was able to explain the experimental findings well, many of the microscopic details that introduce distinguishability were not included: (i) photon emission into orientation-dependent superpositions of polarizations, (ii) transition and permanent dipole-dipole interactions, (iii) random distributions of transition frequencies and spatial locations, and (iv) nitrogen-vacancy centres couple to lattice vibrations. These effects are generally expected to diminish superradiance. In this thesis, we develop numerical simulations based on a model which takes these features into account. Our program can, in principle, perform simulations on the emission dynamics of up to 13 centres. Based on the results presented, we conclude that superradiance persists for certain nitrogen-vacancy centre densities, consistent with the experimental findings. Furthermore, our simulation tools provide a theoretical framework to study coherently driven dynamics, other temperature regimes, or use of other colour centres.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (viii, 71 pages) diagrams, graph
Japan's defence diplomacy in South East Asia
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 56-69.Chapter 1. Introduction -- chapter 2. Research design -- Chapter 3. Literature review -- Chapter 4. Case Studies -- Chapter 5. Conclusions.This thesis conducts an empirical case study analysis of Japan's defence diplomacy in the South East Asian nations of Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam during the period from 2006 to 2016. Defence diplomacy is an element of statecraft that uses a nation's military and security institutions in a non-coercive, peaceful manner to enhance military cooperation and to seek military reform with another nation. This thesis traces the evolution of Japan's defence diplomacy in its evolving security environment and identifies its character based on See Seng Tang and Bhubhindar Singh's typology of "pragmatic"or "transformative"defence diplomacy.This thesis contributes important elements in the study of Japan's defence diplomacy strategy and engagement in South East Asia.1 online resource 89 pages