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Life cycle assessment (LCA) and energy modeling of a solar hybrid PV/T system
No full textEmpirical thesis.Bibliography: pages 137-145.Chapter 1. Introduction -- Chapter 2. Background and related work -- Chapter 3. Life cycle assessment (LCA) -- Chapter 4. Energy modelling and experimental modelling of PV/T system -- Chapter 5. Performance and design of solar PV/T collectors -- Chapter 6. Conclusions -- Chapter 7. Future work -- Chapter 8. Abbreviations -- Appendices -- List of references.The solar photovoltaic/thermal hybrid system is considered one of the most significant solar energy systems in terms of production and efficiency. The feature of this system is the production of electricity and heat simultaneously. This project aims to perform a life cycle assessment for a solar photovoltaic/hybrid system. Through this study it is possible to obtain the results of the environmental impact of this system. The second aim of this thesis is to simulate the hybrid PV/T system for Australia and other places in order to calculate the annual energy output of the system, such as thermal energy and electrical energy, in order to calculate the daily hot water and electricity consumption of the PV/T system and the overall efficiency of the system. This project also aims to investigate the performance of two types of solar hybrid PV/T collecttors, water-based PV/T collectors and air-based PV/T collectors.Mode of access: World wide web.1 online resource (xvii, 145 pages colour illustrations
Knee fluoroscopy
No full textEmpirical thesis.Bibliography: page 43.1. Introduction -- 2. Background and related work -- 3. Methodology -- 4. Results and analysis -- 5. Conclusions and future work -- Bibliography.Selecting an appropriate method when describing the motion of the knee in 3D space can be challenging as there is no universal or standard definition currently utilised in biomechanical studies. The Joint Coordinate System (JCS), first proposed by Grood and Suntay, is widely used by various authors to define the relative position between two rigid bodies as the definitions when establishing the system is easily comprehended. Throughout this thesis, a program will be developed in Matlab to enable the automation of the joint coordinate system on the femur and tibia by defining the anatomical landmarks. The JCS will be redefined and used as a basis to implement a slightly different coordinate system. This automated program will allow simplicity when manipulating the orientation and will enable the data to be presented in different clinical systems.Mode of access: World wide web.1 online resource (xv, 43 pages colour illustrations
Non-orthogonal waveforms (NOW)
No full textEmpirical thesis.Bibliography: pages 72-73.1. Introduction -- 2. Background and related work (OFDM) -- 3. GFDM -- 4. Matlab implementation -- 5. Results and discussion -- 6. Conclusions and future work -- 7. Abbreviations -- 8. References -- 9. Appendix.This project looks at a new interface to be developed by using non-orthogonal waveforms as opposed to orthogonal waveforms. It focuses on the particular non-orthogonal waveform called Generalised Frequency Division Multiplexing (GFDM), which consists of subcarrier filtered multicarrier modulation using circular convolution. This is important as the upcoming consumer environment is not well suited for orthogonality. this document reports the idea of abandoning synchronism and orthogonality altogether, thereby leading to possible problems such as crosstalk or interference, and tests if these impairmants may be optimised by a suitable transceiver structure and transmission technique. The way way in which this transmission technique will be optimised is by the comparison of various filtered GFDM signals through simulations using Matlab software. These simulations represent future proposed transmission examples and highlight the benefits of using specific GFDM filters over OFDM. The main problem to be analysed is Out of Band (OOB) emissions in each of the filters. Comarisons of different parameters in the filters, such as the roll-off factor and subcarrier/subsymbols are manipulated to illustrate positive as well as negative effects. This has allowed an optimal solution to the problem at hand. This optimal solution is revealed using a prototype XIA 4th order filter using full roll-off and maximum subsymbols. In doing so, the performance of the GFDM signal is increased via less interference. Overall, a clearer understanding of the proposed waveform is presented and recommended.Mode of access: World wide web.1 online resource (90 pages diagrams, graphs, tables
Generation and validation of witnesses to C programs
No full textEmpirical thesis.Bibliography: pages 45-46.1. Introduction -- 2. Background information -- 3. Background information of Skink -- 4. Skink project and its processes -- 5. Project implementation -- 6. Testing phase -- 7. Conclusions and future work -- 8. Abbreviations -- Appendices.Currently in society there is a combination of both simple and complex programs being developed, but they are not guaranteed to be bug free. There is a heavy reliance on testing a program's code in order to improve the code's quality. these testing methods, however, are time consuming and limited in scope, thus there is a need for new tools and technologies that can identify bugs in code, show an example of the bug and verify it. KLEE and KLOVER are two tools that have been developed to limit the likelihood of bugs and will be examined within this project. In this project we present our tool, Skink, and explore its processes to determine if a given C file is correct or not. We provide three examples of C files to see the expected test harness of our project. The objective of this project is to allow Skink to automatically generate an executable witness to prove the existence and verification of bugs within a given C file.Mode of access: World wide web.1 online resource (xv, 46 pages diagrams, tables
EMI analysis of GaN based buck converter using physical model in AWR
No full textEmpirical thesis.Bibliography: pages 55-56.1. Introduction -- 2. GaN technology overview -- 3. Physics-based GaN model -- 4. The basic power converters -- 5. Result and discussion -- 6. The application and future work of GaN technology -- 7. Abbreviations -- Appendix -- Bibliography.The high performances of GaN transistors can be defined as faster switching capability, smaller parasitic parameter and better electric characteristic. All these features make them popular in dc-dc converter designs to achieve higher power density and and faster transient response capability. This research focuses on the circuit modelling of the next generation power devices. The GaN HEMT module based on Verilog-AMS language is applied in specific citcuits. AWR design environment is used to simulate the design circuits and the data measurements are analysed. The EMI analysis of the synchronous bucked based on GaN physical model are measured by the adjustment of parameters inside GaN device. Meanwhile, the typical dc-dc converters based on GaN HEMT and the application of GaN technology are discussed.Mode of access: World wide web.1 online resource (xv, 56 pages diagrams, graphs, tables
Vellaikaariya? Constructing Amy Jackson: Nativity and whiteness in Tamil cinema
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 70-78Introduction -- Chapter 1 Politics, Nativism and Gender in Tamil Cinema -- Chapter 2 White Is The New Brown : How We Got To Amy Jackson -- Chapter 3 Let’s Mix It Up: Cinematic Excess, Masala and Approaching Jackson as a Parallel Text -- Chapter 4 Vellaikaariya?: Thangamagan and Gethu -- ConclusionSince Liverpool local Amy Jackson’s debut in 2010, where she played a young British woman in the Tamil period-drama Madrasapattinam, Jackson has played exclusively Tamil/Indian characters in all of her films. Despite her Caucasian background, Jackson is nativised for these roles, her skin spray-tanned, her hair dyed, and her blue eyes hidden behind dark-brown contact lenses. More baffling are the recurrent in-film references to Jackson’s Tamil characters as White. I will focus my analysis on a recurring reference to Jackson’s characters as “the white chick” in two of Jackson’s more recent Tamil films, Thangamagan (2015) and Gethu (2016). These films position two vastly different Amy Jacksons: the on-screen Indian and the off-screen westerner. This thesis attempts to understand how the fantasy of Jackson’s femininity is produced through the clash of these two racially divergent figures. An intersectional feminist approach to both Jackson’s gender and race is necessary in understanding her on-screen representation. A closer look at the history of the involvement of Dravidian (nativist) politics within the Tamil film industry further indicates the need to discuss the incongruous figure of Jackson. The self-aware characteristics of Tamil cinema, referred to as cinematic excess, interfere with a conventional close-textual analysis; and as such, I will approach Jackson as a parallel text. References to Jackson’s canonically Tamil characters as “the white chick,” transgress the borders of the film text and create new meaning in the reception of both the character and the actor who plays her. Taking Jackson as its case study, this thesis is a sliver of a starting point towards a more enriched film theory for non-Western films.1 online resource ([6], 78 pages) colour illustration
The perception of Islam by political parties: a comparative analysis of the rhetorical and perceptive schemes used in Australia and France
No full textTheoretical thesis."Macquarie University, Department of Modern History, Politics and International Relations, Faculty of Arts: PhD in Modern History, Politics and International Relations ; Sciences Po Aix, ED 355- Espaces, Cultures, Sociétés: CHERPA (Croyance, Histoire, Espace, Régulation Politique et Administrative), Doctorat de Sociologie" -- title page.Bibliography: pages 337-375.Introduction -- Part I. Theoretical and methodological groundings. Chapter 1. Theoretical groundings ; Chapter 2. Methodological groundings -- Part II. The "question of Islam" in Australia and France. Chapter 3. Islam and the governance of religions ; Chapter 4. Islam and the governance of minorities ; Chapter 5. The emergence of the "question of Islam" in Australia and France -- Part III. Assessing interparty and intraparty dynamics. Chapter 6. Religion and conflicts of values for political parties ; Chapter &. An attempt at mapping quantitatively intraparty and interparty dynamics -- General conclusion -- Appendices -- References.The perception of Islam in France and Australia revolves around two very different socio-historical contexts, which produced differentiated systems of constraints and resources for political parties. The structuring dynamics of these contexts are both endogenous and exogenous. The endogenous ones include the migratory history and the specific conditions of settlement of Muslim populations in both countries. The exogenous dynamics ensue from the public authorities' management and, more generally, from an idiosyncratic and historically constructed relationship between the state and religions, citizenship and the integration of minorities. The combining of these processes has fostered the emergence of two modalities of visibility of Islam at the turn of the 1980s and 1990s, with a strong religious component in France and a noteworthy ethnic component in Australia. Their expression may be found in the respective debates on laïcité and multiculturalism. The placing on the agenda of the "questionof Islam" and the issue ownership competitions by political parties are inseparable from these systems of constraints which mark out the boundaries of the thinkable and the possible of discourses as well as logics of action.In analysing Islam under this multidimensional prism, this thesis serves three purposes: an epistemological one, a methodological one and a heuristic one. From a theoretical point ofview, it shows that the perception of Islam by political parties epitomises the necessity of articulating structural overdetermination processes and modalities of objectivation in the sociological approach. In practical terms, this involves exploring new ways to triangulate qualitative and quantitative tools for combining microsociological, mesosociological and macrosociological dimensions, as well as the diachronicity and synchronicity of empirical observations. In doing so, the comparison examines how two "types" of legal-political traditions have shaped different answers to the same question of integrating Muslims within the axiological and cognitive frameworks of the country, and further enables putting into perspective party discourses and representations on the period 2001-2015. It shows the limited relevance of traditional dualisms like the Left/Right opposition on this issue and suggests alternative analytical stances to overcome their biases.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (375 pages) diagrams, table
A comparative analysis of remote sensing methods for burn-scar mapping in wetlands
No full textEmpirical thesis.Bibliography: pages 51-58.1. Preface -- 2. Journal paper -- 3. Synthesis -- References -- Appendix.This thesis examines the accuracy and reliability of using conventional remote sensing methods in wetland environments, specifically for detecting and analysing burn scars and post-fire recovery. To date, the methods have been applied in dryland environments post-fire but have yet to be tested comprehensively elsewhere, particularly in large floodplain wetland environments that also experience regular wildfires. These ecosystems possess unique physical characteristics that may pose challenges to orthodox remote sensing techniques, such as different vegetation composition, soil moisture prevalence, and post-fire vegetation regrowth rate. This thesis also aims to provide a preliminary insight into how the current methods could be modified or further developed to achieve the high levels of accuracy gained in measuring burn scars in dryland environments. It was found that spectral indices that measure green vegetation cover, particularly the GNDVI, the EVI2, the NBRI, and the SATVI, are more suitable for detecting burn. It was also found that supervised classifiers, were more accurate than unsupervised classifiers at determining burned areas. From the results, it was concluded that, by a measure of the assessed metrics, post-fire wetland ecosystems typically regenerate to pre-fire conditions within a year of the fire event occurring. However, different conditions can significantly decrease the time taken for regeneration, with some indices returning to pre-fire values as early as 100 days post-fire.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (viii, 66 pages) colour illustrations, colour map
The relationship between working memory and creative processes: evidence of the elaboration of creative strategies in semantic encoding
No full textTheoretical thesis.Bibliography: pages 228-265.1. Introduction -- 2. Working memory -- 3. Creativity -- 4. Creativity and working memory -- 5. Methodology of the experiment -- 6. Results -- 7. Discussion -- Appendices -- References.Working memory is defined as an online limited capacity storage and processing system consisting of: (a) short-term “stores”; (b) processes and strategies; and (c) executive attention. It is a functionally important system for processing a wide range of cognitive activities such as reasoning, learning and comprehension. Creativity involves the creation of an original and useful product. One of the main cognitive processes underpinning creativity is associative processing.Contemporary studies on human cognition have previously indirectly investigated the relationship between working memory and creativity. The majority of these recent studies hypothesise that working memory is prerequisite for creativity and more specifically, cognitive flexibility, abstract thinking, strategic planning, remote associations, convergent and divergent thinking. However, the main disadvantage of all of these studies is that they do not employ working memory tasks requiring creative abilities. There is no research to date which specifically investigates how creativity and creative strategies can affect the strategies incorporated in working memory processes. However, some assumptions can be indirectly draw from relevant contemporary research. For example, selective attention, which involves the ability to focus cognitiveresources on information relevant to goals, has been shown to influence workingmemory performance (Gazzaley & Nobre, 2012), while both modality dependentworking memory mechanisms and modality independent attention control mechanisms do have an impact on insight problem solving (Chein & Weisberg, 2013). Furthermore, Lee and Therriault (2013) link working memory prerformance with the underlying cognitive mechanisms of divergent, convergent thinking as well as associative processing, albeit indirectly. Further indirect support for the association between working memory and creativity comes from neuropsychological studies as well medical studies (Swartwood, Swartwood & Farrell, 2003).These limitations result in an absence of direct ananlysis of how creativity and creative strategies are related to the strategies incorporated in working memory processes. The main hypothesis of the study, that creative individuals employ creative strategies during specific working memory processing, seeks to correct this gap in research. It was tested against a population sample comprised of 276 adults attending Greek universities. Participants were tested on a battery of tasks including the Remote Associates Test (RAT) and two immediate free recall tasks in Greek, one consisting of 14 sets of semantically similar items and a second consisting of 14 sets of semantically dissimilar items.The analysis reveals a strong negative correlation (r = –.823) between the difference of performance in the two recall tasks and the RAT. Partial correlation between the RAT score and performance on semantically dissimilar items was positively strong r = .827. These findings indicate that creative individuals employ semantic strategies for demanding tasks whereas less creative individuals fail to adopt demanding/creative strategies. However, correlation between the RAT scores and recall of similar items also revealed a weak negative correlation, r = –.179, indicating that creative individuals are at a disadvantage in recall tasks that facilitate automatic strategies, as they fail to inhibit the flow of irrelevant information. Finally, the findings from this study suggest that creative individuals are flexible in switching between online recall strategies thereby overriding the effects caused by the characteristics of the task.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (xiii, 265 pages
Collaboration and prospective memory: costs, benefits, and helpful processes for strangers and intimate couples
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.Includes bibliographical references.Chapter 1. Introduction : collaboration and prospective memory -- Chapter 2.Collaborative prospective memory in strangers and couples -- Chapter 3. Successful and unsuccessful collaborative processes in strangers and couples performing prospective memory tasks -- Chapter 4. Group-level strategies help collaborative groups perform better on prospective memory tasks -- Chapter 5. Costs and benefits of collaboration with an intimate partner for prospective memory in acquired brain injury -- Chapter 6. Discussion and synthesis -- Appendix.In this thesis, I examined the effects of collaboration on prospective memory (PM) performance – remembering together to perform future intentions. Given the ubiquitous social nature of our daily lives, there has been a long tradition of examining the effects of collaboration on remembering the past. This field of research has shown that collaborating with others is not always beneficial; when collaborating, individuals typically do not perform to their potential, but instead demonstrate an effect known as collaborative inhibition. However, recent research has shown that certain groups –particularly intimate groups who use certain communication strategies – collaborate more effectively. This is consistent with transactive memory theory, which predicts that intimate groups, through communication, develop an efficient shared memory system over time.To date, little research has investigated the effect of collaborating with others on PM. Therefore, across a series of four chapters and five studies, I systematically examined the effects of collaboration on PM in groups that varied in intimacy and PM ability. I examined collaborative PM in strangers, intimate couples, and couples where one partner had an acquired brain injury. I used a well-established laboratory PM measure – Virtual Week – in order to achieve experimental control with a task designed to simulate PM in daily life. Using Virtual Week, I was also able to test whether collaboration differentially affected tasks of varying difficulty. I also focused on individual differences within collaborating couples and examined communication processes during collaborative PM to determine what differentiates more successful, from less successful collaborators. Using findings from this qualitative analysis, I tested whether we can instruct groups to use strategies to improve collaborative PM performance, and whether these are better implemented on a group or an individual level. Overall, I aimed to bring together two fields of research and extend collaborative recall literature into the PM domain.Mode of access: World wide web1 online resource (vii, 282 pages) colour illustration